TVBE December 2014 digital edition

www.tvbeurope.com

Business, insight and intelligence for the broadcast media industry

December 2014

Managing your Assets

MAM, archive and storage

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TVBEurope 3

December 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

EDITORIAL Executive Editor - James McKeown jmckeown@nbmedia.com Editor - Melanie Dayasena-Lowe mdayasena-lowe@nbmedia.com Staff Writer - Holly Ashford hashford@nbmedia.com NewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, England +44 207 354 6002 Contributors Mike Clark, Chris Forrester, David Fox, Mark Hill, Dick Hobbs, John Ive, George Jarrett, Heather McLean, Adrian Pennington, Philip Stevens, Reinhard E Wagner Head of Digital - Tim Frost Human Resources & Office Manager - Lianne Davey Head of Design & Production - Adam Butler Editorial Production Manager - Dawn Boultwood Senior Production Executive - Alistair Taylor Publisher - Steve Connolly sconnolly@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000 Sales Manager - Ben Ewles bewles@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000 Sales Executive - Richard Carr rcarr@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000 Managing Director - Mark Burton US Sales - Michael Mitchell Broadcast Media International, PO Box 44, Greenlawn, New York, NY 11740 mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv +1 (631) 673 0072 Japan and Korea Sales - Sho Harihara Sales & Project, Yukari Media Incorporated sho@yukarimedia.com +81 6 4790 2222 Fax: +81 6 4793 0800

Welcome

Here’s to 2015!

There is much to look forward to in the coming year o here we are: the final edition of 2014! I

S

and archive and storage

struggle to put my finger on where the time

companies in our two

has disappeared to, but as I discussed with

Forums. We also feature the

some colleagues at a recent and unseasonably

mesmerising work of Milk

festive soiree (a party): the swift passage of time

VFX and BUF Compagnie in our VFX focus, while David

must mean we’re having fun. Either that, or we’re mercilessly busy. (A rare mixture of the two, on a

Fox returns to provide the lowdown on external

personal level.)

recorders. There’s a great wealth of quality content

It has been a year offering plenty in terms of reflection as we breach into the genesis of a new

in this issue that I hope you will enjoy.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank

annual chapter that bears the traditional promise

everyone who has contributed to TVBEurope in

of progress, development, and growth. It has

the last year: the quality and consistency of your

been a year of consolidation; visible in the direct

work has made my life much easier than it could

aftermath of the mergers and acquisitions that

have been, and has ensured that quality remains

have persisted throughout the period, and equally

the key component of TVBEurope’s output. I don’t

in the manner that entities have been recalibrating

have the room to name everyone individually, but

their strategies to equip themselves for the new

I will make a small exception for my immediate

digital age. And for every strategic seed sown,

editorial colleagues.

there is hope of harvest.

There is much to look forward to in 2015, and

Firstly, I’d like to offer my sincere thanks to Neal Romanek for his time as acting editor, and

Circulation NewBay Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough, LE16 9EF, UK

here at TVBEurope we’ve been busy recalibrating

more pertinently for graciously helping me to settle

our own strategy to ensure we’re doing all we can

into life at NewBay Media. Secondly, to my dear

Free subscriptions tvbe.subscriptions@c-cms.com Subscriptions Tel +44 1580 883848

to cover as much of this fascinating industry as

colleagues Holly and Mel (alphabetical order),

possible – an industry that endears itself to me on a

without whom I’d get nothing done, and with

daily basis. To that end, our January issue will herald

whom I have the pleasure of working on a daily

the start of a brand new section in the magazine,

basis; each day a delight. They are the engine

TVBEurope is published 12 times a year by NewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London, N1 8LN, England

dedicated to providing regular insight from the

room of what you see before you, and I can’t

world of TV Everywhere, OTT and IPTV, multiscreen,

highlight their importance, or thank them, enough.

NewBay Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Association

and the hyper-connected world. I’ve unashamedly

Finally, a very special mention to my designer,

christened it ‘TVBEverywhere’, and I’m excited to

Dawn, who alongside her many skills, has the

be able to introduce a dedicated home for what is

patience of an angel.

© NewBay Media 2014. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the copyright owners. TVBEurope is mailed to qualified persons residing on the European continent. Subscription is free.

an important and absorbing area of our business.

Allow 8 weeks for new subscriptions and change of address delivery. Send subscription inquiries to: Subscription Dept, NewBay Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 7BR, England.

ISSN 1461-4197

Management in conjunction with Tedial in

to 2015. I’ll see you there. Merry Christmas to one

our supplement, while Philip Stevens unearths

and all.

Printing by Pensord Press, Tram Road, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood NP12 2YA

the latest challenges and issues facing MAM

This issue, we go in-depth on Media Asset

Enough internal back-slapping. Congratulations everybody on a strong year for the industry: here’s James McKeown Executive Editor

4 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com December 2014

In this issue

23

MAM Supplement and Forum

The main thrust of our focus this issue centres on MAM, and the challenges that the rapidly developing digitalisation of the media industry is having on those tasked with the management and storage of files and content

18

Workflow

Vive Liberté! Paris-based BUF Compagnie, which has worked on everything from City of Lost Children to Gravity is opening its award-winning VFX toolkit to the world. Neal Romanek reports

20

A television renaissance

Milk VFX rose from the ashes of The Mill’s TV department, marked its first birthday in June, and took home the Achievement in VFX award at the TVBAwards in October. Holly Ashford paid a visit, and spoke to CEO, Will Cohen

6-13 Opinion & Analysis

14-22 Workflow

Patrick Mitchell and colleagues at DLA Piper’s Global Media, Sport & Entertainment practice assess the latest trends, technology, commercial and regulatory issues related to second screen

Philip Stevens talks to Stryme about how it converted a regional studio to full HD operation and introduced a tapeless workflow for Austria’s ORF

36-39 Feature: External recorders External recorder manufacturers have been building on their expertise to reach into other areas of acquisition, most notably by developing their own cameras. David Fox reports

36

40 Archive and storage Forum

46-50 Data Centre

As many organisations are finding, there is money to be made in archive material. And that is good news. But just how do you store those assets – and retrieve them easily?

Philip Stevens moderates

New research from global analyst firm Ovum suggests that while mobile data services are on the rise in Africa, it is still playing catch-up to the rest of the world with high-speed broadband connectivity

6 TVBEurope

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Opinion & Analysis

Content Everywhere

round up

available for all pay-TV platforms and supports both on-demand and TVE applications.

The channel was founded and created by industry veterans Scott Ehrlich (Fox News, NBC Cable, Real, Divx), Curt Marvis (MTV, CinemaNow, Lionsgate), Les Garland (MTV, VH-1, The Box) and G. Scott Patterson (Lionsgate Entertainment, NeuLion, Engagement Labs), all of whom have extensive histories in both pay-TV

Melanie Dayasena-Lowe rounds up the latest Content Everywhere news, including online advertising monies, and 24/7 pay-TV

and digital content.

Programming for The QYOU is a curated mix of high-quality ‘produced-for-web’ content from around the world, presented and contextualised by on-air presenters, known as Q-rators. These Q-rators are internet stars in their own right, bringing their audience and sensibility to ensure

roadcasters are fighting the threat of

B

advertising money being syphoned to the web by converging online advertising

technology and techniques with mainstream TV advertising. In doing so, they claim to have tapped new revenue streams bolstering TV’s future.

“There has been considerable buzz about the rise of digital video advertising, a widespread perception that people no longer watch TV and that advertisers will follow the eyeballs online where targeting is apparently so much easier,” Jill Hind, COO, Enders Analysis told IBC. “We believe

Broadcasters are fighting the threat of advertising money being syphoned to the web by converging online advertising technology and techniques with mainstream TV advertising

“There has been considerable buzz about the rise of digital video advertising, a widespread perception that people no longer watch TV and that advertisers will follow the eyeballs online where targeting is apparently so much easier” Jill Hind, Enders Analysis

that TV will remain the dominant way to view video for many years to come.”

media that claims to be the only market that

the authenticity of the programming. Additionally,

can offer addressability, targeting, reporting and

the channel has been created to be quickly and

understanding return on investment.”

easily localised. in much the same way music videos fuelled the

video advertisements which will rocket 50 per

The QYOU launches 24/7 pay-TV service

cent in 2015, but from a significantly smaller base.

Commercial-free channel The QYOU has

CEO Scott Ehrlich. “The QYOU is committed to

launched what it claims to be the world’s first

doing the same for this engaging and entertaining

commercial development, argues that the TV

international 24/7 pay-TV service to bring a

cultural phenomenon, while also generating

advertising market needs to be shaken up. “We

selection of high-quality, short-form, internet

meaningful royalties for an entirely new generation

can compete on a level footing with digital

video content to TV screens. The QYOU is

of web creative icons, filmmakers and talent.”

Figures from GroupM show that TV revenue is growing in real terms although the year on year increases are slowing. TV spot ads will actually rise five per cent in 2015 in contrast to online

Jamie West, director, Sky AdSmart and

“Online creators are establishing a new art form popularity and growth of MTV,” said The QYOU

8 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com December 2014

Opinion & Analysis

Cellular uplinking: the new frontier eventually displacing established competitors.

broadcast, Network 18, said at the time, “We

It allows – indeed encourages – people to

needed to increase our coverage capabilities

think differently. While cellular networks will

during the elections. Supported by the local

forever be fundamentally unstable, the market-

Lamhas team (LiveU partner), we’ve been able

leading technology has now reached the point

to transmit live coverage of the campaign

ews doesn’t stand still: by its nature it’s a

where signal robustness and image quality

around the country with ad hoc interviews and

dynamic, shifting landscape of stories;

are a given. This is due to a variety of factors:

press conferences.” The new Prime Minister Mr

stories that can emerge instantly and

improved modems; superior encoding; and the

Narendra Modi then started his term with a very

evolve slowly. The rise of web-based news, and

emergence of 4G/LTE networks. In addition,

busy, international schedule. Again, cellular

the increasing use of online video in the last two

something notable that we’ve seen in the past

uplinking technology helped Indian media

decades, has changed the way that people

18 months or so is the launch of cellular uplinking

outlets provide streaming solutions from foreign

perceive news, placing speed-of-delivery and being

smartphone apps. Broadcasters and media

locations to India on multiple platforms with some

‘close to the action’ at the top of the list of priorities.

companies have immediately recognised that

reports using cellular uplinking smartphone apps.

By Ronen Artman, VP of marketing, LiveU

N

Prior to the emergence of cellular uplinking in

this is another game-changer as they can now

As a sector, we are now in the next phase,

2008, acquisition technologies such as satellite,

train a wider pool of staff – beyond reporters – to

meaning that media companies can now select

fibre, and microwave, hadn’t been able to

use this simple technology, providing an army of

exactly the form factor of the cellular uplinking

develop the mobility and flexibility that was

newsgatherers as and when required. Again, we

technology that they want to use. It’s now a

beginning to be required. Of course, they all

live in a world where dynamic content delivered

question of management platforms and cloud-

still have their place, no one doubts that, but

quickly is in demand.

enabled applications. These powerful tools mean

the last six years has seen cellular uplinking

Let’s take a quick look at a major 2014

that fleets of units can be centrally controlled

change the acquisition landscape, most

deployment. Hundreds of LiveU units were used

using geo-location capabilities alongside a host

particularly in newsgathering and sport, but

by India’s broadcasters and online media to

of other management options. Footage can be

also more widely than that. It is, as coined by

boost their live reporting of the Indian General

effortlessly introduced to a backend broadcast

Harvard professor Clayton Christensen, a truly

Elections, said to be the world’s biggest. These

environment creating a powerful content

disruptive innovation. This describes a process

units increased the newsgathering capabilities

network. But there’s more.

by which a product or service takes root initially

for many of India’s broadcasters such as ANI,

in simple applications at the bottom of a

Network 18, and Times Now, among others.

sharing content with other outlets, in a variety

market and then relentlessly moves up-market,

Piyush Gupta, operations director and CTO,

of commercial models. This, of course, is where

One of the key tenets of newsgathering is

the cloud comes into its own. By using a cloud-based network, connecting freelancers, production houses and other service providers with hundreds of broadcasters around the world, new opportunities open up for content and skillset sharing. An online news exchange platform makes it easier and cheaper for customers to offer or request newsgathering services for breaking news and events anywhere, at any time.

Provided the platform is architected correctly, once the connection is made between the broadcaster and the service provider, content can be transmitted and managed centrally.

Uplink devices will then be able to transmit to any correctly specified server, essentially allowing the broadcaster to use any service provider’s unit as one of their own. Leveraging the massive deployment of units and servers around the world, this kind of platform enables broadcasters to find correctly-equipped professionals in any geographic location and create unique content at a significantly reduced cost, and much faster, than sending their own news crew or using satellite or microwave equipment.

10 TVBEurope

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Opinion & Analysis

Media asset management

The complexities of archiving and storage Gary Finnerty, technical director at RR Media, delves into the complexities of archive and storage

W

hile there are concerted efforts within the media industry to migrate videotape archives to digital formats,

unfortunately there are far too many facilities and individuals that still rely upon video tape archives. Transferring valuable files to archive and digital storage platforms offers businesses a number of benefits, allowing organisations to access files more efficiently, while also giving them the flexibility to manage their assets and extract the most value from them.

