Digital Broadcast - May 2010 by ITP Business Publishing

THE BUSINESS OF DIGITAL CONTENT DELIVERY

An ITP Business Publication

ON THE BALL EXCLUSIVE: ADMC reveals its EPL distribution secrets

JOINED UP TV The interactive TV tech you need to drive real revenues

ACCESS ALL AREAS Middle East IT giant set to storm regional media industry Licensed by Dubai Media City

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 5 MAY 2010

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CONTENTS

HIGHLIGHTS 2 WEB Spot poll: How confident has NAB left you?; top web stories; editor’s choice: the iPad launch.

BRIEFING 6 THE twofour54 unveils new home; Dubai media zones merge; France Telecom eyes Middle East.

ACTION 14 MBC Digital Broadcast gets some MBC action with a tour of the network’s headquarters.

STORY: 20 COVER ON THE BALL Abu Dhabi Media Company execs reveal the firm’s ambitious EPL distribution strategy.

THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE FAMILY OF DIGITAL TV MONITORING, MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS PRODUCTS IN THE WORLD

ANALYSIS 40 MARKET Consumer consumtpion habits are changing with digital media the big winner.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE...

JOINED UP TV

SERVER STRAIN

The interactive TV applications that offer real revenue opportunities.

The broadcast servers ready to deal with the increasing demands placed on them.

www.digitalproductionme.com

MAY 2010 01

DPME.COM ROUND-UP

The online home of:

CARTOON NETWORK TO LAUNCH UAE ACADEMY The Cartoon Network announced that it was to open an academy in Abu Dhabi’s twofour54 media precinct. The animation training centre will open in September 2010. digitalproductionme.com/news

READER COMMENT: “Cartoon Network never produced cartoons and never did training. It is just a platform that acquires and commissions cartoons so how are they going to train talent?” Dave, Dubai, UAE.

TECOM Investments merges Dubai Media zones

MEIFF rebranded as Abu Dhabi Film Festival

EPL UPDATE 1: ‘We will pursue 3D’, says ADMC

4 5

OSN expands HD bouquet Al Arabiya launches live HD streaming service

DATE: April 28

MOST POPULAR STORIES

EDITOR’S CHOICE IN PICTURES

THE IPAD LAUNCH

ALSO ON THE DPME SLATE THIS MONTH... INTERVIEWS

POWER PLAYERS

THE SHOW GOES ON AT OSN

Leading global industry figures debate the future of Arab Media in Abu Dhabi.

Mike Whittaker talks tech rationalisation at pay TV operator OSN.

SPOT POLL

digitalproductionme.com/analysis

digitalproductionme.com/interviews

TECHNOLOGY

COMMENT

PROLIGHT + SOUND 2010

WHY THE PROS LOVE NAB

Ten products not to miss from Europe’s leading AV technology trade event. digitalproductionme.com/technology 02 MAY 2010

Apple fan-boys (and girls) queue round the block to get their hands on the iPad.

New technologies and trends are frequently on show in Vegas before anywhere else. digitalproductionme.com/comment

DID NAB 2010 LEAVE YOU FEELING CONFIDENT?

50%

Very, lots of deals being done.

32%

Reasonably confident, the traffic was ok.

14%

Depressed, unless you’re interested in 3D that is.

Not especially.

DATE: April 28

ANALYSIS

www.digitalproductionme.com

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COMMENT

Registered at Dubai Media City PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE Tel: 00 971 4 210 8000, Fax: 00 971 4 210 8080 Web: www.itp.com Offices in Dubai & London ITP BUSINESS PUBLISHING CEO Walid Akawi Managing Director Neil Davies Deputy Managing Director Matthew Southwell Editorial Director David Ingham VP Sales Wayne Lowery Commercial Director Fred Dubery EDITORIAL Senior Group Editor Robeel Haq Tel: +971 4 210 8597 email: robeel.haq@itp.com Editor John Parnell Tel: +971 4 210 8655 email: john.parnell@itp.com ADVERTISING Commercial Director Fred Dubery Tel: +971 4 210 8381 email: fred@itp.com Sales Manager Gavin Murphy Tel: +971 4 210 8272 email: gavin.murphy@itp.com Japan Advertising Representative Mikio Tsuchiya Tel: + 81 354 568230 email: ua9m-tcy@asahi-net.or.jp STUDIO Group Art Editor Daniel Prescott Designer Lucy McMurray PHOTOGRAPHY Director of Photography Sevag Davidian Chief Photographer Khatuna Khutsishvili Senior Photographers G-nie Arambulo, Efraim Evidor, Thanos Lazopoulos Staff Photographers Isidora Bojovic, George Dipin, Lyubov Galushko, Jovana Obradovic, Ruel Pableo, Rajesh Raghav PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION Group Production Manager Kyle Smith Deputy Production Manager Matthew Grant Managing Picture Editor Patrick Littlejohn Image Editor Emmalyn Robles Distribution Manager Karima Ashwell Distribution Executive Nada Al Alami CIRCULATION Head of Circulation & Database Gaurav Gulati MARKETING Head of Marketing Daniel Fewtrell ITP DIGITAL Director Peter Conmy ITP GROUP Chairman Andrew Neil Managing Director Robert Serafin Finance Director Toby Jay Spencer-Davies Board of Directors K.M. Jamieson, Mike Bayman, Walid Akawi, Neil Davies, Rob Corder, Mary Serafin

CONTENT QUOTA?

he regulatory framework for broadcasters in the Middle East is notoriously fragmented with national and multi-national bodies simultaneously trying to exhort a degree of control on the industry in an environment that is severely disjointed. The MENA market is commonly referred to as unique due to the 300 million people all speaking Arabic. This might be true but are all these people really ‘speaking the same language’? Cultural differences, tastes and preferences vary greatly within this vast area, yet broadcasting is more or less universal from one end to the other. While market liberalisation and other freedoms are often held as the ideals that any media industry should pursue, it could well be possible that the Middle East is in fact in need of more regulation. Regulation could help clarify the confusing censorship issues in the Middle East that see one broadcaster painstakingly editing out material that is openly shown on the next channel. The agreement of a watershed to keep material not suitable for children restricted to certain times

would only work if all stations agreed, something a pan-regional body could enforce. Next is the issue of local content production. In other markets, public broadcasters are required to screen a minimum quota of locally produced content. The region is looking for ways to stimulate local content production. What better way than to use a regulatory body to enforce a minimum quota? As well as boosting the industry, it would also contribute towards several of the goals set up by culture and heritage authorities throughout the Middle East by telling local stories in the local language. The present system is complex for all involved. A singular, more powerful unit that understands and mitigates for the diversity of the region, whilst acknowledging its discrepancies could have a surprisingly positive effect.

JOHN PARNELL Editor john.parnell@itp.com

Circulation Customer Service Tel: +971 4 210 8000 Certain images in this issue are available for purchase. Please contact itpimages @itp.com for further details or visit www.itpimages.com. Printed by Color Lines Printing Press

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FOR THE LATEST NEWS, ANALYSIS AND REVIEWS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST CONTENT DELIVERY, MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND NEW MEDIA DISTRIBUTION BUSINESS HEAD TO DIGITALPRODUCTIONME.COM

TO SUBSCRIBE please visit www.itp.com/subscriptions MAY 2010 05

THE BRIEFING

GOOD MONTH YOUTUBE The video sharing site has just celebrated its fifth anniversary. The company has been looking for a way to turn eyeballs into dollars. Now the firm may have found its golden ticket to profitability. Last month CEO Chad Hurley and other execs indicated they would begin focusing on increasing the number of minutes users spend on the site, allowing them to tap into the multi-billion dollar TV advertising market.

BAD MONTH BEBO AOL’s once wildly successful social network Bebo announced that its UK profits fell 143 percent. Bebo cost AOL US $850m in 2008 but has since been a victim of Facebook’s ongoing surge in popularity. Bebo’s daily reach has halved in the past six months. A leaked internal email by Jon Brod, EVP AOL ventures stated that the service would “require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space” appearing to signal that AOL was ready to sell.

