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Business, insight and intelligence for the media and entertainment industry
July 2016
Sport’s Rio Grande Broadcasting the Olympics
Producing the Proms 01 TVBE July16 FC_final.indd 1
The impact of OTT
Live sports streaming 17/06/2016 16:38
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July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
Welcome
EDITORIAL Content Director and Editor-in-Chief: James McKeown jmckeown@nbmedia.com
Rio Grande
Deputy Editor: Holly Ashford hashford@nbmedia.com Staff Writer: James Groves jgroves@nbmedia.com Group Managing Editor: Joanne Ruddock jruddock@nbmedia.com Contributors: Michael Burns, David Davies, George Jarrett, Adrian Pennington, Philip Stevens, Catherine Wright Sales Manager: Peter McCarthy pmccarthy@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6025 Account Manager: Richard Carr rcarr@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000
3
I
In a summer dominated by sporting spectacle, live production will be at its most cutting edge
f you’re a fan of sport, or are in the business of
Services, as well as a collection of international
capturing and delivering it to the world in as
broadcasters who are preparing for the summer’s
near to real time as we are able, then this is
main event. We also look at how the delivery of
quite a summer.
sports content is changing with a feature on live
As we go to press, Uefa’s Euro 2016
sports streaming from Adrian Pennington, after
Sales Executive: Nicola Pett npett@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6026
tournament is about to enter its second
which we gather the perspectives of a number
week with a significant amount of coverage
of industry players on the opportunities and
Digital Director: Diane Oliver
unfortunately concentrated on events outside
challenges of OTT. It’s important to remember
Human Resources and Office Manager: Lianne Davey
of the stadia. On the other side of the world,
that live production isn’t the sole preserve of
Head of Design, Hertford: Kelly Sambridge
the Copa America is staging South America’s
athletic competition. Our leading production
Senior Production Executive: Alistair Taylor
equivalent continental footballing power
feature focuses on a British institution that has
Sales Director: Mark Rankine
struggle, while the nations who will make up
played on our screens and across our airwaves
Managing Director: Mark Burton
next year’s British and Irish Lions are touring in
for generations, as Philip Stevens gets the inside
US Sales: Michael Mitchell mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv +1 (631) 673 0072
isolation to take on the southern hemisphere,
story on this year’s BBC Proms.
is before we even get to the rather grand things
like to extend my appreciation to my section
Japan and Korea Sales: Sho Harihara sho@yukarimedia.com +81 6 4790 2222 Circulation Free subscriptions tvbe.subscriptions@c-cms.com Subscriptions Tel +44 1580 883848
that lie in wait on the horizon. The Olympic
editors, and my deputy editor and staff writer,
Games will experience it’s first ever Rio Grande
for continually raising the bar on the type and
come August, as the eyes of the world focus
quality of the content we’re able to deliver. It’s a
on Brazil for sport’s greatest spectacle. We
great team and I'm proud to be part of it. n
TVBEurope is published 12 times a year by NewBay Media, Emerson Building, 4-8 Emerson Street, London, SE1 9DU, England +44 207 354 6002
and world, rugby union powerhouses. And this
It’s a really good read, this one, and I’d just
continue our coverage this issue by speaking to
James McKeown
Yiannis Exarchos CEO of Olympic Broadcasting
Editor-in-Chief
SECTION EDITORS
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Untitled-1 1
03 TVBE July16 Welcome_final4.indd 1
Philip Stevens Production editor
Michael Burns Post production editor
George Jarrett Business editor
David Davies Audio editor
13/06/2016 10:48
17/06/2016 12:27
4 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
In this issue 10 Opinion
James Groves contributes to the discussion on live streaming with a look at how social media sites are looting sports content
Feature
24
Europe’s largest broadcast facilities provider, Euro Media Group shares its plans for the Olympic Games in August
12 Production
The annual Proms concerts return to the BBC this month. Philip Stevens talks to those responsible for bringing music to a mass audience
28 TVBEverywhere
OTT focus: a number of senior level figures from across the industry offer their views and news on over-the-top TV
Interview
32
Holly Ashford talks to British Pathé managing director Roger Felber about company’s early origins and recent OTT launch
xx
Business George Jarrett reports from the tenth edition of the annual DTG Summit in London
38
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www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Opinion and Analysis
A war on two fronts? As major pay-TV players scramble to win back audiences falling victim to the OTT revolution, are social media sites taking advantage of the siege to loot sports content? James Groves reports
to focus on. Our whole model is about partnering with people to allow them to make the greatest possible success out of their content.” Regardless of YouTube’s stance on competing directly, it does pose the question: if Facebook,
B
ack in April, Twitter secured the $10 million
down their efforts on providing the capabilities
Twitter and YouTube can generate the same kind
rights to broadcast ten Thursday night NFL
for partners to go live stream into Facebook to
of audiences on their platforms as any pay-TV
games online, free of charge. What made
create new audiences and new engagement
channel (and they can), why bother investing in
the move so ground-breaking was the ease in
and utilise the vast audience on that platform to
much more expensive television broadcasts?
which a non-sports platform suddenly snapped
be able to distribute the content very quickly to
Securing global rights and monetisation, it would
up the rights to air the biggest sport in the US.
hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people.”
seem, are two stumbling blocks.
Bearing in mind, of course, that the pinnacle of the social media company’s sporting content
Football rights: worth every penny?
prior to this was Boring James Milner and the
The war for Premier League coverage rages
occasional rant from Piers Morgan. Publicity
on, and, despite jumping from £2.79 million per
stunt, or statement of intent?
game in 1997 to a whopping £11.07 million per
Fellow social media giant Facebook launched Live in August last year, initially limited to celebrities and other verified Facebook users,
game for the upcoming 2016-17 season, the rising price tag shows no signs of slowing. Despite this, Google secured a deal with BT in
such as journalists. By Christmas, however,
May to broadcast the 2016 Europa League and
it had rolled out the feature to the general
Champions League finals free via YouTube.
public. Usage has been gathering pace ever
“There are no clear monetisation models around this yet, other than tagging branded videos” Gareth Capon, Grabyo
The digital giant has previously shown no signs
Capon adds, “The challenge is that it needs to
since, and, considering its interest in purchasing
of wishing to partake in the live sports market, but
be new, bespoke, rights unrestricted content.
the NFL rights before Twitter swooped, it
this move suggests a change in strategy.
The content goes out and it’s available for
appears its video content is going only one way: traditional broadcast. But where has this sudden interest come from? When did the crosshairs begin to focus on video? Gareth Capon, CEO of Grabyo, announced as
However, speaking at the DTG Summit in
free. There are no very clear monetisation
May, Stephen Nuttall, senior director of EMEA for
models around this yet, other than tagging
YouTube, moved to quash the idea of competing
branded videos.”
in the sports market, stating, “We are not a buyer of rights. We are very good at distributing
Such deals, then, may be mere experiment: probes to gauge popularity with viewers.
an official live streaming partner of Facebook at
content to the largest possible audience. We
the F8 Conference in April, explains: “(With Live)
are a technology company, we do a great job
way of sharing live feeds. It’s promoted quite
Facebook have found that they’re generating
of creating tools that broadcasters can use to
heavily within the Facebook newsfeed, so the
more engagement, interactivity and sharing that
tell their stories to the largest possible engaged
opportunity for you to see that is quite high.
they have with other formats. They’ve doubled
audience. That is what I expect we will continue
The chance of you joining the stream is greater;
Capon explains, “It’s such an interesting
www.MultiDyne.com
6 7 TVBE july16 sportssocmed Opinion_final.indd 10
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TVBEurope
July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
7
Opinion and Analysis Championships and World Cups online.” All in all, it’s safe to say that the digital revolution has left TV fragmented, and rights deals in a tangled mess. In the long term, however, viewers have the power. If Facebook continues to host billions of users on a day-to-day basis, then it’s surely only a matter of time before mainstream content, whether in rivalry or collaboration, begins to
Mark Zuckerberg at the F8 Conference
Sport paying a record £897 million for Champions
that’s what’s different and what is not even
League and Europa League TV rights, it made
possible in the traditional OTT or TV environment.”
the unprecedented move to partner with
“It is really now only a matter of time until we see future European Championships and World Cups online” Dror Ginzberg, Wochit
YouTube to air both finals for free.