Accurate and extensible archiving is increasingly becoming part of any broadcaster’s media operation

There are several reasons for this reluctance to migrate to the digital landscape. The first is the issue that production staff often relate to the physical and tactile security of a physical asset; in their minds, the cost of implementing tapeless archives is a significant one to the business, and is something that causes more hassle than benefit. Looking after both your physical assets and virtual archives is certainly a cost that can

Obvious alternatives to spinning disk archives

‘File-based archiving is less susceptible to the degradation witnessed with video tape formats, and with the correct tools, can be continuously migrated to ever evolving file and storage formats’

include Linear Tape Open (LTO) based archived solutions: these offer the ability to create automated multiple asset copies with the capability to store media offsite for disaster recovery purposes. While LTO archives are popular, they are expensive to implement and may be hindered by high licence and maintenance

impact a business, however, business leaders

costs. Facilities are increasingly turning to cloud-

need to think of the long-term benefits, rather

based storage solutions. Although cloud-based

than the short-term cost.

Second is the continual evolution of file formats,

solutions offer easy access to ‘elastic’ storage, the file-based system should enable rapid access to

time taken to upload and restore high bandwidth

standards, and a general lack of specialist

archived assets in a cost effective manner with

assets such as uncompressed 4K assets must be

knowledge. With file formats changing and

a smaller storage footprint. File-based archiving

taken into account.

industry standards updating regularly, moving

is less susceptible to the degradation witnessed

files into digital format along with the cost of

with video tape formats, and with the correct

must also be accounted for, together with possible

maintaining the physical assets can create a

tools, can be continuously migrated to ever

ingress and egress storage costs. Deploying a

general reluctance to adopt this new process. In

evolving file and storage formats.

robust cloud-based asset management system in

The cost of high bandwidth internet connectivity

Ever more frequently, facilities houses now

conjunction with cloud-based storage platforms

needs to work hard to create value, businesses

simply expand their ‘spinning disk’ archive. This

may offer a viable alternative to buying a locally

are worried about external costs associated with

is potentially very expensive, and can be fraught

archived system in the short to medium term.

major transitions to new platforms.

with technical challenges, as well as being

an industry where margins are tight and content

Accurate and extensible archiving is

difficult to extend and maintain. Often, there is

increasingly becoming part of any broadcaster’s

Rapid turnaround

an inherent distrust of spinning disk archives due

media operation. Broadcasters are continuously

Increasingly, broadcasters are now dependent

to possible mechanical failures and corruption,

looking to monetise assets for new emerging

upon content preparation facilities houses to

perceived cost issues and importantly the

markets and VoD platforms; therefore, having

archive their content and metadata, expecting

green issue; racks of spinning disks using

quick access to assets together with accurate

a rapid turnaround for repurposing existing

significant power with a corresponding

metadata is becoming a necessity to compete

content. The benefits of a well-implemented

increase in cooling effort required.

in the global media arena.

12 TVBEurope

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Opinion & Analysis

Double vision Patrick Mitchell, legal director, Sam Churney, associate, and Benjamin Simon, trainee, of DLA Piper’s Global Media, Sport & Entertainment practice, assess the latest trends, technology, commercial and regulatory issues related to second screen

Patrick Mitchell

ontent and content consumption is

Virtual disintegration

rights. Further, web-based content distributors such

changing; digital users have more

The broadcasting industry is becoming an

as Netflix have the scale, data and content to

sophisticated needs and higher

‘industry of industries’, and a highly complex and

provide services on their own terms and rely on

expectations, including portability across

developing ecosystem has been created; the

others to provide the internet access on which it

numerous devices, personalisation, and

entrance of non-traditional players into this market

operates. Netflix has built success through use of

ease of use. As well as becoming available

has increased digital broadcasting growth. These

archive and library content but also by entering

in more digital formats, content is becoming

new players threaten traditional broadcasters

the commissioning and content creation space,

more socially interactive. Multiple interactive

with their financial strength and scale (eg, telcos

using analytics and data from its consumer base

touch points are becoming available to

such as BT, and ‘super platforms’ such as Google

to ‘produce’ programmes (eg, House of Cards).

broadcasters and others, creating opportunities

and Amazon). Additionally, rights owners (such as

to collect data from a previously unknown

NFL and NBA) are starting to deliver certain digital

Constantly evolving operating models

audience and to use that data to power

online content directly to consumers, no longer

Technologies are migrating to IP and IT, core

processes like programming and advertising.

depending on the traditional sale of distribution

processes are becoming more business-to-

C

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December 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

Opinion & Analysis consumer and data driven, and the number of

with a second screen in hand. These new consumer

on-demand and catch up services, regulated

IP-enabled devices is increasing. Additionally,

viewing habits represent a powerful force, with such

by ATVOD (Tier Two). Finally, there is currently no

business models are evolving with no clear-cut

viewers being capable of becoming valuable social

set of rules or a specific entity regulating content

golden rule on digital consumer monetisation.

ambassadors for programmers and advertisers

on the ‘second screen’ (Tier Three). However, if

as they amplify content and messaging through

synchronisation methods between first and second

Data is becoming the new content differentiator

their social spheres. Broadcasters, media agencies

screens become more sophisticated, automatic,

and advertisers are leveraging this phenomenon

or opaque, the potential for consumer harm

Media companies leverage big data from data

via on-air integrations and real-time audience

and regulator discomfort increases, particularly

analytics to alter services and content to evolving

engagement to keep users of the second screen

if that is combined with attempts to circumvent

customer needs. Analytics and usage monitoring

watching the ‘primary’ screen in front of them;

advertising or scheduling restrictions that apply on

can provide more of an insight into who is using

social media, therefore, is being used to help drive

the first screen, but not on the second. Indeed,

products and services and how they are being

traditional TV ratings. Moreover, advertisers are

it would be wrong to assume that the second

used. Editorial teams are therefore able to adapt

starting to use ‘#’ during the linear airing of their

screen is necessarily ‘secondary’ to the first screen.

content and commission programmes based on

ads to identify the social ad-effectiveness and

If electronic programme guides and/or functional

knowledge of their audience and choose topics

resonance of particular ad spots. Nielson has seen

control of the first screen develop around the

based on real-time customer data insights. The

an intersection growing between those tweeting

second screen, indeed if more content flows via

value of content is amplified by context.

about TV and those tweeting about brands. Sixty-

the second screen to the first screen, then the

four per cent of brand authors also tweet about TV,

three-tier hierarchy identified may be threatened.

‘Multi-X consumption’ is the new norm

with 78 per cent of those who tweet about brands

Video is travelling across screens and

coming from that intersection. Broadcasters can

drafting second screen service provision

there has been a noted shift in consumer

capitalise on and leverage this trend for monetising

agreements between broadcasters and second

behaviour – the reality is that the TV viewer is

opportunities with brands. Media agencies,

screen services/technology suppliers. Data

increasingly multitasking.

advertisers and broadcasters are therefore looking

privacy, data ownership and data protection are

at how much affinity a particular TV show has with a

fundamental concerns, as is the ‘responsibility’ for

particular brand and assessing sponsorship and/or

user generated content (there sometimes exists

integration opportunities.

an ambiguity between first and second screens

Social media has transformed TV viewing Johann Dudley, VP of product at Neilson, discussed

There are a few key points that arise when

whereby in some instances, activities in second

the impact of social media at a recent DLA Piper

Regulatory and legal issues

screen may attract responsibility for the operator

webinar, where he explained that social media is an

In the UK, there are three tiers to regulation for

of the first screen). Therefore, the agreements will

important consumer phenomenon and is changing

content and advertising. In terms of editorial

cover-off the share of responsibility for activities

how people watch TV. Indeed, according to the

content, a comprehensive and rigorous set of rules

carried out in social media. Warranty periods

2014 Nielsen Digital Consumer Report, 84 per cent of

exists for TV broadcasts, regulated by OFCOM (Tier

and remedies for malfunctions are also key

US smartphone and tablet owners today watch TV

One). A lighter touch set of rules exists for video

points in such agreements.

14 TVBEurope

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Workflow

The conversion of production galleries at each ORF regional studio required a multi-channel solution

ORF goes tapeless nationwide

Philip Stevens talks to Stryme about how it converted a regional studio to full HD operation and introduced a tapeless workflow for Austria’s ORF

ustrian national broadcaster ORF

A

The conversion of the entire production gallery at

tendering presentation, particular emphasis was

(Österreichischer Rundfunk) serves a

each of the ORF regional studios called for a multi-

placed on the company’s Genesix Videoserver.

total of eight million people from its

channel solution. But because the playout varied

studio centre in Vienna. In addition to the

greatly in the different studios, a solution had to

the flexibility to integrate into the existing ORF

national coverage, each of the country’s nine

be found that offered the required flexibility during

infrastructure and the client-server architecture

federal states is provided with a mix of regional

the integration into existing infrastructures, while

would achieve all that the broadcaster was

topics, which are broadcast over ORF2 from

simultaneously providing reliable performance.

looking to achieve,” explains Goce Zdravkoski,

studios around Austria. In 2013, it was decided to

The task of fulfilling this upgrade was put

convert each of the regional centres to HD

out to international tender – and won by local

and to introduce a tapeless workflow.

broadcast solutions supplier, Stryme. During the

“We were able to show that Genesix had

managing director of Stryme.

For the regional programming, both a playout, as well as an ingest that creates a ‘clean and

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December 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

Workflow dirty’ recording of the broadcasts, was required.

The playout had to play not only two clips – fill and key – on two SDI channels, but also provide a flat TV screen in the studio that displays a preview of upcoming clips. Likewise, the ingest requirements were based on the necessity of a time-controlled and automated SDI recording.

“The playout needed to support SD/ XDCAM D10 and HD/XDCAM HD422.

Also, the same formats had to be supported for the ingest . The broadcast recordings from the ingest system needed to be sent to a network drive so that these could be imported into the ORF archive after successful recording” Goce Zdravkoski, managing director of Stryme

Zdravkoski explains further. “The playout needed to support SD/XDCAM D10 and HD/ XDCAM HD422. Also, the same formats had to be supported for the ingest. The broadcast recordings from the ingest system needed to be sent to a network drive – the ‘watchfolder’ – so that these could be imported into the ORF archive after successful recording.”

16 TVBEurope

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Workflow At the outset, the use of the new XDCAM HD422 camera formats and Final Cut Pro editing systems required a conversion of the entire production gallery to HD. “After a test phase at the regional facility in Burgenland, the studio personnel said they appreciated especially the user-friendly interface, the easy handling and flexibility of Genesix. What’s more, they recognised the potential with regard to fast system integration and reliable playout,” states Zdravkoski.

With the successful completion of the trial, the full upgrade programme could begin.

The set-up Zdravkoski reports that for the playout operation, the clips are located in a MAM system supplied

by David Systems’ DigaSystem. “Part of our job was to ensure 100 per cent integration of the system during the collaboration.”

Initially, the clips required for the ORF broadcast are transferred from the DigaSystem and the TransferClient via CIFS/SMB to the video server. The clips received by the video server are automatically imported into the asset management system via the network drive/ watchfolder. The compatibility of the file is checked and the thumbnail is created. Using the

The Genesix ABRoll tool is used for the playout at the upgraded ORF studios

asset management system, it is then possible to manage the clips – label copy, move, delete, rename etc – on the playout system.

“Part of our job was to ensure 100 per cent integration of the system during the collaboration” Goce Zdravkoski

Zdravkoski continues, “The integration into the CMS system makes it possible to access the ORF internal content by means of a network share.

The interface facilitates dragging and dropping of content into a watchfolder which Genesix is then able to access. This allows the user to populate the playlist in the asset management tool or in the studio playout tool.”

The Genesix ABRoll tool is used for the playout.

All channels and their individual components can be integrated into a large, dynamic playlist using this application. “ABRoll was specifically developed further in the scope of the project to realise the requirement from ORF for a centrally

One function of the Traffic Management system is the synchronisation of files with the backup server

controlled playlist. The common playlist simplifies

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December 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

Workflow handling and ensures an efficient use of the

succession. In reality, ORF utilises two channels for

backup server is automatically taken over

multichannel playout solution.”

the constant loop recording, with the remaining

by the Traffic Management system.

ABRoll permits existing playlists to be stored, while readily preserving the structure

two channels for the time-controlled recording of specific content.

“The system ensures the clips and files are synchronised between master and slave.

of clips when they are swapped between rundowns. Templates, which are predefined by placeholders, are a decided asset in terms of time management.

