BroadcastPro ME November 2021 by CPI Trade Media

ISSUE 135 | NOVEMBER 2021

Licensed by Dubai Development Authority

HIGH EXPOSURE Expo 2020 Dubai offers a mix of HD and 4K broadcast gear to help media bring the event and Dubai into the spotlight

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PROINTRO

GROUP Managing Director Raz Islam raz.islam@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5471 Managing Partner Vijaya Cherian vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5472 Director of Finance & Business Operations Shiyas Kareem shiyas.kareem@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5474 EDITORIAL Editor Vijaya Cherian vijaya.cherian@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 55 105 3787 Assistant Editor Urooj Fatima Sub Editor Aelred Doyle ADVERTISING Group Sales Director Sandip Virk sandip.virk@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 50 929 1845 +44 (0) 7516 993 862 DESIGN Art Director Simon Cobon Designer Percival Manalaysay MARKETING & EVENTS Events Producer Paul Godfrey paul.godfrey@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5470 Social Media & Marketing Executive Gladys DSouza gladys.dsouza@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 375 5478 Events Executive Minara Salakhi minara.s@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0) 4 433 2856 CIRCULATION & PRODUCTION Production Manager Vipin V. Vijay vipin.vijay@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0)4 375 5713 Data & Distribution Manager Phinson Mathew George phinson.george@cpitrademedia.com +971 (0)4 375 5476

Welcome It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Hassan Ghoul, who succumbed to death last month on the last day of CABSAT. Industry professionals came together at the Conrad Hotel to pay their respects to his family. I think Hassan started his career in broadcast around the time I was born, and I had the pleasure of meeting him back in 2003 when I began work in this industry. If you asked anyone about Hassan, the first phrase most would use to describe him was that he was “a thorough gentleman”. He was also probably one of a handful of people who attempted to coin Arabic terms for some of the industry terms that were only in English. He was always held in high regard by everyone in the industry. We hope to pay a short tribute to Hassan at the ASBU BroadcastPro Summit and Awards, which will be held on November 16 at the Westin Mina Seyahi, Dubai. Speaking of the conference and awards, BroadcastPro is proud to have been the first globally to have successfully conducted an industry event after Covid-19 began, in

February 2021. We are pleased to be part of Dubai because its strict adherence to Covid-19 guidelines and its commitment to prevent it from making an overpowering comeback has made the emirate attractive to international visitors and encouraged local businesses like us to carry on with our events. We are pleased to have secured several new speakers to participate in the conference this year. The list is being updated regularly and they are available at broadcastpromeawards.com. The shortlist for the Awards will be out by the time you get this magazine, and we will be ready to celebrate a new set of winners this year. We look forward to welcoming you at the ASBU BroadcastPro Summit and Awards on November 16.

Vijaya Cherian, Editorial Director

DIGITAL SERVICES Abdul Baeis Sadiq Siddiqui FOUNDER Dominic De Sousa (1959-2015) Published by

The publisher of this magazine has made every effort to ensure the content is accurate on the date of publication. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the publisher and editor. The published material, adverts, editorials and all other content are published in good faith. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publisher in writing. Publication licensed by Dubai Development Authority to CPI Trade Publishing FZ LLC. Printed by Printwell Printing Press LLC.

ISSUE 135 | NOVEMBER 2021

Licensed by Dubai Development Authority

HIGH EXPOSURE

Expo 2020 Dubai offers a vast mix of HD and 4K broadcast gear to help media bring the event and Dubai into the spotlight

On this month's cover…

Let’s create a vibrant online broadcast community! @BroadcastProME www.facebook.com/BroadcastProME BroadcastProME

EXPO 2020 and its many facets.

Subscribe online at:

November 2021 | www.broadcastprome.com | 1

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PROCONTENTS

Inside this issue 05 NEWS SAWA Rights Management announces three big deals; Blue Engine brings Avastars to MENA; MBC deploys Lawo in Studio City; Roya Media Group launches Roya Podcast; Nilesat and TVU Networks collaborate; Oman TV chooses Ikegami; Arabsat and Hoshan Group partner; and more

18 CABSAT 2021 WRAP-UP Exhibitors and attendees were both pleasantly surprised to see people come together at the event while ensuring responsible socialising. We bring you a recap of the discussions at the show

November 2021 SRM ANNOUNCES THREE PARTNERSHIPS

ARABSAT AND AL HOSHAN JOIN FORCES

THE PERFECT EXPOSURE FOR DUBAI

CABSAT 2021 WRAP-UP

24 COVER – EXPO 2020

SHINES A LIGHT ON DUBAI With a state-of-the-art broadcast setup that eclipses most global facilities, Expo 2020 has empowered media onsite and those working remotely to shine a light on Dubai.

IT'S BEIN A GREAT JOURNEY WITH SPORT

MENA OTT CONFERENCE WRAP-UP

INTERVIEW

32 Israel Esteban on the last 12 months for beIN and what to expect in 2022 MENA OTT CONFERENCE

34 A look at how to lead in the MENA OTT space

40 Exploring the content acquisition journey

32 MIKE CRIMP ON PLANS FOR IBC 2021

WHAT CAN VAR BRING TO THE PITCH?

46 THE SHOW MUST GO ON IBC CEO Mike Crimp on what to expect at this year's show

48 GUEST COLUMN VAR is fast becoming a priority for many national football associations across MEA, says Nicolas Hans

48 November 2021 | www.broadcastprome.com | 3

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Sawa Rights Management announces three deals at CABSAT this year Sawa Rights Management has partnered with three different companies for individual requirements. A deal with OTT and free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels provider OTTera will pair Sawa’s wide range of local channel rights and advertising connections with OTTera’s OTT and FAST channel services. Sawa’s TV channel distribution business reaches all main IPTV and OTT platforms, as well as 750 commercial properties across the MENA region. In addition, Sawa holds international rights to more than 40 TV channels currently being licensed to commercial properties and consumer platforms worldwide. OTTera recently moved into Brazil and China, with key

Ali Ajouz, CEO of Sawa Rights Management.

business partnerships in Latin America and Asia. Following the increased demand for ad-supported OTT channels around the world, it has made a continued push into areas with changing demographics and viewership habits. Steven Rifkin, COO of OTTera, said: “Taking this step with Sawa Rights Management furthers our

existing relationship over the past three years and cements OTTera’s commitment to being a part of the emerging FAST market in the MENA region.” Ali Ajouz, CEO of Sawa, added: “Our agreement with OTTera will offer viewers free access to local and international premium entertainment while adding a new digital advertising

revenue stream to TV networks on our platform. Our line-up of channels will be launched as part of an app in both iOS and Android app stores, as well as a wide range of smart TV app stores.” In another agreement, SRM has selected the NAGRA cloud-based CAS solution to encrypt and secure its premium channels for distribution to all commercial properties. It has also signed a multiyear agreement with SES to deliver TV channels to commercial properties. Under this agreement, Sawa will use MonacoSAT, located at 52 degrees East, to broadcast the first 14 channels licensed by regional and international providers such as Fox, Rotana and ReelPX.

Blue Engine Studios and MBC Group to bring Avastars to MENA region Dubai-based Blue Engine Studios (BES) has signed a deal with MBC Group for the Arabic version of Talpa’s music and dance talent show, Avastars. It is the first pre-sale of the show, which will launch in the Netherlands in April 2022. Produced by Blue Engine Studios, it will be available on MBC’s channels and its OTT platform Shahid VIP. It is produced by Talpa Entertainment Productions and distributed by Talpa Concepts.

Ziad Kebbi.

Prior to this, BES had teamed up with Netherlands-based Talpa

Concepts to launch the formats from the Talpa catalogue in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The company plans to target pan-Arab media and the expanding OTT market. Under this deal, Blue Engine Studios has secured exclusive access to catalogues such as Avastars, Hit the Road and Marble Mania. Avastars is a show in which a human singer controls the avastar’s facial expressions and voice, while

a dancer wears a special suit to control the movements of the avastar’s body and head. Due to the latest state-ofthe-art technology, Avastars can not only sing and dance very well, but they can also do almost everything a human body can do. Sebastian van Barneveld, Talpa Director of International Sales, said: “I am thrilled that the Middle East is the first region to embrace this groundbreaking format that we so strongly believe in.”

November 2021 | www.broadcastprome.com | 5

PRONEWS

MBC Group upgrades audio with Lawo IP solutions

The Lawo installation at MBC's facility in Dubai Studio City.

MBC Group has upgraded its audio infrastructure with AES67/RAVENNA-compliant Lawo IP equipment in two control rooms and studios at its Dubai Studio City location. The solution includes two 48-fader Lawo mc²56 production consoles and shared I/O for the IP networked system, set up as a mix of A__stage64 and modular DALLIS Stagebox devices. Lawo’s V__pro8 eightchannel video/audio toolbox manages the embedding and

de-embedding of the audio in and from video feeds. For reasons of continuity regarding previously installed audio gear, a Nova73 HD router provides a 4-port DANTE card, thus allowing the audio engineers at Studio City to leverage a variety of formats in any authorised combination. The user rights management system built into the Lawo consoles installed at MBC’s facility allows protection of audio sources booked by one

mc²56 to avoid unexpected setting changes from the console in the other audio control room. The new system can handle open-standards AoIP streams, MADI signals and even DANTE sources in any combination and at a high channel count. Supported by a live video link, the native IP support also allows Lawo to directly provide remote hands-on training from Europe via WAN-based remote fader and screen control. MBC operators can use the same native remote capability to control on-location stage boxes during high-profile events, running audio productions from its familiar Studio City control rooms. This IP-based setup will make it possible for the operators to do back-toback productions because they no longer need to travel on-site. Similarly, compact flypacks do away with the need to send OB trucks onlocation, the company said.

Roya Media Group launches Roya Podcast Roya Media Group (RMG) has launched a new platform called Roya Podcast, the group’s first step into an audio-based platform. Roya Podcast was launched under the slogan ‘Imagine’, as it creates a new experience for listeners by making them visualise what they are hearing. The podcasts feature

a series of episodes that present a diverse range of topics, from history and science to culture and lifestyle. Using new technology, one of the podcasts, Wathaaqiyat 3D, offers a 3D audio experience that allows listeners to be transported into an imaginative new world, the company said.

6 | www.broadcastprome.com | November 2021

The podcasts launched on the platform are Istikbal, Haki Wlad, Al Madina, Nokat Shaware3, Roya Daily News, Nabd Al Balad, Wathaaqiyat 3D and Al Mic Maak. They are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Amazon Music, Deezer, Player FM, Breaker and Anghami.

YouTube relaunches Batala YouTube has relaunched YouTube Batala, a MENA-led initiative dedicated to spotlighting the next generation of Arabic-speaking women creators. It currently consists of more than 250 women-led channels from countries across the region and features a collection of playlists categorised by genre, with each containing a variety of creators. The playlists cover gaming, education, beauty and fashion, wellness, music and gaming, one of the most important genres in terms of growth among women viewership and content creation. Tarek Amin, Director of YouTube MENA, said: “YouTube Batala is part of our ongoing work, which we started to help more people discover these emerging storytellers while also celebrating their diversity, authenticity and impact on YouTube. After all, these women really are the heroes of their own stories.” YouTube Batala is part of a larger effort toward supporting women creators across Arabicspeaking countries, which also includes a series of events and workshops for women creators to help them further their content in terms of production and storytelling. It has more than 150 womenled channels and over 1m MENA subscribers.