Euro 2016: the last TV-exclusive?
“Combining traditional TV with online platforms
With such large sporting events hitting the small
will give UEFA and FIFA, the powerbrokers of
screen in 2016, it appears likely that the ongoing
football, an unprecedented opportunity to earn
filter through onto social media. it would appear
European Championships in France will be the
much more revenue from rights selling, while
we can arrive only at that frustrating, age-old
last major international football tournament to
also opening the door to a host of new
conclusion: time will tell. One thing is certain: as
air exclusively on television. Dror Ginzberg, co-
commercial opportunities. It is really now only
long as these emerging platforms have a say on
founder and CEO of Wochit, says, “Despite BT
a matter of time until we see future European
the matter, Sky is most certainly not the limit. n
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6 7 TVBE july16 sportssocmed Opinion_final.indd 11
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8 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Opinion and Analysis
Making the most of OTT Fierce competition for exclusive live sports rights means the challenge for media companies has never been clearer, writes Stan Dimitrov, product marketing manager, OTT, Ericsson: attract more viewers, deepen engagement, and extract more value from the content
the main linear channel might broadcast team sports for the large TV screen where image resolution and detail are key components of the experience, while sports like athletics or gymnastics might be available only over mobile devices enhanced with relevant data
T
he cost of premium content is increasing,
as one complete viewing experience instead
and more companies - some with little
of looking at every delivery method individually.
previous footprint in media - are expanding
and commentary.
Complex sports events such as the Olympics
Reuse, repurpose
their services into the TV space, further increasing
are a good example of how content rights
With the support of the OTT platform, it is possible
competition and offering up challenges for
owners can maximise the OTT opportunity. The
to create temporary channels, for example,
traditional media organisations. As more viewers
decision as to which sports will be broadcast
focusing on a particular sport and showcasing
turn towards mobile screens to access TV
live on linear channels is no longer as difficult
live games and sports highlights, additional
content, OTT might just prove to be a solution for
to make as before. With the ability to show
interviews and even flashbacks to previous
these challenges.
content on a second and even third screen, the
Olympics. The reuse and repurposing of
main consideration becomes more a case of
content creates more and new monetisation
to manage live, linear and on-demand content
establishing which screen will provide the best
opportunities. Content owners can create
over various devices enables content owners to
possible viewer experience and engage with the
flexible, content packages, such as offering
develop and plan their content across screens
viewer in the most convenient way. For example,
subscription-based access to individual
The capability of some online video platforms
www.asperasoft.com moving the world’s data at maximum speed
8 9 TVBE july16 Ericsson Opinion_final.indd 10
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TVBEurope
July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
9
Opinion and Analysis sports or live events. To be able to execute all of
events as they are happening. However, this puts
this, media companies need to ensure that their
an extra requirement on media companies: to
OTT platforms will enable them to publish various
be able to create content clips as the events
forms of content without significantly more effort,
unfold and monitor social media activity and
and ensure that the content management
viewer preferences and behaviours in real time.
process is integrated with their product, customer
While the former depends largely on production
management and billing systems.
and editorial capabilities, the latter can be facilitated to a larger extent by using the data
Harnessing OTT
available in the OTT platform. The complexity of
Having the content available across all screens may not be enough to guarantee that viewers will tune in or tap in to watch. A new approach is needed to attract attention and bring audiences to the desired screens. With all the content already available in an OTT platform and managed from a single
‘Complex sporting events such as the Olympics are an example of how content rights owners can maximise the OTT opportunity’
screen, it is now easier than ever before to create clips and teasers that can be immediately shared
201602_200X135.pdf 1 2016-01-14 오후 2:45:41
on social networks or published
the technology and implementation of an OTT
to YouTube. This functionality can
service might seem daunting, but with creativity
become a powerful tool to make
and an understanding of viewer behaviour,
highlights available to a larger or a
OTT can offer a powerful tool to satisfy the
targeted audience and drive them
growing number of content-hungry mobile-
to the application showing the live
native audiences. n
C
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10 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Opinion and Analysis
Streaming: the end of subscription? There are question marks over live streaming Premier League matches free of charge. Robert Shepherd looks at a new player who has entered an arena traditionally dominated by the major broadcasters
T
but isn’t the onus on the Premier League to protect its rights? A Premier League spokesman said: “It is only through legitimate investment in its broadcasting rights that it can put on a world renowned football competition and support
he 2016-17 Premier League campaign is
In early 2015, Sky and BT Sport coughed up a
and invest in the English football pyramid and
tipped to be the most exciting one yet. With
record £5.136 billion for live Premier League TV
beyond.” The organisation said it’s aware that
Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho set to
rights for three seasons from 2016-17. The figure
“this model is threatened by piracy, whether
renew their bitter rivalry in charge of Manchester
represented a 70 per cent increase on Sky and
in the form of illegal internet streams showing
City and Manchester United respectively, the
BT’s previous £3 billion deal.
Premier League football, or unauthorised
likes of Sky and BT are licking their lips at the
Sky was the only broadcaster to have rights
broadcasts of our matches in UK pubs”.
prospect of more subscribers to their channels.
to screen Premier League football in the UK from
Yet while these two heavyweights finance their
the division’s inception in 1992 up until 2007. It’s
work to combat the threat of piracy, including
operations by charging viewers a considerable
stranglehold, some say monopoly, was broken by
through partnerships with Net Result, Irdeto and
amount each month, there’s another player
Irish pay-TV firm Setanta. Yet while Setanta didn’t
ID Inquiries. The spokesman also pointed to
gaining traction in this space, which doesn’t
have the financial muscle to keep up the fight,
the fact that last season, the Premier League
require fans to part with any money whatsoever.
Kodi has has not spent a penny on rights and
successfully blocked thousands of streams that
doesn’t need to make any money back.
were illegally showing Premier League footage,
Meet Kod, a gratis open-source media player software, which has unwittingly become a source for parasite add-ons to feed from. So how does it work? The football fan simply downloads the Kodi software to a device like an Amazon Fire TV Stick or Apple TV, provided it’s been jailbroken, and the world is one’s oyster. Viewers can not only access the televised matches on Saturday
The legal implicationss remain unclear. If a UK-based viewer takes a Sky Sports or BT Sport
‘There’s another player gaining traction in this space and it’s one that doesn’t require fans to part with any money whatsoever’
mornings and Sunday afternoons, they can also
The Premier League does a huge amount of
while it “successfully took legal action against certain websites, both in the English and overseas courts”. While that may be true, it’s nearly impossible to stop streaming sites from popping up, because when one is pulled down, another surfaces. The Premier League can still take parties to civil courts for copyright infringement, can it really keep taking people to court non-stop?
watch all the 3pm Saturday kick-offs, previously
Alex Haffner, managing associate at law firm
only available to viewers overseas. That’s
feed, then it’s clearly illegal. If, however, a user
Dentons, said broadcasters who pay premiums
because viewers can now watch coverage
in the UK streams a Premier League encounter
will expect the Premier League to be doing
provided by Fox, Canal+ and many other major
from French premium cable television channel
all it can to protect against “unlawful use”. He
non-UK sports broadcasters.