Fill and key By grouping on the respective pages of the

“Because of the project’s programming and the specific adaptation to the local conditions in each regional studio, a complete integration into the existing infrastructure was achieved and the security of the continuous SD-HD conversion was ensured” Goce Zdravkoski

interface within the GUI, it is possible to link the channels with each other. For example, if channels 1 and 2 are located in the same group, then the actions – play and stop, for

A start point must be defined for the time-

The library storage directory is mirrored on the

example – are automatically executed on

controlled recording, the stopping point is

other server. If a file is added to the master, this

both channels.

marked by the video server itself by means

is copied to the slave. If this file is deleted on the

of full-video detection. The detection

master or modified, then this procedure is also

if the button is pressed or a ‘play’ action is

automatically switches the line off as soon as

carried out on the slave – offering a 100 per

executed by means of a GPI contact. The

the last signal has been received and thus

cent redundancy.”

grouping can also be cancelled in this user

reliably stops the recording.

“Channels 1 and 2 start to play simultaneously

Zdravkoski concludes by explaining that Genesix is now being used successfully in all

interface – for example, channel 1 is placed in group A and channel 2 in group B. All channels

Redundancy on two levels

ORF regional studios. “Because of the project’s

can be optimally used, quickly linked, and

Both video server channels can be operated

programming and the specific adaptation to

securely released and the channels that have

separately in emergencies. In ORF’s case,

the local conditions in each regional studio,

been released can be immediately used for

an identical configuration of both devices

a complete integration into the existing

playout again.”

is implemented to ensure a 100 per cent

infrastructure was achieved and the security of

redundancy and failsafe performance. In

the continuous SD-HD conversion was ensured,”

Ingest

fact, the servers are synchronised both during

he says. “The new redundancy concept, the

The ingest module of the video server offers

ingest, as well as playout and access the same

stability of the software, and the use of high-

ORF numerous recording options, which include

content. A simplification of the workflow results

quality hardware increases the operational

crash, scheduled batch and loop recording. The

from the necessity of the communication with

security for daily use. It was all completed

4-In/4-Out version can record on four channels in

only one machine. The synchronisation with the

ahead of schedule.”

18 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com December 2014

Workflow

Paris-based BUF Compagnie was founded in 1984 by VFX artist Pierre Buffin

VFX Liberté!

Paris-based BUF Compagnie has always used proprietary workflow and software for its superlative VFX work. But now the company that has worked on everything from City of Lost Children to Gravity is opening its award-winning toolkit to the world. Neal Romanek reports

Each visual effects shot that passes through BUF’s workflow is overseen by a single artist

convention has celebrated the power of graphics software to leverage and expand the vision of a single artist or designer. What better place for BUF to introduce its single-user effects suite than at SIGGRAPH Asia, held in Shenzen, China at the beginning of this month (3-4 December).

hen BUF Compagnie was started

W

BUF has stuck to the vision of using a kind of

The SIGGRAPH demonstration featured a full

in 1984 by visual effects artist Pierre

‘mini-auteur’, working to perfect each shot

presentation by BUF of its entire effects toolkit.

Buffin, it focused on leveraging and

under his or her supervision. The BUF workflow

developing the talents and skills of individual

and software has developed in tandem with

artists, an ethos that has continued till the present

this, and as a result, BUF’s range of visual effects

day. The company’s work has been perpetually

software has been designed to be entirely

groundbreaking, whether through creating new

useable by a single artist.

“Ours is a complete package, a complete pipeline. And the artists really like it” Olivier Gilbert, BUF

types of effects – the ‘bullet-time’ effect of The

Pierre Buffin saw an opportunity in the BUF

Matrix films had its genesis in BUF’s effects for a

software suite to serve smaller companies and

Michel Gondry in 1996 – or in developing new

projects, including those in developing markets,

tools for its artists to use.

who may not be able to afford the wide variety

BUF’s CTO Julien Villemeur says that ‘B-View’ will

of artists – and software licenses – required for big

be the first software to be made available in the

budget effects projects.

BUF toolkit. “B-view is a playback sequence tool.

Unusually for VFX houses, each visual effects shot that passes through BUF’s workflow, whether

The tool is for reviewing the work in a sequence of

for films, TV, commercials or music videos, is overseen by a single artist. Throughout the rest

A toolkit unleashed

images in a variety of different contexts – to view

of the industry, almost without exception, an

BUF’s visual effects tools cover all the necessities

in different colour spaces, for example, or view in

assembly line workflow is preferred, with modellers

of a visual effects studio – modelling, painting,

3D sterescopic space, or for annotating.”

modelling, animators animating, compositors

animation, compositing, and the workflow

compositing. The efficiencies created are exactly

management tools to bring them all together.

be the sole source of the downloads and

those enjoyed in the mass manufacturing of any

Starting at the beginning of 2014, it will be

information about the software. B-View will

factory product – whether it be an iPhone or a

offering its tools to the public, rolling them out

be available for free, and the company is still

toaster. Costs are kept down, artists need only be

module by module.

discussing what the price point will be for the

specialised for certain tasks, and crew can be brought on and off a project as needed.

SIGGRAPH has long been the premiere global meeting place for computer graphics artists. The

BUF will publish a new website, which will

rest of the software suite. The software will run on Linux and Apple’s OSX.

TVBEurope 19

December 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

Workflow Villemeur recognises that moving from VFX services to product development is a challenging leap. “The first thing we need is to be able to support a product in a global market,” he says.

“We need to learn and to gain experience in that regard. We expect to learn a lot through this first distribution of B-View. There is a lively interest in BUF, and there is a lively interest in our software.

So we hope to create some anticipation for the rest of the suite.”

BUF’s VFX supervisor, Olivier Gilbert, notes that BUF’s long industry experience has been invaluable in developing the software suite: “We have been developing the software for 30 years now. We have never bought any commercial software, we have always developed everything on our own, in-house. And now we think that we have this fantastic asset and we want to distribute it on the market.

“We think our software collection is valuable for two reasons,” continues Gilbert. “First, we have a proven track record, and second we have a consistent collection of software. Most products only offer special solutions for a studio.

So the studio spends a lot of time and money to patch the different software together to make

BUF’s visual effects tools cover all the necessities of a VFX studio

them work as a whole. It’s a pain in the ass.

They don’t manage to make it really efficient

New developments

with legendary French comic artist Moebius

and seamless. Ours is a complete package, a

But the company’s 21st century transformation

and Stan Lee. Projects in development include

complete pipeline. And the artists really like it.”

doesn’t just stop at software development. BUF

collaborations with the Jim Henson company.

has also been expanding beyond its traditional

“We try to come in at the beginning of

revamping some of the existing software to make it

role as effects provider to becoming a content

the projects,” says VFX supervisor Gilbert of

more robust and easier to use by artists outside the

developer and producer too.

the company’s new direction. “We bring our

Currently, BUF is dedicating its energies to

BUF ecosystem. Already, the response to a public

CEO Pierre Buffin started production company

expertise. We bring our talents in design. And

Angel and Fine in 2007 to create projects that

we bring our money too. It’s really interesting.

could best leverage the company’s formidable

It’s what Pierre wants to develop as well. We’ve

of a movie we had worked on, Black and

effects talents and to allow international projects

made a lot of beautiful things with our special

White,” says Villemeur. “I told them about the

to take advantage of France’s tax rebate scheme.

effects. Now he wants to be more involved in

upcoming release of B-View, and I got a real

Angel and Fine projects have included Thor, The

the creative projects. It makes sense for us to

‘wow’ response. It’s really, really exciting and

Grandmaster, Odd Thomas, the Oscar-nominated

work with creatives. That’s what we’ve wanted

encouraging for the next step.”

short, Even Pigeons Go To Heaven and projects

since the beginning.”

release of the BUF pipeline has been positive.

“I just came back from Taiwan for the premiere

20 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com December 2014 Last year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special

Workflow

A television renaissance Milk VFX rose from the ashes of The Mill’s TV department, took on high-profile projects from launch, and marked its first birthday this June. The company had further reason to celebrate more recently, winning one of the first TVBAwards. Will Cohen, CEO of the London-based visual effects company spoke to Holly Ashford about Milk’s journey

vice president of visual effects at Universal Pictures], Jennifer Bell.” Mill Film had worked on fantasy action feature 47 Ronin and following its closure, Bell offered the new VFX house a package of shots.

The company also came to an agreement with the BBC to work on the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, which later earned the company a BAFTA Television Craft Award.

ohen began his career in the early ‘90s like

C

Cohen describes the win as “a fairytale end to year

many others in the industry, as a runner,

one”, and a well-deserved one too, considering

at Soho post firm The Mill. After moving

the level of work achieved. The 80-minute

to several different companies Cohen worked in

episode was simulcast and screened in cinemas

live action commercial film production, which he

globally, and featured the villainous Half-Face

soon “fell out of love with”, having “always had a

Man. Milk replaced one entire side of actor Peter

synergy with post production and visual effects”.

Ferdinando’s head in 87 of the 117 digital shots.

However, Cohen admits that in 2013, “the television

The company created the CG hollow cage-like

and film business fell off a cliff and there wasn’t

structure which makes up the missing half of Half-

a lot of work being done”. The volatile market

Face Man’s head as well as a T-Rex in the opening

impacted The Mill, which shut the doors of its TV post

sequence, the Victorian London cityscape, and

department. Rather than deter Cohen, he saw The

helped drive the episode’s climax with wide fly-

Mill’s closure as “the perfect opportunity” to realise

over views of the Thames.

his “secret desire”. He explains, “when we work in

Early on, Milk VFX also confirmed global hit

Will Cohen, CEO, Milk VFX

Sherlock, as well as Jonathan Strange and

opportunity – to create utopia. But you kind of never

community were very supportive.” A number of

a 2004 novel, to be shown on the BBC next

expect it to happen.”

deals were still being done, up until the week Milk

year. Soon after came confirmation of Natural

opened its doors, and Cohen received words

History Museum Alive 3D, presented by David

Addicted to the high-end

of advice from “rival companies” including the

Attenborough and broadcast on New Years Day

Cohen founded his utopia with six others, and,

dangers of living on adrenaline: “Adrenaline is

2014. The production was to earn Milk its second

although he says none were entrepreneurs, they

highly addictive. Once you’ve put all these deals

honour, the TVBAward for Achievement in VFX. The

had several years of experience between them,

together you actually have to roll your sleeves up

company also won the contract to work on “the

and were “already a functioning team”. The

and get on with the work.” The priority now was

first high-profile UK tax-break that got Americans

close-knit family-feel of this team exists today,

making sure all the jobs were done well, and not

to come to the UK”: the immensely popular,

Cohen stresses: “Luckily we’re all still friends,

getting “addicted to the high-end”. You don’t

cult TV hit 24. The team created the drones that

it all worked out, and the business did come

get much higher-end than Universal Studios, Milk’s

chased Jack Bauer through London, CG water,

back. It helped that the visual effects

first client. “I will forever be in the dept of [senior

fire, smoke and blood and numerous explosions.

companies for other people, we always think we

Mr Norrell, a seven-part series, adapted from

could do things better ourselves – if only we had the

22 TVBEurope

Workflow

www.tvbeurope.com December 2014 Members of the Milk team collect their TVBAward at the inaugural event in October

TV buzz

He also strips this idea down to its most basic

So how has the industry changed from Mill to

sentiment, saying that one of the draws of the

Milk? VFX in the UK was a “cottage industry” in

industry is the chance to “help to tell a good

the ‘90s, says Cohen, crediting the huge Harry

story, whether it’s a TV show or a feature film”.

Potter franchise with transforming it into a centre of

Working with the newest software and tools and producing visually-stunning effects is a highlight,

excellence to rival Los Angeles. “That helped stabilise the industry more than anything else. All the main

company is at the “exciting and nerve-wracking”

but Cohen says, “really, it’s all about the people.

companies knew they had work to do every year

stage of closing forthcoming jobs. What he can

Forget all the work: at the end of the day, what

or every other year, for a decade.” However, “there

share is that the Christmas/New Year period will

you take home with you are the relationships,

was a global loss felt when Harry Potter ended, as

act as a fantastic showcase for the company.

the fun you’ve had and the conversations

nothing came along to replace it.” It is fortunate,

Milk has completed work on Get Santa, a festive

you’ve had with people.”

then, that since Milk’s inception there has been

Brit comedy starring Jim Broadbent, the Doctor

a renaissance in TV programming – big-budget,

Who Christmas Special, and the “powerful, epic”

“boutique” on its website. However, ‘boutique’ is

cinematic, binge-worthy shows have been hitting

Jonathan Strange. The company also worked

“really referring to a sense of personal service and

our screens, from fantasy epic Game of Thrones,

on film Ex Machina by The Beach director Alex

a culture,” says Cohen, “free of office politics,

to fantastically addictive Breaking Bad. “There’s a

Garland, set for UK cinema release in January.

with six like-minded co-founders” at its helm and

The firm has 100 seats and is described as

with “very simple, very pure objectives.” These

massive buzz about television,” asserts Cohen. “The sophistication of storytelling is much more prevalent

Personal service and objectives

objectives: to tell a good story, to “do something

today on television. We’re doing things in TV we

Seeing projects come to life and watching weeks

innovative and creatively exciting”, and foster

never thought we’d do two or three years ago.”

of work on the big (or small) screen is surely one

a family-feel within the company, have resulted

After “a great first batch of work” and the

of the most rewarding things about the VFX

in Milk overcoming the “doom and gloom” of

seemingly unstoppable rise of great TV content,

business? Cohen agrees: “It’s inspiring watching

2013, with a raft of projects slated for 2015 as well

what is next in the pipeline for Milk? Cohen remains

something from a chat to a script, to a shoot, to

as “strategic [geographical] expansion”, which

tight-lipped about upcoming projects, as the

a drawing, to the edit, to finishing it.”