06 MAY 2010

BROADCAST BUSINESS

TWOFOUR54 UNVEILS NEW LOOK CAMPUS World leading architects and design consultants combine on project Twofour54, Abu Dhabi’s media production zone unveiled the masterplan for its new 600,000sqm campus in Mena Zayed last month. Some of the world’s leading architects and consultants have been engaged to work on the project that will showcase a bold waterfront development close to the UAE capital’s Corniche. Bernard Tschumi, who has provided the concept master plan for the project, was responsible for the plans of Mediapolis, Singapore and France’s Parc de la Villette. UN studio, which won the design competition for Zone 1, will work under lead consultant Adamson Associates International while Kohn Pedersen Fox has been appointed to develop Zone 2, which will house Abu Dhabi Media Company’s (ADMC) new HQ. Wayne Borg, COO twofour54 called the new campus “a spectacular addition to Abu Dhabi’s skyline; a symbol of Abu Dhabi’s commitment to deliver on the Emirate’s 2030 economic vision”.

“This campus is the embodiment of the creative ecosystem that we have been creating at twofour54; specifically designed to allow the Arab content creation community to flourish,” he stated. • Twofour54 also extended its children’s content partnerships signing deals with The Cartoon Network and local animation firm Blink Studios. The new campus will open in stages starting in 2014.

MONTH IN NUMBERS

12,000

220,000sqm

Number of people that will work at the completed twofour54 campus at Mena Zayed.

The amount of office space available at the site by 2018.

AL ARABIYA LAUNCHES LIVE HD STREAMING Al Arabiya news channel launched a live HD stream of its broadcasts last month. The service uses adaptive bit rate technology to ensure that individual users receive the best possible quality that can be supported by their internet connection at that moment in time. “This feature enables us to provide the best picture quality to high speed internet users around the world and in parallel helps Al Arabiya to overcome problems caused by limited broadband internet access in the MENA region,” according to

Nasser Alsarami, head of media at Al Arabiya. The technology underlying the service has been provided by Arvato Mobile. “The way we are doing this is very unique. The challenge was to create a big reach so everyone can access the video and simply click and view,” said Ingo Lalla, VP IPTV and platform services, Arvato Mobile. “That is why it was decided to base this service on Flash, which is on 95 percent of all computers rather than something like Silverlight which is on less than 40 percent of all computers.” www.digitalproductionme.com

THE BRIEFING

BROADCAST BUSINESS

TECOM MERGES DUBAI MEDIA ZONES AMID SHAKE-UP Jamal Al Sharif to take on new role as managing director of Dubai Media City and Studio City

Jamal Al Sharif, MD, Dubai Media and Studio City.

TECOM Investments has announced that its 11 business parks will be consolidated into five clusters, including one dedicated to media. The move will see Dubai Studio City, Media City and the International Media Production Zone (IMPZ) working more closely in the future. Jamal Al Sharif, the former executive director of Studio City becomes the managing director of both Dubai Media City and Studio City. Saeed Al Falasi remains the executive director of IMPZ. “We have more partners and more responsibilities but this creates better op-

portunities for us as well as our partners,” said Al Sharif. “I have been working with TECOM for the last nine years but I expect that this restructuring will make it easier than ever to connect the partners of each zone together,” added Al Sharif. “I have announced a new internal structure that will see a partner relations development team put in place. Their job is purely to work closely with our partners in the media zones and see what we can do to help them improve their business. We are also putting together a database of our partners so that they can create better synergies,” revealed Al Sharif.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

Sometimes it has felt like the entire company is working on the EPL!

ADMC’S RICKY GHAI ON THE HECTIC PROCESS OF PUTTING THE FIRM’S AMBITIOUS DISTRIBUTION PLANS FOR THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE IN PLACE AHEAD OF THE NEW SEASON IN AUGUST.

Dennis Wharton.

Peter Scarlet, executive director, ADFF.

NAB OFFICIALS CLAIM ATTENDANCE RISE AT 2010 SHOW

MEIFF EVENT REBRANDED AS ABU DHABI FILM FESTIVAL

SYRIAN ASSEMBLY SHAKES UP BROADCAST REGULATIONS

According to NAB figures, the number of registered attendees for the this year’s show was 88,044 as opposed to 82,650 in 2009. “Content professionals from across the globe turned out in force at the NAB Show, and we’re delighted by the extraordinarily positive feedback,” said NAB executive VP Dennis Wharton.

The Middle East International Film Festival (MEIFF) will adopt the title Abu Dhabi Film Festival to strengthen connections with the emirate. “It’s common practice for major international film festivals to name themselves after the town in which their principal screenings take place,” said Peter Scarlet, executive director, ADFF.

Syria’s People’s Assembly passed a law earlier last month to establish a new unit called the Public Body for Radio and TV Production. The body is expected to replace the TV Production Directorate of Syrian Radio and TV and have greater autonomy. The new law will enable the body to work as an independent entity.

www.digitalproductionme.com

MAY 2010 07

THE BRIEFING

Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) will add six HD channels to its current line-up. The new additions will bring the total number of HD offerings from OSN to nine. The new channels include Sundance channel HD, Outdoor channel HD, Food Network HD, Fashion TV HD, Fox Sports HD and Showsports 1 HD. “HD is the biggest

BROADCAST BRIEFS

OSN TO EXTEND HIGH DEFINITION BOUQUET

DELIVERY

YAHLIVE STRIKES UPLINK DEAL WITH JMC TELEPORT Parent company also signs landmark Shariah-compliant insurance deal YahLive has signed a deal with Jordan Media City (JMC) for playout and uplink services, the two companies have revealed. The agreement will allow YahLive to offer its clients from the Levant the option to uplink from JMC, with playout facilities also available. “We have agreed to have two transponders worth of bandwidth,” said Mohamed Youssif, CEO, YahLive. “The number of channels that this represents will vary depending on how many are standard- or high-definition,” added Youssif. “We want to have a number of uplink facilities contracted to us to make sure that we are close to the customers and can give them the option of where they uplink from,” said Youssif.

Yahsat, the satellite operator behind YahLive, also announced that it had signed the first Shariah-compliant insurance for satellite operations. “Insurance protection is an integral part of our satellite programme. With firm roots in the region, we are proud to be the first organisation to use a Shariah-compliant insurance solution for space programs,” said Mohamed Youssif, Jassem Al Zaabi, CEO, YahLive. CEO, Yahsat.

16.6% development to happen in TV in the last 15 years,” said Marc-Antoine d’Halluin, CEO, OSN. “Less than ten months since Orbit and Showtime merged, we are very proud to be the first network to offer subscribers a line-up of nine exclusive HD channels from world-renowned brands.” The operator is presently in the process of swapping subscribers’ Showtime boxes with its new OSN decoders. Viewers will require the new boxes to receive the service. OSN is presently the only pay TV operator in the region to offer HD with Dolby Digital surround sound.

08 MAY 2010

The continued growth rate of mobile phone subscriptions in the Arab world in 2009.

MOVERS & SHAKERS OMNEON PROMOTES FERREIRA TO TOP EMEA SALES JOB Omneon announced the promotion of Manuel Ferreira to the position of vice president of sales for EMEA. Ferreira has been involved in both the technical and sales aspects of the broadcast industry for more than two decades. Ferreira’s 20 years in the technology industry includes various technical service and support roles with major companies such as Sun Microsystems, MIPS, and SGI.

EL SOKKARI SWAPS BBC ARABIC FOR YAHOO! Hosam El Sokkari has left his position as head of BBC Arabic to become the head of Yahoo! Channels in the Middle East. El Sokkari was at the BBC for 15 years as a journalist, presenter and manager. He launched the BBC Arabic website in 1999 and became the first Arab to head the service in 2004. He will take charge of Yahoo’s English-, French- and Arabic-language services in the Middle East.

www.digitalproductionme.com

THE BRIEFING

ERTU BOOSTS SIGNAL QUALITY State broadcaster Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) recently invested in a new contribution and distribution video headend solution from Ericsson to upgrade its broadcast network. Commenting on the investment, Hamdy Mounir, chairman of ERTU stated: “ERTU has a duty to Egyptian viewers to provide the best TV experience possible, which is why we continue our efforts to upgrade our network”. Eric Baron, head of EMEA region, Solution Area TV, Ericsson claimed the order was “further evidence of the company’s leadership in the contribution & distribution market”.