Canal+, with the commentary and punditry all
added: “Generally, the parties work closely
in French, is it illegal? It’s also important to point
together given they have a common interest
matches isn’t new. Sites like First Row Sports, Roja
out that neither Amazon, Apple or any other
here. However, these developments show just
Directa and Atdhe have been providing links to
conduit to the Kodi add-ons are complicit in
how difficult it is for any rights holder to constantly
matches for years, but the quality has always
this. Amazon has spoken out against piracy in
stay ahead of technological progress.”
been questionable and the user often has to
the past. In 2015, its Fire TV Stick experienced a
navigate the pornographic adverts that help
stock shortage in the UK and at the time there
who wished to remain anonymous, argued
fund the sites and often inflict viruses on their
was speculation its association with Kodi was the
that there may even come a point when the
computers. The difference with Kodi is the quality.
reason. Then in June last year, Amazon pulled
Premier League can’t justify hiking up the price
While it may not be HD, providing the internet
Kodi on the grounds it can be “used to facilitate
each time the bidding process begins. “Why will
connection and speed are up to scratch, the
the piracy or illegal download of content”. In
Sky and whoever else bids pay top whack for
quality is as close to HD as you can get and it
other words, Amazon were onto it. Nevertheless,
something you can get for free?” he said.
rarely buffers. That’s where it becomes a problem
it hasn’t been able to wash its hands of Kodi
for the likes of Sky Sports and BT Sport in the UK.
altogether. Amazon still distributes Kodi with
best league in the world, it is certainly the most
They pay the Premier League an astronomical
pirated add-ons. There lies the problem.
exciting, and that’s why the geeks are staying
amount of money to share the broadcast rights.
Neither Sky nor BT wished to comment on Kodi,
one step ahead. n
Of course, live streaming of Premier League
10 TVBE july16 football streaming Opinion_final.indd 10
Another lawyer from an international firm,
The Premier League, while not necessarily the
15/06/2016 16:52
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© BBC Pictures
Production
Producing the BBC Proms Philip Stevens talks to those responsible for bringing music to a mass audience
Last Night of the Proms. In 2015, the television
them we will cover for television, and confirm
audience for this spectacular peaked at five
when and where they will be shown.”
million viewers. Francesca Kemp, who will serve as BBC TV
Many of the concert broadcasts are shown on BBC Four, but some are seen across
executive producer for the season, has worked
BBC One, Two and online platforms. During
ore than 90 concerts over eight weeks,
for the BBC for over 30 years, starting with Radio
the Proms season, the BBC also produces
including four Last Night celebrations
3, before moving into music TV as a researcher,
a weekly magazine show called Proms
around the UK, will make up the 122nd
producer and director.
Extra, shown on Saturday evenings on BBC
M
season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts
“We start planning the season as soon as the
Two, featuring star guests from the season,
starting on 15 July. In the spirit of Wood’s
previous one ends,” Kemp explains. “The BBC
concert reviews, previews, short films and live
founding vision to make the best music available
Proms director is responsible for planning each
studio performances.
to the widest audience, every Prom is broadcast
season of concerts from the Royal Albert Hall
live on BBC Radio 3, and in 2016, BBC Radio 2
and other venues. Between the autumn and
across the season, some for many months,
and Radio 6 Music each broadcast multiple
early spring, as his plans firm up, we discuss with
others for a few weeks,” Kemp continues. “Four
Proms. In addition, around 25 concerts will be
the channel controllers and head of BBC music
of these producers are members of the music
televised including, of course, the renowned
commissioning, Jan Younghusband, which of
TV department, while two others are joining us
12 14 15 16 TVBE july16 Production BBC Proms_final.indd 54
“This year we will have six producers working
15/06/2016 17:27
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14 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Production from other parts of the BBC. The production and
starting all over again. Or you turn up on the day
editorial teams are usually on board by late May
and discover that all the percussion shots you’ve
and continue through to the end of the season in
scripted are now masked by microphones or
mid-September. Our teams work very closely with
other instruments. Or perhaps the soloist wants to
colleagues across the BBC, particularly with the
perform further upstage, so again your scripted
Proms concerts team, who plan and manage
shots are all blocked, and you need to adapt,
the season, and with our colleagues in Radio 3,
and quickly.”
who broadcast every Prom live.”
The Royal Albert Hall, London, the setting for the Proms
So, just how far in advance of a concert will the director get to see the music? Caldwell
The demands of directing
reports that the time frame can vary. “A
One of the directors used by Kemp is Bridget
Beethoven symphony I’ll probably get four
Caldwell. What does she see as the qualities
to six weeks in advance, while a new commission
needed for a director on such a high profile
normally will get to me about a week before.
series? “A real understanding of music. I see
And encores have been known to turn up
one of my roles as guiding the viewer through
on the day!”
the music. Each piece demands its own unique response. I try to make sense of the music and
Great operators
pick out the instruments with the tune, but then
Normally six cameras, including one on a jib, are
also reflect the countermelodies and anything
used for the concerts, although this number will
interesting happening in the percussion.
increase for the Last Night. “I work with the best
Sometimes this is easy, especially with a well-
operators in the business. I’m always amazed
established piece of music, but it is much harder
at what a brilliant job they do in such a short
with a new commission when, more often than
amount of time. Plus, the first time they hear the
not, there’s no recording of the piece to hear.
music is the day of the rehearsal, and yet they
Then you have to study the score and try and
respond as if they’ve been living with the pieces
work out how it sounds and what the composer’s
for weeks on end.”
trying to say.” Caldwell adds that resilience and a good
Although there may be a music rehearsal scheduled for first thing in the morning, the stage will be cleared for another a little later. Once
director is to succeed. “You may have scripted
that is completed, the first orchestra will be set
a concert and then, two days before the
back. “This means that players and microphones
performance, discover the conductor wants
will be in slightly different positions so all the shots
to change the orchestra layout, which means
you’ve carefully planned for flutes or trumpets
© BBC Pictures
sense of humour are also essential qualities if a
need to be quickly checked.” Not that there is always an opportunity for any rehearsals. That luxury depends on the orchestra’s availability. “I’ve gone on air not having seen an entire symphony or only bits of a piece. And for the Last Night of the Proms, you don’t always get to hear everything because it’s such a long concert.”
Audio activities Television sound is produced by the Sound
© BBC Pictures
Alliance, an independent specialist company
One of the BBC jib cameras provides close up and personal shots of the performers and audience
12 14 15 16 TVBE july16 Production BBC Proms_final.indd 55
which won a TVBAward in 2015. “We provide a sound mobile unit and crew, and pass on the mixed audio to the OB provider, Visions,” explains Andy Payne, TV sound supervisor and a director of the Sound Alliance. “In the Visions truck, presentation is added. However, on simpler
15/06/2016 16:55
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July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
Production
Proms, we handle this element as well.” He adds, “Our own mobile is equipped with Stagetec Nexus and Cantus mixing along with 128-track Pyramix recording and editing. Monitoring is Bowers and Wilkins in fully Dolby specified 5.1. Television and radio each have a separate mobile facility connected together for sharing with MADI.” Payne reveals that the TV output is delivered
“From the start it is important for us to understand the needs of this unique event, with the first priority being the comfort of the orchestras and choirs” Bernie Davis, lighting designer
spot mics, but others creep in from time to time. On occasion, some vintage types can be seen, but this is usually a visual design feature rather than any audio consideration.”