Cohen is keeping tightly under wraps.

www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope Supplements

December 2014

Media Asset Management In association with

ii TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com December 2014

MAM Supplement

in association with

Next generation MAM Business-driven media workflow

By Julian FernándezCampón, head of solutions architecture at Tedial

P

erfect media management requires an exceptionally well integrated IT architecture.

To maximise the capabilities of the modern

broadcast facility, it’s essential for MAM technology providers to apply precision in IT technology to broadcast and media. Back in 2004, the industry began to label the forthcoming IT transition ‘tapeless’, but there was much more to it than that; the realities of a cost-effective and scalable multisite enterprise media workflow were going to be far more challenging than just having ‘less tape’.

Many suppliers proposed short-term proprietary adaptions of their broadcast technology, which in the long run didn’t go far enough. To really succeed, it was important to think ahead of that curve. The key was to design a Media Process Manager (MPM), a common platform that globally manages both automated media workflows and application services integration.

However, the high throughput required by a business-driven workflow also required solutions that were more open and scalable. The answer was the development of a Business Process Modelling engine (BPM) specifically tailored for broadcast and media operations.

This could provide a more efficient ‘joined up’ media process model, which enabled integration throughout the business for archive, production workflow and content preparation for multiscreen. A cross-platform web-based user interface and web-based API were also required to provide every operator with media tools at

“It’s important that MAM solutions deliver a media ecosystem that acts and reacts as required by the whole business and is not constrained by individual processes and departments.”

consumer behaviour, broadcasters need to have a number of key processes in place including multi-site, multi-format, multi-platform delivery, and, increasingly, media business reporting.

Today’s broadcasters require media tools that provide continuous access to content throughout their business. Removing the unnecessary, and at times overwhelming complexity caused by multiple workflow states,

every desktop, in every department, at every

wrappers and codecs enables easier discovery

site; enabling stronger internal and external packaging and delivery, enabling increasingly

of related media. By providing better tools, this

efficient and cost-effective operations.

complexity is replaced by a logical view of the

Continuous access to content

Traditional linear playout and viewing on-

content and workflow with direct access to

Fast forward to 2014. The right media IT solutions

demand evolved much quicker than many

the different components for validation: forms

architecture now provides broadcasters with

expected into the concept of ‘content

to easily select audio, and metadata enrichment

full integration across their entire business

everywhere’ via smart TVs, tablets, smartphones

for packaging and delivery of content in the

from acquisition and production through to

and PCs. To keep up with the pace of this

correct format.

working practices.

TVBEurope iii

December 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

in association with

MAM Supplement

MAM media tools and an intuitive user interface

Media companies have to be considerably more

Multi-site deployment capabilities have many

optimise operations, using low-res files to provide

agile to adapt to the new and more complex

benefits such as content migration, and

content anywhere in the business with reduced

content distribution business models.

business continuity with operational cost control

latency – no more waiting for the right version.

MAM processes and media workflow

predictably and reduction. This led to the

Today, users can have the tools they need to get

must accelerate success and not hold back

launch of our Tedial Media Exchange Platform

their job done at a higher quality; not a raft of

the business.

at IBC this year. Broadcasters and global

complex options they will never use.

media companies worldwide continue to rely

Multi-site deployment

on media IT solutions to manage their entire

Reporting and monitoring

Practical multi-site deployment is another

media workflow; better organise staff; access

Stepping back, reporting and monitoring is

area that is often overlooked. Very few of our

content archives; and streamline third-party

an increasingly important challenge for any

customers actually operate on a single site,

technology integration. This allows them to

media company because the volume of

instead working with many partners throughout

cost-effectively reach new audiences on every

media transactions and the number of delivery partners have increased so dramatically. To ensure the highest quality service delivery, point-by-point manual checking is replaced by real-time metadata and analysis. Simplified reporting and live dashboards identify and solve

screen. These solutions significantly increase

“MAM processes and media workflow must accelerate success and not hold back the business.”

problems, prioritise tasks and proactively detect

creativity and efficiency by combining multi-site media management with business-driven media workflows. Day to day, our own solutions enable our clients to continuously expand and easily re-configure their core media IT to improve their overall media business performance.

faults and bottlenecks. It’s important that MAM

They are adding multi-site working and

solutions deliver a media ecosystem that acts

their production and distribution workflow.

continuously tuning their media workflows

and reacts as required by the whole business

In practice, a central production hub ‘on

using open industry standard BPM tools.

and is not constrained by individual processes

the ground’ often works with other sites to

Our customers are taking control to proactively

and departments. The use of this data is also

enrich and package content by adding rich

manage their increasing content enrichment

extending beyond the business.

metadata, international languages, subtitles,

workload and the media throughput that is

and creating promos. Efficient and traceable

required to drive their multi-platform packaging

content transfer and management is required.

for multiscreen distribution and success.

The previous simplicity of linear push broadcasting and the EPG is now replaced by a much more complicated and interactive relationship between subscribers and broadcasters. Desktop media tools and the API integrated with third-party business systems,

2014: a year in MAM

such as strategic planning, programming and traffic, are increasingly being used to provide

2014 has been a highly successful year

We have also continued to embrace

search tags and metadata to drive content

for Tedial, with new international value

global industry trends with support for

discovery and its recirculation by social media.

added integrator partnerships and third-

media initiatives such as the UK Digital

This reverse path of subscriber data from the CMS

party integration and company expansion

Production Partnership DPP.

is becoming the crucial battleground

all coordinated. The recently announced

for broadcasters seeking to innovate and

integration of our archive solutions with Sony

company grow to 100 staff in Europe, Middle

compete successfully in the turbulent

Optical Disc Archive (ODA) provides the

East and the US. In Q1 we opened our new

multiscreen transformation.

industry with a vital missing link in archive

office in Dubai’s Media City, managed by

technology as part of the MAM workflow.

Razik Zaghlouli, regional sales manager MEA.

Scalability

This technology provides reliable, long-term

The office complements Tedial’s existing

Scalability is the key issue. These days, most

archiving for the preservation of priceless

support services in the region. We also recently

customers want to avoid a ‘big bang‘ with

legacy content with a longer term, more

expanded our North American operation

their projects and when launching new

appropriate technology lifecycle than data

with the appointment of Ben Higley Shaver as

services. Instead, they are seeking stable

tape. We also unveiled additional third-party

manager of pre-sales engineering and support.

yet rapid operational change and improvement

editing workflow capabilities by adding Adobe

Led by highly respected broadcast software

using a common platform to achieve increased

Premiere Pro CC to those already established

executive Jay Batista, Tedial’s North American

efficiency. This type of change is usually gradual,

with Apple, Avid and Quantel. To dramatically

operation is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

carefully prioritising the specific media processes

improve both editing throughput and multi-

that will need adaption without disrupting

site archive access using Adobe Premiere

globally including some of the largest and

the existing production process.

Pro CC, Tedial’s Tarsys media workflow allows

most complex MAM systems in the industry,

high-res craft editing, compliance editing and

our customers use different configurations of

be flexible; for example, allowing business

screening, promo production and non-linear

our core Tarsys, MPM, Ficus and AST software

performance to improve without each change

content packaging to be managed side-by-

modules in conjunction with their own

causing costly and complex re-investments in

side. This integration brings Adobe Premiere Pro

third-party encoding, storage, editing and

storage and transcoding.

CC into the heart of Tedial’s Media IT solutions.

transcoding systems.

To achieve this, the architecture needs to

Our expansion in 2014 has seen the

With over 50 high-profile reference sites

iv TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com December 2014

MAM Supplement

in association with

Multi-tenant media exchange using the cloud For this supplement’s case study, we look at Tedial’s work with the Nordvision group of public service broadcasters; a major project to enable multi-tenant co-operation for Nordvision’s Nordif-3 network ased on Tedial’s previous partnership in

translation and preservation processes, to allow

In operation, the media exchange processes

2011 with FORTA (Federation of Spanish

the Nordvision members to work together more

using Nordif-3 can be split into two categories:

Regional Television Channels national

efficiently. Day to day, NRK hosts the services

‘acquisition’, and ‘select and deliver’.

news exchange), where it provided multi-site

and manages on-going support for the Nordif-3

Programmes are selected locally in each

media management and content exchange for

platform in Oslo.

broadcaster’s own MAM system and the essence

B

files, metadata (XML) and associated materials

Spain’s 12 regional broadcasters, the company

Sharing content using cloud connectivity

are delivered to the Tedial Nordif-3 platform

broadcasters that comprises DR (Denmark),

Forming the heart of the Nordif-3 project is

IMX50; HD: XDCam at 50Mbps; and DNX at 120).

NRK (Norway), SVT (Sweden), YLE (Finland) and

Tedial’s Media Exchange Platform (MEP), which

RUV (Iceland), selected Tedial’s technology for

provides the broadcasters in the group with a

to a simple integrity check and, if required,

a major project that enables multi-tenant

secure multi-MAM content exchange platform

associated materials and metadata are

co-operation for Nordvision’s Nordif-3 network.

to share media, metadata and attachments.

attached to the new assets. The Nordif-3 system

MEP enables fast and secure access over

then automatically generates a browse version

decided to look north.

Nordvision, a group of five northern European

The Nordvision partners co-operate to

in the broadcaster’s native format (SD: IMX30, On arrival, files sent to Nordif-3 are subject

strengthen public service broadcasting in the

IP and provides automated workflows that

and key frames for each contribution. When a

Nordic region based on the principle:

present and package content, delivering to

broadcaster in the group wishes to select and

“what we have, we share”.

the broadcaster’s MAM system in the format

deliver content, they simply search, browse and select assets using Tedial’s MAM web interface.

Upon selection, assets are transferred to the receiving broadcaster using MEP.

The future

The Nordvision group of broadcasters

The effective working relationship between The five Nordic public service broadcasters now

required. This removes the unnecessary

Tedial, Mediateket and Nordvision partners,

operate a content exchange platform to share

complexity that is now a reality for many

and particularly NRK, has resulted in a

media and metadata using their own local MAM

organisations working at many desktops and

smooth running project that has lived up to

systems. Led by highly respected Norwegian

with multiple departments. MEP maximises

expectations. Furthermore, Tedial, NRK and the

public service broadcaster NRK and managed

the re-use and minimises the re-working of

rest of the partners share the vision that using

by Tedial’s technology delivery partner

material, allowing large media assets to be

Nordif-3 for easy media exchange continues

Mediateket, the solution rapidly and securely

moved efficiently, making use of centralised

their long-term beneficial relationship where

shares daily news items for 17 television channels,

management capability without the need for

legacy issues in previous platforms can be

with the broadcasters collectively generating

extensive IT support.

solved. The Nordic countries can cost effectively

more than 4,000 long-form programmes every

MEP also provides Nordif-3 with unique global

share more programming and strengthen their

year. HD and SD material contributed by any of

monitoring of these exchange processes using

the broadcasters is searchable and selectable

live dashboards and business reports that allow

via the cloud for rapid co-operation.

the broadcasters to monitor the exchange of

develop new media services and platforms. As

shared media automatically.

well as Mediateket in Europe, Tedial has recently

NRK co-ordinated requirements amongst the group’s wide range of creative, operational

Material contributed by the individual

media partnerships.

Value added partners are crucial to help

announced partnerships with highly respected

and technical stakeholders. Mediateket led the

broadcasters is searchable and selectable via

systems integrators Magna Systems and

multi-site workflow design, helping to specify the

the cloud for subsequent delivery to the other

Engineering in APAC and Media Guru in India.

appropriate operational practices, metadata

members in the group.

www.tedial.com

vi TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com December 2014

MAM Supplement

in association with

Tedial HQ in Malaga, Spain

Change management The management of digital media assets has arguably never been more important, with a greater volume of files having to be managed as the industry moves almost fully away from the days of analogue to a file-based present, and future. To discuss the recent changes in the MAM environment, TVBEurope sat down with Esther Mesas, chief sales and marketing officer at Tedial he industry is in the throes of change,

T

with the effects of digitisation reaching every corner of the marketplace. What

have been the most significant changes you’ve seen from an MAM perspective?

workflows. In this case, and especially for MAM

“We can now say that this is an IT industry. The future of the TV business will be IP files and IT technology.”

systems where it’s all about software, it’s very important to apply all of the standards in the digital asset management industry. It’s about the mixture of the two worlds: very specific

The industry has moved from a video-based

expertise in video formats and supporting files

environment to a file-based environment;

that are increasingly delivered in high resolution

and when we talk about files, we talk about

(UHD, 4K, etc), whilst optimising for IT standards

standard IT. From the beginning, we’ve been

Broadcast is an IT-standard sector, and software

like BPM workflows, so we don’t have to

an IT company with an IT heritage. When

has become very important: it is, if you like, the

reinvent the wheel – if in the IT world there

it comes to broadcast, we’re applying IT

intelligence of the industry. The expertise and

are people with expertise in optimising for this,

technology to the broadcast industry;

knowledge is in software and in IT-standard

then why not apply that expertise and

moving and delivering media files.

strategies that are applied in very specific

technology in this industry.