Nan & Lili, an Arabic animated preschool series created by director and executive producer Firdaus Kharas for Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC), will be distributed worldwide by Classic Media, it was announced. The show, which was unveiled to buyers at MIPTV, was created for a global audience of preschool boys and girls (2-4yrs). Two-hundred episodes of three minutes each have been created in three languages: Arabic, English and French. Onehundred more episodes are presently in development and will be delivered later this year.

L to R- Firdaus Kharas, creator of Nan and Lili, Malika Alouane, director of programming at JCC, Chloe van den Berg, EVP, Classic Media.

TELECOMS MARKET DU EYES NETWORK UPGRADES

FT CEO PLANS MENA INVESTMENT

The UAE’s second telco operator du declared that it would be investing heavily in improvements to its mobile broadband network and would begin to push harder into new areas such as digital content and social networking. “We will be investing in our infrastructure and we will be investing in continuing and accelerating our mobile broadband coverage,” said Osman Sultan, CEO, du. The operator will also look to develop its MediaLabs business as it looks to find new sources of growth. “We don’t think this will be capital intensive for the coming three to four years, this is to prepare for what we believe is the [new] world for telecos in five, six or seven years from now.”

Teleco giant France Telecom is sizing up acquisitions and new licences in the Middle East and Africa as it sets about doubling the amount of revenue it generates in emerging markets. In an interview with Bloomberg, recently appointed CEO Stephane Richard said the group may invest as much as US$9.3 billion over the next five years in the region. “If we can buy a portfolio of assets to arrive more rapidly, that’s very good. If it’s necessary to buy licences country by country, that works also,” he told the newswire. As well as a presence in 14 countries in Africa, France Telecom has a 51 percent stake in Jordan Telecom Group (JTG), which in 2007 adopted the Orange brand for its services in Jordan.

www.digitalproductionme.com

BROADCAST BRIEFS

CLASSIC MEDIA ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO JCC SERIES

TURKISH BROADCASTER TO LAUNCH ARABIC CHANNEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST The Turkish Radio Television Association (TRT) has launched an Arabic language channel for the Middle East. The channel was officially opened in Istanbul last month by Turkish Prime Minister Rajeb Tayeb. The station will look to capitalise on the recent popularity of Turkish soaps screened by MBC such as Nour and Aliye, which have dominated free to air ratings in the region. The final episode of Nour is reported to have attracted an audience of 85 million – a record for the MENA region. A trial broadcast was conducted for two weeks prior to launch with the full channel now being transmitted by Noorsat.

SOUTH INDIAN NETWORK MULLS MENA EXPANSION South Indian broadcaster Sun TV Network has announced plans to launch two free-to-air channels from Dubai to cater to the South Indian population in the Middle East. Sun will open an office in Dubai and have a dedicated editorial and sales team to manage its daily Middle East operations. Vijay Babu, VP of Surya TV, confirmed the move and stated that the network will enter the Middle East market “with its flagship channels, Surya TV and Sun TV”. MAY 2010 09

THE BRIEFING

L to R- Firdaus Kharas, creator of Nan and Lili, Malika Alouane, director of programming at JCC, Chloe van den Berg, EVP, Classic Media.

TELECOMS MARKET DU EYES NETWORK UPGRADES

FT CEO PLANS MENA INVESTMENT

09 www.digitalproductionme.com

BROADCAST BRIEFS

CLASSIC MEDIA ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO JCC SERIES

NEWS REVIEW

PEOPLE METERS: WHO’S WATCHING? T Digital Broadcast investigates the impending UAE people meter project and the unique challenges it presents.

012 MAY 2010

he potential benefits of a TV audience measurement system in the Middle East are well documented. The challenge facing the industry now is to implement the system in the markets where it matters most. The progress of the UAE people meter project received a significant boost last year when the National Media Council (NMC) became involved. The organisation’s involvement has helped to pull together the various stakeholders and accelerate the

project’s development. The NMC hired Capgemini Consulting to assess the best route for a people meter in the UAE and reported its findings last October. “We recommended the use of a large panel size for the UAE of between 750-1000 households. The population profile in the UAE is very complex and the structure of the sample that you use must represent this,” says Romain Delavenne, director of telecom, media and entertainment in the Middle East for Capgemini Consulting.

www.digitalproductionme.com

NEWS REVIEW

region. There is both pan-regional and national advertising – a situation not repeated anywhere else – so it is hard to say for sure,” says Delavenne. “If an advertiser is given the option of investing in the UAE market once it has a people meter in place, or in a another Gulf country of a similar size, it is quite an easy choice.” The benefits of audience measurement extend beyond the obvious boost to advertising revenues. “A people meter will improve the economy. It offers advertisers better value for money and more confidence. It allows broadcasters to attract more advertising as well as providing feedback on the audiences across the programming schedule. “The people meter issue has never been about why, but how. All the parties agree that this is a crucial development. It is difficult however to balance who is going to pay for what, it is a complex situation that requires much discussion,” says Delavenne. The negotiation phase has also been a lengthy one in Saudi Arabia, where its so-called Project Illumination measurement scheme has been making slow progress for years. Delavenne is confident that the involvement of the NMC will play a crucial role in moving the UAE project to the implementation stage. “Discussions about people meters seem to have been going on in the Middle East for 10 years now. The NMC is now telling the UAE market it is important to put in place and that was an important step,” he says. The NMC has stated that the UAE people meter is now in an advanced phase and has said it expects it to be operational in the very near future.

Online advertising has overtaken TV revenue in some markets. People meter implementations would boost the future of the ad spot in the Middle East.

www.digitalproductionme.com

THE PEOPLE METER PLAYERS

“This is around 1000 sample homes representing a country of 1 million households in total. In the UK the panel is 5000 homes for a country 20 million households. The UAE sampling must be around four times denser,” adds Delavenne. Recommending a larger panel also means suggesting an investment that is larger than previously thought. “The bigger the panel the more expensive it is. But when you look at the size of investment required to go from 500 to 1000 households, it is not very much compared to the value of the credibility that a large panel brings,” explains Delavenne. “Nobody should have reason to be suspicious about the quality of the information. All the value is based on this credibility. The involvement of the NMC as a neutral body is important. If one channel does its own numbers then those results could be prejudiced.” This value presents itself in the form of an expanded TV advertising business. Delavenne says that this does not mean that money from other mediums with be transferred to TV, instead it will attract advertisers to increase their investment in advertising where a people meter system is in place. “Advertisers in the Middle East tend to use print and outdoor more than elsewhere because these two mediums are measurable. The impact of a people meter will be to bring new investment to TV. If you cannot measure, you cannot sell. “The [UAE] ad market is worth around half what it should be. It is difficult to place an accurate number on the impact a people meter could have on the market because the Middle East is such a unique

WHO’S WHO? The Advertisers Business Group (ABG) The ABG was set up by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry to protect the interests of the big advertisers. The body’s remit includes all forms of advertising from print to TV. Members include Nestle, Unilever and General Motors. UAE National Media Council (NMC) The NMC is the UAE government’s media regulatory body. Together with the country’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) these groups are both keen to establish an audience monitoring service for the UAE to stabilise and improve the efficiency of the region’s TV industry. AGB Ipsos AGB Ipsos is the joint venture by media research firm AGB Nielson and Ipsos Stat. The organisation is responsible for the technical infrastructure that powers a people meter project. It already has a deployment in Lebanon and is awaiting final approval for the Saudi-based Project Illumination. Capgemini Consulting The independent consultancy firm was hired by the NMC to assess the strategy for implementing a people meter in the UAE. The company made its recommendations to the NMC in October 2009.

MAY 2010 013

TECH TALK

MBC ACTION

As the Middle East’s largest free-to-air broadcaster operating a double-digit number of TV and radio stations, MBC also has one of the largest operations centres in the region. Digital Broadcast takes a tour...