Seeing the light The lighting design for the Proms has to cope with the wide range of concerts and events that happen over the two-month period, even
in Dolby 5.1 surround, with stereo derived from
though not all the requirements are known at
this feed. “There are challenges in producing
the start of the season. “Together with the busy
stereo without compromise from 5.1, and TV uses
festival schedule of at least one concert per day,
a somewhat different approach to microphone
approaches to microphone coverage, television
we have little or no time to make changes to the
coverage to Radio 3. For radio, the mix is
and radio share a good deal of what is rigged.
rig, and so we have evolved a flexible design
principally in stereo and can be expanded up to
Schoeps, DPA and Sennheiser type microphones
which we know from experience should provide
a 4.0 surround feed, which is accessible online.
make up the main coverage. Mostly, Schoeps
what is needed,” says Bernie Davis, who has
Although there are necessarily independent
and Neumann are used for on-stage soloist and
been the Proms lighting designer since 1993.
12 14 15 16 TVBE july16 Production BBC Proms_final.indd 56
15/06/2016 16:56
16 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Production “From the start, it is important for us to understand
scenery. The important thing is to know when
two days just to rig all the lighting and
the needs of this unique event, with the first
to use which!” The lighting design for the Proms
make all the systems work. The following
priority being the comfort of the orchestras and
now uses some of the latest lighting equipment
day is a focus day when each of about a
choirs. They must be able to read the music
available, and that has actually helped to
thousand lights get set.”
without lit music stands, they must be able to see
reduce costs. “We now work with a much smaller
the conductor, and they must not be dazzled.
crew than when I started over 20 years ago,”
After that is an opportunity to catch up with other jobs in the background, leaving
Beyond that, the concerts must look good in
the team ready to balance the lighting and
the hall and, when necessary, on television. The
start rehearsing. Once the grid is set 10m
lighting rig must be silent to meet the demands of Radio 3 and the Proms audience. Davis says that people’s expectation of lighting has changed over the years, and designers have managed to push the boundaries of what is possible while still
“I’ve gone on air not having seen an entire symphony or only bits of a piece” Bridget Caldwell, director
working within the limits of each environment.
over the stage it cannot move again for two months as a range of sound slings are set underneath. Davis states that the small pool of crew are hand-picked for their skills, because they don’t just have to be experienced lighting
“It used to be just ‘white light’ for classical
technicians, but also be willing and able to climb
music, but now we try to enhance the mood
Davis continues. “The usual crew for the hall for
the overhead grid for necessary maintenance.
with the careful use of colour around the hall,
a TV Prom day is now just lighting designer and
“In addition, they need to have the skills
and graphics on the LED display panels behind
two electricians, and a regular Radio 3 concert
and knowledge to deal with orchestras and
the orchestra. These panels can show anything
would have just one electrician. The start of the
conductors on a day-to-day basis. But we all love
from abstract and subtle patterns to moving
season takes more crew though, and we take
the Proms and look forward to it every season.” n
© BBC Pictures
The energetic audience enjoying the Last Night with patriotic vigour
12 14 15 16 TVBE july16 Production BBC Proms_final2.indd 57
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18 TVBEurope
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Production
Inside the chief executive’s office Philip Stevens talks to Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of the Olympic host broadcaster, about the upcoming spectacular in South America
A
the-art broadcasting technology and services to relay the most memorable celebration of sport to billions of viewers around the world. While tradition and precedent from previous Games is a guiding principle for the host broadcaster’s
s the host broadcaster, Olympic
cameras. Rio 2016 managed to coordinate
work, in its pursuit of excellence, OBS
Broadcasting Services (OBS) is
with the federal and regional governments and
also recognises the importance of emerging
responsible for providing the images
reschedule flights to and from Santos Dumont
digital media and the evolving requirements
and sound of the Olympic Games as a service
airport during the competition, thus allowing
of the RHBs.”
to all organisations, including the rights holding
OBS’s helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to fly
broadcasters (RHBs), who have purchased
over the courses and properly cover the event
his point; the Olympic Video Player
the television and radio rights. OBS will also
during the Games.”
(OVP) and the multi-channel distribution service (MDS).
act as host broadcaster for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
He cites two examples to prove
The hub
“The OVP offers RHBs their
OBS is also responsible for designing, building,
own fully produced platform
radio and television coverage of every sport
installing and operating the International
containing one of the best live
from every venue and provides RHBs with
Broadcast Centre (IBC). Located in a new,
video and on-demand players
the international signals, also known as the
purpose-built structure in Barra Olympic Park, the
for the internet, tablets and
world feed.
IBC is close to nine Olympic competition venues
mobiles, currently available.
and is adjacent to the Main Press Centre (MPC).
Launched for Sochi 2014, the
OBS produces and distributes unbiased live
In addition to developing a multilateral production plan for the International
OVP helped drive the record
Signals, OBS provides additional services,
digital offerings for those
equipment, facilities and supplies to the RHBs in order to help them produce their own unilateral production coverage. According to Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of OBS, broadcasting the events represents an innovative and exciting enterprise, with each
“The IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 has reinforced the idea of a more sustainable Games plan” Yiannis Exarchos, OBS
Games. In Sochi, for the first time in Olympic history, the amount of digital coverage exceeded traditional television broadcasts with 60,000 hours available on digital platforms, compared with
Games providing its own set of production
42,000 hours on television. We
challenges. “This year, golf and Rugby Sevens
expect the growth of digital will continue in Rio.”
have taken OBS into new territories. OBS has
Currently, 11 rights holding
been working diligently to develop an efficient
The 85,400sqm IBC houses the technical and
broadcast plan to deliver live action as it
administrative facilities for both OBS and the
broadcasters, representing
happens and engage audiences around the
RHBs including edit suites, control rooms, studios
more than 60 territories from
world – from the core fans to the newcomers – in
and offices. More than 100 RHB organisations
around the globe will be
the drama of the tournament.”
including sub-licensees will have a working space
subscribed to the OVP service for
inside the IBC, while in excess of 12,000 personnel
the Rio Games. As a result of the
expertise of NBC and Sky TV New Zealand to
will be accredited to cover the Games. OBS itself
increased digital distribution and
execute its production plan for golf and Rugby
will have 7,100 personnel on site.
together with traditional television
Exarchos says that OBS will rely on the
Sevens respectively.
“The IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 has
coverage, the Games in Rio will
reinforced the idea of a more sustainable
reach more global territories than
Overcoming obstacles
Games plan,” says Exarchos. “OBS is continually
ever before.
Alongside the challenges of developing the
striving to reduce the impact on the host city
production for the two new sports, OBS has found
and country, while at the same time optimising
become one of the prime ways
it necessary to address a potentially difficult
operations. For instance, by implementing
for the television coverage of the
situation which could have impacted production
reusable IBC construction modules, OBS has
Olympic Games to be distributed to
in the sport of sailing. This event will take place
reduced waste by the equivalent of 2,800 trucks.
the world. In London, there were 13
in Guanabara Bay, the most iconic inlet in Rio
So good news for the environment.”
subscribers distributing coverage from
He continues, “The MDS has
the MDS. For Sochi 2014, that number
de Janeiro. Unfortunately, this is also located on the direct flight path to Santos Dumont
New technology
grew to 80 RHB companies from 70
airport. “Modern broadcast coverage of the
He goes on, “As part of its mission, OBS
different countries using the MDS to fully
sailing events requires extensive use of aerial
endeavours to make use of the latest state-of-
produce their entire coverage of the
18 19 TVBE July16 Olympics interview Production_final.indd 54
16/06/2016 13:14
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July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
19
Production Games with little or no staff or facilities within
System all live venue feeds, multi clips feeds,
field of play, world record lines, best throw/jump
and all output broadcast on the Olympic News
lines, course maps and GPS positioning graphics.
the host city. There
Channel (ONC), as well as press conferences
will be 52 takers
produced by OBS. All content will be video
Training for the future
in Rio, broadcasting
logged and tagged.