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PRONEWS

Nilesat and TVU Networks partner to expand contribution capability in Africa TVU Networks has expanded its partnership with Egyptian satellite operator Nilesat and will help increase contribution capability and decrease transmission costs for Nilesat’s African customers. In conjunction with a new satellite scheduled to launch in Q2 2022, it will offer an IP contribution and delivery solution to Nilesat customers throughout the African continent. Nilesat 301 will deliver digital broadcast services to its existing customer base and extend its footprint into North Africa, East Africa and the Middle East. TVU servers are currently in place to receive IP streams from digital television customers sent to Nilesat’s Cairo headquarters. As part of this expanded partnership, TVU Networks is offering its MLink rack-mount transmitter and G-Link for point-to-point

Nilesat is scheduled to launch a new satellite next year.

transmission to Nilesat customers in the region, to create an end-to-end, IPbased delivery platform. Nilesat CTO Hamdy Mounir said: “With contribution and distribution over IP networks, our customers can send their feeds to our TVU server in Cairo for uplink in a far more cost-effective way than transmitting via fibre, SNG or satellite. We want to reduce

the cost of transmission while increasing coverage reliability. In the past video transmission via traditional methods has proven costprohibitive, and there has been some signal interference in some countries. We’ve seen the stability and flexibility TVU technology provides our customers. They can send any IP source to our uplink with complete confidence

in the transmission.” With Nilesat 301’s impending launch, the company needed a video-over-IP delivery provider with a strong presence in Africa that could also enhance Nilesat’s worldwide connectivity. In addition to an established customer base in the region, TVU Networks has offices in Kenya, North Africa, Nigeria and South Africa. Sushant Rai, VP of Sales for South Asia, MEA at TVU Networks, added: “Given our strong regional presence, we can provide 24/7 support and a solution that’s plug-and-play in a very short period of time. The TVU server accepts all streaming protocols. No matter what IP format customers use, the TVU server can decode the signal. That also eliminates the cost of additional equipment at the headend. It’s one server, one solution for any IP protocol.”

VITEC appoints Business Development Director for the Middle East VITEC has appointed Fadi Jumaa as Business Development Director for the Middle East. The newly created position will strengthen its presence in the region, with Fadi addressing markets across the firm’s portfolio. With the acquisition of Exterity, VITEC has further bolstered its solutions offering and can propose a wider range of solutions and

Fadi Jumaa has previously worked with Multichoice ME and ATEME, among others.

8 | www.broadcastprome.com | November 2021

services to its customers. Jumaa has held multiple roles with various key vendors throughout his career, including MultiChoice ME, Thomson Video Networks and ATEME. Nicolas Pons, VP – Business Development, Middle East, VITEC, said: “Fadi's technical understanding, combined with his in-depth knowledge of the market in

the region, will strengthen our position in the Middle East as we continue to extend our reach into new geographies, market verticals and partners.” VITEC’s Middle East team operates from two offices in the region – one in Saudi Arabia, and another in Dubai – addressing Military, Broadcast, Enterprise, Health, Hospitality, Sports and Entertainment verticals.

PRONEWS

Oman TV invests in Ikegami HDK-73 cameras as part of OB truck upgrade Oman TV has opted for six Ikegami HDK-73 3-CMOS high dynamic range camera systems and a Hi-Motion II slow-motion camera for its new OB vehicle. Operating from Oman TV’s HQ in Muscat, the newly enhanced vehicle will be deployed for live coverage of sports, cultural and newsrelated events throughout the sultanate. The equipment was supplied by Ikegami Electronics Europe via Muscat-based systems integrator Al Nemer Al Aswad. A senior engineer at

Oman TV's OB Vehicle Department said: “We have had very good experience with Ikegami equipment over the years, both in terms of product specification and proven reliability, backed by a high level of support from the Ikegami ME team. The HDK-73’s ability to capture high dynamic range video has particularly strong potential for OB production where camera operators have to handle a very high difference in brightness between

sunlit sky and shaded areas of locations such as sports arenas. “Ikegami has provided six HDK-73 cameras which can be pedestal-mounted for use with longrange telescopic lenses, tripod-

mounted in specific locations or shouldermounted for informal closeups such as interviews with players. We have also integrated Ikegami BS-98 optical fibre transmission links to OCP-300 operator control panels inside the vehicle. Supplementing the HDK-73 cameras, the Hi-Motion II allows us to capture images at up to 1,000 frames per second for slowmotion replay."

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PRONEWS

NMK Electronics signs distribution deal with L-Acoustics in Middle East L-Acoustics has appointed NMK Electronics as a Certified Provider Distributor for the Middle East. NMK is constructing a 16,500sqft experience centre in Al Quoz to showcase real-life audio-visual applications, and L-Acoustics L-ISA immersive technology will be the centrepiece. Chris Mead, L-Acoustics Sales Manager, Middle East – India – Africa, said: “L-ISA technology is becoming ever more prevalent both for portable systems and for install applications around the world. Being able to showcase L-ISA

Teams from L-Acoustics and NMK.

in the NMK Experience Centre, where end users, consultants, integrators, rental companies and promoters can experience it, will open even more doors in the region for us.”

Dino Drimakis, Commercial Director of NMK Electronics, agreed that having a space to experience L-Acoustics technology will drive demand for the brand in the region.

Intigral partners with Etisalat in Egypt Intigral has forged a new strategic partnership with Etisalat Egypt to offer viewers free access to Jawwy TV’s library of on-demand shows and live TV channels. The offer is available exclusively to subscribers to any of Etisalat Egypt’s Emerald packages, which enable them to unlock and automatically stream programming on Jawwy TV.

El Gouna announces dates for next three festivals The sixth El Gouna Film Festival will take place October 13-21, 2022; the seventh will take place October 12-20, 2023; and the eighth will take place October 17-25, 2024. Festival Director Intishal Al Timimi said: “What matters to us by the end of each edition is what it will add to future ones, specifically the changes that happen on structural and administrative levels. As we look forward to our sixth

edition, we aspire to achieve the best results that are only acquired through our accumulated experiences from previous years.” The fifth GFF presented 76 films – fiction, animation, documentaries and shorts. 10 had their world and international premieres, all shown for the first time in the MENA region. The CineGouna Platform had success with its industry arms CineGouna Bridge and CineGouna Platform, where

10 | www.broadcastprome.com | November 2021

19 projects in development and post-production stages were provided technical and artistic guidance and financial support, through either official festival awards or grants from sponsors, which exceeded $280,000. The Khaled Bichara Award attracted the participation of 120 young Egyptian filmmakers, and the Palestinian Film Lab competition stimulated many young Arab participants.

“We live in a critical market shift era in our industry, where the IT and security markets have entered the AV industry and started to commoditise it. We’re here to facilitate that change, and to raise the bar on the demand for AV expertise, which is crucial to the success of these complex integration projects. Our ultimate goal is to enhance the complete industry across the Middle East. If we succeed in this approach, it will benefit the complete supply chain and enhance the skill set of the market. Our approach will be organic and selfless to the community.”

Shahid VIP collaborates with PUBG Mobile From October 28 to November 28, 2021, new customers signing up to Shahid VIP will receive a free PUBG Mobile Elite Pass, points or a gift item if they subscribe via the special link. The Elite Pass is used to unlock rewards and is considered valuable by Pubg Mobile gamers, who will also be able to claim a one-month subscription gift to Shahid VIP via their in-game event. The partnership will see a number of further promotions and collaborations announced in 2022.

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Cairo Film Connection selects 15 feature projects for eighth edition The Cairo Film Connection (CFC), which takes place within the framework of Cairo Industry Days (CID), in partnership with the Arab Cinema Centre, has selected 15 feature and documentary projects in the development and post-production phases. The project incubator will take place at the 43rd Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) from November

26 to December 5, 2021. CFC will present new works by sophomore filmmakers Lina Soualem, Soudade Kaadane and Mehdi Barsaoui, among other up-and-coming directors including Ahd Kamel, Farida Zahran and Adham Al-Sherif. The selection committee has whittled down a list of 110 project submissions

Seven MBC channels launch on Thema Canal+ International-owned channel distributor Thema has integrated seven MBC Group channels as part of its Le Bouquet Maghreb and Le Bouquet Maghreb+ offer. Premium channels MBC 1, MBC 3, MBC 5, MBC Drama, MBC+ Drama, MBC Masr and MBC Masr 2 have

been added to the line-up. Timothée Vidal, SVP Multicultural Distribution & Digital de Thema, said: “Le Bouquet Maghreb now stands out as the staple offer of channels from the Arab world, proposing the best contents and channels to the Arab audience in France.”

Emirates partners with HBO Max to bring premium content onboard

The new partnership enables Emirates Airline to bring premium content from streaming service HBO Max onboard the airline’s Information, Communication and

Entertainment (ICE) system. Emirates is the first airline in the region to partner with HBO Max. Initially launching with over 160 hours of content from 31 shows, Emirates and HBO Max will gradually expand the content on offer. HBO Max is currently available only in the US and Latin America. It is set to launch in Europe on October 26 and will be available on Emirates from November 1.

12 | www.broadcastprome.com | November 2021

from across the Arab region and its diaspora, the largest since the connection’s launch, to a shortlist of 15 films. CIFF President Mohamed Hefzy said: “This year we received a record number of submissions with very high-quality projects, and the majority came from debut filmmakers, the thing that reflects the

richness and urge of the youth in the Arab world to tell their stories.” In the past three years CFC has offered awards worth more than $600,000 to support more than 120 Arab filmmakers, including Yousry Nasrallah, Kaouther Ben Hania, Sameh Alaa, Mehdi Barsaoui, Bassel Ghandour, Haider Rashid and Mayye Zayed.

Arab Telemedia starts filming social drama September’s Gold Arab Telemedia Group has started filming the TV show September’s Gold across several locations in Amman, one of its first productions for next season. The script was written under the supervision of producer Talal AlAwamleh, and a group of elite Jordanian and Arab artists will lead it. The group recently announced that it will present the Arabic

audience with diverse content and context that it has been preparing for almost two years. Resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, Arab Telemedia has turned this worldwide downfall into an opportunity that birthed a vast range of ideas, coming up with projects ready to be executed and implemented, reflecting the modern world as we see it today, on TV and digital platforms.

PRONEWS

Qatar stadia choose Gravity Media for broadcast cabling

Al Thumama Stadium opened in Qatar last month.

Qatar’s brand-new Al Thumama Stadium, which opened its doors to fans last month for the final of the Amir Cup between Al Sadd and Al Rayyan and can seat 40,000 people, chose UK company Gravity Media to provide the broadcast cabling

StarzPlay brings six Indian entertainment channels to MENA StarzPlay has signed a deal with the Star India network to feature six of its entertainment channels on its platform, making a foray into the South Asian entertainment segment with plans to further expand this entertainment space. The South Asian entertainment package, priced at $6.81, features six entertainment channels: Star Plus ME, Star Gold International, Jalsha Movies, Asianet Movies, Star Vijay International and Asianet ME.

infrastructure for the stadium. Gravity Media provided the cabling infrastructure between the camera wallbox positions across the stadium through to the OB patch room, to enable a plug-and-play solution fit for international broadcast

standards, according to Edward Dowdall, Sales Manager, Gravity Media. “The Al Thumama Stadium is the fourth stadium which the local team from Gravity Media has delivered to a high international standard, playing a key role in preparing Qatar to host what is the biggest and most eagerly anticipated sporting event ever held in the region. Our role was to provide the broadcast cabling infrastructure to connect the technical production facilities for the host broadcast. The other stadia Gravity Media has completed include the Khalifa International, the Al-Bayt and the Ahmed Bin Ali stadiums.”