TVBEurope vii

December 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

in association with

MAM Supplement

Over the last ten years we have seen this

who require control for heritage purposes, it’s

technologies. One of our founders was from

evolution play out to the degree that we can

not an investment that many companies want

the broadcast sector, the other an academic

now say that this is an IT industry. The future of the

to make. They need the security that their assets

at the University of Malaga (we still collaborate

TV business will be IP files and IT technology.

are safe and are available when they need

with the University on R&D projects), so that

them, but increasingly, companies are looking to

mix is an inherent part of the company. The

externalise this practice.

company was founded in 2001, with a dual

And that future scenario only increases the importance of MAM systems for all entities in

I think that the same will happen with software,

footprint in Europe and Latin America, but with

this sector

and I think that software as a service will become

an international focus. We’re headquartered

It does, because MAM isn’t only about managing

a real alternative. Software is a challenge

in Malaga, Spain, and have offices in London, Dubai, the US, Latin America and we also

files and archiving them, it’s also an integrator.

operate in Asia Pacific. We’ve always been

MAM connects the delivery of files from ingest to playout and it’s also the software that automates all of the media workflows, integrating the different components and

“In the digital age, media has become a commodity for everyone.”

involved in big projects and that has required our focus to be global.

Finally, how has the mix of companies you

making them compatible.

service changed as media has become more

It’s the core of a broadcaster’s business: the companies organise their media through the

because it’s not a physical product but a virtual

pervasive in all business sectors?

MAM software. Especially now with file delivery,

one; why invest in a product that needs to

The majority of our demand comes from the

the non-linear playout is becoming more

evolve? As a service, you pay for what you are

broadcast industry, but we also work in the

important – if you need to deliver a significant

consuming and are guaranteed the evolution

government and corporate sectors where some

amount of files, you need to automate that

of updates that comes with all software, rather

of the larger entities have a significant amount

process. However, some broadcast companies

than having to buy new iterations of products.

of media that they need to manage – even if it’s

still perform part of this job manually, so there is

This allows companies to focus on their business,

not their main business. In the digital age, media

still work to do.

free of distraction from having to manage IT

has become a commodity for everyone.

teams, and other Do you think that there was a resistance to

matters that fall

change among the traditional broadcasters,

outside of their core

perhaps a fear of digital progression?

competencies.

It has been a very niche market, and I think companies worry that they will lose their niche

Of your own core

expertise, or that it will become less relevant in a

competencies,

digital world. The content producers know that

you point to the

it is a very specific world, but the technology

fact that you’re an

behind all of this will be a standard. I think that

IT company built

linear broadcasting will only remain for live

specifically to assist

events and the rest will be on demand.

broadcast and media companies

What are the challenges and pressures of 4K

with MAM and IT

and UHD on MAM systems?

media challenges

The challenges are about supporting the format,

– how is that

being able to transcode, store and archive, but

mix of expertise

it’s also about optimising the bandwidth of the

represented in the

network so that you optimise every transfer of the

company?

file. As the industry moves to greater production

As an IT company

of 4K and UHD, the MAM and storage aspects of

that specialises

the industry need to support this.

in broadcast, 80 per cent of our

Are you seeing more instances of companies

employees are IT

requiring outsourced archiving and asset

engineers and we

management facilities as the libraries they

work with consultants

manage continue to grow?

who specialise

More often, you do see that customers don’t

in broadcast

want to store their content on their premises

workflows. It’s that

as it requires more space, and brings with it an

mixture of expertise

infrastructure that needs to be maintained by

that allows us to build

an IT team; it’s not their core business and, aside

broadcast solutions

from certain companies and public institutions

– but with IT standard

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MAM Forum

Don’t just sit on your assets Philip Stevens moderates this month’s Forum, dealing with that vital aspect of any organisation’s armoury: its files and content

What are the major benefits that a user can expect from a MAM? Davenport: A good MAM enables users to better create, manage and distribute content. Operators should be insulated from the complexities of media manipulation and processing, confident that those automated actions ‘just happen’ and ensuring that all their interactions with media are about applying human judgement and creativity to business processes.

Dwyer: At Avid, we define media asset

Content is king! But how effectively and efficiently do studios and broadcasters handle this most important of resources? We have brought together a panel to discuss some relevant issues when it comes to Media Asset Management (MAM).

They are (in alphabetical order) Ximena Araneda, VP, video workflows, Vizrt; Ben Davenport, director of marketing, Dalet Digital Media Systems; Hans Douma, senior director of projects and operations, Primestream; Craig Dwyer, senior director, Avid Center of Excellence; Huw Dymond, product line manager, Media Asset Management, Imagine Communications; Jeff Herzog, product manager, EditShare flow asset management, Ark backup and archive; Phill Neighbour, COO, PlayBox Technology UK, a Masstech Group Technology Partner; Pavel Potuzak, managing director, Aveco; and Julian Wright, CEO, Blue Lucy Media.

management through four essential capabilities.

First, the ability to find assets across the entire

by the solution. At Imagine Communications

enterprise. Secondly, a powerful and open

we are focussed on specific-use cases such as

integration capability permitting the system to

content ingest, preparation and delivery – with

be connected across a diverse range of business

all functions requiring a set of business rules to be

systems. Thirdly, the system should automate key

applied through our Nexio Motion solution.

workflows and be easy to adapt to the changing

Potuzak: A MAM system lets you know what

requirements of the business. Finally, a powerful

media assets you have and enables you to

suite of reporting tools is essential to provide visibility,

find them quickly. This is accomplished with the

control and enable optimisation over the workflows, the underlying systems and processes. Our solution is

Ben Davenport, Dalet

Craig Dwyer, Avid Center of Excellence

called Interplay MAM, part of the Avid Media Suite,

extensive use of metadata added to the file when it is ingested or imported into the facility. Each company has certain, sometimes unique, business

and one of the underlying systems that powers the

repetitive tasks and centralised management/

models. A good MAM is a platform that allows

Avid MediaCentral Platform.

statusing of the assets within an organisation.

itself to be set up to support those business models

Dymond: MAM benefits vary according to the

MAM is wonderfully generic enough to mean

and all the related workflows. Such a MAM helps

business challenges that need to be addressed.

everything and nothing. The key is in remaining

the company to reduce the running cost by

The primary benefits are the automation of

focussed on the challenge rather than distracted

automating the workflows to a maximum extent.

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MAM Forum What impact does the plethora of acquisition formats have on the choice of a MAM solution?

media metadata is critical in automating media

Dymond: First generation MAM solutions

processing. This is a key part of a MAM-driven

were often very sensitive to the formats and

workflow, but it should be largely transparent

wrappers of content being registered. These

to users and the business. The importance of

days, in a multi-wrapper, multi-codec, multi-

format flexibility is increasing exponentially

format, multi-resolution, multi-tenanted facility

with new resolutions, frame rates and codecs,

the keys to managing efficiently are some common and flexible toolsets. At Imagine

Araneda: Today’s increase of incoming formats, such as files from production houses, consumerlike formats, and 4K can’t be a limiting factor for the selection of a MAM system. Historically, it was all about having one SD house format and one HD house format in the MAM to simplify the workflows and integrations to all connected

“The importance of format flexibility is increasing exponentially with new resolutions, frame rates and codecs” Ben Davenport, Dalet Digital Media Systems

systems. Now we talk more about having

Communications, we make use of file-based workflow in conjunction with scalable transcode and processing capabilities of our Zenium management platform. This allows for a configurable movement and orchestration layer alongside the underlying processing power of the embedded Zenium technology to centralise and pool processing resources. Removing

mezzanine files, storing original file formats and if

the complexity of discrete bespoke platform

any transcode is needed, then it must be done in

and the uptake in crowd-sourced content

integration – point product transcode/transwrap

a way that doesn’t interfere with the production

is driving the number and variety of devices

functions, for example, is absolutely key to

workflow, or increase the time to get content on

used for acquisition – strong media awareness

having a well-balanced resource pool. Once this

air. MAM systems must seamlessly incorporate

and understanding facilitates great media

is extended to private and public data centre

many more formats and make it easier for users

asset management. Overall, the explosion in

processing capacity, hiding the complexity from

to combine several formats.

acquisition formats makes the need for MAM

operations is, again, core to gaining the required

Davenport: Knowing what media ‘is’ and where

even more important, as it allows users to manage

transparency of operation. This is the only way

it came from, or structural and genealogical

transparently that additional complexity.

to scale up on VoD and OTT delivery outputs.

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MAM Forum Otherwise, operational cost models will be the

Neighbour: From a MAM perspective, public clouds

bottleneck, not technology.

are potentially useful for long-term preservation

Herzog: When evaluating an asset management

of digital content that you don’t expect to need

system for purchase, it is crucial to ensure that it

again, but cannot afford to lose. For content that

regularly adds support for the latest and greatest

you are going to use or repurpose frequently, local

cameras and recording systems. Scanning and

storage under tight local control is essential. Cloud

making proxies of incoming footage is a key step

storage is currently much too expensive and access

in the asset management workflow, allowing

times are too slow. Maybe these factors will improve,

local or remote review and logging of footage, so you should ensure that the asset management vendor keeps new format support regularly on

Julian Wright, Blue Lucy Media

Hans Douma, Primestream

but so, too, will the cost-efficiency and capacity of local storage devices. The MAM system still has to manage files regardless of the archive location. We

their roadmap.

are unique in that our system comes standard with

Neighbour: It requires an agile system with

totally unlimited file management capacity.

integrated transcoding plus a comprehensive

Potuzak: ‘The cloud’ is just a marketing buzzword.

workflow engine. Handling a multiplicity of

MAM simply must allow the users to safely and

devices successfully requires an API specific to

securely manage the content at the required

each attached device. The fact that we can

workplaces, be it a desktop in a protected area,

transcode on the fly enables us to ingest in any

or a smartphone anywhere in the world. MAM

format and playout to any device in multiple

systems did this before ‘the cloud’ phrase started being marketed, and will do it after ‘the cloud’ is

formats, without user intervention.

Wright: Acquisition and content formats should have no influence on MAM solution or selection.

Jeff Herzog, EditShare

Ximena Araneda, Vizrt

replaced by another marketing term.

Wright: Not significant frankly, and certainly nothing like as much as once hyped. There have

The MAM should be completely agnostic as to the assets it is managing, be that video – of

Dwyer: The cloud is one of a range of

been a few successful implementation projects,

any format in any container – images, projects

technologies that the modern MAM needs

but bandwidth and the large storage requirements

or documents. In cases where metadata is

to leverage. Clients need to consider which

make the business case tenuous at best despite

embedded within the asset, such as XMP or MXF,

elements of their workflow can benefit from the

the operational benefits. Hybrid solutions in which

it is important that the relevant plug-in exists

flexibility, mobility and elastic resourcing that

the browse proxy content is globally available

within the MAM to read and import this data.

cloud services can deliver, and combine that

from the cloud, but the master assets live firmly on

with their assessment of the associated benefits

the ground with the content owner providing the

and needs. At the moment, customers using the

best of both approaches, namely accessibility and

Avid MediaCentral Platform are adopting the

security. I expect to see this type of cloud-on-the-

private cloud model.

ground deployment grow significantly.

How significant has ‘the cloud’ (public or private) become for MAM purposes?

Araneda: In years past this central storage was located on site within a facility. Today, that same capability can be expanded to the cloud, enabling professionals located anywhere in the world to access files and collaborate in realtime.

Indeed, cloud-based storage will be key to keeping up with the ever-increasing demand for more content. Viz One is today in virtual production so technically our software works very well in the cloud.

Douma: We see a lot of customers who don’t want to open their network for any activity from outside. They don’t want people remotely accessing all the assets that are available on the MAM, neither direct, nor via a ‘cloud’ solution.

So we like to think of installing ‘bridges’ between the internal MAM and the outside world. Now we can decide what content can be exposed, and what should stay inside. By the way, ‘cloud’, didn’t we call that FTP-Server a few years ago?