ANDY PALMER, GROUP DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL OPERATIONS, MBC “I joined MBC in December last year after filling the position on an interim basis. I had been consulting in the region and had visited Dubai on several occasions. The Middle East market is very exciting right now and I was impressed with MBC’s technology infrastructure. In the UK, the economic environment has led to a slowdown in investment but the situation is far better here. One of our key priorities is the transition to a tapeless workflow. It’s a large project and something that we will be working on right through 2011. We will be looking for an Asset Management System (MAM) and are currently searching for a systems integrator. One of the key business drivers of a tapeless system is the ability to cost-effectively make content available on any platform from mobile or online to IPTV. This process is far easier when you are file-based and have just one point of ingest. At the moment there are some tapeless islands at MBC. The TX content is run from a server. The post-production environment is tapeless as is the Avid newsroom solution that we have installed recently. The task for us now is to join all

014 MAY 2010

of these elements together into a managed system. With a project like this, you find that 70 percent of the change is about the people and the organisational structures rather than the actual technology itself. Staff will need to be re-trained, something many manufacturers can assist with. There are a lot of organisational disruptions to contend with and it is the training and the change management that determines how successful you are. It is essential that IT and broadcast engineering departments work closely together during such projects, something I realised about six years ago when I worked on my first tapeless workflow with a broadcaster in the UK. MBC’s IT and Broadcast units already work seamlessly together under the technical operations banner, which is both refreshing and gratifying. We will be setting up a network operations centre (NOC) to monitor the file transfer traffic, something that will increase in importance as the tapeless transition progresses.”

Main image: One of the broadcaster’s transmission sites. As part of the plans to centralise operations, MBC plans to consolidate its transmission facilities to one site. Harris automation and SeaChange servers are currently in place.

www.digitalproductionme.com

TECH TALK

MBC’s high-spec MCR records a high-res version for repurposing online and a low-res version for the records.

MBC will soon be digitising its tape library. Pictured is just one row of the Al Arabiya archive housed on-site.

An Al Arabiya journalist using Avid iNews Instinct. The pictured key-frame viewing feature allows easy browsing of each shot within a file. The feature was requested by MBC and developed for them. Al Arabiya is beta-testing the application.

MBC’s facility is a busy crossroads for video traffic. It receives live feeds from Al Arabiya correspondents, BGAN and SNG units, satellite feeds and file transfer via the Quicklink service. The company also has an MPLS network operated by du and Hong Kong’s PCCW.

“Anil Alva [pictured left] is senior IT eengineer responsible for Avid,” says Barrattt. “He has been with the company ffor eight years and played a key-role in tthe Avid installation and transition. He ppersonally oversaw all the support and eengineer training for the entire system,” aadds Barratt.

NICK BARRATT, SENIOR BROADCAST MANAGER, MBC “One of the most recent additions at MBC is the Avid newsroom system. We have around 70 journalists’ seats hooked-up as well as three studios. One of the key benefits

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is the ability to do desktop editing rather than rely on the availability of a suite. Journalists can work on a story immediately. This cuts down the time-to-air significantly and allows stories to be easily repurposed for use by our web team and uploaded to the Al Arabiya websites.

We also centralised our postproduction equipment taking them out of the actual suites. This creates a better working environment for the operator and fits in with the strategy of creating tapeless islands throughout our operations and then connecting them.”

MAY 2010 015

O OPINION

LOST IN TRANSMISSION The financial disparity between Qatar and Abu Dhabi and the rest of the Middle East is creating a bipolar powerbase that could see other players fall far behind, writes John Parnell.

atar and Abu Dhabi have proven themselves to be the real powerbrokers in the Middle East broadcast industry during the last few years. Nowhere else in the region has the combination of a liberalised media regulatory environment and significant disposable income to even come close. Recently, however, some of the gloss has been removed from the investments made by each in the broadcast and supporting creative industries. The acquisition of the exclusive regional broadcasting rights to the EPL by Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) presents a fantastic opportunity for a local company to demonstrate the high production values that can be achieved using local staff, but lower-income viewers could now miss out after early claims of affordability. Far more worrying is the imminent FIFA World Cup in South Africa that starts next month. The World Cup, like the Olympics, frequently gives emerging technolgies a shot in the arm and drives user adoption. The late transfer of the rights from ART to Al Jazeera Sport has left huge question marks over the scope of the coverage, availability and distribution. So far there has been no comment from Al Jazeera on any of the above. The only development is that it now appears there will be no access for ART subscribers that had signedup prior to the World Cup rights being sold on. 016 MAY 2010

EPL TV IN NUMBERS

202 Number of countries broadcasting the English Premier League.

360 million The largest audience size recorded in China for a single match.

$1.4bn The annual TV revenue raised by the Premier League worldwide.

Shortly after the EPL announcement there was talk in the industry of ADMC offering some matches on a free-to-air basis. Th is was quickly identified as a breach of the terms of the deal, dashing hopes in the 95 percent of Arab households that do not have pay TV. To give ADMC credit it will open up new ways to view the EPL which could serve to extend audience reach beyond the wealthy. The last World Cup was viewed by more people in Africa on mobile phones than TVs due to the network coverage. As ADMC begins to reveals its plans, the reality of the situation is beginning to emerge and is far less advantageous for low-income viewers than previously suggested when the rights were won. Understandably ADMC wants to redeem some of its investment and why shouldn’t it, but the possibility of the two wealthiest centres of media power going head-to-head for all premium content – sports and otherwise – in the future could create a bi-polar industry with all the other players in a distant second. The industry has called for consolidation for a long time. The difference between market-driven consolidation and the current situation is the unbalancing effect that Al Jazeera and ADMC’s respective finances have had. The challenge facing the rest of the media landscape is to avoid becoming “also-rans” in the race for broadcast superiority in the Middle East.

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INTERVIEW

ACCESS

ALL AREAS The decision by IT hardware firm Tech Access to e. launch a media arm has proven to be a wise one. As the division prepares to begin signing off its first major deals in the region, Digital Broadcastt talks to the ventureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s GM, Adrian Wood. Has Tech Access Media Solutions (TAMS) developed as envisaged when you launched? Adrian Wood: TAMS has been evolving for several years now. The concept of aggregating and licensing content is still the same. What is very different is that we are using our own development company to create and manage media platforms. There has also been much more integration into the core business. Integrating the IT hardware business to media customers was considered from the outset. Is there one particular area of the hardware business that has done well? AW: We have been getting a lot of feedback from our resellers in different markets whereby governments and media groups are asking about DRM and the digitisation of archives. We have put out many proposals in that area during the last two quarters. Have you tailored the IT approach for your media clients? TAMS has taken the Tech Access approach that we have had for the past 10 years with our principals. We have looked at what media products and services our vendors provide and have then added the bits that were missing. Therefore, we have tied up and are working with media companies. We are also in talks with major related broadcast technical firms. What other sectors is TAMS tackling? AW: There are now about five or six areas TAMS is focusing on from the developing media applications to the integrated hardware solutions, valueadd professional services, content aggregation and to distributing/developing our own content. It has become something bigger than we thought. It has

018 MAY 2010

taken the best part of 12 months to put everything in place. Now the intention is to go out and shout about it.

There are now about five or six areas TAMS is focusing on from the developing media applications to the hardware solutions, professional services, content aggregation to developing our own content. It has become something bigger than we thought. ADRIAN WOOD General manager, TAMS

What deals do you have on the horizon? AW: We have several deals about to be signed which I believe represents one of the largest online media deals in the Middle East. It will combine mobile and online applications with a physical retail presence. We are handling the project endto-end in partnership with a globally recognised entertainment brand, which already has a strong presence in the Middle East. We are also developing white label content portals and mobile applications. We are now launching our mobile apps in MENA; this same application was launched with mobile operators in Europe. We are also working on a similar application in conjunction with the IPL. Will these services include video? AW: These applications can be quick wins; some of the video streaming services will be tackled further down the road. What content have you secured so far? AW: We have a strong portfolio of kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; content and will sign our first broadcast deal for these shortly. These will be backed with DVD releases and live shows through our live events division Tech Access Media Access (TAMACS). TAMS has the rights to some video content based around the World Cup. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is also pushing out IPL content next year, working with the NBA and talking to Major League Soccer in the US. The idea is to provide content for all genres, in all languages. There is a gap in the Arabic language content online; this is something TAMS is trying to address.