MBC Group to shutter Beirut office MBC will close its office in Beirut permanently and relocate to Riyadh. News of the move came a day after Lebanese information minister George Kordahi made controversial statements about KSA and the war in Yemen. MBC chairman Walid Al Ebrahim denounced Kordahi’s remarks as “biased”.

Prime Entertainment Group and Disney Middle East collaborate French distributor Prime Entertainment Group has announced a major collaboration with Disney Networks Group Middle East for a significant package from its original productions Spotlight, Stories and Director’s Short Cut to air on the network’s movie channels.

14 | www.broadcastprome.com | November 2021

Prime Head of Sales Alexandra Marguerite said: “After successful deals these last years with movie-related channels of the Disney Networks group in Latam and Central and Eastern Europe, we continue bringing new entertainment programming.”

ACE shuts down pirate service in Morocco The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), a global coalition of AV industry players fighting against content piracy, has taken down the activities of Morocco-based pirated content platform Electro TV Sat. ACE found that it was operated by two individuals in northeast Morocco. Electro TV Sat mainly targeted a Frenchspeaking audience of 90,000 visitors per month, who were offered illegal access to 6,000 channels and 200,000 films and series. It infringed the copyrights of almost all of ACE’s 34 members, with the most affected being Canal+ Group. All four domains belonging to the pirate platform have been transferred to ACE and now redirect visitors to the Watch Legally section of its website. Jan van Voorn, Executive VP and Head of Global Content Protection for the Motion Picture Association, added: “The theft of online content is the greatest threat to the global creative community. The closure of Electro TV Sat is a strong demonstration of the impact that ACE’s global investigative and enforcement capabilities can have on reducing this threat. We will work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the legal film, TV and streaming industry around the world."

IP MEDIA INFRASTRUCTURE has reached a NEW GALAXY.

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Connected. Secured. Managed. HOME is a new management platform for IP-based media infrastructures. It is designed to connect, manage and secure all instances and aspects of live production environments. HOME addresses all pressing issues real-world broadcast operators face today and tomorrow, including automated discovery and registration of devices, connection management, flow control, software & firmware management, scalability and security.

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PROSATELLITE

Arabsat and Hoshan Group ink deal at CABSAT 2021 Arabsat and KSA-based Hoshan Group, a telecom services and integrated workplace solutions provider, have entered into a strategic partnership that will see the satellite

operator offer hosting and teleport uplink services to the Saudi Arabian company. Arabsat will offer Hoshan Group extensive hosting and co-location facilities, as well as integration services,

Arabsat CEO Dr Badr bin Nasser Al-Suwaidan (l) and Mohamed Mahfouz from Hoshan Group shake hands on the deal at CABSAT.

to enable it to deliver VSAT services to clients in several verticals including oil & gas and government. The deal was sealed by newly appointed Arabsat CEO Dr Badr bin Nasser Al-Suwaidan and Hoshan Group COO Mohamed Mahfouz. Mahfouz said: “We look forward to this cooperation with regard to the VSAT services and hope to deliver our services to a wider network in Saudi Arabia.” Dr Badr bin Nasser AlSuwaidan added: “Hoshan Group offers a wide range of services in Saudi Arabia. Our partnership will help them to strengthen their VSAT offering in the market.”

Eutelsat renews Nilesat agreement Eutelsat and Nilesat have agreed on partial renewal terms for Ku capacity at Eutelsat’s 7° West position for broadcast services across the Middle East. The multiyear, multi-transponder deal represents the partial renewal of capacity by Nilesat at enhanced terms. Eutelsat and Nilesat’s 7/8° West video hotspot is a key MENA footprint, reaching 90% of TV homes in the region. According to Eutelsat, it is one of the most dynamic neighbourhoods in the global satellite TV market with over 60m homes and 1,000 channels.

YahClick signs pan-African agreement with iSat Africa YahClick has signed a partnership with iSat Africa to expand its enterprise business in Nigeria, Zambia, the DRC and East Africa. The new partnership will support iSAT Africa, a panAfrican network operator present in 12 markets, to deliver connectivity services for cellular backhaul, business applications, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, as well as provide connectivity to remote sites including mines. The connectivity solutions will be provided over YahClick’s highthroughput satellite (HTS)

Ka-band capacity to deliver high-speed broadband solutions, with service plans of up to 100 megabits per second (Mbps). Farhad Khan, CEO of YahClick, said: “With our existing strong presence in these countries, our partnership with iSAT Africa will enhance our reach into the unserved and underserved markets. We look forward to enabling greater connectivity for people and businesses across Africa during the upcoming months.” Revenues from fixed satellite data services in Africa are expected to grow

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at an average rate of 15.8% per year between 2020 and 2029. Linking with iSat Africa also spotlights the massive opportunity the growth of HTS capacity will have on the sub-Saharan African market, especially when it comes to unlocking high demand flexibility in applications like backhaul or community WiFi. Rakesh Kukreja, MD of iSAT Africa, added: “The partnership will bring a significant improvement in services to our customers in these markets with business operations in remote areas. iSAT Africa will equip them with advanced

and dependable technical capabilities. Rural cellular backhaul will enhance the connectivity proposition for the major mobile network operators (MNOs) in these countries, thus bringing connectivity to the unconnected and bridging the digital divide in Africa. “While embracing the new norm post-Covid era, our connectivity solutions will allow for inter-branch office connectivity and communications, data gathering, redundancy and DR solutions for our customers in Nigeria, the DRC, East Africa and Zambia."

PROSATELLITE

International Astronautical Congress attracts 6,500 visitors to Dubai edition The 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) concluded last month. More than 6,500 space enthusiasts and participants from over 110 countries attended the five-day event, held in the Middle East for the first time. IAC 2021 featured an extensive plenary programme, including technical presentations, panel discussion and bilateral meetings. Astronauts from the UAE, Russia and the US participated. The IAC Exhibition featured more than 90 exhibitors from around the world. MBRSC announced partnerships with Thales Alenia Space, Airbus, SpaceX, UNOOSA and ESA, and

The MBRSC and IAC teams.

further provided updates on the MBZ-SAT project, through which the Centre has actively engaged with regional companies in the effort to build a local hub for space-related manufacturers. The Centre also had a live session with the UAE

Analog Mission#1 CrewONE members, explaining the eight-month mission at the NEK ground-based analogue facility in Moscow, which began on 4 November. Various international entities also announced partnerships at

the event. Blue Origin, Boeing, Sierra Space and other partners announced a plan to build a commercial off-Earth outpost called Orbital Reef, scheduled to be up and running by the late 2020s. The UAE’s Edge Group signed an MoU with Lockheed Martin to identify industrial partnership opportunities across the UAE's aerospace and defence sector. Lockheed Martin and Nanoracks also announced their intent to build a space station, Starlab. The Polish Space Agency signed NASA's Artemis Accords, joining a growing list of signees dedicated to collaborating on establishing peaceful and safe exploration of the Moon.

SpaceBridge solution helps Oman during Cyclone Shaheen SpaceBridge Inc has announced the successful delivery of an HTS multiple spot beam (MSB) and Ka-band broadband VSAT network to Space Communication Technologies – SCT. Close to 2,000 locations were connected by SpaceBridge infrastructure to support the network, which provides multi-service internet connectivity over the WaveSwitch multiwaveform platform. The network delivers services over the Arabsat HTS Ka satellite, enabling communities,

enterprises, mobile network operators (MNOs), maritime, consumers, government and military entities to transmit real-time application data over satellite.

SpaceBridge network architecture supports layer 2 and layer 3, in compliance with article 4 of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Oman. Transfer

SpaceBridge exhibited at CABSAT this year.

of knowledge from SpaceBridge to SCT is being accomplished through diligent virtual and in-person training sessions, along with incountry managed services. The network proved its resilience when Cyclone Shaheen made landfall in Oman on October 3. SpaceBridge’s VSAT network remained connected using its WaveSwitch technology, despite the widespread flooding, heavy rain and winds of up to 150km/h along Oman’s northern coast.

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PROCABSAT

FUTURE OF CINEMA, ABU DHABI’S PRODUCTION PROSPECTS DISCUSSED AT CABSAT 2021 Professionals from the broadcast and satellite industries gathered at CABSAT to discuss the strategic shifts that content producers and satellite operators have been compelled to make in recent times with the pandemic. We bring you some sound bites and news from the show

Siddarth Roy Kapur addressed the gathering at Content Congress.

OTT serves as a catalyst for content CABSAT’S Content Congress heard how a major surge in OTT revenues is prompting producers to re-engineer their entire strategies. Siddarth Roy Kapur, founder and Managing Director

of Roy Kapur Films and President of the Producers Guild of India, said that in the past year global OTT revenues soared by 35% to $24.5bn as people consumed unprecedented amounts of content. “OTT platforms are booming like never before, which bodes well for an industry which is now as essential

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as infrastructure to human beings.” However, he said the OTT boom is forcing industry players to rethink their approach to what they should produce for specific delivery channels. “Some productions, such as rom-coms for instance, may no longer draw people into cinemas

PROCABSAT

Majed Al Suwaidi, MD of Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City and Production City.

and will be OTT mainstays, while slapsticks, superheroes and period dramas, which require a big screen experience, may find cinemas to be the best outlet.” Kapur said content production is witnessing an investment surge, with Asia climbing up the rankings. “In India and Korea, content production is at an all-time high,” he said, citing expanding distribution capabilities.

Abu Dhabi on course for new production value record

UAE capital is on course this year to surpass its 2020 $100m production value total, with its success during the pandemic giving it “strong momentum”. He said Abu Dhabi’s industry reputation has grown following its success at hosting major productions during the pandemic, with strong health and safety protocols and production crews working and living in bubbles. He cited the Mission: Impossible shoot as a case in point, with a thousand people working on the production and all remaining Covid-free. “This is because of the government’s prompt response and protocols it put in place to maintain an industry it regards as essential.” The Abu Dhabi Film Commission Head also confirmed that in its 2022/2023 expansion of its plans to build a fully integrated film ecosystem, it would focus on the visual effects, digital animation and virtual production sectors, and confirmed a major Egyptian animation player would move into the UAE capital by the end of this year.

Hans Fraikin, Head of Abu Dhabi Film and Television Commission, said the

Hans Fraikin (r), Head of Abu Dhabi Film and Television Commission, confirmed to Heba Korayem (l) at CABSAT that a major Egyptian animation player will be moving into the UAE capital by the end of this year.

In the past year global OTT revenues soared by 35% to $24.5bn, Siddarth Roy Kapur stated.

Gaming set to take lion’s share of region’s media market, says Dubai Media chief Broadcast radio is facing disruption in a digital era, while gaming is set to command the lion’s share of the regional media market, according to Majed Al Suwaidi, Managing Director Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City and Dubai Production City. Addressing CABSAT’s Content Congress, he said that while traditional pay TV and cinemas have dedicated audiences, it is increasingly evident that consumers like the convenience of choice and availability. “As well as traditional pay TV and cinemas, traditional broadcast radio is being challenged with the advent of digital radio, which saw a growth of 25% in 2020. Another industry we are all watching closely is gaming, where compound growth of the sector is expected to increase by 8.9% by 2024, making it the largest segment of the regional entertainment and media market. What these statistics show is that now more than ever, the consumer directs the content. Digital is the future, and as much as it has required us to adapt and learn, it also gives us much more in return by doing so.”

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PROCABSAT

Mesut Ciceker, Chief Advisor at SSI of Monaco.

need to have that collaboration not just with governments but with operators and companies internationally, to make sure that everybody is playing by the same rule book. These actions will go a long way to ensure the continued use and critical benefits of space for all humankind.”