Following its previous successes, OBS is continuing
the Games to 198 territories.”
While this service will not be new, for the first
with its training programme. “Forming an
time all mixed zones interviews from the ONC
integral part of OBS’s legacy strategy, the
teams in the various venues will be ingested and
Broadcast Training Programme (BTP) aims
OBS archive team
made available to RHBs and distributed to a
to train the next generation of media and
will be responsible
number of services. Another ‘first’ means
television professionals,” explains Exarchos.
the entire archive operation will be tapeless
“In collaboration with selected universities in
and completely file based. Dedicated lines
the host city, the training programme gives
and file acceleration services will be used to
students practical experience in how the largest
transfer content from Rio to the IOC Archive
broadcasting operation in the world will be
in Lausanne, Switzerland.
assembled and function. Approximately 1,200
Meanwhile, the
for ingesting in the Central Video Archive
successful students have been offered paid
Planning production
roles during the Rio 2016 Games, such as audio
OBS has secured 52 mobile units for the
assistant, camera assistant, commentary system
coverage of the Games, including four
operator and liaison officer and utility.”
units from Brazilian suppliers and 48 units from others located in other countries.
Following a lead from London, OBS and NHK will
seven independent audio production
be working together to produce some coverage
units have been secured. There will
in UHD. Beyond that, 8K will be used for the
be another 31 support vans making
opening and closing ceremonies and some
a total fleet of 83 vehicles and 19
selected sports with the output being made
production kits.
available to interested RHBs. The 8K experience
The venue coverage will be transmitted to the IBC via the on-site Technical Operations Centre (TOC). “OBS will utilise an extensive fibre
will also include an immersive 3-D 22.2 multichannel surround system. “We will also be looking closely at another first in Olympic Broadcasting history,” declares
optic contribution network that
Exarchos. “Viewers from around the world will be
connects the venues and the IBC; a
able to enjoy a truly unique viewing experience
combination of dark fibre for venues
with high definition virtual reality (VR). This
in the metropolitan area of Rio and
follows a first successful test of a 180-degree VR
Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)
experience at the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth
for distant venues,” states Exarchos.
Olympic Games.”
For the majority of installations
Using a compatible headset, viewers will be
OBS will be using standard RF
virtually transported to the heart of the Olympic
communications at the venues, with
action with VR coverage including the opening
diverse reception points cabled from
and closing ceremonies and one key event
the OB van. At specific venues such
per day. Olympic content will be available live
as golf, OBS will install an in-depth network that will support transmission
through VR technologies, but also as video ondemand. Highlights of 360-degree video content
and reception of all of the various RF
will also be available, without the need for VR
sources including OBS RF cameras and the
headsets. OBS is also exploring the possibility of
communications network. RHBs receive ‘dirty’ feeds from OBS multilateral coverage. Specifically, the International Television Signal includes the live camera cut; all replays (including the
a limited experimental production in WCG/HDR (wide colour gamut/high dynamic range). Exarchos concludes, “As in every aspect of the Olympic Games, it is about excellence, but the Games in Rio provide us with two
Olympic Replay Transition to open and
unique opportunities. First, on the digital front,
close the replay sequence), all start lists,
to showcase to the world the first Games in
athlete IDs, scorecards and results, result lists, crunch scoreboards without clocks, all timing
18 19 TVBE July16 Olympics interview Production_final.indd 55
Upping the quality
Additionally, 12 flyaway systems and
South America, taking place in one of the most spectacular cities of the world; and second, to
graphics and all production enhancements
align the broadcast of these Games with the
including virtual graphics such as flags on the
ongoing revolution in digital media.” n
16/06/2016 13:14
tvbeurope_july2016.ai 1 06/06/2016 16:02:40
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21
Production
Ready for Rio
Philip Stevens asked several European broadcasters about their plans for the Olympics
F
or Jonny Bramley, executive producer of major events at the BBC, this summer marks his 13th Olympic Games, and sixth as
executive producer. “As we did for London 2012, we will be broadcasting live streams of every sport on the web, mobile, connected TV and games consoles. There will also be up to eight red button channels, and we are on air every day on BBC One and BBC Four. The network transmissions will focus on the mainstream sports such as athletics, swimming, cycling and gymnastics, and also where Team GB athletes and teams are competing.” The corporation will send 455 accredited staff to Brazil. This is around 40 per cent below the number of accreditations for London 2012, but with the broadcaster delivering around the same amount of output. The operation will be based in the IBC and as well as office space, it will install production and sound galleries, a central technical area, operations room, edit suites, off tube booths, a graphics area and separate office for radio, news, nations and regions. Bramley continues, “Our studio is in between the triathlon and beach volleyball venues. We will have radio steadicams operating in the Olympic Park and on Copacabana beach. The studio itself is provided by OBS as part of a prefabricated structure. We will transport and install the set, designed by Pico, and source the lighting in the UK, as it was the most cost-effective option, and our system integrator Dega Broadcast Systems will deliver the broadcast equipment.” In addition, there will be one OB unit provided by Arena TV at the athletics location, plus three ENG crews who will focus on filming features and another 13 who will be operating live at venues on mixed zones and announce positions. “Perhaps the biggest challenges are the unknowns around transport and logistics. No matter how much planning we do before an Olympics, travel times are always an estimate until the Games actually start,” says Bramley.
Clare Balding and Ade Adepitan presented peak time coverage of the 2012 Paralympic Games for Channel 4
22 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Production Remotely Rio Switzerland’s SRG will be producing programmes in different languages for the four regions in the country; German, Italian, French, and Romansh. “Our total personnel commitment to the Games will be approximately 140 people including technical staff, editors, journalists and producers,” states Sven Sarbach, head of major events, SRG SSR. “We will have an office at the IBC which will include work stations, a master control room, edit suites, off-tubes, a radio studio and meeting room.” SRG’s presentations will originate in the Ipanema View TV Studio in Rio
From left to right; Dieter Gruschwitz, ZDF; Jonny Bramley, BBC; Stjepan Balog, HRT; Sven Sarbach, SRG SSR
de Janeiro. “The studio is located in a marvellous place called Arpoador Rock between the
field events. For all of these productions, we will
completely different time zones. But we will
legendary Copacabana and Ipanema beach.”
be using our own directors and other technical
meet those challenges!”
Sarbach goes on to reveal that all
and production personnel. We are also planning
programmes from that Ipanema studio will be
to use some remote technical equipment which
Paralympics, too
operated as a remote production, with the
will be operated from our facilities within the IBC.”
Channel 4 viewers in the UK will be able to watch
directors and their staff based in Zurich, Lugano
live events in the Paralympic Games in Rio. This
and Geneva. “The cameras will be directed from
Slovenian solution
follows the broadcaster’s acclaimed coverage
there, with only a small crew on location: two
Mile Jovanovic, team leader for TV Slovenia,
of the Paralympics in London in 2012. “We
or three camera operators, the technical staff
reveals that planning for Rio 2016 started in
learned some valuable lessons from 2012 and
and the floor manager. The remote production
September 2014. “We are sending two on-
are looking to improve on most aspects of our
arrangement means that we will not need any
location commentators to Brazil, alongside 12
coverage,” states Stephen Lyle, commissioning
outside broadcast units on site. We will, however,
technical and production personnel. They will
editor for sport at Channel 4. “Any ‘good grace’
have eight ENG crews in Rio to collect stories
be utilising our own equipment, although we will
from being new to the games last time will have
and other colour material.” That material will be
make use of the facilities at the IBC for some off-
gone now and any faults will be seized upon. We
edited in the six edit suites within the IBC using
tube commentaries.” The crew will include five
are aware of that so we are looking to go event
SRG’s Sony Sonap system.