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COVER COVERSTORY STORY

ON THE

BALL

ADMCC executives discuss tactics for the upcoming EPL distribution including online, mobile and 3D plans as well as answering the big question, can they turn a profit? John Parnell reports.

020 MAY 2010

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COVER STORY

he announcement of ADMC’s victory in “The real value we are providing is the flexibility the auction for the exclusive broadcast of choice and the convenience of accessibility on rights to the EPL triggered a deluge of top of what had previously been a very limited questions. Will the games be offered on a direct to home offering,” says Ghai. free to air (FTA) basis? Will they be leased to existThe online streaming service attracted a lot of ating pay TV operators? Will ADMC match OSN’s tention with sceptics pointing out that the region’s commitment to show all 380 matches? limited broadband infrastructure and high prices The line of questioning has meandered as inforhave limited take-up. So does the Middle East have mation trickled out of ADMC towers during early enough high speed internet users to create a mass 2010. The network would not be “sub-letting” the market for ADMC’s EPL streaming service? EPL to another broadcaster – FTA or otherwise – “If you had asked me this a year ago I would have and the questions turned to what will it cost? Will I said that it would be a big challenge to make this need another set top box? How will ADMC work. But now, if you look at the number make a profit from the $300 million of press releases and announcements price-tag of the rights? in the past three months on the The broadcaster has been workanticipated increases in broading flat out to address all of these band growth and the progress the Number of matches issues and now (most) of these operators are making… STC has ADMC will show live and announced that it has achieved questions can finally be answered. in HD per season. “Our key position is to make speeds of 100Mb/s for example. All premium content – in this case the the signs are right and the stimulus EPL – available to the widest number of this momentum is always going to of consumers on all platforms,” says Ricky be the availability of content,” says Ghai. Ghai, executive director digital media, ADMC. “The Despite this, ADMC is well aware that the intention is to create uniformity, consistency and a quality of connection varies greatly throughout the simple consumer experience on any platform.” territory that it possesses the rights for, and will be The company announced in February that it doing what it can to offer a sufficient service within would be offering access to all 380 matches through for all users regardless of bandwidth. three methods; online streaming; an encrypted “Although broadband capacity and uptake are satellite signal and via IPTV where possible. improving, we are going to do all that we can to This announcement triggered a number of quesprovide the most sophisticated form of delivery in tions all of its own. the last mile. The streaming will use an adaptive

380

ADMC owns the mobile rights... We are in ongoing discussions with mobile operators about some form of offering; these have not been finalised but it will be part of the service. We hope to have a mobile offering in time for our first season. KARIM SARKIS Executive director of broadcast, ADMC ADMC has partnered with The Perform Group, which specialises in broadcasting sports on new media platforms.

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MAY 2010 021

COVER STORY

The nature of ADMC’s distribution plans opens up a host of new revenue streams for the company both directly and indirectly. These stretch far beyond regular sponsorship and subscription charges. For the first time, some of these services can be sponsored on a national rather than a regional level. The creation of multiple related products on different platforms also creates the chance to for brands to integrate more deeply into each service. • Wholesale rights to IPTV distribution partners and potential VOD revenue • Sales of STBs and subscription fees • Web streaming subscriptions and potential on demand fees • Mobile services, potentially both on demand and linear • Traditional advertising and sponsorship of programming, websites and mobile platforms • Deep-rooted “ownership” style sponsorship of new media services, such as individual deals for future mobile services from each specific national telco operator • Potential service upgrade to 3D for home-based subscribers • Commercial and cinema 3D screenings • Increased exposure for other ADMC brands, channels and products and associated sponsors

022 MAY 2010

WHERE WILL THE MONEY COME FROM?

REVENUE STREAMS

A 3D camera at a top-ﬂight German football match.

“The premium nature of the content and of bit rate. That allows anyone including those with the market that we are operating in with almost the slower speeds to at least see a clean, consistent 200 percent mobile penetration in some markets, stream. The quality of that stream is dependant on means that clearly this will play a very important your service provider relationship and your pipeline role. This could stretch from handset-friendly web but we can stop buffering and other problems.” TV clips or otherwise to a full streaming or broadDistributing the content online is only the first cast platform. We are part of the DVB-H consorpart of the process however. Ghai says another chaltium in the UAE and that will play a large role in lenge posed by the streaming service is finding an how we deliver a service to a handset,” says Ghai. appropriate and secure means for online payment. ADMC’s executive director of broadcast “There is a lack of e-commerce in this Karim Sarkis agrees. region. ADMC is addressing that and “ADMC owns the mobile rights there are a number of forms of and we are in ongoing discussions online payment coming up. These with mobile operators about some will be available for third-parties form of offering; these have not to use and will stimulate the online sector generally, not necesThe price ADMC has paid been finalised but it will be part of the service and we hope to have a sarily just those selling premium per match. mobile offering in time for our first content,” explains Ghai. season,” says Sarkis. “We have a great opportunity The second component of ADMC’s to stimulate the uptake of broadband triple-pronged distribution strategy will see its and the demand for upgrades to high-speed Abu Dhabi Al Riyadiya sports bouquet offered via services. The EPL is just one premium stream of IPTV platforms in partnership with telcos. content and others will follow,” claims Ghai. The UAE’s du and Etisalat were the first two serADMC will partner with UK-based company The vices to announce that they had struck a deal. Perform Group, which specialises in broadcasting “These agreements are standardised benchmark sports content on new media platforms. deals of wholesale supply and partnership. There “Perform is the official partner of the EPL in the is common ground to stimulate markets and mobile and online form. They have a tremendous make premium content accessible and maintain amount of experience in delivering sport on these the consistency across territories, so it’s a tighter platforms including the England vs Ukraine World partnership than an old fashioned cable carriage Cup qualifier that was shown exclusively online.” agreement,” says Ghai. So could this relationship mean mobile services “There has to be a degree of wholesale retail flexbased around the EPL are on the way?

$263,000

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COVER STORY

Convergence is something that we have been shouting about at ADMC since our digital division was formed... Digital [media] is often an afterthought. The EPL is an example of a converged output from production to delivery to distribution to all the commercial aspects. RICKY GHAI Executive director of digital media, ADMC

024 MAY 2010

ibility to allow the telcos and service providers to create the value-added distinctions that they need to create to attract customers. So while there are wholesale and retail pricing parameters to maintain consistency, there may be some movement within those depending on the creative offer that each service provider takes to market,” says Ghai. Essentially this means that upper and lower limits on the prices telcos can charge for their EPL bundles are in place. Until all the telco partners are in place however, ADMC cannot reveal what these prices are. “It’s expected that the telcos will offer the EPL as part of certain bundles. There is also the opportunity to offer extensive VOD services through IPTV but that would depend on the EPL rights usage guidelines,” says Ghai. The final piece of the jigsaw is the creation of an encrypted satellite channel. ADMC has tied with STB manufacturer Humax to roll-out HD boxes that will be packaged along

with annual subscriptions and made available through a number of outlets. “The boxes will be sold through the usual retail channels, satellite equipment specialists, hypermarkets and electronics stores,” says Sarkis. Sarkis says the box is one of the most widely available HD boxes in the market already, which could save some customers from having to purchase an additional box. The company has claimed that its streaming application will help promote the adoption of broadband, so does hope to do the same for HD TV? “I wouldn’t claim that we were the only entity pushing HD adoption in the Middle East. HD takeup is already happening in this region, but the EPL will help. Our motivation to offer all 380 matches in HD was more about providing something new for viewers,” says Sarkis. “This will be the first time that ADMC has done full HD and tapeless broadcasting and if I am not mistaken it will be the first time in the region. It is a change for the company and the systems have been upgraded during the last three years but the completion of the move to a tapeless workflow was the icing on the cake. There are new studios, the network infrastructure is upgraded, new servers, encoding equipment for encryption – which is of course something new for ADMC as are subscriber management systems. Basically everything has been upgraded to support full HD,” says Sarkis. The project’s scope is broad with Ghai joking that it has sometimes felt like all of the company’s near 2200 employees have been working on the EPL. “It would be very difficult to quantify how many people have been contributing. A lot of people in the broadcast and technology divisions have been working on it and half of my digital division have been too. There are also a number of external partners. There have been some tremendous efforts, time and resources applied to ensure that we can deliver something respectable,” says Ghai. The project is also an example of what future converged media and telecoms projects could look like. “Convergence is something that we have been shouting about at ADMC since our digital division was formed,” says Ghai. “Digital [media] is often an afterthought or is merely a limb attached to the parent company. The EPL is an example of a converged output from production to delivery to distribution through to all of the commercial aspects wrapped around it. If it succeeds with the EPL then it should work with all www.digitalproductionme.com