Low-Earth orbit: Unregulated billionaire frontier? Steven Doiron, Executive VP, Regulatory & Spectrum Affairs at Yahsat.

Mesut Ciceker, Chief Advisor at SSI of Monaco, questioned whether lowEarth orbit (LEO) is becoming an uncontrolled billionaires’ playground

Yahsat calls for action to address space debris crisis Steven Doiron, Executive Vice President, Regulatory & Spectrum Affairs at Yahsat, insisted that governments and satellite operators need to collaborate internationally to improve space situational awareness (SSA), which allows effective regulatory implementation and monitoring. At the CABSAT 2021 SATExpo Summit, he outlined the international satellite operator community’s efforts to address space debris and urged governments to take action. “We need everybody to participate by the same set of rules,” he said. “Governments should support research and development efforts both nationally and internationally to improve space situational awareness.” Doiron said regulatory frameworks governing commercial and noncommercial missions should incorporate space debris mitigation requirements to proactively mitigate risks, while giving operators flexibility on meeting the requirements. “We

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and called for increased regulation of space activities. Speaking at the CABSAT SATExpo Summit, he said, “Regulation is very important, and we don’t have enough in place.” Ciceker went on to warn of the risk of overcrowded LEO space, with an influx of smart satellites to boost the cost-effectiveness of satellite operations and end-user services. “In a rush to make things more costeffective, we should be aware that we

PROCABSAT

can disturb the ecosystem. We must be more sensitive towards space.”

Dr Badr Alsuwaidan, VP & Chief Technical Officer of Arabsat, said digital demand is inspiring new developments in the satellite industry.

Satellite industry in new era, says Arabsat CTO Dr Badr Alsuwaidan, VP & Chief Technical Officer, Arabsat of Saudi Arabia, said the satellite industry is entering an entirely new development era driven by increasing digital demand. The advent of smart satellites from an increasing range of start-ups is disrupting the industry, enabling satellite operators to become

more “affordable and accessible”. “As demand for digital services grows, the industry is undergoing disruption and even our end users have changed from major government and defence entities to everyone, everywhere, so the manufacturers of satellites must also change so we can ensure an improved efficiency of satellite services.”

Satellites have a role to play in bridging connectivity gap, says GSM Association

see a gradual switch off 2G and 3G networks, and growth of 4G and 5G networks. “The major role for NTNs (non-terrestrial networks) will be in bridging the coverage gap. Much as 4G, as the first harmonised network, unleashed the gig economy, 5G networks can solve the dilemma of half a billion people currently being left behind.”

Jawad leads the GSMA MENA team that is responsible for GSMA work & activities in the MENA region.

CABSAT’s SatExpo heard how the satellite industry has a role to play in bridging a connectivity gap affecting 9.61% of the world’s population. Jawad Abbassi said that while the mobile industry is the largest connectivity platform on Earth, with 5.2bn cellular users, half a billion people are in a coverage dilemma. “We cannot leave these people behind, and the satellite industry has a role in expanding reach to places where microwave or fibre have no impact.” Abbassi said the mobile trend over the coming five years would

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PROCABSAT

Rajesh Jagadish and Razik Zaghlouli at the Ateme stand in the French pavilion.

Above, Deepraj Sandhar hosts a meeting at the Ross stand; below, Ahmed Magd expresses delight that Riedel equipment worth more than $5m was rented at the Expo 2020 site. Samir Isbaih at the Pebble stand at CABSAT.

Dr Mona Al Sabban, who is based in Egypt and runs a free online film school, was in Dubai to promote her classes.

Raed Bacho from MBC Group spotted at the Vitec Production Solutions stand.

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PROCABSAT Said Bacho, Chief Revenue Officer at Editshare, says the company will invest in additional pre-sales and support staff for the MENA region; below, Nagra, Harmonic and Aveco share a booth.

Grass Valley (r) impresses visitors with the AMPP solution; below, Sohail Shafi (R), MD of ARRI ME, with Ayman Zeibak, GM of Advanced Digital Media Company (ADM), whom ARRI recently appointed as their Saudi distributor.

Above, Talal Awamleh of Arab Telemedia Group, Jordan and team were at CABSAT to discuss acquiring content for their newly launched OTT platform Hakaya.

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PROCOVER

CREATING THE RIGHT

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EXPOSURE Six years ago, the Expo 2020 site was an empty desert wasteland. Today, it is home to some of the finest buildings, a smart IT setup and more importantly, a sophisticated broadcast infrastructure that can cater to any kind of media requirement in the market. Vijaya Cherian gets the lowdown from the Expo 2020 team

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Last month, Expo 2020 Dubai opened its doors to the public, spotlighting the emirate as it welcomes people from all parts of the world despite the ongoing pandemic. Featuring pavilions from more than 192 countries, this event – the largest ever held in the Arab world – hosts up to 60 live shows daily during its six-month run and is expected to attract more than 25m people, 70% of them from outside the UAE. Besides Al Wasl Dome, a stunning feat of art and engineering that is thought to be the beating heart of the Expo site, the country pavilions and daily performances from worldrenowned celebrities, Expo 2020 also boasts an impressive broadcast facility that includes several studios, production and editing suites, standup locations, a sophisticated media asset management system, cameras, crew and the necessary infrastructure to cater to the needs of media who want to cover the event both on-site and remotely. While state-backed Dubai Media Inc is the host broadcaster for the event and has more than 300 people to cover all areas of the operation, Expo 2020 also includes a large internal technical

Mandy Keegan is VP of Expo 2020 Dubai.

crew to ensure that media have access to an entire arsenal of content assets to help promote the event across the world. Central to Expo 2020’s media operations is the Expo Media Centre (EMC), which caters to the needs of all media across different distribution platforms. The facility includes a master control room and four production control rooms, from where the Expo media team sends regular live feeds on a daily basis. In addition, several items are postproduced for press around the world.

The audio suite at the 4K production control room.

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Mandy Keegan, Vice President of Expo 2020, remarks that there are several aspects to the media facilities that make the Dubai installation unique. For one, the Expo team was clear that no exclusive rights would be given to one media player, she explains. “Giving exclusive broadcast rights to one entity does not work for an expo, because there are so many different stories to tell from the 192 participating nations and we want to show off the things in this country through different channels and partners. So while we do have official broadcasters on-site, there is no exclusivity. Everyone is welcome as long as they are a bona fide media member.” She emphasises that one of the big elements of the event is the method in which distribution is facilitated. “We distribute in two main ways. One is a live world feed, where we work with DMI to distribute pictures through EBU and Media Source, our digital platform. That takes care of the live. And we sneak in some post-produced content including breaking news into those channels. “The second one is offline, and this is catered for through our asset management system, which is a combination of Newsbridge and Imagine. That is a fantastic asset for us, because when we started this project we were expecting most media to join us in person. Then the pandemic hit, and we had to beef up our plans for remote coverage of the event. So while we are thrilled with our media who are on-site, we know there are a lot of media who are taking assets remotely or doing a combination of both, and we are well placed to serve both.” The Expo Media Centre uses a mix of equipment that supports both HD and 4K formats. The jewel in the crown is Al Wasl Dome. Standing at 67.5m tall and 130m in diameter, this is where major ceremonies and celebrations are hosted. Al Wasl,

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The tech team at the master control room at the Expo 2020 site.

which means ‘the connection’ in Arabic, is emblematic of the theme of Expo 2020 Dubai: Connecting Minds, Creating the Future. The dome has a state-of-the-art AV setup that offers audiences immersive experiences at different times of the day. As the centrepiece of Expo 2020, Al Wasl also includes a production room that is equipped with 12 Sony 3500 camera systems at present but is wired to take 24. The room is fully 4K 12G-equipped and includes a video server. Two 4K-capable cameras for beauty shots are installed around the site. Most of the rest of the facilities are geared for HD, with two production galleries kitted out with a total of 24 cameras to provide remote coverage from all connected positions of the site. EMC also includes two fully-equipped studios designed to

“We are setting up a city of the future here, so the discussion about the dark fibre and creating facilities for the media was an easy one to have” Mandy Keegan, Vice President, Expo 2020 standard HD quality that can be booked free of charge by accredited media. Part of that arsenal is a Jimmy Jib, a polecam and two RF, 4K cameras. An open-air studio space in Sustainability District is also available for free booking. In addition, Expo 2020 boasts two well-equipped radio studios that can be booked and 10 edit suites, of which three are for the media. A four-camera flyaway pack, three remote production facilities with PTZ cameras with streaming for Virtual Expo Dubai, five 5G live portable encoding solutions from

TVU Networks and seven ENG crews give a good idea of the volume and scale of the gear available to media. Besides the TV and radio studios, specially assigned camera, photography and standup positions, edit suites and voiceover booths, Expo also boasts two broadcast compounds, dedicated interview rooms, private workrooms, media conference rooms and a photography gallery. “Venue booking is free. We get requests for a lot of morning shows and have to work out time zones and time differences because we are dealing with media across the world. Our aim is to give everyone access. We have also identified standup positions – connected and non-connected – across the Expo site and all connected to the dark fibre. Formally we have seven standup positions, but we

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The Expo 2020 team has made available a vast array of equipment including this video mixer for media to cover the event.

have 3007 non-connected standup positions,” Keegan remarks. She clarifies that only two elements are charged for at the facility – the crew and satellite services. “If a media organisation wishes to hire crew, our host broadcaster will provide that at a rate card but that is quite reasonably priced. Likewise, satellite. I was determined when the pandemic struck that the media industry, which took a beating in terms of budgets and personnel, was properly supported. We wanted to make sure the expo was accessible, because the biggest challenge organisations faced was the cost of travel and getting people across the world and accommodating them. So we tried to make it as easy as possible by ensuring there were as few barriers to entry as possible, so the media could come and tell those stories.” Likewise, the expo team has been flexible in welcoming OB trucks from media companies to the site. “We provide the option for our media colleagues to bring them in if they wish. We can bring anything into the media centre and out through satellite through Etisalat. So if anyone requires an uplink, they can have that as well.” All the broadcast facilities are connected through dark fibre within the expo site, with POPs and teleports supplied

“We are the front face of the digital download capability for Expo, and we are using all sorts of cloud-based tricks to support our photography and broadcast team” Mandy Keegan, Vice President, Expo 2020 by Etisalat, Keegan elaborates. “We are setting up a city of the future here, so the discussion about the dark fibre and creating facilities for the media was an easy one to have. In addition, we have two broadcast compounds that

At the 4K production control room.