ENG cameramen for collecting background and
further in terms of research. Finally, we have
colour material. “Editing for this content will be
always set a goal to increase the number of
for our Olympic coverage,” declares Sarbach.
carried out by our own editors using our Quantel
disabled talent on screen.”
“These include high level production on TV, radio
suite,” says Jovanovic. “Although we will be
and the internet, outstanding programming for
using some recorded material, our main aim is to
the majority of the coverage. Sunset+Vine is
all regions of Switzerland, 24-hour coverage of all
broadcast live all the events in which Slovenian
producing our output, and will provide two
the different sport disciplines and the variety of
athletes are taking part.”
add-on OBs at the athletics and swimming for
“We have set a number of strategic goals
our dedicated coverage.” In addition, Channel
the games with Swiss focus.”
German game plan
“Olympic Broadcasting Services will provide
Croatian coverage
4 will have its own studio in the IBC at the
Croatian national broadcaster HRT is planning to
Olympic Park.
According to Dieter Gruschwitz, ZDF head of
send 40 personnel to Rio, with a further 20 being
sports, for the German broadcaster the biggest
involved with Olympic production in Zagreb.
key to the Paralympics – will be enhanced by
initial challenge will be the transportation of the
Stjepan Balog, HRT Rio 2016 project director, says,
the massive innovations in camera and edit
technical equipment. “The Olympics start not
“In order to provide stories particularly related
technology during the last four years. “Improved
long after the Euro 2016 football finals in France
to the Croatian athletes we will be deploying
connectivity, infrastructure and facilities around
and we have to ensure everything arrives in Rio
three ENG crews to collect material from around
the Paralympics has made it more possible to
in good time.”
Brazil. All of this equipment, including an Avid
achieve our dream and broadcast the entire
“We will have around 140 technical
edit suite, will be brought in from Zagreb.” HRT
event live from Rio back to the UK. It will be
and production personnel, and some 90
has booked an office of around 130sqm in the
the most comprehensive coverage ever of a
commentators, presenters, story makers and
IBC. “We have taken advantage of the video
Paralympic Games.”
editors on site in Rio. And because it makes
and audio package and other connectivity for
economic sense, we are sharing 2,400sqm of
various circuits back to Croatia,” states Balog.
more than 120 hours of live sport on television,
space in the IBC with our colleagues from ARD.”
So what does he see as the biggest challenges?
plus more than 500 hours of online streaming.
Those IBC facilities will include offices, Avid edit
“To cover all the appearances of Croatian
suites, and technical areas. “In addition, we
sportsmen with fairly limited resources, to prepare
build an operation of this kind so far away in
will be building a studio at the Olympic Park for
the multimedia project, while increasing TV,
Brazil, but our coverage will reaffirm Channel 4’s
interviews and presentations, and will be using
radio, and social network coverage. And, of
commitment to changing public perceptions of
our own outside broadcast van for the track and
course, working on another continent with
disability and disability sport.” n
21 22 TVBE june16 Production Olympic broadcasters_final.indd 55
Lyle says that the ability to tell stories – so
That coverage means Channel 4 will provide
Lyle concludes, “It is a huge challenge to
15/06/2016 17:27
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24 TVBEurope
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Feature
© CIO/Christophe Moratal
Euromedia in good shape for the Olympics
EMG and its French subsidiary have been upgrading their broadcast technology offering in time for the Olympic Games in Rio. Catherine Wright reports
E
the group, the Saint-Denis-based company, according to its president Lionel Vialaneix, accounts for around a third of EMG’s turnover and has subsidiaries of its own; Aix-en Provencebased slow-motion specialist DVS (Digital Vidéo
urope’s largest broadcast facilities provider,
than 14 OB vans on site, (including four from
Sud), audiovisual service provider S-TV and
EMG (Euro Media Group) has been gearing
Euromedia), two planes, five helicopters and
HF transmission specialist Livetools Technology,
up for the Olympic Games in August. The
seven motorbikes. It will also send around 60
based in Switzerland.
group was already one of the key outfits on the
technicians from the group. Because of tight
“We aim to provide high-end services to our
Tour de France in July, the Euro 2016 in June and
disclosure rules agreed with the International
clients, especially in the area of HF transmission.
the Roland-Garros tennis tournament at the end
Olympic Committee, it cannot go into much
Our know-how lies in covering very large sporting
of May, through French subsidiary Euromedia.
more detail about its setup. Suffice to say that
events in France, which have a big international
it will be the huge cherry on the cake of an
reach, such as Le Tour de France or Roland–
Over the past ten years, the group has morphed from being essentially a French-based audiovisual service provider into a European giant, a transformation kicked off by the 2007 merger of France’s Euro Media Télévison and Holland’s UBF Media group. As it stands today, EMG has seven subsidiaries spread across the continent, including CTV and ACS (Aerial Camera Systems) in the UK, Nobeo in Germany,
“Not only are the number of rights holders constantly increasing, so are the sports we cover” Lionel Vialaneix, Euromedia
Belgium, 3zero2 in Italy as well as Euromedia and For the Olympic Games in Brazil, EMG will be pushing the boat out: it will have no less
24 25 TVBE july16 Euromedia olympics Feature_final.indd 54
unique slow-mo and ultra slow-mo expertise on national and international competitions. And lately we have started providing 360-degree cameras for sport and entertainment events, responding to an important new market trend,” Vialaneix describes.
On an expansion spree
United in the Netherlands, Video House in Netco Sports in France.
Garros. Through DVS, we also provide our
Euromedia recently renewed its historical incredibly busy year for the group as whole, and
contract with Gaul pubcaster France Télévisions
particularly for French subsidiary Euromedia.
for another five years, giving it medium-term
Very much the historical and central plank of
stability and perspective. The company at a
15/06/2016 17:33
TVBEurope
July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
25
Feature local level, very much like the group at a larger level, is looking to expand. “We are studying
Lionel Vialaneix, Euromedia
The company also recently commissioned three new hybrid 4K vans (one large and two
a number of possibilities. We are looking to
smaller vehicles), which will be equipped with
acquire companies that are complementary,
SAM Kahuna and Sirius technology. The Kahuna
they could either be innovative start-ups or more
9600 production switcher’s great strength is that
established and well-known outfits, all options are
it supports any combination of SD, HD, 1O80p
conceivable,” Vialaneix admits. The strategy is to
and 4K environments. On the router front, the
become a one-stop shop for broadcasters, both
Sirius 800 was chosen for its processing capability
in France and beyond.
on every input and output (IP), thereby saving
At a group level, the drive is probably to sign
space due to less cable.
a global contract with a large international rights
At a wider level, EMG is in the process of
holder, in the Bertelsmann-owned RTL mould, for
upgrading its broadcast camera fleet and has
instance. Areas where Euromedia is looking to
opted for Sony HD 2500 and HDC 4300s, after a
increase its customer base are live performing
long selection process involving a tender with
arts and entertainment, as well as services for
multiple broadcast companies. The cameras
corporate clients. “We have recently recruited
launched a new, lower-cost OB van called
enable the group to make the gradual upgrade
an account manager, Benoît Baudelet, assigned
Nomad, a multi-functional and adaptable
to 4K, HDR and High Frame Rate shooting.
to clients who produce live performing arts,”
OB, and therefore less expensive to use for
Vialaneix continues. “We have already worked
broadcasters. “It’s a four-in-one van which
R&D, as it is an essential way to remain
on the Printemps de Bourges music festival and
can have up to nine cameras, it is HD and 4K
competitive. “Technology is changing so fast,
the Download heavy metal music festival, which
compatible and can be used on smaller sports
you can’t afford not to prepare for the future
takes place in the UK in June. We have covered
events as well as on live performances and
to meet customer demands,” Vialanex adds.
a Pavarotti-inspired concert in Monte Carlo
concerts. Our nickname for it in the company is
Euromedia recently set up a new department,
as well as an event with pop star Mika, but
the Swiss army knife,” says Vialaneix.
innovations et technologie, headed by Mathieu
there is a lot of scope to expand and do much more in this area.” Sport, however, remains the company’s bread and butter, and as Vialaneix is keen to stress, this is a golden age for companies working in that area. “Not only are the number of rights holders constantly increasing, so are the sports we cover: more and more female competitions are being broadcast, from football to rugby.” Extreme sports of all kinds are also becoming more popular and the number of broadcasters involved in sports coverage is sky-rocketing. In France, for instance, BeIn is a fairly recent rights
Both EMG and Euromedia are investing in
Skrzypniak, precisely with that goal in mind.