COVER STORY

Monetisation is a clear component but it’s a long-term strategy; we’re certainly not going to realise profitability in year one, two or three... The halo effect of a superbrand like the EPL is already tangible. ADMC is in talks with some very interesting brand partners, some very excited telco partners and ISPs. RICKY GHAI Executive director of digital media, ADMC

026 MAY 2010

kinds of content, news, entertainment and music.” One of the challenges both Ghai and Sarkis identify is the tight schedule imposed on ADMC to fulfil all of its ambitions. The company is breaking new ground with several aspects of its intended initial services and could take this pioneering attitude further once its coverage begins with 3D – one goal it has in its sights. “BSkyB supply a large portion of the live coverage of the competition to the EPL itself but the 3D productions is something it has been doing for itself,” says Sarkis. “It is not yet clear if 3D is part of the package of rights. We are waiting to hear from the Premier League,” adds Sarkis. “It is definitely something we are interested in.” In the UK, BSkyB has shown 3D coverage of matches in commercial premises and in special cinema screens to negate the lack of 3D TV sets in homes, a strategy Sarkis says he would replicate at ADMC given the chance. “The price of 3D TVs is falling and the technology will come to the home much faster than HD did. In the short-term however – say the upcoming season

– it is far more practical to talk about commercial screenings than broadcasting 3D to the home. “The set top boxes that we will be offering to viewers wishing to access the satellite feed of the EPL are 3D compliant but the adoption of the format is dependant on consumers purchasing 3Denabled TV sets,” says Sarkis. Although ADMC is state-owned, it does have a commercial remit, something many questioned when they paid a reported $300 million for the three-year contract for the EPL rights. “Monetisation is a clear component but it’s a long-term strategy; we’re certainly not going to realise profitability in year one, two or three,” says Ghai. “I think it’s the first step towards developing the infrastructure, partnerships and ecosystems around the various content services. “The halo effect of a superbrand like the EPL is already tangible. ADMC is in talks with some very interesting brand partners, some very excited telco partners and ISPs, it has drawn attention to us. And we are happy to share this attention with everyone because there are more beneficiaries in this project than just ADMC.”

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INTERACTIVE TV

JOINED UP TV Home shopping, SMS voting, social networking crossovers and simple text-based services have all entered the broadcast sphere under the banner of interactive TV. Digital Broadcast talks to some of the technology firms supporting these services and asks which of them can drive real revenues. 028 MAY 2010

services and users have now been removed. he development of a two-way connec“Interactive TV today is more about video and tion between viewers and broadcasters regardless of the means of communication information services than the games and other one-off applications,” says John Boulton, marketing involved, has transformed the revenue opmanager with broadcast technology firm SysMedia, tions available to broadcasters. which specialises in interactivity. Paired with the introduction of digital TV “In some territories, especially Europe, platforms, the humble TV set rapidly the old teletext information services assumed new uses and applications are increasingly migrating to infor viewers. Operators could now teractive TV. This offers improved offer games and communication advertising presentation and the services. Programme producers The rise in annual sales of programme video-in-picture inset could incorporate money spinArabic home shopping option that is very popular. Broadning user participation through channel Citruss TV. casters are also looking towards SMS and online interaction. interactivity as a means to deliver alterMore than a decade after the native video and audio streams plus videoemergence of these platforms, interacon-demand and catch-up TV applications.” tive TV is still a developing technology. New As interactivity has become more widely adplatforms – particularly IPTV – create new opporopted, the need for a universal standard has grown. tunities and spark innovation in the industry. MHEG-5 is the open standard that has gained Changing consumer behaviour, such as the pretraction in Europe, which has been the source of dominance of connected wireless devices and the many of the developments in interactive TV. As well high level of comfort most people now feel with the as providing some congruence to the industry, an internet, means that many of the barriers between

35%

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INTERACTIVE TV

IT TAKES TWO

open standard also helps to simplify an area that was iin danger of becoming overly complicated the sheer number and variety of stakeholders by th involved in its development. involv “Broadcasters want and need to be able to “Br monetise their content to its maximum,” says Colin mone Prior, a founding member of the International Prior MHEG Promotion Alliance (IMPALA). “Key to this is the ability to provide not only broadcast services, via a clearly navigable EPG, but now some form of video-on-demand or catch-up TV service and

the inherent ability to carry targeted advertising. The world is moving quickly to a combination of push and pull mechanisms when it comes to video delivery and access requires interactivity. In order to facilitate this interactivity, set top boxes (STBs) or interactivity-enabled digital TVs need a middleware capable of handling hybrid services – broadcast and IP-based.” Facilitating this requires investment, the money for which is harder than ever to find. “The solution needs to be low-cost, yet technolog-

Nader Qirat, winner of the ﬁfth season of Star Academy, one of the ﬁrst major successes for interactive and participation TV in the Middle East.

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INTERACTIVE TV: WHAT WORKS? The plethora of interactive TV services available range greatly in terms of their sophistication, appeal to viewers and the ability to create new revenues for the stakeholders involved. So what works and which services are all show and no substance?

Our customers have found various forms of advertising and SMS-driven pages generate real revenue. When a return-path is added, it opens up a world of potential for transactional services, targeted adverts, referrals, voting, competitions and paid-for content including VOD. JOHN BOULTON Marketing manager, SysMedia MAY 2010 029

INTERACTIVE XXXXXXX TV

Larger broadcasters like interactivity because it gives

CROSS PLATFORM TRAFFIC

INTERACTIVE TV: WHAT WORKS?

“I think that future interactive TV services will ically elegant with a small receiver footprint,” says Prior. “It should be market-proven with a clear tech- be very much shaped by broadcasters’ reactions to the opportunity to distinguish between TV and PC nological roadmap that allows the development of services. Viewers want the display of web content a strong consumer model via conformance tested, in the context of the lean-back, multi-viewer TV affordable STBs or TVs with interactive-enabled experience,” claims Boulton. tuners. MHEG is that technology and has proven “For the more forward thinking broadcaster itself in UK, New Zealand and Hong Kong.” there is an opportunity to wrap the best-of-theWhile the overall benefits of MHEG are similar web services into their own branded site that’s to those of any open standard, the requirement for viewers to have a TV or STB-enabled for MHEG can specifically targeted at the TV user and retains the programme-in-picture to keep eyeballs on the have a limiting effect on the available audience. channel at the same time.” “STBs and web-connected TVs are merely adPrior acknowledges the importance of web ditional personal terminals, just as mobile connectivity, however he views the hybrid phones and PCs are, but they have approach as the likely future. serious limitations,” says Saad “We are already moving into a hyMouneimne, VP Middle East and brid delivery world with both broadAfrica at never.no, an interactive and broadband connectivity in technology firm. “BroadcastThe number of votes received cast a single box. Web-connected TVs ers today demand universal in the last season of the are all very well but at the moment interactivity. They are much less American Idol they are based on individual soluinterested in confined topologies talent show. tions rather than a united approach like an STB network or web-enabled to the issue. This also raises the issue of TVs. Modern broadcasters want viewupdatability; after all, a TV is not a PC (even if ers to be able to interact directly with their programming regardless of the make of the viewer’s there is a united approach). Then there is the issue of cost – any solution has to be cost-effective for TV set and or their pay TV provider. No matter manufacturers and consumers alike,” he says. what interactive device the viewer chooses – reMouneimne agrees that the provision of web mote control, mobile phone, PC or social network – they should have the same opportunity to influence services will be the cornerstone of successful interactive TV offerings in the future. programming and to connect with the broadcaster “Social networks are big. The next major wave and sponsors,” claims Mouneimne. will be concepts that combine these with broadcast SysMedia’s Boulton believes that although the interactivity,” he predicts. “We already see the most presence of the correct tuner is very important, the innovative broadcasters in Scandinavia and the crucial factor is the availability of an IP connection.