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are linked with fibre and include backup generators, to ensure unilateral uplinks are available for any external broadcaster who brings in their own DSNG van.” If one thinks that these facilities are already quite comprehensive, Expo 2020 Dubai has gone over and beyond to provide its official broadcasters – CNN, ARN, Sky News Arabia, MBC, Dubai Media Incorporated, Abu Dhabi TV and China Media Group – with fully-equipped studios that each has recreated and designed to reflect their brands. “The difference between these broadcasters and the rest is that the former channels are collaborating with us and are located on-site permanently during the duration of Expo 2020,” says Keegan. “They have dedicated studios which we provided for them. They fit out their spaces to recreate their own studios, but we have a fantastic dark fibre network that starts at Al Wasl and emanates to each of the studios, the main performance venues and our broadcast compounds. So we have a great network for all of them, and it also helps with their broadcasts and whatever they want to do with us. This broadcast

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fibre network gives them a lot of flexibility to get all feeds from us and connect to their headquarters.” Given the scale of the broadcast operation, Expo 2020 boasts a core in-house technical team of nine dedicated to broadcast. Facilities and services are booked via the Media Bookings System, an online platform dedicated to expoaccredited media. A bookings team on-site assists with all facilities and service requests for visiting media. An interesting part of this project is the distribution of a variety of assorted content on Expo 2020 across multiple channels. For instance, Virtual Expo provides a combination of virtual reality content, live broadcast and post-produced content. The Expo Dubai 2020 TV YouTube channel is a 24/7 channel with live and post-produced content. An Expo World feed is provided across all regions through four satellites. EBU and Media Source distribute it on Expo’s behalf, in conjunction with host broadcaster DMI. The live transmissions will be distributed using the Eurovision Services WorldFeed service, which offers free access to the live satellite transmissions for editorial use. The files will also be available for download for 30 days after each transmission – also free of charge – on the Eurovision Services WorldLink video-on-demand platform. This gives broadcasters full flexibility in planning their coverage of the first World Expo in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, with a programme of events covering 182 days from an Expo site that is twice the size of Monaco and where, for the first time ever, each participating nation has its own pavilion. Of particular interest is the cloud-based repository, aptly named Expo MAM. “Cloud has played a key role in our content distribution. Our MAM is cloud-based and allows all accredited media to access

Esteban Galan is Lead Manager of Broadcast Technical – Media Services.

Pedro Freitas, Senior Manager Media Asset Management at Expo 2020.

high-resolution footage for their editorial usage. It was two years in the making and we have had immense support with the internal technology team, Imagine and Newsbridge to make it happen,” says Keegan. “We also have a production asset management (PAM) system, which is the interface between our host broadcaster and ourselves. We are the front face of the digital download capability for Expo, and we are using all sorts of cloud-based tricks to support our photography and broadcast team.” As host broadcaster, DMI planned and designed the whole operation, in coordination with Expo. The broadcaster contracted a systems integrator to supply equipment and installation under their supervision. One area where a lot of the gear was brought together was the grand inaugural ceremony, which included spectacular visuals and an interesting mix of augmented reality (AR) content,

especially for TV viewers. A total of 24 cameras, two cable cams – a 3D spider and a 1D cable – a TrackCam, two Steadicams, two drones, six cameras for AR, two Jimmy Jibs and two helicopters helped to capture the action for TV, providing viewers with a richer and more wholesome experience from different angles than the on-site experience. “AR required precise calibration to match the animation with the movement of the camera to achieve a realistic effect. I can genuinely say that the TV coverage was better than the in-person experience, because one was able to view different camera angles, AV and so on. Also, the spidercam was so successful that the team decided to keep it for the whole duration of the event,” explains Keegan. The inaugural ceremony was broadcast live via EBU, Media Source and Virtual Expo – the expo’s digital platform – and through Expo TV, its YouTube channel. “We were listed in the top five of the most viewed on CNN.com during a period of 12 hours, which I understand is pretty good. It’s difficult when you are using an aggregator like EBU to get stats. Many of the international wire agencies such as Reuters, AP, etc were aggregating it for us. We had millions of viewers and we had China Media Group – so probably in the billions.” Perhaps what makes this entire operation impressive is the “scale of this event and its complexity”, which calls for “exhaustive ongoing planning”, according to Keegan. When the curtains are drawn on Expo 2020 on 31 March, 2022, the site will transition into District 2020, a smart and sustainable micro citywithin-a-city, an innovation-driven business ecosystem and a diverse and thriving urban community that will repurpose more than 80% of Expo-built infrastructure. “Several companies, including DP World, Siemens and Terminus Group,

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are already confirmed as District 2020 tenants. Al Wasl Plaza will remain a strategically located multi-purpose attraction at the centre of District 2020. It will continue to serve as a

versatile meeting point with a carefully created microclimate. The dome will provide shade over the public space, while the plaza will feature landscaped gardens and greenery, as well as cascading water

elements and pools. The plaza will continue to serve as a venue that can host a variety of outdoor celebrations and events, capable of hosting up to 10,000 people,” explains Keegan.

Building a cloud-based repository to streamline the preparation and distribution of media assets In order to facilitate the worldwide distribution and access to high-resolution content around the world in a fast and reliable way, Expo 2020 Dubai has built a cloud-based, one-stop shop to streamline the preparation and distribution of videos, audio and stills to global media organisations. This project was integrated by Broadcast Solutions and overseen by Pedro Freitas, Senior Manager Media Asset Management at Expo 2020, and Esteban Galan, Lead Manager, Broadcast Technical – Media Services. The project sought to minimise on-premise deployment and leverage cloud-based services; build a platform that could provide the speed and scale of a global news agency; ensure uncompromised quality of distributed content, in order to appeal to broadcasters and publishers; and facilitate and ease the distribution, search, review and

retrieval of all media assets available in English, Arabic and French. The team used a combination of technologies to solve these challenges. The subsequent managed service solution is based on four key components: a set of non-linear workstations (NLEs) with shared networked attached storage (NAS), deployed at Expo 2020 Dubai Media Centre; virtual machines hosted on Microsoft Azure UAE North region to streamline the upload from NLEs by EMC managers and photo editors; a cloudbased media indexing and cataloguing platform hosted on AWS (Newsbridge), which ensures automated metadata generation using AI-based cognitive services and facilitates metadata curation and asset cataloguing; and a cloud-based content distribution portal (Imagen) that offers a web front-end to approved users of media organisations, partners and Expo internal users to access approved content.

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The system was dimensioned to address the projected peak number of simultaneous users – 250 peak users connected to the content distribution platform, downloading high-resolution content at the same time. Since the solution is cloud-based, it can be dynamically scaled to meet Expo 2020’s requirements. In terms of volume of content produced, the system was dimensioned to allow the upload, management and distribution of media assets based on an estimation of 15 hours of video and 500 stills per day. With the aim of optimising the exposure and reach of Expo’s content, the choice was made to provide XDCAM 50 @ 50Mbps and fine JPEGs as mezzanine distribution formats for video and stills. This affected storage and bandwidth requirements: both Newsbridge and Imagen platforms handle these formats efficiently. Finally, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies help optimise content indexing. Newsbridge, a cloud-based contribution platform that leverages contextual recognition technologies such as face recognition, entity recognition, speech-to-text transcription and natural language processing (NLP), has been deployed. It automatically detects faces and identifies known entities; users create and edit entities which can also be imported from external sources. The engine can be further optimised based on user input, therefore improving the Expo database. Newsbridge uses speech-to-text engines to produce a transcript of audio tracks, and also helps manage all media information and translate all descriptive metadata from English to French and Arabic.

PROINTERVIEW

BEIN AT THE TOP OF ITS GAME At a recent virtual IABM event, Israel Esteban, CTO of beIN Media Group, joined international professionals from Olympic Channel, SVT, TV2 Nord and TV Globo to discuss data-driven media supply chains and review the good and the bad from the last 12 months, as well as what’s in store for beIN viewers in 2022. We bring you some excerpts from his conversation How has 2021 been so far? What new tech developments have taken place at beIN? 2021 surpassed all our expectations. For us at beIN, it was extremely important that live sporting events came back, and we even had a joyful glimpse of pre-Covid normality with fans allowed back inside stadiums. Kicking off with Euro 2020, that we had the exclusive rights for in MENA, we had a big responsibility to put on the

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best possible show for our sports and football fans across the region, with our top studios and analysts. We also broke some technology boundaries through our partnership with Dolby Atmos, where we provided our customers an immersive audio stadium experience over the Euro 2020 knockout games, as well as for Copa America and the Tokyo Olympics. The Tokyo Olympics was another huge event we covered this summer. For that, we had a massive operation in place,

PROINTERVIEW

Israel Esteban says beIN prefers to work with partners who have gone the extra mile for them.

dedicating 17 out of 24 beIN Sports MENA channels, which allowed us to broadcast roughly 100 events per day, 95% of them live. We had to put in place our cloud capacity, for example, to allow our operations to have 35 dedicated feeds, and with recording and distribution we were able to manage up to 200 feeds across the building, so again this was a massive set-up. On top of this, we broadcast a lot of international tournaments such as Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and W Series – so it’s been a busy summer. We also deployed a significant set of new projects across the group. We launched in MENA a new user experience and continued enhancements on our set-top boxes for our customers across the region. We invested significantly in our disaster recovery for business continuity. We invested in new tools to keep ahead of the pirates. A first for us was that we launched four channels in the cloud. So, as you can see, we have had an exciting year so far. What have been the biggest challenges in the past year? Covid-19 was a big one. The pandemic turned everything upside down, and it’s not surprising that the sports and entertainment industry took a big hit. Our main focuses at beIN were being able to adapt very quickly to that evolving situation; being able for a long time to create content that was not live sports-related, to keep us close to our customers and entertain them in difficult times; and also, being ready for the day when live sports came back. The second challenge was intellectual property theft. I think everyone knows that beIN has been very vocal on this, but it’s a huge problem for all of us, with little to no accountability for these pirates. This continues to be a huge challenge that we are working very hard

platforms will stay in our priority investments, as will everything else related to anti-piracy. All these efforts, all these investments and all this content that beIN produces will need to be protected, therefore any investment related to anti-piracy, content protection tools and intelligence gathering will remain a top priority for us.

“It is our mission to deliver the best content and the best user experience to our subscribers – so everything revolving around this, and our OTT platforms will stay in our priority investments” Israel Esteban, CTO, beIN Media Group to combat, especially as we prepare for big events next year. It’s every broadcaster’s nightmare and something we collectively need to tackle. Looking forward to 2022, where will you make the most significant investments in your technology and services to your customers? 2022 is a very, very big year for us with many international events, including the Qatar World Cup. So of course, one of our investment priorities will be around continuing to invest in our state-of-the-art production facilities and our general skills, ramping up to the World Cup. At beIN, we also curate content and it is our mission to deliver the best content and the best user experience to our subscribers – so everything revolving around this, and our OTT

Are you looking to invest in solutions from new vendors this year? We are always open to new technologies and vendors. But I also highlight that for me, it is very important to choose the right partner. For critical projects, I prefer to work with what I call partners rather than vendors. And for me, there is a big difference between the two. A partner is someone who has a proven record and track with us, they are willing to go that extra mile because we tend to do a lot and are very demanding. So, we need partners who will make that extra effort and bring what we really need to meet our company’s and group’s expectations. So, we continue to rely on those partners that we have worked very well with and who have delivered many successful projects and incentives for us over the years. But of course, we are always open to new vendors coming on board and we welcome them whenever they fit our requirements. What challenges do you foresee in the coming months? The pandemic and intellectual property theft. Both are not going away just yet. Regarding piracy, a lot of effort needs to be put into improving the situation, and hopefully the industry will take more awareness of it. More people are now coming on board with us on this and working with us to try to tackle this problem, but it continues to remain a challenge.