34 TVBEurope

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MAM Forum Will the projected increase in IP technology for broadcasting affect the use of MAMs? Douma: Oh yes, a few years ago, most of the content would reach the system as ingested baseband video. Now we have files, memory

Huw Dymond, Imagine Communications

Dymond: The flexibility of

need for, automated file delivery. Flexible tools like

IP technology on COTS

EditShare Flow Automation allow the creation of

IT platforms, in particular,

complex custom file delivery workflows to get your

playout and distribution will

broadcast deliverables where they need to go, when

naturally extend the MAM

they need to go, with watch folders, automated

functions. The additional

rule-based processing to control copy and

automation required to

transcode activities, and delivery options like FTP.

provision and manage

Potuzak: Not in any revolutionary way. MAM

elastic scaling needs to be

systems don’t concern themselves with the

fundamentally tied to an

transport mechanism, just the underlying media

cards, cartridges, optical disks. More and more

orchestration engine that understands all aspects

workflows have become tapeless. And the

of the broadcast ecosystem. Coupled with this

increasing demand for IP-Stream capture will now

is the requirement to perform MAM functions

become important for anyone looking for a new

over a truly distributed architecture, including

MAM-system for her/his facility.

traditional baseband, hybrid baseband/IP and

Dwyer: With the rapid increase of IP technologies –

fully IP private/public data centre technologies.

from acquisition, through production and distribution

As the broadcasting world evolves through all

– MAM becomes an even more important way

stages of the IP transition, the MAM functionality

of working. Technically, there is an increasing

required must also evolve to allow for the engine

complexity to design, build and support IP-based

room to be pulled across multiple architectures

systems, and using a MAM solution can bring the

and geographies whilst consistently providing the

Araneda: In many cases the broadcast and

whole system together and unify the workflows.

same operational interfaces to end users.

online production has happened disjointedly,

Operationally, these systems can also allow for the

Herzog: We expect the increase in IP technology

and the handoff between departments involves

removal of repetitive, non-creative tasks.

for broadcasting only to cause more interest in, and

cumbersome workflows. A MAM system can

and the control of the necessary equipment.

The use of second screen activity continues to expand.

How does a MAM help the production of such second (or multi) screen content?

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MAM Forum enable faster production workflows avoiding

The concept of automatic content creation

moving media between the online systems and

based on template-based delivery or work orders

the MAM, as well as providing a central repository

alongside inventory and movement/processing

where video can be produced and prepared for

rules allows for greater levels of automatic

online publication, including video, graphics, stills

orchestration. Ultimately, the objective is to fully

and metadata. With this, journalists and producers

automate multiscreen deliveries based on back

can produce media for broadcast, web and

tracking from a delivery or due date.

mobile using the same tools.

Neighbour: Integrated transcoding is essential.

Davenport: According to Twitter’s director

So, too, is a workflow engine that, based on a

of media, Danny Keens, ‘Twitter has become

metadata trigger, knows what format has to go to

the default second screen for TV.’ Efficiently

what storage location. This needs to be a multistep

supporting second screen is not only about

workflow in which each metadata change triggers

assisting and automating the creation of

the MAM to create all the different versions and

additional versions of video content, but

deliver them where required.

managing associated textual and still image content and using metadata to drive the second screen experience. This means having user-focused, task-orientated tools for searching content and viewing the relationships between

Pavel Potuzak, Aveco

Phillip Neighbour, PlayBox Technology

Similarly, you can imagine a MAM in charge of the archiving for Media Assets, but integrated with

Is archiving and storage a function of a MAM or should it be a separate operation?

the elements and essences of a rich asset and

another system in charge of archiving other objects, such as contracts. So archiving and storage are highly related to MAM, but should be thought of as services, rather than pure functions of the MAM. Dwyer: Sophisticated media lifecycle

quickly editing, assembling and publishing

management requires a wide range of systems

for all mediums. The MAM is key to enabling

Araneda: A MAM is designed to track the media

to be integrated within the overall environment.

these second screen workflows to be highly

and manage it in the best possible way. Moving

In general, Avid media asset management

interoperable with the rest of the business.

media between different storage areas seamlessly

implementations are in environments where

Douma: As content will be instantly available

to the user and having the media as close to

there are legacy tools, infrastructure, databases,

when handled by the MAM, different

the request point as possible are all important

systems and assets. Being able to unify all of

departments can access this content and

to provide the access to the assets at the right

them into one logical environment is the primary

individually build stories around it. These

time. The concept of storage can be handled

value of a MAM initiative, and the underlying

packages can then be published for web,

differently depending on the MAM system, but it’s

principle of the Avid MediaCentral Platform.

mobile applications, VoD and more. Just look at

important that MAM systems connect to different

Neighbour: It is the most critical part. This is

the advantages of this when ‘Breaking News’

archive systems and storages – including cloud.

where most MAM systems fall down – the ability

pops up, and everybody needs the footage.

Davenport: Archiving is a business function, which

to find the content and deliver. Most can find

Using a MAM will ensure fast turnaround on every

relies on storage – which is a technical function.

it – they just can’t get it. This is why middleware

platform available in the facility.

It is the responsibility of the MAM to manage and

came into being. Archiving and storage must be

Dymond: There are three levels in the multiscreen

orchestrate these functions for the scope of content

fully integrated with the MAM system.

delivery chain – the business system to drive

that it is responsible for. So they are obviously

Potuzak: Storage for media – including LTO

fulfilment requirements, the MAM or orchestration

coupled, but not exclusive and this is becoming

and disk archives – are third-party products and

engine to keep a repository and automate

more common with virtualised infrastructures. One

as customers have different tastes regarding

processes, and the processing or delivery

can imagine, for example, a storage infrastructure,

technology, the MAM shall be – as much as

subsystems. Only when all three are ‘glued’

which is shared between a MAM – managing one

possible – storage agnostic. Management of

together do the full benefits become realised.

part of the storage – and other business operations.

storage is the crucial function of a MAM.

36 TVBEurope

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Feature

Getting the best

out of external recorders David Fox explores the tapeless video and external recorders market

improve workflow and provide secure back-up copies, that is still the core of the external recorder market.

For example, Codex has partnered with Arri and Panasonic on their new high-end cameras.

ecording is central to the broadcast

It developed the recording and workflow system

workflow, and external recorder

for Arri’s Alexa 65 large format camera, creating

manufacturers have been building on their

a high-performance, built-in recorder, as well

R

expertise to reach into other areas of acquisition,

as on-set data management. Current Alexa XR

most notably by developing their own cameras.

Capture Drives record at up to 24fps, and

Five years after it launched its Ki Pro recorders,

a 512GB media card records about ten minutes

AJA has built on its recording expertise, particularly

in the 65’s full open gate mode. Next-generation

with the 4K Ki Pro Quad, by adding a camera front

Capture Drives developed by Codex will offer

end to produce the new Cion, just as Blackmagic

2TB capacity, at 20Gbps data rates, to record

did previously with its family of cameras, and

more than 45 minutes. Codex now also delivers

Codex has also done with its new Action Cam.

ProRes UHD workflows for Arri’s Alexa and

However, it is as an add-on, designed to

Amira, via Vault and the Codex CFast 2.0

bring out the best in existing cameras,

dock for the Amira.

Direct connect: Tarrant with the VariCam 35 and Codex V-Raw recorder For Panasonic it developed a recorder for the new VariCam 35 camera that will capture 12-bit uncompressed 4K Raw at up to 120fps, and will work with Arri LDS or Cooke/i technology for lens data capture. Rapid transfer of digital camera originals for post production and archiving is then possible using Codex Vault.

The compact, 1kg €15,000 V-Raw recorder connects directly to the back of the VariCam 35, eliminating cabling for improved efficiency and greater mobility.

“The recorder is about the practicalities and the workflow. Its ability to do multiple formats simultaneously is a big advantage, as it [allows the camera to record] up to four at once,” said Rob Tarrant, Panasonic’s European product manager.

Besides Raw, it can record 4K compressed using AVC Ultra onto Express P2 cards, and 2K and 1K proxies on to the same microP2 card. For a broadcast workflow it will do uncompressed Ultra HD,

Rigged and ready: Sony’s A7S full-frame DSLR with Atomos recorder

compressed UHD, HD and 960x540 proxies at once.

TVBEurope 37

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Feature

‘Atomos has also become “one of the first adopters of 12G-SDI,” which will be necessary if 4K and Ultra HD are to be able to use just a single cable’

and HDMI input, which offers dual-codec

(it can do up to 4K/UHD XAVC Intra 4:2:2 10-bit

recording to one P2 and two micro P2 card

at 600Mbps internally). It needs the optional

slots. The AJ-PG50 also has full network

XDCA-FS7 extension unit to output the Raw

capabilities and can make backup copies

video, recording to Sony’s own AXS-R5 recorder

to USB 3.0 drives.

via the HXR-IFR5 interface or the Convergent Design Odyssey 7Q (the XDCA-FS7 also allows

4:2:2 and Raw support

ProRes recording internally).

External recorders have a particular niche in the

Sony has also introduced its own XDCAM

world of DSLRs, where it is often the only way of

portable recorder. The lightweight PMW-RX50

getting high quality results. Nikon’s new video-

records to dual SxS cards and supports the XAVC

“Why so many? Obviously Raw is a vast amount

focused D810 and D750 full-frame cameras offer

Intra 4:2:2 1080 50/60p and XAVC Long GoP

of data, but this gives you the ability to create

full 4:2:2 HD recording at up to 50/60fps via a

4:2:2 formats, as well as MPEG HD 4:2:2, 4:2:0,

dailies in the camera, with the same metadata,

clean HDMI feed, while Sony’s A7S full-frame

MPEG IMX and DVCAM. However, it is designed

etc, so users can instantly start an offline edit.

DSLR, which has been lauded for its low-light

more as a deck replacement, with a built-in

There is also in-camera grading, saving further

capabilities, also requires an external recorder

3.5-inch screen for reviewing video, than an

time in post,” he added.

to record its 4K 4:2:2 output.

on-camera device.

Codex has also added support in its Vault

It’s not only DSLRs that benefit. Sony’s new

workflow system for the Red Epic Dragon and

PXW-FS7 4K XDCAM camcorder can record up

ProRes goes on Odyssey

Vision Research Phantom Flex4k cameras,

to 180fps internally in HD, but up to 240fps to an

Convergent Design’s Odyssey7Q monitor/

while Panasonic has introduced its own 50/60p

external recorder, which it also requires if you

recorder has now added 4K recording using

AJ-PG50 AVC-Ultra recorder with 3G HD-SDI

want to record 4K as 12-bit linear Raw output

Apple’s ProRes 422 HQ, and will record 4K and

38 TVBEurope

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Feature

Multi-faceted: The Athena is the latest in Convergent Design’s recorder line-up

UHD video from the Sony F55, Panasonic GH4,

be ganged together for large-scale events. The

Phantom Flex4K and others, which can be

half-rack 1RU system will have an LCD display for

converted to ProRes. Because of the codec’s

status information and confidence monitoring, a

efficiency, it will be able to record many hours of

2.5-inch SSD slot and deck controls.

4K to the dual SSDs.

On deck

The Odyssey7Q already supported 4K Raw from Canon’s C500 and Sony’s FS700 (and adds

Like the Athena, Cinedeck’s recorders are also

the new FS7). These are also being upgraded to

primarily deck replacements. Its new MX4K can

support ProRes to more than triple the recording

record two 4K or Ultra HD sources, and its MX can

time of Raw.

handle a 4K YUV10 input from sources like a Sony

The Odyssey7Q now also functions as a 4K

F55, while simultaneously creating edit-ready HD

waveform and histogram (with RGB Parade).

Master and Proxy deliverables, plus streamable

Its Pixel Zoom function allows the 7.7-inch OLED

H.264 files, while maintaining global file naming

display to function as a virtual window for

and metadata. It also down-converts 4K camera

accurate focus on an image equivalent to a

feeds in realtime for HD monitoring.

24-inch 4K monitor. It can act as a format

The 4K, HD Master and Proxy files are all

converter, transforming 4K input into multiple

recorded to removable SSD drives, with edit-

1080p HD outputs for monitoring and transmission

ready deliverables simultaneously written to SAN

around the set, and process a camera’s Log

for immediate access, and can be encoded to

signals while applying an appropriate look-up

the full gamut of available codec and wrapper

table to its display and outputs.

profiles. Users can apply a variety of standard or custom LUTs to the proxy, H.264, on-board display

The new $1,295 Odyssey7 monitor/recorder

and HD outputs.

is the 7Q’s little sister (for about $1,000 less). It can capture HD in Apple ProRes 422 (HQ) up to 1080/30p, 1080/60i and 720/60p, with future free

Power packing partnership: Young with Shogun and add-on Power Station

updates promised to expand these frame rates

There is also a new modular Cinedeck ZX rack-mount line: the ZX20 provides two channels of 2K, HD or SD, with optional 4K playback; the

and add other formats. It has one SSD slot, and

multiple-streams (even in 4K). It is claimed to be

ZX40 delivers four channels of 2K, HD or SD, and,

both SDI and HDMI outputs.

the first system with the ability to record/play

when fully-loaded with plug-in packages, is

four HD video streams along with 64 channels

equivalent to the 4K-capable Cinedeck MX; and

multi-stream player/recorder encoder/decoder,

of MADI audio, and would be useful as a live

the ZX45 supports 4K and UHD at 50/60p and four

the Athena, which will support up to 4K 60p and

event multi-camera recorder – multiple units can

channels of 2K, HD or SD at 50/60p, including

Convergent Design has also developed a 4K/

TVBEurope 39

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Feature visually lossless JPEG2000. Users can choose

Sony A7S and Panasonic GH4. Indeed, Atomos

high frame rate HD (up to 120fps), and has a

codec and wrapper packages to support Avid,

has worked with camera manufacturers to add

1920x1200 SuperAtom IPS 7-inch touchscreen for

Apple and Adobe workflows, and others. This

SDI-like features (such as auto triggering and

monitoring and control.