‘EMG ‘s main shareholder is private equity fund PAI Partners, which holds 58 per cent of the company’s shares, worth €170 million. In 2013, it made sales worth €302 million, around a third of which can be attributed to Euromedia’
Areas of interest are of course VR, HDR and 4K, but also remote production developments, aerial shots and cameras, as well as mini-cams. Last but not least, Euromedia is also streamlining its historical studio and TV set business. “There is too much supply and not enough demand, so we are planning to go on rationalising that side of the business,” Vialaneix concludes. n
holder, but even newer is the Altice Group,
OB and camera fleet in full renewal In order to meet that rocketing demand, Euromedia is in the process of renewing its OB fleet. At the end of last year it renewed the B40, a smaller, double expander version of the triple expander A21 van. The B40 is now equipped with a Grass Valley mixer and a SAM Sirius router frame that includes a dual production space with two separate panels. A Telex matrix will still be used for the intercom system, but the company has upgraded to a Studer Vista 9 console for audio. Most of the monitors are Sony Oled, apart from the remote workstation monitors, which are made by Eizo. The Erica fibre transport system is used for fibre optic transmission to outside units. A couple of months ago, the company also
24 25 TVBE july16 Euromedia olympics Feature_final.indd 55
Picture courtesy of Qvest Media, equipment supplier to German public broadcasters in Rio
owner of SFR-Numéricable.
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26 TVBEurope
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Feature
Does the screen matter for live sports?
As live sports pour online, Adrian Pennington asks whether OTT streams are as good as, or better than, the cable and satellite delivered TV experience
S
is in no doubt. “Online is better. Satellite and cable deliver at 30fps. We deliver at 4K at 60fps [NeuLion streamed El Clásico’ Barcelona Real Madrid match live in 4K 60fps over the NeuLion
ports rights are now a target of social
All sides are dovetailing on internet delivery,
media players just as much as extending
which begs the question as to whether the
the reach of sports properties onto OTT
quality of service between linear (satellite, cable)
to stream live (and VoD) coverage of La Liga,
TV and broadband is indistinguishable.
UEFA Euro 2016, Formula One and the FA Cup
platforms is a strategy of sport franchises and broadcasters. Broadly, traditional players need
“It can be equivalent, and in all honesty I think
Digital Platform to Sony 4K TVs in April].” NeuLion was signed by Eleven Sports Network
Final to subscribers in Belgium, Luxembourg,
to expand into social and online to reach
OTT can be better in some cases; for example,
Poland, Singapore and Taiwan. “Digital delivery
millennials who are deserting studio-bound linear
OTT can do 4K now,” says Shawn Carnahan,
of live video is better and looks better than
presentations for interactive, informal, and mostly
CTO, Telestream. “The big question is what
cable,” says Wagner. “Satellite and cable
free TV anywhere experiences.
device is the viewer using and is their prime
platforms are being replaced by digitally
concern quality or convenience?”
delivered video.”
Social giants, on the other hand, are increasingly moving into premium sports because
He adds, though, that OTT may not ever
Ian Munford, director of product marketing,
the audience and profile of these businesses rely
be able to achieve the very low latency of
media solutions for Akamai, says the industry
on scale, suggests Richard Broughton, research
broadcast from a technical perspective. “In
has reached the point where good HD quality
director for Ampere Analysis. “Sports are a mass
broadcast, each viewer has the exact same
live streams can be delivered with reliability.
market form of entertainment and capable of
bandwidth and very low latency. I’m not sure
“We have the luxury in the UK of a great HD TV
attracting large audiences with a high value to
OTT could ever achieve that same level.”
service. We can easily surpass that.”
sponsors and advertisers.” Examples of the former include BT’s live
Telestream has introduced Lightspeed Live
For Superbowl 50, Akamai saw a “dramatic
Stream to bring broadcasts and OTT together in
increase in every single viewing metric” says
coverage of the UEFA Champions League on
the live space. The solution is designed to provide
Munford. In 2015, it counted 2.5 million viewers
YouTube; Discovery’s deal with Snapchat to
high quality encoding and control the amount
concurrently streaming the event live. This year,
create a dedicated mobile channel around the
of bandwidth available between production
it peaked at four million. “The average viewing
Olympics (with content supplied by BuzzFeed);
and distribution, as well as the amount available
time increased from 84 to 101 minutes and we
and Sky’s investment in online sports network
between distribution and the end user.
saw a big jump in bit rate from a 3.5Mb average
Whistle Sports.
NeuLion’s EVP and co-founder Chris Wagner
to 4.5Mb average. This tells us that there’s a
26 27 TVBE july16 live sports streaming Feature_final3.indd 54
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July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
27
Feature shift toward watching major sports using an OTT service and away from snacking to long
Ian Munford, Akamai
Verizon claims to have reduced latency on live 4K online delivery to four milliseconds, for
form viewing.” There were reports, though, that
delivery of content including San Francisco 49ers
online viewers of SB50 did not receive a buffer-
pre-game coverage over the UltraFlix network.
free experience (not necessarily to do with
However, the industry norm for streaming HD
any of Akamai’s involvement). The transition to
content is still only 720p.
HTTP-based streaming may have enabled OTT
Beyond the TV experience
delivery, but it inherently introduces latency. A study by network performance analytics firm
Viewers will accept buffering and some
IneoQuest (conducted before SB50) found that
pixelation due to ABR for the trade off of
that sports buffering inflicted rage in viewers, with
interactivity and anywhere viewing. “It’s a bit like
two out of five consumers likely to will wait only
the transition of music from CDs to streams; the
ten seconds or less for the video to resume, or they leave the stream. “When you’re using HTTP streaming
quality is down but the fact that I can listen to it Shawn Carnahan, Telestream
technology, there can be a challenge from
wherever I am is a bonus,” says Carlo De Marchis, chief product and marketing officer at online video sports specialist Deltatre.
the camera through to the playing device,”
Beyond a simple simulcast of the live video
says Munford. “Some things are not in the rights
is the opportunity with OTT to create what De
owner’s control.”
Marchis calls the “beyond TV experience”.