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HOW TO LEAD IN THE OTT SPACE

At the MENA OTT conference hosted by BroadcastPro Middle East, a panel of industry experts discussed emerging global and MENA business models to make streaming services commercially viable, the role of data analytics in predicting churn more accurately, how new technologies can help accelerate OTT and how all of them are tackling piracy This keynote panel at our recent Virtual MENA OTT Conference uncovered a host of issues relevant to the broadcast industry, prime among them being new technologies, aggregation, piracy and the future of content for creators and distributors. The conversation was moderated by Amanda Turnbull, co-founder and CEO, Amanda Turnbull Associates, and joined by Manoj Mathew, Executive Vice President & Territory Head (MENA, Pakistan and Turkey), Zee Network; Emre Botan Kümet, TV Planning and Reporting Group Manager, Türk Telekom; Jean-Pierre Andreaux, Head of Content Protection, Shahid, MBC Group; and Hashim Ossaily, Regional Sales Director, Synamedia. Turnbull kicked off the discussion by speaking about the exponential increase in content budgets last year. She drew attention to the fact that in MENA alone, $2.8bn was spent on content in 2020, up 46% from the previous year. Given this context, she questioned how media houses manage to consistently produce good content and manage churn. Mathew opined that the platform is irrelevant. “If you look at The Crown, the production of the pilot episode cost was about £25m; the first season averaged at about $130m, which could make it one of Netflix’s most expensive. This could have premiered on an OTT platform or a linear channel – ultimately it’s about viewership and engagement, hence it’s all about the content. The platform is just a means of bringing content to the end user, so the mode of content delivery is platform-agnostic.” With free content the most popular in MENA, he

remarked that SVOD and TVOD models struggle to generate revenue, adding that only “people with longterm financial capabilities can survive in this market”. One prime way to succeed? Partnerships, the panel agreed, from co-production to windowing. Mathew remarked that the US, one of the largest producers and investors in content, offers multiple windowing opportunities; however, platforms are increasingly reluctant to share content, as part of their efforts to retain subscribers. With heavy investment in local production from the likes of Jawwy TV and Etisalat in MENA, Emre Kümet took stock of the Turkish scenario. “For the market, content generation is key. Content companies with a business plan that centres around original content or live sports content in Turkey will grow.” He cited BluTV, whose subscriber base spiked when it invested in originals, with Discovery eventually buying a 35% stake in the company in January 2021. Türk Telekom itself is in “the middle of a platform production and staging process at the moment for our IPTV and OTT solutions”, he said. “As a telco with more than 50m subscribers, we have to ensure that our product is at the right place with the right technology. Following that transition, Türk Telekom will also look to produce local content.” Speaking for Shahid, Andreaux added: “We are also strongly investing in new content, especially originals for an Arabic audience. But we are also trying to diversify. On top of the Arabic series, we recently signed an agreement with Saudi Sports Company to carry the Saudi Pro League matches.”

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“How many of them are actually serious about content or collecting data and viewership patterns? That is a question nobody wants to answer” Manoj Mathew, Executive Vice President & Territory Head (MENA, Pakistan and Turkey), Zee Network Ossaily commented that as a vendor, “Synamedia is focused on providing products and services to customers that are interested in end-to-end platforms … We are very focused on analytics, targeted ad insertion and security. Synamedia plays a critical role with its partners and customers in the region because that bar is set at a very high level by these consumers. We are helping our partners increase the numbers of subscribers – which is the main objective here.” One key discussion centred around data. “Who owns the data? Who has access?” Turnbull asked. Mathew pointed out that the likes of Netflix, Apple TV and Amazon Prime are listed on the stock exchange as tech companies.

“I don’t know if they are in the business of content or in the business of tech. That means big data. Valuations are done on big data and not on content. Content is just a marketing tool. How many of them are actually serious about content or collecting data and viewership patterns? That is a question nobody wants to answer.” Kümet maintained that data is critical for “analysis and churn rates, retention rates, and analysing increasing and decreasing seasons”. Ossaily agreed that “data and display are critical to understanding viewership patterns and being able to negotiate contract rights agreements”. Andreaux specified that data at Shahid is not only used in “establishing or refining a strategy”, but also to check on piracy. “If we see someone systematically downloading full episodes of 50% of our catalogue, that person is a potential suspect. There are many ways to read data. It is crucial for business.” He also pointed out that though many solution providers sell “different antipiracy content protection services”, most fail to address the issues that actually bother broadcasters. “The source of piracy is mainly the copy protection issue. It’s very easy to capture and record output from a set-top box. You can make a copy from a laptop or computer with software for screen grabbing.” Circulating these copies is made easier and cheaper because of the internet. “We have a scale issue. The other issue mainly is HDMI and screen grabbing. Even if we think of very advanced security with anti-piracy features, we need to minimise the spread of pirated content through the internet.” To do so, time is of the essence. Social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Telegram complicate the process of blocking pirated content from spreading over the internet. “With containing piracy, time is critical. Even if we manage to remove the videos in one or two days, content has already been consumed and they are usually waiting for the next episode. We are focusing on today at Shahid. In the future,

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we will think about adding tools to the platform. But as long as HDMI is compromised and it’s easy to make a copy from the computer, it will be more efficient to block the source itself, the websites,” Andreaux stated. As with most data problems facing society, piracy can only be fought with a zone defence strategy, not one on one. Kümet seconded Andreaux’s views, stating that he’s all for the “collective fight approach”. “Timing is really important, especially in terms of live sports broadcasting. You need to take action during the match. After that, it is already consumed. If it is about series and documentaries, the link must be taken down in eight to ten hours. Even 12 hours is too long.” The Turkish pay-TV market consists of 7m households, with 3m illegal IPTV subscribers – about

“Timing is really important, especially in terms of live sports broadcasting. You need to take action during the match. After that, it is already consumed” Emre Botan Kümet, TV Planning and Reporting Group Manager, Türk Telekom

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45% of the market share – he explained, and suggested ways to stop piracy in its tracks. “Internet service providers should play a key role in that fight. There should be a legal framework to let ISPs take action against illegal broadcasting. If telcos are authorised, they can use a mechanism of throttling. Once the domain/IP is figured out by the relevant party (rights holder or broadcaster), the telco operator can narrow the bandwidth of the relevant link so the experience will not be the same. The sports/entertainment viewer will not enjoy their experience.” Technology does not wait for anyone, be it felons or the long arm of the law. “Watermark technologies are effective, but only up to a point. The technology in illegal streaming too is changing very rapidly. We need to act quickly.” Mathew presented an interesting analogy to give big-budget companies fodder for thought. “When we talk about high-value content … we should treat it like we would an expensive painting and take necessary security precautions. We should be investing in technology that will protect the company and the content. The cost of protection of a piece of content is as important as making a piece of content. That is the missing link. You have to invest in technology and security of your content as much as you would in the content. Imagine having a bank balance but you put it in a bank you don’t trust.” Ossaily championed this line of reasoning. “This is music to my ears. Two main things for me are: one, different providers must collaborate and talk about piracy, in the region and worldwide. This is key to achieving that common objective. Two, one has to take that leap of faith and invest in piracy. A lot of the providers we talk to that experience issues justify antipiracy. Building a business case for

“If we see someone systematically downloading full episodes of 50% of our catalogue, that person is a potential suspect. There are many ways to read data. It is crucial for business” Jean-Pierre Andreaux, Head of Content Protection, Shahid, MBC Group anti-piracy is not as straightforward when it comes to numbers. The organisation would want to see numbers to be able to justify the investment they make. I think this is a big issue. Based on statistics, reports, surveys we have, we can come up with indirect numbers and build justifications. Then organisations must work jointly to achieve that common goal.” This discussion on technology’s place in the content world also opened up conversations on innovative business models and aggregation avenues where telcos, platform owners and content creators can potentially converge. Kümet put forth Türk Telekom’s ideology on bundling. “There are multiple factors that we are looking into to find the right OTT partner for our company. All third-party OTTs

in the market want to penetrate the market and increase their ROI. So, revenue share, minimum guarantee, flexibility on the pricing and the marketing commitment – those four subjects are crucial to finding a good partner, in terms of commercialisation and monetisation of the product.” He added that pricing and content are critical within the streaming business, as is the backend. “We would like to see integration of the content experience with invoicing, the payment mechanism and data. We have 50.7m subscribers and would like to issue one invoice to them. At the moment, they are paying the Spotify bill, one day Amazon, another day Netflix and another day Türk Telekom. We would like to present our customers with one bill.” Türk Telekom is also exploring app and login integration: “We would like to propose an app of the relevant Türk party on our interface. Once a subscriber is logged into Tivibu [Türk Telekom’s pay-TV platform], they will be automatically logged into their Netflix or Amazon platform – this is crucial for us.” Kümet’s content and API integration dream may still be some way off. In the meantime, we see other emerging business models in today’s streaming era. Mathew shared: “We have launched Zeeplex on Zee5 for the South Asian audience. That was out of necessity because theatres were closed. The best thing to do was create a TVOD space within our existing Zee5. There was a premium charge for the movies. In the MENA market, in a short window syndication model, we gave it to another TVOD-only platform, for a period of one month, a week after it was released in theatres, for the biggest releases this summer.” He commented that a lot of platforms are experimenting with TVOD models. “Some platforms, especially South Asian content creators, are investing heavily in the first episode and offering them free,

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“Synamedia is focused on providing products and services to customers that are interested in end-toend platforms ... We are very focused on analytics, targeted ad insertion and security” Hashim Ossaily, Regional Sales Director, Synamedia in the hope that the customer will sign up for SVOD services for a longer period of time. We will see this much more in demand for sports events, like with UFC and StarzPlay in the region.” Mathew also cautioned against bundling content with hardware. “There have been certain discussions in the past with the likes of connected devices, be it in a TV or devices like firestick, Apple TV, PlayStation, Xbox, etc. When devices try to strike these types of partnerships, it is more to ride on the back of content without paying for it. Content owners need to realise that content syndication is a large revenue source. Somehow in the larger scheme of things, partnerships where we embed content on certain platforms or devices don’t bring us revenue

either in the short or the long term. “Most of our deals are about trying to port relevant apps on connected devices. They use either third-party or proprietary software for streaming. Depending on the popularity of the device/TV in the market, we choose them. “Those like Apple come up with their own content strategies. Because of this, real content creators may not give content to device owners. They will just be using them as platforms. Probably they will figure out how to market them with devices by either paying the device owners or getting into other sorts of agreements.” He also suggested that fintech will soon join the content game. “It won’t be long before we see cryptocurrencies used in content, and I believe viewers will be paid for the mining ability of that particular device while watching content. Or there will be an API which will be downloaded to a connected device or the device which would be mining a certain currency. So you would have tokens of currencies … it may be that ‘you can watch or read this book if you watch this content’. “Advertisers will probably go into content creation. That’s why we see a lot of e-commerce platforms like Zomato hosting a cookery show on their platform or Adidas adding workout regimes on their platforms. Content will go where audience resides. That will be the next level of content growth.” Speaking of devices, Ossaily underscored how providing tech support can boost revenue. “We are getting requests from platform providers to support more and more devices. We are able to support pretty much all the devices, from iOS to Android, different types of smart TVs and Apple TV. From their perspective, I can tell you a lot of the feedback we get is: if they are able to offer their application/ services on different platforms, then it helps them increase the number of subscribers, because it helps them with their outreach. Certain users are using a very specific device.” Mathew also offered a number of

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examples of how Zee and other players are experimenting and innovating to acquire new customers. “We pre-syndicated a 13-part Hindi drama series that we were producing here to Ivory Coast, because they wanted it in French. In the script itself, we managed a separate storyline with actors from there included from the seventh episode, and it had a special ending created and filmed in Ivory Coast that was not aired anywhere else. That is collaboration at a very different level. “Then there is in-programming. There is no advertising on Netflix, but there is a lot of in-programming that our minds are subliminally taking in. I’m sure we are going to the products that pop up on a Netflix series. If you look at Ted Lasso, it started with Dubai Air, a fictitious company that sponsors the team. By the seventh or eighth episode, you see an FA Cup Final with Emirates branding on it. That’s a subtle way to entice a potential advertiser by placing it within the script. Another thing is creating music around our series and monetising it via Spotify or other platforms.” Turnbull concluded the discussion with one final question. Is the industry moving towards further fragmentation or consolidation? All agreed: consolidation. - Nishtha Singh

Amanda Turnbull, co-founder and CEO, Amanda Turnbull Associates.