“means you build what you need, and only pay

timecode communication) to HDMI, so that

Unlike the Samurai and Ninja Blade,

for that functionality, while still having the option

Shogun only has a single battery (as the

to add a wide range of features and functions

space for a second was occupied by the SDI

should your workflow change,” said Charles D’Autremont, founder and CEO of Cinedeck.

Shogun’s cutting edge Since first being shown at NAB, the new Atomos Shogun has been refined further, and now “has a new heat pipe system, to allow us to crank up the frame rate to 4K 50/60p,” explained Jeromy Young, CEO and founder of Atomos.

Atomos has also become “one of the first adopters of 12G-SDI,” which will be necessary

“You build what you need, and only pay for that functionality, while still having the option to add a wide range of features and functions should your workflow change”

connectors and SSD array), so users wanting

Charles D’Autremont, Cinedeck

such as on remote-control helicopters, or with

continuous power will need to add the newly launched Atomos Power Station, with its hot-swappable batteries.

At the other end of the scale, Atomos has introduced the world’s smallest 10-bit 4:2:2 ProRes recorder, the Ninja Star, a flash-based device that is ideal for extreme applications, point-of-view cameras.

The €219/£179/$295 unit has no monitor,

if 4K and Ultra HD are to be able to use just a

but weighs only 240g with the included battery

single cable. Shogun also has 6G-SDI and 3G-SDI

and a low-cost Gen 1 CFast solid-state

input, as well as genlock in, HDMI 2.0 I/O, and

memory card. It has HDMI input, and its flexible

a Lemo connector (with included breakout

the Shogun can control Sony and Canon DSLRs

mounting options should allow users to mount

cable) for balanced analogue XLR audio input

(and Canon EOS cameras) via HDMI.

it to just about any PoV set-up. It offers

and Phantom power, plus 12 channels of digital audio. It is ideal for use with 4K DSLRs, such as the

It costs $1,995/€1,499/£1,220 and records 4K ProRes, Raw or Avid DNxHD formats, as well as

frame accurate timecode (via HDMI) and Start/Stop Trigger.

40 TVBEurope

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Feature

What’s the future for archives?

As many organisations are finding, there is money to be made in archive material. And that is good news. But just how do you store those assets – and retrieve them easily?

Our panel to ponder these issues comprises (in alphabetical order) Laurent Fanichet, product marketing manager, big data EMEA/APAC at Quantum; Julian FernándezCampón, head of solutions architecture at Tedial; Benoit Fevrier, SVP, media division, EVS; Alan Hoggarth, managing director, Disk Archive Corporation; Jay Migliaccio, director, cloud platforms and services at Aspera, an IBM company; Lee Sheppard, director of product management, SGL

In the second Forum of the month, Philip Stevens discusses with industry leaders the current state of archive and storage technology, and the next generation of archive solutions in the future

What questions should a potential customer ask of a supplier to ensure the right package is purchased?

content at the same time that SD-sized streams of transcoded content are being transferred.

Storage must be designed to handle this mixed workload efficiently. NAS-based workflows that worked under HD will struggle with 4K content, without changing users’ existing processes.

Many shared storage solutions that advertise 4K

Fanichet: The market for 4K is developing

capabilities will require down-res editing.

quickly, with consumers driving demand. This

Fernández-Campón: With regards the archive

means that a potential customer needs to ensure

solution – not only from the storage perspective

the right package is purchased to handle 4K

– the questions should focus on the customer’s

content. During the 4K transition, HD and 4K

current and future business needs. For example,

workflows will operate side-by-side in the same

does the archive solution provide efficient content

facilities, but 4K-capable workflow components

management and tools to easily discover and

need to be added today. Storage must be able

access content such as dedicated datamodels,

to stream multiple streams of high-volume 4K

collections and filters and so on? How open is the

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Feature archive system? Does it easily and automatically integrate with third-party systems? How flexible is the archive solution? Can it be adapted to any type of content that’s required for archive? How scalable is the archive solution?

Fevrier: A potential customer should ask a supplier what their vision is in terms of scalability of the proposed solution. The job of a content owner or a sport federation is not to manage a huge IT infrastructure, but to produce and preserve content assets. Being able to scale their storage or their archive infrastructure, without having to manage and maintain a big installation in their facility, has become one of the key questions. This is where new concepts like storing assets ‘outside’ or in the cloud make more sense because, in that case, the scalability is theoretically unlimited.

Hoggarth: We put a lot of emphasis on ‘Total Lifetime Cost of Ownership’. It’s not as easy as it may seem to take into account the many parameters that come into play, and the pace of change in storage technology makes it even more difficult. But it is possible to model TCO for the various different solutions – and the

42 TVBEurope

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Feature business impact is very revealing. So why are

a private cloud. Delocalise the execution of tasks

we preoccupied with initial capital cost? Make

such as subtitling, content validation, access

sure the solutions you consider are good for your

services, and so on. Use the cloud for content

business in the long term, as well as the short

publishing and make the archive – or a part of

term. The great thing is that if you follow the TCO

it – visible and accessible for content monetising

model, the result will not only be better for your

and non-linear platforms. Fully externalise

business, but also it will certainly have a lower

services in the cloud and have access to the

carbon footprint and there will be less disks and

content and operations dashboards at the

tapes in the recycling. We encourage customers

service provider’s private cloud.

to question themselves, not just their suppliers – why would I go for a tape-based archive? How can we avoid being locked into closed systems, proprietary technologies and single vendor

Alan Hoggarth, Disk Archive Corporation

Benoit Fevrier, EVS

solutions for the one functional area of the business which has to give the longest service life?

Question how the archive will take advantage of every increase in disk capacity as it comes along and every cost reduction without media migration

How significant has ‘the cloud’– public or private – become for archive purposes?

“Many analysts think the cloud will become a transparent commodity in the future” Benoit Fevrier, EVS Fevrier: This is popping up more often in

and replacement. And wouldn’t it be better if the media could be purchased on a buy-as you-go

Fanichet: Storing data in the cloud, either using

discussions, but in terms of the customer’s vision

basis, from a local supplier, rather than from the

private or public cloud, is becoming a popular

over an actual requirement. We all know that the

archive supplier, thus buying disks as an Opex,

choice, particularly for long-term archives.

cloud, especially the one using public means, is

rather than a Capex?

Private cloud providers typically use an object

still at a conceptual stage and that there are big

Sheppard: A customer’s content archive is

storage solution that offers self-managing, self-

gaps to address such as the security of content,

of course a fundamental business asset, and

healing technology automatically recreating

the quality of service and accessibility if the

therefore has to be managed with great care. The

data on new media, should copies degrade.

network happens to be down. Many analysts

archive is not only the point of last resort to protect

They continue to work as long as you keep

think the cloud will become a transparent

the asset, but also a vehicle to manage costs of

adding new media to the storage pool. Public

commodity in the future, we won’t even think of

storing content while making it accessible quickly.

clouds typically offer similar functionality. They

the cloud as a concept and without it nothing

It is therefore essential to validate the organisation,

remove the responsibility for adding more media

will be possible – a little bit like electricity today

the proposed solution and the recommended

to a third party. As long as the user pays their

compared to 250 years ago.

technology, against probable business workflows

monthly bill, data will be preserved forever.

Hoggarth: Disk storage is already the de-facto

and objectives. Consider carefully the various

Fernández-Campón: We’ve found that the

choice for the storage and becoming even more

ways in which content is to be managed and find

cloud provides us with a new business enabler

attractive with massive capacity archive-specific

a supplier who is knowledgeable about optimising

as it delocalises both the media and operations

disks coming from the leading disk vendors. But

these workflows and handling any related risks.

from the customer’s facilities. With this in mind

for media companies it is the ‘remote location’

Other considerations include how easy will it be

the several scenarios should be considered.

aspect of the cloud, which causes the headaches.

to access the content? Is the media managed

For instance, the main operation should remain

At DAC we are pioneering hybrid solutions where

through an open, standard technology? How

in the customer’s site using the cloud as a

we keep one very affordable and very accessible

future-proofed will the media be and what

backup for disaster recovery. Consider multi-site

replica on the premises and a ‘copy of last resort’

happens when an upgrade is required?

operations for large organisations that implement

in the cloud, which is only accessed for fault

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Feature recovery. This takes full advantage of the cloud’s

higher than the archiving cost. Required delivery

Fernández-Campón: Definitely, the archive

security, but eliminates the expensive routine

bandwidth also factors into the cost. This pricing

solution needs to be fully adaptable to enable

downloads in normal operations.

does, however, lend itself to using the cloud for

it to process any format regardless of bitrates.

Migliaccio: The benefits of the cloud include

disaster recovery, in which the restoration costs

However, choosing the right format to ensure

access to virtually unlimited storage infrastructure

have to be weighed against the risk of disaster.

interoperability between other components

without large upfront IT investments. Businesses

Lastly, there is still a strong sense in the industry

of the system for internal production, content

can easily scale up their compute and storage

that vital content assets need to be managed

exchange as well as long term preservation of

resources to meet their growing needs, paying only

and accessible from within the organisation. Both

the archived content is even more important.

for the capacity they use. With the recent addition

considerations are likely to change over time,

Fevrier: In our experience, 4K is a major

by many cloud infrastructure providers of low-

resulting in important new workflows arising.

requirement as customers plan for the future –

cost storage options, the cloud has become very appealing for long-term data archiving. However, moving big data in and out of the cloud has been a challenge. The conventional way of thinking for organisations to move data to the cloud has been to physically ship the data on disk, and then use legacy transport tools such as FTP or HTTP when the archive data needs to be accessed and restored.

Apart from the obvious increase in file size, does archiving 4K require any new thinking on the part of archive solution manufacturers?

But both of these methods are slow and insecure.

Fanichet: Using a MAM system, 4K content can now

and TCP-based transport methods significantly

be catalogued and low-res proxies made available

underutilise available bandwidth and achieve

for quick review. When the MAM is integrated with

transfer speeds that are unsuitable for large data

a tiered storage and archive platform like Quantum

sizes and volumes, introducing unacceptable

StorNext, high-resolution files can be retrieved with a

delays in retrieving the data from the cloud archive.

click of a mouse, even if they’re stored on second-

Aspera high-speed transfer software eliminates the

or third-tier storage. Object storage is a perfect fit

transfer bottleneck so data can move quickly and

for archiving 4K content. Ideal for petabyte-scale

securely to and from cloud-based storage. The

digital content archive environments, object

initial ingest of data to the archive can be done at

storage offers a new nearline storage option that is

line-speed, in a fraction of the time, and the data

more durable than RAID through self-healing and

is secure with both encryption over the wire and

protection capabilities, and lower latency access

optionally at rest. Solutions such as Aspera Sync also

for predictably fast retrieval times at a price more

enable manual or automatic high-speed replication

typical of long-term storage.

cloud for disaster recovery and business continuity, or simply to migrate aging data from expensive high-speed disk to a lower cost long-term archive.

The combination of secure Aspera high-speed file transfer and low cost cloud storage make the cloud perfectly suitable for long term archiving of even the most valuable digital assets.

“Archiving to a commercial cloud is very cost-effective - however, the cost to restore assets can be as much as 50 times higher than the archiving cost” Lee Sheppard, SGL Sheppard: The cloud definitely has a part to play, though we are not near the point in which it replaces tape and disk as the standard for archiving storage. Archiving to a commercial cloud is very cost-effective, however, the cost to restore assets can be as much as 50 times

Like many other formats, 4K could have a different meaning whether we’re talking about the broadcast industry – more specifically UHDTV – or the film industry. It impacts compression, colour space, frame rate, and obviously storage space. This is where choosing the right file format for archiving is key – it can make the adoption of a new archive format easier to implement.

Physical disks can get damaged or lost in transport

of data from primary on premises storage to the

despite the limited need for it at the moment.

Jay Migliaccio, Aspera

Lee Sheppard, SGL

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Feature For example, those who have chosen JPEG2000

story when it comes to discussing workflows from

as a codec format won’t have any issues

archive to delivery.

managing 4K in their archive. Provided you have

Hoggarth: One less obvious outcome of the

anticipated the use of the right metadata model

cloud storage trend is the doubling in hard

you shouldn’t have problems. But it’s a different

disk capacity that has taken place in the

“Uncompressed 4K will present a challenge, but it will be in the time to archive and restore rather than the capacity” Alan Hoggarth, Disk Archive Corporation last two years. With 6TB disks at a cost effective price for archiving, and even bigger disks a matter of months away, 4K file sizes will not present a capacity problem for cloud archives or disk archives. In this respect, optical storage is more likely to struggle since the individual disk capacities are relatively small and transfer rates fairly slow, but at around 150MB per second, the time to restore long form broadcast 4K content from disk or tape storage is in line with today’s expectations. Uncompressed 4K will present a challenge, but it will be in the time to archive and restore rather than the capacity.

Are we close to achieving a common file format for archive purposes?

Fevrier: Yes and no. We are close to achieving different formats for archive and have some already working, but each country and each market will have different requirements.