624 m

them an extended creative and commercial toolbox. They use this to create more interesting programming, which draws more viewers, and to lead their viewers to complementary media assets, such as internet and mobile portals. Smaller broadcasters are less ambitious and mostly focus on the potential for transaction revenues, particularly those from mobile interaction. SAAD MOUNEIMNE VP Middle East & Asia, never.no 030 MAY 2010

Audience interaction, speciﬁcally voting, in shows such as Million’s Poet (above) creates greater viewer interest as well as revenues for the broadcaster. www.digitalproductionme.com

INTERACTIVE XXXXXXX TV

Text-based iTV services alongside additional “red button” video streams have already proven themselves to be very popular, significantly enhancing viewer stickiness to channels that deploy them. COLIN PRIOR Founder member, IMPALA

MAY 2010 2010 032 APRIL

IT’S ONLY WORDS...

INTERACTIVE TV: WHAT WORKS?

USA moving in this direction, with interesting and encouraging results. This trend is also very liberating for the broadcaster because it establishes a direct link with the viewer that can be used to build loyalty. If you bring a sponsor into the equation this connection becomes even more valuable.” Mouneimne is less confident about the ability of cable operators and hardware manufacturers to secure a portion of these revenues as the technology becomes web-based. “Future broadcast interactivity will largely bypass them. This is true for a number of reasons, one being the long lifespan of a TV set or STB relative to a PC or mobile phone. A TV or STB that is cutting edge in 2010 will be seriously out of date five years from now however.” Regardless of how interactive services are delivered, the opportunity to drive new revenues remains the same. Boulton summarises the opportunity succinctly. “Transactional services will play an increasing role for broadcasters. The process will become ‘see the advert, view the microsite and buy the product’ all through your TV.”

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PRODUCT FOCUS BROADCAST SERVERS

SERVER STRAIN

The demands placed on servers in broadcast environments have increased dramatically in recent years. The number of operations they are used for and the intensity of those demands have grown as broadcasters switch to multiscreen, HD workflows. Digital Broadcast looks at some of the latest products on the market.

034 MAY 2010

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PRODUCT FOCUS BROADCAST SERVERS

OMNEON – SPECTRUM Omneon’s modular Spectrum media server system allows for maximum flexibility during the initial configuration and adaptability in response to changing requirements, according to the manufacturer. The system can be setup with entry-level storage capabilities and support for a handful of channels or scaled up to dozens of channels and hundreds of hours of content. Spectrum supports a variety of SD and HD formats, and numerous industry standards. Additional services can be supported with the addition of new components protecting a user’s investment. Additional storage capacity or support for additional channels can be added in the same way allowing broadcasters to grow the system in time with their own expansion and needs. Omneon recently launched the MediaDirector 2202, the latest iteration of the MediaDirector system controllers for the spectrum system. MediaDirector 2202 extends the system’s bandwidth by an order of

magnitude allowing broadcasters to meet KEY FEATURE: the requirements that come with adding Software based data rebuilds ensure that if a ﬁle has previously SD and HD channels allowing more file failed, the chances of it happening access and larger number of edit seats again can be greatly reduced compared permitted in the production environment. to a hardware based RAID system Omneon claims to have increased the boosting the reliability of the reliability of its media servers within the Spectrum system. Spectrum range by isolating individual components with the potential to fail, so that the failure of an individual part does not affect the overall operation. Failure of a disk drive does not result in loss of content (Omneon claims that this means not even one dropped frame). The system also includes a redundant fibre channel to the disk storage arrays ensuring continuing operations in the event that one cable should become broken or is removed.

The Omneon MediaDirector 2202

EVS – XT[2]+

VECTOR 3 – VECTOR MULTIPLAY VSERVER

EVS has upgraded its XT[2] production server with the release of the XT[2]+ earlier this year. The new version has many of the same functionalities of its predecessor and is capable of operating in studio, near-live or live OB environments. The XT[2]+ provides always-on loop recording and multi-channel ingest of audio and video from any source, claims EVS. The unit can provide a number of near-live applications including instant replays, live slow-motion, live editing, video delay and playout. The upgrades include boosted internal storage of up to 12 disks; expandable storage with external 2RU arrays(up to 24 hot swappable disks for a total of 84 disks) and a 30 percent increase in bandwidth from the XT[2]’s 11.5 HD streams to 15 HD streams with the XT[2]+.

The Vector 3 MultiPlay VServer’s exclusive decoding system ensures support for future technologies supporting every new format and codec that is introduced to the market. Supported compression formats include MPEG-2 IBP and I-Frame, DVCAM, DVCPRO25 and MJPEG among others. Supported file formats include Quicktime, MXf, raw, DV and AVI. Media can be mixed and played on the same server. Vector 3 claims that once the system is in place the studio operator does not even need to know which format is being used. Operators can apply transitions between clips (including fades and wipes) with corresponding audio. The server also includes a number of integrated, real-time effects. The Vector MultiPlay VServer also provides an IPTV output for broadcast over IP. Output can be in the form of a compressed Windows Media 9 or QuickTime file stream ready for broadcast or a file series for broadcast from an external ISP.

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MAY 2010 035

PRODUCT FOCUS BROADCAST SERVERS

ROSS VIDEO – SOFTMETAL VIDEO SERVERS

KEY FEATURE:

The SoftMetal MD servers oﬀer Ross Video has advanced its SoftMetal on-the-ﬂy scaling on each output. 3000 Series of video servers with v4.3 Clips are automatically converted as software and the launch of the new they play out either from SD to HD or “4 in, 4 out” configuration. HD to SD depending on the desired output, a bonus for systems with Version 4.3 builds on the features of a mix of HD and SD clips. the platform adding video disk control protocol (VDCP) over Ethernet and AMP

automation control support. New Unicode character support makes SoftMetal a suitable choice for multilanguage applications. The 3000 Series also features native support of 3D stereoscopic playout and record. The 3000 Series is available in both standard and multi-definition versions with 1x2, 0x4, 2x4, and 4x4 configurations, supporting up to six simultaneous channels in SD and up to four simultaneous channels in HD. It uses SATA tape drives and offers up to 14 TB of Media Storage in a compact 3RU.

QUANTEL – SQ SERVER The sQ server is the ingest, editing and playout server that underpins the company’s Enterprise sQ production suite. Like many of its competitors, the sQ is fully scalable supporting any number of inputs and outputs from two to hundreds. The storage capacity is similarly scalable ranging from tens to thousands of hours. Broadcast and browse media are locked together in a single database in the sQ server so that any editing decisions made on browse material are instantly reflected on the full resolution counterpart to provide the shortest possible time between ingest and playout, says Quantel. To ensure reliability, the disk arrays have dual PSUs and keep working in the event of disk failure. Disks are hot-swappable and rebuilds are automatic. The FrameMagic filing system means that defragmentation and consolidation are never required. This also means that sQ servers run at 100 percent even when fully loaded, there is no performance drop-off, according to Quantel.

SEACHANGE – UNIVERSAL MEDIA LIBRARY SeaChange’s answer to the massive storage requirements inherent to multiscreen delivery is the new Universal Media Library, a CDN-class library storage system. The UML incorporates FalconStor’s widely proven Hyper File System, which delivers the throughput performance that CDN’s need to access content anywhere on a network. The unique chassis design of the UML consists of six blades that are serviceable even while operational, according to the company. Each blade module contains 12 top-load drive slots that enable simple drive replacement without impacting operations. The manufacturer will also introduce a broadcast version of the UML, which is an IP hub optimised for tapeless infrastructures that can function as a play-to-air server and production storage platform for non-linear editing systems. With edit-in-place support, the UML allows editors to manipulate programme content while it is still being ingested into the production storage. Paired with SeaChange’s MediaClient software codecs, play-to-air MediaClusters or standalone edge servers, it meets playout requirements for any size broadcast environment, claims the company. 036 MAY 2010

www.digitalproductionme.com

NAB REVIEW

LEAVING LAS VEGAS T The industry’s biggestt ttrade bi d show h NAB took place last month as technology providers continued the 3D charge and broadcasters began to draw up their shopping lists for the year ahead.