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EXPLORING THE CONTENT ACQUISITION JOURNEY WITH STREAMERS

Content acquisition experts have a tough job ahead of them, between balancing budgets and securing a continuous stream of content that keeps their subscribers on the platform. At the MENA OTT Conference, we explored the content acquisition journey with popular MENA streamers to learn some of the tricks of the trade If the consumer is king, content is the kingdom. The panel on content acquisition convened virtually at the second annual MENA OTT Conference last month to discuss the ins and outs of this kingdom in the streaming world. The panel was moderated by Nick Grande, CEO of mena.tv; he was joined by Nadim Dada, VP of Content Acquisition, StarzPlay; Genevieve South, Director of VOD, Discovery Communications; and Luke Beermann, GM of Content, Intigral (STC). Incidentally, StarzPlay, Intigral and Discovery are all partners in MENA. StarzPlay and Intigral have a long-standing relationship, while Discovery+ entered the region in January 2021 via StarzPlay and struck a deal with Intigral’s Jawwy TV to host channels like Fatafeat in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain. After short introductions explaining their partnerships and office moves, the discussion moved to content strategies. South explained: “Discovery+ Originals are the first pillar of the D+ product. The next big

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component is our key franchises: familiar titles from our linear portfolios. We also have Arabic Original Fatafeat content that we use on Discovery+ in MENA. Finally, we host a huge library of content verticals and collections. Those are the four key elements.” “What we are seeing is that the same content is working in MENA as globally. Our biggest workhorse is 90 Day Fiancé, which is driving both engagement and subscriber acquisitions. In terms of genres, we see true crime as the biggest driver. Again, this is in line with what we are seeing globally.” She commented that the aim is to continue with this strategy. Discovery understands the value of local production within the OTT space and would like to introduce more locally produced titles that work well in other regions. “We recently commissioned Say Yes to the Dress Arabia in partnership with StarzPlay. Filming started in September, and it’s got all the credentials to be a standout hit. I can safely say this is the start of more local productions for us in the region.” This content transfer is not unilateral. Where more global

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shows and movies have been gracing screens in MENA for a few years now, the demand for Arab content worldwide has been on the rise all the same. South shared: “We look at regions where there might be a high expat community, a population that is interested in Arabic content. We are always trying to reuse that content and make it work for other regions where it’s relevant.” Speaking of new shows, Dada said StarzPlay has great expectations for its new Pakistani release. “Karachi Division (Gangsters of Karachi) is a StarzPlay Original coming from our partners in Pakistan, where we have an office. We have adjusted it for the region by releasing a dubbed version.

“Two of the things that made a turn for us were Turkish content and anime. Saudi Arabia is heavily into anime, but we haven’t seen any platforms really dig heavier into that or expand their library” Nadim Dada, VP of Content Acquisition, StarzPlay

We want to see user feedback and people’s interest in general.” But how do these content experts pick what works for a region as heterogenous and complex as MENA? Dada says all decisions are based on data. “With respect to Say Yes to the Dress Arabia, for instance, we looked at the consumption numbers of the series which had made sense before. The other aspect was, in any region – whether UAE, GCC or any of the Levant countries – the availability of bridal shops that are willing to get involved, the willingness of the brides to jump onboard. We had data to back up the fact that there would be interest from our subscriber base, so for us it was an easy decision.” The show, which has had a strong 19-season run in its American rendition, will be developed in Arabic for the MENA region by Discovery for StarzPlay and will likely hit the screens in early 2022. Beermann spelled out Jawwy TV’s plans. “We have a production department here. We have a team of executives in charge of production, script readers, production designers who manage our commissioning efforts – which is part of the Jawwy TV branded area, also on air on our linear line extension.” He lauded these partnerships, which allow tried and tested formats to be reinvigorated for new territories. “I will be deeply surprised if we don’t start with the Discovery super series formats. They come with a bible – a built-in recognition, demand and expertise. I remember when I first got to MENA, I asked a very senior guy why he licensed formats, why he wasn’t just inspired by them. He said because when he licensed formats, he took all the excuses away from his team to get it right.” The discussion had its share of OTT 101 moments, with Beermann teaching the listeners a little something about ‘vMVPDs’ such as Jawwy. “In the old days, we used to call it

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“For me, original is branding. In Discovery’s case, they commission content and have enough human resources to manage those commissions” Genevieve South, Director of VOD, Discovery Communications multichannel TV. They came up with an acronym, multichannel programming distribution. And when you put a small v in front of it, it means you use streaming as the means of distribution. This allows you to do things that you cannot do with DTH or with the traditional (DOCSIS) cable or IPTV.” How does this play into Jawwy TV’s content propositions? “We made a conscious decision in 2017, when we sold the strategy to the group, not to be in the pure play SVOD business. This allows us to offer a much broader spectrum of programming, to leverage the substantial brands and demand for brands like Starz, OSN and Discovery. The reason we are in the owned and operated business/VOD area channel is for differentiation. We license exclusive (primarily)

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window one movies, but also series and non-exclusive library content. We have a mix of volume and quality, of genre and category, to give substance to the window one original movie and original programming, and our own production/ commissioned production.” And this is where cross-platform partnerships play a vital role. “For me, original is branding. In Discovery’s case, they commission content and have enough human resources to manage those commissions. They are deeply involved in the productions. Other companies license content exclusively for a sufficient period of time to establish perceived ownership among viewers, and they stamp it with an original brand. And it’s very effective. That’s what we do.” Beermann offered some

insights into Jawwy TV’s “macro programming model”. “We want to own and operate a particular strand of programming that will be the exclusive marketing tent poles of the platform. StarzPlay just leased in August to do an exclusive series called Heels. Through their regular pipeline from Lionsgate, they have a regular flow of day and date originals from Starz Encore in the US. But they are Starz Originals, not Jawwy Originals. As an aggregator, we promote them as a Starz Original. We have a small but strong inventory of programmes that are exclusive to Jawwy TV that we use to differentiate the Jawwy TV position. StarzPlay and Discovery and the rest are marketing tent poles to drive the differentiation, consideration, subscription acquisition and retention.” The trick, he says, is to drive engagement through established

content, which sets the ball rolling for other aspects of the OTT operation. “Once we get them in the tent, they see everything.” Even the most basic content decisions, however, are based on consumer data. Dada provided a view of how programming pans out on the ground. “Most of the feedback that I give here is based on consumer data. For us, what makes a lot of sense and gets really high consumption from the majority of our subscription base is always the new series, which air at the same time as the US. We have a lot of partnerships that allow us to do that, for example Billions and the upcoming new season of Dexter through our output deal with Showtime.” Starzplay data also shows that viewers love evergreen comedy box sets such as The

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Office and Big Bang Theory. Dada continued: “Two of the things that made a turn for us were Turkish content and anime. Saudi Arabia is heavily into anime, but we haven’t seen any platforms really dig heavier into that or expand their library, at least not for the top ten worldwide anime series. We started with a low volume. We saw considerable engagement and started growing that part of our library.” He added that the streaming service is continuously experimenting and testing. They are currently looking into Spanish and Latin American content, though he confesses it’s been hit and miss with some others, like Russian and Korean content. What are the conditions for such a test run, and how does one factor in the economics of such an investment? Dada simply says: “Try and buy.” “We try the content for a short period of time to understand how the content performs on the platform. If the content does not

perform well, we take a short licence for it. If it does perform, then we expand the relationship. This way, we mitigate the risk as much as possible,” he said, adding that alongside this, StarzPlay makes extensive marketing commitments for each new release. The discussion then moved to tailoring global products for regional audiences, given that dubbing is prohibitively expensive, and whether that is a deterrent to investing in the market. “Not for MENA,” said South. “After so many years in the business, localisation and language are a key part of the operations at Discovery. All of that is factored in, with any kind of production/commissioning costs as well. Maybe for some of our smaller regions, it can be an issue. Maybe where we factored in a localisation budget and our consumers there only want their specific language – not only on the programmes but also on the title treatment – it can be a consideration, but not for MENA.” The challenge with dubbing, Beermann observed, is when the content is not originally in English.

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This complicates the problem because there are several Arabic dialects to consider. “The challenge is what do we do with programming that is not originally in Arabic or English. Turkish, Spanish telenovelas, which were introduced long before Turkish soaps, at the beginning of satellite TV in MENA. They were dubbed largely because people who were distributing it were also in the version distribution business. Comedy, we would dub in the Egyptian dialect because that’s the expectation. That is where comedy is produced. Arabic costume drama, we would dub in Syrian because it’s a Bedouin language and that’s the expectation of the viewer. There’s a method.” Asked which dialects work, Beermann suggested that the focus needs to shift to a different consideration in this era of digital viewership. “I think it’s time to take a really hard look at whether the preference for non-English scripted drama on TV, or on streaming services that you may watch on a variety of different screen sizes, is for dubbing or subtitling.” Dada said StarzPlay does closed captioning and subtitling for all of its content. While dubbing is primarily for foreign language content from Turkey, Japan and so on, they leave the choice of language to the user. “We also offer the user the ability to listen to the original audio. That’s quite heavily used on Japanese anime. We have dubbed series in Arabic, like Naruto, but we have not seen users lean into the dub. They choose the original audio with subtitles. Preferences change if you give the users the option to choose.” What does this mean in economic terms for MENA’s global content evolution? Dada illustrated how StarzPlay overcame the cost hurdle when it comes to dubbing: by fostering what may become

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“We made a conscious decision in 2017, when we sold the strategy to the group, not to be in the pure play SVOD business. This allows us to offer a much broader spectrum of programming” Luke Beermann, GM of Content, Intigral (STC) a new industry practice. “In the last couple of years, dubbing rates have been in the higher figures. A lot of the assets that we have, anime or Turkish, involve a lot of volume. Working with the same dubbing and subtitling agencies tends to be challenging, because everyone is benchmarking numbers against each other; they are all a tight circle. We have stepped back from that circle. We work with up-and-coming companies who have affordable rates but are using the same voice talent. As a business, it needs to make financial sense for us.” Will linear TV survive the onslaught of video on demand? There was a healthy debate around this question, with

Beermann favouring linear and Dada claiming he hadn’t watched a TV channel in three years. Beermann maintained: “We find that linear TV is much more likely to be viewed on a large screen than on a small screen. So when we added smart TVs to our available devices, linear viewing doubled. We’re growing the size of the market.” Dada countered by saying that users are more preoccupied with choice. “The user can watch a linear channel on TV, same as a streaming service on TV. The user’s preference in terms of size or screen is not going to change based on how the content is delivered. What is changing is whether the user wants a planner to tell him what to watch, which is your linear channel, or whether the user wants to make that decision her/himself. And for me, I believe that’s where the shift is happening.” South proved to be the balancing act, stating that both panellists were right. “It’s a subjective choice going forward. We will always have both of the options available, and there will be a personal choice: would you want to navigate and find your own content at the time that suits you, or you have three hours and want to be fed whatever is on schedule on the linear feed. I don’t think linear TV is dying. Our linear business is still very important to us. I think it is going to be how the proportions are shared going forward.” Beermann found support in the audience when he agreed that machine learning and big data-enabled VOD platforms don’t necessarily allow viewer autonomy – rather, they only create an impression of it. “Let me describe the smart Netflix subscriber. They subscribe for the first month of each quarter of the year. And then they disconnect. They watch everything they want in thirty days. And they come back two months later.” Dada gave in to this argument and agreed that we are yet to witness the perfect platform. The audience welcomed another

lesson in OTT 101 from Beermann, this time on the topic of curation. “The point of curation is to manage the publication of your inventory and market it smartly. This is why weekly publishing works. They publish day and date with a linear schedule in one place, because they want to mitigate the piracy inherent in the gap between the linear broadcast and when you publish in VOD somewhere else, or when you schedule in a linear channel in a distinct market. You are also building appointment viewing. The reason that you sit and scroll and realise, ‘Oh, I wasted 45 minutes looking at posters on Netflix,’ is because you are there. They got you there in the first place. It’s important how you do that.” Grande concluded the panel by underlining the promising future of OTT for MENA and for the world. “All this is opening up MENA to more producers. At the same time. one hopes that this will be true for Arabic producers internationally. Like D+, who are in partnership with Jawwy, with StarzPlay, are getting things out there, selling it to the US, to France, big Arabic-speaking populations. But then ultimately into English and so on. This is what I am hoping.” - Nishtha Singh

Nick Grande, CEO of mena.tv.