For example, the US market will have a different need to Europe and the film industry’s archive will go for something different to broadcast. Each will need different colour space, raster, and requirements in quality.

EVS is really involved in many initiatives to define a master file format for archive such as the AS-07 specification with AMWA or CST-RT021 for cinema archive. This is on its way at SMPTE to become an IMF extension. For high quality archive, MXF and JPEG2000 mathematically lossless compressions are definitely the right ingredients.

Hoggarth: As an archive platform provider, the file format doesn’t have any impact – the ALTO platform is open and standards-based and will store any file size and format, although the system is optimised for typical large media files.

At the platform level, it is more about operating systems and file systems, rather than formats and wrappers. We welcome initiatives such as DPP/AS-11, of course. The formats and wrappers

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December 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

Feature HP, Quantum – along with many other archive

workflows as content owners grapple with

technology suppliers have adopted LTFS as

petabyte or greater content archives. Object

standard. The LTFS format self-describes the

storage is best known as the technology

organisation of the assets and metadata on each

that powers the world’s largest public cloud

tape, which means that a tape can be accessed

storage. Its increasing use has recently made

independently of any specific external database

it affordable and practical for companies

or storage system. For instance, a stand-alone

with outsized storage needs. Because it

LTFS tape drive could be attached to a desktop

affordably combines disk-speed access with

computer and its contents accessed through

long-term durability, more media companies

that computer’s file management system. This

are turning to object storage for long-term

offers tremendous security against complete

storage of digital assets.

dependence on a particular supplier.

Laurent Fanichet, Quantum

Julián Fernández-Campón, Tedial

What should we look for in the next generation of archive solutions?

Fernández-Campón: Multi-site, multi-tenant efficient content management for handling different content for non-linear platforms. In conclusion, the ability to adapt the archive solution for efficient content management, distribution and cloud-based operations.

Sheppard: Increased integrated global

challenge belongs to the application partners

Fanichet: As of today, the use of tape still

archiving. As the larger media companies

we rely on to deliver functionality in best-of-

prevails when it comes to archiving massive

move to a global IP model, with content

breed solutions.

volume of digital assets with the lowest TCO/

being made delivered as required using cloud

Sheppard: Yes. LTFS – Linear Tape File System – is

Cost per Terabyte. However, other technologies

and IP technologies, the archive is likely to

now consistently the best-selling storage tape

have emerged like object storage. Even though

also move to a distributed model. This will

file system within the industry; and for compelling

it’s been around for more than 20 years,

impact both operational media handling and

reasons. The LTO Consortium suppliers – IBM,

object storage is only now entering media

disaster recovery.

46 TVBEurope

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Data Centre

Online TV viewers prefer dynamic advertising Dynamic ads and viewer control lead to greater sponsor recall, according to Hub’s new study, ‘TV Advertising in an OTT World’

‘click to shop’ capabilities, enabling consumers

Satisfaction was significantly lower – 23 per cent –

to choose the categories of ads they see). But

among those reporting five ads or more.

ads also need to create a satisfying experience

Dynamic ads and viewer control (e.g., the

for viewers, because they now have ad-free

option to choose the product categories of

options to choose from if they want to.

ads you see) lead to greater sponsor recall. For

Hub’s new study, ‘TV Advertising in an OTT

example, among those who said ads were based

World,’ suggests that there are some clear best

on product categories chosen in advance,

s consumers continue to shift more of

A

practices when it comes to incorporating ads

38 per cent recalled ad sponsors during the

their TV viewing online, it’s becoming

into online programming.

session, vs just 15 per cent overall. Dynamic

to figure out the most effective way to adapt

four ads in their most recent online viewing

delivery of ads to online content. On the one

session, 34 per cent were “highly satisfied”

hand, online ads give marketers more tools and

with the viewing experience, content aside

their most recent session reported seeing the

flexibility to engage consumers (eg, dynamic ads,

(i.e. rating of nine or ten out of ten).

highest number of ads: 6.7 per session, versus

more and more important for marketers

Among those who reported seeing one to

advertising creates greater value for advertisers but is also more appealing to consumers.

Viewers who watched authenticated TV during

TVBEurope 47

December 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

Data Centre This is critical in an environment where so many other options are available.”

“These findings show that even though consumers prefer free, ad-supported content over a subscription model, almost four in ten

“Media buyers are steering more dollars from linear to OTT, and sellers are trying to figure out how to best monetise their digital properties” Mike Haggerty

Online viewers were asked to identify the greatest benefits, and biggest downsides, of watching TV online

say they are less likely to pay attention to ads while watching online than ads on linear TV,”

the average of five across platforms. And they

how to best monetise their digital properties,”

said Peter Fondulas, a principal at Hub and

were least likely to recall which brands were

said Mike Haggerty, one of the study’s authors.

co-author of the study. “Online, distractions

associated with the programme, via commercials,

“This new data illustrates that it’s not enough

are just a click away. So it’s even more

programme sponsorship, or product placement

to just move your linear ad strategy to the

important to deliver ads in a way that

(19 per cent, vs 26 per cent across all platforms).

internet. There are specific tactics that not

engages consumers. Our study shows that

“Media buyers are steering more dollars from

only make ads in online TV more effective,

dynamic advertising is the most compelling

but also leave viewers more satisfied.

way to accomplish that.”

linear to OTT, and sellers are trying to figure out

The Official Newspaper

THEBVEDAILY BROADCAST & PRODUCTION: FROM CREATION TO CONSUMPTION

New for BVE exhibitors and visitors in 2015, TVBEurope and TVTechnology are delighted to announce the launch of the inaugural official BVE Daily and dedicated email newsletter.

• 3,000 copies per day • Digital Edition (90,000 circulation) • Guaranteed editorial coverage for all advertisers (Opinion Piece) • 10 sends of BVE Daily newsletter For further information contact: UK Sales US Sales Ben Ewles Sales Manager +44 (0) 207 354 6000 bewles@nbmedia.com

Richard Carr Sales Executive +44 (0) 207 354 6000 rcarr@nbmedia.com

Michael J Mitchell +1 (631) 673 0072 mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv

WWW.BVEXPO.COM

48 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com December 2014

Data Centre

See. Desire. Acquire.

The future of TV advertising Dorota Zurkowska-Bytner, VP of advertising sales development at Discovery Networks, discusses the company’s latest report on TV advertising etting to know consumers’ intentions,

G

desires and ultimately actions during and after exposure to advertising

has become ‘sine qua non’ in an almost fully digitalised era. Consumers can watch TV content whenever and wherever they want and are no longer passive, but there is plenty more that advertisers can do to better use the power of the screen to target their audiences. According to Discovery’s latest research report, The Future of TV Advertising, conducted in ten countries in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the majority of viewers clearly indicated that a TV brand they trust works as a quality

TV quality is compromised without ads, Discovery Networks CEEMA

content assurance not only for programming, but also for advertising. In fact as much as 70 per cent of consumers would go as far as to say that TV quality would be compromised without advertising. It’s all about creating the right affinity between viewers and the brands via smart and efficient ideas.

Another conclusion of this research that impacts the whole media mix is the fact that investing in multiple channel advertising reinforces the TV advertising effectiveness. It’s about taking consumers a step further on the way to finalising the acquisition. This has been confirmed by 50 per cent of the viewers surveyed, who said they went online to look up a product or a service, after having been exposed to the TV ad.

The advertising industry heads towards multi-phase campaigns depending on the engagement a brand intends to generate among consumers. The more information a brand has about its consumers, the more targeted the advertising can be. At the same time, consumers become more demanding and would like to

Ads drive viewers to look-up products or services, Discovery Networks CEEMA

TVBEurope 49

December 2014 www.tvbeurope.com

Data Centre viewing across the region, there is even greater opportunity for advertisers to reach consumers in clever and creative ways.

Fundamentally, these trends will force brands and content providers to develop far richer relationships with viewers and it is time for companies to go beyond the traditional ad spot. The majority of viewers understand the role of sponsorship: almost a third say they are more likely to purchase a product if it sponsors a programme, and product placement is also regarded positively. By better linking different media channels, there are now so many opportunities to encourage viewers to continue a brand conversation long after the advertisement is over. The second screen is a major driver of this behaviour through the ability given to viewers to respond instantly and directly

Viewers want longer, less frequent ad breaks, Discovery Networks CEEMA

to something they have seen on TV.

have the ability to skip through ads and only

There’s no doubt that people are consuming

tools advertisers might use – tailored advertising,

view the advertising most relevant to them. In this

more video content than ever before, but in a

click-through-to-buy options, handing over

context, they are even willing to share personal

period which has seen a surge in ownership of

control to viewers of what adverts they

information, demonstrating the benefits of tailored

connected devices, a rapid increase in time

watch – can drive engagement even

content to both viewers and brands.

spent online and a trend towards multiscreen

further than is possible today.

Looking ahead, we wonder whether the

EDITORIAL PLANNER 2015 2015 will see TVBEurope attend and cover more of the key events on the broadcast media industry calendar. Following the successful redesign of TVBEurope, we have developed a more comprehensive list of features for each issue over the coming year, and will be launching a dedicated section covering the latest developments in OTT, multiscreen, and TV Everywhere: TVBEverywhere. Our Opinion and Analysis and Features sections will deliver the big stories every month; Workflow will continue our bedrock coverage of UHD, 4K, IT/ IP infrastructures, and pre and post production insights; and our Business section will provide a regualr analysis of the marketplace, and all of the key M&A activity. Our Audio for Broadcast coverage will now be present in every issue and major sports/live broadcast events will be reported on throughout the year.

Issue Date

Exhibitions/ Events Coverage

Audio for Broadcast

January

• BVE 2015 preview • IBC Content Everywhere preview

• Robotics forum • Mobile TV

February

• BVE 2015 show issue • IBC Content Everywhere report

• IP Networks • Acquisition focus: camera lenses

• CABSAT focus • NAB Preview

• System integrators forum • NAB product preview

• Loudness control

• BVE 2015 • NAB 2015 show issue

• Beyond HD: 4K and UHD challenges • Virtual sets forum

• UHD audio

• NAB review

March

April

• Audio over IP

Sports/Live broadcast • Pre-General Election augmented reality coverage

• TVBE conference review

• Satellite TV focus • Audio for broadcast special • Sound mixers forum

• Sound mixers forum

• 2015 UK election

May

June

• Angacom focus • TV Connect insights

• OTT multiscreen • Acquisition focus: lighting for TV

• Audio & outside broadcast

• Summer of sport OB focus

• Mics/ monitors/ consoles

• Wimbledon 2015

• Channel in a box forum • Broadcast 2020: visions of the future

July • IBC preview

• Broadcast graphics forum • IBC product preview

• IBC show issue

• Quality control forum • IBC show issue: product showcase

August

For all advertising and sponsorship opportunities, contact the sales team: Europe Ben Ewles: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000, bewles@nbmedia.com, or Richard Carr: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000, rcarr@nbmedia.com, USA Mike Mitchell +1 631 673 0072, mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv

Feature

September

• Audio for broadcast special • IP technology forum

October November December

• TVBAwards

• Acquisition focus: all encompassing • Transcoding forum • Media Asset Management forum • Archiving and storage roundtable

• Broadcast audio feature • Rugby World Cup 2015

50 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com December 2014

Data Centre Mobile subscriptions in Africa at end of 2013

808 million

Mobile subscriptions in Africa at end of 2014

851 million

Projected mobile subscriptions in Africa by 2016

1 billion 1.23 billion

Mobile data services on the rise in Africa New research from global analyst firm Ovum suggests that while mobile data services are on the rise in Africa, it is still playing catch-up to the rest of the world with its high-speed broadband connectivity

Projected mobile subscriptions in Africa by 2019

said Matthew Reed, practice leader for the Middle East and Africa at Ovum.

“Despite the growth in mobile data connectivity on the continent. Africa is ranked second-to-last among world regions in terms of its broadband development.”

According to Ovum’s Broadband Development Index, a new research service that tracks the takeup of high-speed fixed and mobile broadband services in 191 countries (see chart), Africa has a Broadband Development Index score of 226 out of 1,000 for 2014, just ahead of Central and Southern Asia (219 out of 1,000), but a long way behind the leading regions, which are North America (633) and Western Europe (433).

obile data connections and services

Picture credit: Ovum

M

are growing strongly in Africa, but the continent continues to lag behind most

of the rest of the world in terms of high-speed broadband connectivity, according to new research by global analyst firm Ovum.

The number of mobile subscriptions in Africa continues to grow faster than in any other major world region, with total mobile subscriptions increasing by 9.8 per cent year-on-year to 808 million at the end of 2013, compared to the global growth rate of 6.3 per cent. At the end of 2014, Africa’s mobile subscriptions count had risen to 851 million, and Ovum expects it to cross the one billion mark in 2016 and reach 1.23 billion by the end of 2019.

“With the rate of growth in mobile subscriptions slowing – the number of mobile subscriptions in Africa will increase by only five per cent year-onyear in 2019 – the more significant development within Africa’s mobile market is the growth in mobile data connections and services,”

Africa is ranked second-to-last among world regions in terms of its broadband development