88num,0ber4of s4how

The rding attendees acBc.o to NA 038 MAY 2010

his year’s NAB was a further sign of the industry’s progress towards full recovery with the number of attendees up seven percent compared to last year. “Content professionals from across the globe turned out in force at the NAB Show, and we’re delighted by the extraordinarily positive feedback from both attendees and exhibitors,” says NAB executive vice president Dennis Wharton. ”The uptick in attendance and the dazzling technology on display on the showfloor demonstrates again the extent of the NAB Show’s enduring popularity and status as the premier global event for the content marketplace.” As well as the increase in visitors there was also a high volume of activity at the show. Avid announced that it would acquire Euphonix, a manufacturer of digital audio consoles, media controllers and peripherals. The deal has been concluded since the show finished. The tech firm acquired media archive developer Blue Order Technologies in February of this year and has continued its expansion with the purchase of Euphonix. “This acquisition greatly expands our portfolio to offer customers a complementary set of workflow solutions – from independent producers creating

music in their home studios to broadcasters preparing segments for national broadcast,” says Gary Greenfield, chairman and CEO, Avid. “As audio and video workflows continue to converge, we are now well positioned to deliver control surfaces that work across both audio and video applications, making the content creation process more cost-effective and efficient for our customers.” As expected 3D dominated the conversation at NAB with industry identities including DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg discussing the format’s progress at the show. Sports broadcasting and 3D, the development of the first 3D production in outer-space Hubble 3D and the consumer electronics approach to the technology also went under the microscope at NAB 2010. Much of the new technology on show was also dominated by 3D applications and upgrades from post-production software to content security. Nagravision announced that it will collaborate with South Korea’s sole pay TV service provider SkyLife to develop a secure 3D service in South Korea. Dolby Labs released an open specification for broadcasting 3D content. The spec details how 3D images can be encoded and carried using framecompatible techniques through a conventional 2D broadcast infrastructure. www.digitalproductionme.com

NAB REVIEW

NEVER.NO

NETIA

Never.no showcased its Interactivity Suite at this year’s NAB show in Las Vegas. The package includes a number of software applications to enable participation TV including the ability to interact with TV in real-time. It also allows publishers to multi-publish user generated content and multisourced aggregated content. The Interactivity Desk was also on display at the company’s booth. The software tool provides editorial control both on-air and off-air for interactive and multi-sourced content including text messages and submitted audio and video files. It allows the editor to schedule, moderate, edit and sort the data before submitting it to the broadcast systems, blog, internet pages or STB or IPTV middleware that the content is being fed into. It also includes basic and advanced broadcast control so that editors can also trigger CG sequences, tickers and scrolls. The system can be integrated with Vizrt, Harris RTX, Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight or using an open XML standard to allow integration with thirdparty systems.

Content management software provider Netia launched two new modules for its Radio Assist 8 automation solution at NAB. CamDirector offers direct or automatic camera switching during interviews based on which microphone is active at a given time. Radio Assist 8 now also includes the Netia workflow engine, designed to allow users working with complex worklflows across multiple platforms to choreograph this process and harmonise the exchange between all existing applications.

IPHARRO MEDIA Content identification specialist iPharro demonstrated a number of new products at this year’s NAB exhibition including the Media TV Content Monitoring (TVCM) system. The automated solution for identifying broadcast content in realtime across multiple channels. The platform is based on the company’s content fingerprinting technology, which identifies content across an unlimited number of TV channels and provides users with accurate results within minutes of broadcast, according to iPharro. The PC-based system can monitor a number of TV sources including terrestrial, satellite, cable and mobile TV. The Difference Detection feature detects and highlights minute differences between reference and broadcast content down to the frame level.

JAMPRO Antenna manufacturer Jampro demonstrated a number of its more prominent products at NAB 2010. The company’s compact UHF RWED-516 -U TV mask/filter combiner was one of the highlights on the firm’s stand. The unit includes four-port directionality that can be used either as a mask filter or constant impedance-combining module for high-power UHF TV broadcasts. The expandable design allows future channels to be added as and when required. www.digitalproductionme.com

MAY 2010 039

DATA

Media activities respondents had partaken in during past 12 months Digital media:

Traditional media: Watched TV (not online) 94%

Social networking/blogging sites 50%

Listened to the radio 79%

Online news/RSS feeds 36%

Watched a DVD/Blu-Ray 53%

Used video on demand for TV 24%

Played a console/ video game 34%

Downloaded music 21%

Visited the cinema 27%

Streamed online TV programmes 16%

Source: KPMG 2010

DATA SOURCE: Web TV Enterprise

HABIT FORMING C

Consumers’ media consumption habits continue to shift although spending is down, according to a new study.

onsultancy firm KPMG released its six-monthly Media and Entertainment Barometer report last month. The study of UK consumers found that the average spend on traditional media per person in the UK fell from US $14.2 to $11.5 compared to September 2009. More worryingly, the spend on digital media halved from $3 to $1.5 in the same period. The report found that despite the disappointing drop in spending, consumers’ appetite for media remained strong. The average monthly consumption of traditional media rose from 11 hours and 40 minutes to 12 hours and 13 minutes. The number of hours spent on digital media consumption enjoyed even larger growth from 6 hours and 14 minutes to 7 hours and 28 minutes. Social networking and blogging was the most used digital media application with half of those asked using these services in the past 12 months. Video streaming was highlighted by 16 percent, an increase of two percent from September 2009. The largest increase in new media was for videoon-demand services, which notched up 24 percent compared to 19 percent in the previous study. “The findings of the second KPMG Media and Entertainment Barometer illustrate the problem faced by the media sector in curbing the structural decline in revenues,” says David Elms, head of media, KPMG UK. “Online subscription models

040 MAY 2010

Only a quarter favoured online media access compared with 43 percent who said offline and a third said it made no difference. Creating integrated business models which make the most of both traditional and digital business models is, therefore, key. DAVID ELMS Head of media, KPMG UK

remain in their infancy and once more developed should provide a platform for significantly higher online revenues,” he adds. “There is considerable focus on driving digital media revenues. Respondents indicated they do access more media because of online availability, but the tide has not yet turned, the majority of us still prefer consuming media offline. Only a quarter favoured online media access compared with 43 percent who said offline and a third said it made no difference. Creating integrated business models which make the most of both traditional and digital business models is, therefore, key.” The recent success of 3D cinema was noted in the report with 27 percent of respondents having seen a 3D movie in the past 12 months. By comparison, only 15 percent of consumers said they were likely to purchase a 3D-enabled TV when they replace their existing set. Of those that said that they were unlikely to purchase a 3D set, 63 percent said they didn’t see the need, 59 percent named price as a prohibitive factor and 49 percent said the idea of wearing the accompanying glasses was an issue. Only 12 percent had concerns over quality of service. “It is early days with new technologies like VOD, 3DTV and e-readers, but they are examples of the innovations and platforms which can help drive new areas of revenue of the media sector in a digital age,” says Elms. www.digitalproductionme.com

RAI Amsterdam Conference 9-14 September : Exhibition 10-14 September

New! Connected World This September, compare the latest connected devices and discover business opportunities in emerging media at IBC – the premier annual event for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and news content worldwide. For the ﬁrst time, IPTV, Mobile TV and Digital Signage are all under one roof in Hall 9! The Connected World includes two new features that will provide you with valuable insight into how media convergence is continuing to create new business models in our industry. Connected Home of the future...

Connected World Hub...

• custom-built environment showcasing how we consume content now and tomorrow

• FREE Exhibition Business Brieﬁngs in a dedicated presentation theatre

• compare TV and video content on the latest consumer electronics devices

• learn about the latest opportunities in IP-based distribution technology beyond broadcasting

• interact with TVs, tablets, netbooks, games consoles, mobile phones and more!

• network with the world’s key technology suppliers of IPTV, Mobile TV and Digital Signage

www.ibc.org/connectedworld IBC Fifth Floor International Press Centre 76 Shoe Lane London EC4A 3JB UK T. +44 (0) 20 7832 4100 F. +44 (0) 20 7832 4130 E. info@ibc.org

at r w o iste n er /reg t s rg gi Re ibc.o w. w w