November 2021 | www.broadcastprome.com | 45

PROIBC

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

Michael Crimp, CEO of IBC gives us a preview of the preparations IBC has made to receive attendees in light of the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic How is IBC preparing for the upcoming edition? IBC’s main priority is delivering a safe live event for the content and technology industry. The past couple of years have been tough for everyone, but it has been inspiring to see the industry transcend the pandemic’s challenges and continue to collaborate and innovate at pace and scale. We think now is the right time for the industry to get together again to educate, learn and network at an in-person event. The overwhelmingly positive feedback from the industry supports our decision to return to Amsterdam in December. We have some exciting plans in store for IBC2021, most notably for our content programme, which will be available for free to all attendees. This means all attendees will be able to watch our convention keynotes, featuring industry visionaries from Discovery Inc., Fox Sports, HBO Max, Netflix, Olympic Broadcasting Services, Starz, Unity Technologies and Warner Media. The convention keynotes will be hosted in the new Showcase Theatre in Hall 12, along with thought leadership-led sessions on rapid-growth markets from exhibitors and sponsors. We’ll also have four themed Show Floor Stages placed in the main exhibitor halls with dedicated themes: Production & Post-production, Content Supply Chain, OTT/Direct to Consumer (Content Everywhere), and Live & Remote Production. Innovation is the fifth theme for this year’s content programme, which will be mirrored in presentations from sessions from the 2021 Technical Papers Programme and IBC owners. The 2021 Accelerator Media Innovation Programme also falls under the theme of Innovation and will showcase boundarybreaking live demonstrations, along with discussions with participants about their challenges and solutions. The IBC Innovation Awards will also return, and this year we’ll be spotlighting collaborative projects and announcing the recipient for IBC’s highest accolade: the IBC International Honour for Excellence. How are exhibitor and visitor numbers faring this year? This year we are on track for at least 700 exhibitors at

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the show, and visitors can expect to see exciting demos and hear the latest industry insights from major industry players, such as Amazon Web Services, Blackmagic Design, EVS, Grass Valley, Nagra and Synamedia. Over the past month, we've also experienced a sharp uptick in visitor registrations, which were buoyed by the Dutch government removing any need for fully vaccinated visitors to quarantine upon entry into The Netherlands. This means that coming to IBC is possible for almost 100% of our usual visitors. Are you expecting Middle East attendees this year? If it’s safe and viable, we hope to see exhibitors and visitors from the Middle East. Some Middle Eastern countries are on the EU’s safe travel list. However, we understand that it may not be possible for everyone to travel to Amsterdam, but they will be able to join onscreen at home via IBC Digital to avoid missing any of the action. What would you say to potential visitors concerned about health and safety? We welcomed the Dutch government’s decision to relax Covid-19 restrictions and remove the 1.5m social distancing requirements and mandatory wearing of masks. It means IBC exhibitors and visitors will enjoy an enriched experience based on simpler safety protocols. In line with the Dutch government’s announcement, IBC will relax several guidelines that previously compromised the value proposition of the show, such as meeting room and stand capacity, and face masks and personal contact — this will now be at the individual’s discretion. However, at the beginning of this year I said that health and safety are of paramount importance, and this hasn’t changed. IBC will still have a perimeter fence around the venue. This is mainly to provide a safe environment for people to come and go smoothly in the knowledge that all attendees will have been vaccinated, tested negative or have proof of recent recovery from the virus. Similar to the Dutch guidelines for entry into the Netherlands, access will be granted by means of a digital Covid certificate, paper proof of an EU-approved

PROIBC

Michael Crimp says IBC Digital will empower all attendees, whether attending in person or virtually, to create their own IBC experience.

vaccine, a negative covid test or evidence of recent recovery. This documentation will be required daily. We urge visitors to respect others’ personal preferences and sensitivities around those areas. Additional cleaning and sanitising stations will still be evident, along with signage reminding people to respect others’ choices. Respect is the key message for everyone attending the show, and I am confident that the industry will come together and support individuals’ preferences and levels of comfort. Could you elaborate on some tech trends that IBC intends to spotlight this year? One of the things I’m most excited about is the return of the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, because it’s spotlighting key industry trends and helping solve them through cross-company collaboration. One of the major industry trends is 5G, poised to revolutionise how we deliver, watch and interact with content. 5G is a big focus for this year’s Accelerator Programme, and project participants are developing innovative solutions in three areas: Innovation in Live Production Workflows; Remote Production in Live Sports; and how it is enabling LB XR (LocationBased eXtended Realities). AI will also be a big trend, and Al Jazeera is leading a project on how AI can be used to detect, measure and flag bias and tonality in the representation and portrayal of diverse genders, cultures and ethnicities in reportage and news coverage. Sky is leading an RT-3D Interactive Content Creation project for multi-platform distribution. There are also projects focused on providing low-cost smart animated remote production and Immersive audio and sound Imagery. A team of world-class broadcasters are leading a project on sustainability in live production, examining how

sessions, exhibitors and products, creating an individualised IBC experience for every attendee. All of the sessions from this year’s content programme will be streamed live or made available on-demand on IBC Digital for all attendees, ensuring the compelling insights from industry leaders are accessible to everyone. This content schedule will run from IBC Digital’s launch date of October 21st, until the end of March 2022.

“We have some exciting plans in store for IBC2021, most notably for our content programme, which will be available for free to all attendees” Michael Crimp, CEO, IBC to improve production efficiencies and reduce energy consumption. Any special features that IBC hopes to have in place this year? IBC Digital launched on 21st October and will empower all attendees, whether attending in person or virtually, to create their own IBC experience. IBC Digital is not separate from the show. It will run in tandem with the live event and was created to enhance the IBC show experience for exhibitors and visitors in Amsterdam and those attending online. As a part of the IBC Digital platform, attendees will be able to schedule online meetings with exhibitors and other attendees, review exhibitor profiles and invite colleagues to live meetings. The information provided by attendees during the registration process will be used by IBC Digital's powerful AI technology to offer personalised recommendations for

Following the pandemic, what’s your outlook on the future of trade shows? There is no doubt that the future of trade shows is hybrid. We believe in-person events will still be a business imperative for most companies, because they provide unique opportunities to build meaningful relationships with customers, partners and industry peers. When I talk to people about what they miss the most about IBC, more often than not they tell me about the impromptu meetings and conversations that happen everywhere from the show floor to the cafés and hotel lobbies, and lead to incredible partnerships, projects and even friendships. However, we are now at a point where technology can and should be integrated into live events to make them more accessible than ever before. Just because a speaker, exhibitor or visitor cannot be at the live event doesn’t mean they should miss out on the opportunity to participate in knowledge sharing, sales and networking. Additionally, an event’s digital offering should not only be for an online attendee. When we created IBC Digital, we wanted it to benefit all IBC Show attendees, regardless of whether they’re on the show floor or onscreen at home. We believe a true hybrid event will combine the best live and digital elements and create a compelling, personalised experience for each attendee.

November 2021 | www.broadcastprome.com | 47

PROGUEST

“As a mission-critical system, VAR calls for a dedicated service provider with the equipment, know-how and experience”

VAR: a new bonanza for national football associations? Since its first implementation at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, video assistant referee (VAR) systems have been rolled out across several international championships and national leagues. Now included in the laws of the game, VAR is fast becoming a priority for many national football associations across the Middle East and Africa. Initially designed for competitions with large-scale broadcast productions that use twenty or more cameras and multiple super slow-motion feeds, VAR requirements have been simplified. They can now be implemented for games covered with more modest means, and FIFA recently published VAR Light specifications for matches produced with eight cameras or fewer. Implementing VAR for a federation or football association is still a journey that involves multiple parties and requires careful planning. As an extension to the officiating process, VAR is driven first and foremost by referees. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) specifies the process that must be followed to roll out VAR within their federations in its implementation handbook and via its Implementation Assistance and Approval Programme (IAAP). Referees are not alone, though. A service provider must be identified to provide the audiovisual infrastructure required to operate VAR. Beyond the video operation rooms (VOR) that host video assistant referees, their assistants and eventual replay operators, this infrastructure needs integration. It must connect

to the wireless intercom system used by referees on the pitch, and to the video production facilities deployed by the host broadcaster. As a mission-critical system, VAR calls for a dedicated service provider with the equipment, knowhow and experience. As such, VAR constitutes a new opportunity for production companies either as an extension to their host broadcasting operations or as an independent service. Setting up such an offering means adequate infrastructure but also training, certification and project management. Several aspects need to be accounted for. Based on the available in-country telecom infrastructure, whether to go for a centralised implementation can be considered. Where fibre to all stadiums exists, a central facility consolidating multiple VORs can be implemented. Such remote operations require consistent connectivity to ensure that camera signals are transmitted with sufficient quality and that intercom voice communications between video assistant referees and their colleagues in the field enjoy low latency. To date, such fibre infrastructure remains rare or too costly, and local in-stadium VAR deployments prove easier to implement. Depending on the host broadcaster’s infrastructure, VAR systems need to be properly dimensioned to handle the number and types of camera feeds used to cover the games. Video format (SD, 1080i, 1080p or UHD), frame rate (PAL, slow motion or super

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slomo) and transport medium (SDI, HD-SDI, NDI, quad SDI or SMPTE 2110) need to be accounted for. If broadcast coverage of games is sporadic, dedicated camera and audiovisual infrastructure may be required in stadiums to ensure availability of VAR services. Beyond these technical considerations, overall project management is key to ensuring that adequate training is delivered and FIFA certification is seamless. This certification process needs to be carefully scheduled, as it aims to validate the skills of both future video assistant referees and replay operators. Finally, once systems are rolled out and implemented, on-going technical support must guarantee operational readiness throughout the season. Above and beyond specific IFAB and FIFA requirements, the roll-out of VAR services could well contribute to the emergence of a new wave of sports programming. As video infrastructure becomes a must-have, football leagues and competitions that have yet to be broadcast over the air could find a driver that contributes to their distribution over the internet and mobile networks. A new breed of OTT provider that seeks to offer live coverage of regional and local games over smartphones and smart TVs could well knock on the doors of football federations and national associations; the corresponding broadcast rights would be all the more welcome since they would contribute to financing VAR implementations. Time will tell. Nicolas is a partner at Broadcast Solutions Middle East and Africa

BroadcastPro ME November 2021

Articles inside

GUEST COLUMN

COVER – EXPO 2020 SHINES A LIGHT ON DUBAI

CABSAT 2021 WRAP-UP

Israel Esteban on the last 12 months for beIN and what to expect in 2022

A look at how to lead in the MENA OTT space

Exploring the content acquisition journey

THE SHOW MUST GO ON