One issue is the shift in bit rate, where the
“In Diva [deltatre’s online platform] you
live stream pixelates or blurs on account of
can multi-angle synchronised feeds of up to
ABR. “Dramatic shifts do impact the viewer
12 cameras available for review after a few
experience,” says Munford. “We’re seeing quite
seconds. We have timeline markers for pausing
high abandonment rates as a result.”
the live stream and playback of key incidents. There is social media interaction. There will be
The content delivery network (CDN) has
greater levels of audio choice and, in future, we
a number of Media Services Live delivery technologies designed to reduce latency. Its
channels’ such as Twitter providing information
will take the clean feed with no graphics and
accelerated ingest capabilities minimise the
about a live sporting event. “Tweets from my
send it to a device where the user will define
amount of time live video streams take to reach
friends may be talking about something I haven’t
what graphics makes sense to them.”
the CDN from their origination point. It uses
seen yet, due to latency on my OTT feed to my
transit of content, and make it easier to handle unpredictable peaks. It will also use multicasting and peer-assisted delivery using WebRTC. It also opened a Broadcast Operations Control Center at its Cambridge, Massachusetts headquarters to monitor the reliability of OTT streams around major events like the Rio Olympics. “During London 2012, online traffic
“Digital delivery of live video is better and looks better than cable. Satellite and cable platforms are being replaced by digitally delivered video” Chris Wagner, NeuLion
(such as alternate camera angles, secondary audio, etc) in addition to the broadcast feed. “Eventually, there will be an opportunity to stream additional content that is intended for a VR environment,” says Carnahan, adding that Telestream is investigating this. “An interesting case is to imagine a crowd-sourced production where a central location could be getting feeds from mobile users. Multi-camera production
peaked at about a [one] Terabit per second
sourced from the crowd, perfect for sports.”
[Tbps],” reveals Munford. “We expect peaks globally of between 15-18Tbps during Rio to
device. However, it can be down as low as under
set new global records in terms of online
30 seconds, possibly under 15 seconds.”
streaming traffic.”
For live events, one of the immediate opportunities is to stream additional content
HTTP/UDP to prevent packet loss and speed the
Wagner counters, “You can’t compare video
Armed with its ten-match (non-exclusive) Thursday night NFL deal, Twitter is trying to turn a second screen experience into a first screen
streaming to texting. It’s like watching a match
experience, suggests Carnahan. “Instead of
will soon be watching prime time live sports
live but listening to the radio commentary. Video
watching TV and tweeting about it, it will all
online. “With 500 million online viewers, we need
quality and latency go hand in glove. If you want
be on Twitter. It remains to be seen how many
1,500Tbps. Today we do 32Tbps [at peak], so
no latency then you’ll get video quality
people will turn to Twitter to ‘watch TV.’ It’s an
you can see the huge gap we have to bridge,”
at 800kbps.”
experiment. The issue is the trade-off between
Akamai forecasts that 500 million viewers
says Munford.
With 4K in particular, the caveat is the last
image quality for an enhanced user experience.
mile to the home. “When we deliver 4K, we are
Twitter is betting that the enhanced social
quality scaled events needs to plan how to deal
reliant on end user bandwidth,” says Munford.
experience of watching NFL football on their
with very large peaks of audience,” he says. “It’s
“We are seeing an average 13Mbps [for 4K] and
platform will, for some, outweigh the benefits
a bit like a power surge. Peaks can
for that we need good fibre in the home. The
of a traditional TV viewing experience. Twitter is
be unpredictable.”
technology is there, we can surpass [this speed]
not aiming to be just a second screen; they are
and we’re confident we will continue to push
changing the viewing experience. For some, this
those boundaries.”
may be worth it.” n
“Any organisation looking to deliver high
Carnahan points out that no one would ever know about latency if it wasn’t for ‘back
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28 TVBEurope
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TVBEverywhere
Telcos need partners to launch OTT services To open our feature taking in various perspectives on OTT, Sylvain Thevenot, managing director, Netgem explains how adding OTT services can help telcos keep up with the competition
T
he UK telecoms market is more
Partnerships help you keep up
competitive than ever before, with new
Once a partnership is in place and the service
service providers challenging the
has been launched, the next step for telcos is to
traditional telcos by offering enhanced
keep track of developments and innovations in
entertainment services through OTT. Research
the industry and to make sure their services are
indicates that 64 per cent of telcos highlight
kept updated. The nature of OTT means that
competitive pressures as the biggest challenge
there are always new services launching or old
they expect to face over the next five years.
ones disappearing, and that means having to
But what if this increased competition could be
effectively maintain the service in order to adjust
turned into an advantage?
to the changing demands. Having a partner takes the load off the telco.
Partnerships save money and time
One thing I have seen time and again is that the biggest pain point among viewers
A common strategy adopted by some telcos is to approach OTT providers directly to secure individual content partnerships. However, operators are discovering that many of these content partners come from a pay-TV world, for example the WWE and UFC, and they want a
EPG, operators can remove the app from the
‘The industry is constantly evolving and finding new ways to improve the viewing experience, and telcos need to adapt’
minimum guarantee of revenue in order to add
viewer’s television UI and so they just see the content as another channel, which can help to create a market differentiator for the operator. The technology itself is also a differentiator for the telco service. Integrating OTT by working with a partner puts telcos in a much stronger position
their content. There is an alternative. A successful strategy is
metadata effectively on the channel list and
by providing enhanced features, for example is spending too much time looking for
integrating OTT services that go beyond just
to approach these content owners on behalf of
programming to watch. While this is hardly a new
having these delivered through an app.
the telcos, because although they will receive
issue, the is increasingly a problem with those
less revenue upfront, they will get to keep the
services that require the viewer to go into each
Partnerships improve marketing
majority of the revenue generated and be able
player individually.
An often overlooked element of these
to push content on the platform. The main expenditure for telcos that deal
To combat such usability issues, one effective
partnerships is content marketing. One of the
method is to install tools that recommend and
main reasons to integrate OTT services is to
directly with OTT providers is the integration
push programmes to the viewer straight out
be able to offer a variety of programmes that
of services to the platform. Working with an
of the platform and combine these functions
appeal to the widest range of consumers. By
established partner that has already developed
with content search. The industry is constantly
establishing partnerships with new content
the solution to host, package and deliver a
evolving and companies are
providers, telcos are able to market their services
service cuts out this cost.
finding new ways to improve the viewing
through the provider’s shows.
As well as being expensive, establishing partnerships directly between content owners and telcos can be time consuming and, with
experience, and telcos need to adapt and keep up as a result. The best way to ensure a single consistent
The boom in OTT makes keeping up with the pace of the industry a daunting prospect. With the rise in the number of OTT service providers,
the number of new content services coming
viewing experience that combines different OTT
it is understandable that so many telcos fear
on-stream, can prove a huge drain on resources.
programming is through a partnership. This can
growing competitive pressures, but choosing a
Partnering with a service provider can give telcos
include surfacing live programmes delivered
partner wisely can bring a number of benefits,
the access to the wide range of channels that
via OTT to the main TV service. By working with
and allow a company to survive and thrive in a
they need to supplement traditional linear feeds.
a partner to help surface content and use
crowded markeplace. n
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29
TVBEverywhere
The gold rush: Explaining the value in dynamic ad insertion Dynamic ad insertion has transformed the way broadcasters monetise OTT content, especially where live simulcast is concerned. Paul Davies, manager of communications, marketing and commercial at Yospace, looks at the revenues being generated and what they mean for the future of broadcasting
W
hat exactly is dynamic ad insertion
viewer. The nature of OTT streaming, where
(DAI)? A couple of years ago, this was
viewers tend to have a screen each, means that
a question I was asked an awful lot at
targeting can be personalised, adding significant
our stand at IBC. My reply tended to generate
value. This is increased further with a call-to-
tend to be publicly available, but there have
one of two responses: glazed-over looks of
action that encourages interactivity, such as a
been a number of indicators published over the
detachment, followed by a handshake and
button on the screen that opens up a browser
last few years that will give you a general idea.
swift exit; or wide-eyed enthusiasm as the dollar
window associated with the ad being viewed.
In one article in Campaign, the CPM for major
signs flashed up, but without much in the way of
I’m assuming three elements are in place:
linear television was quoted at around £5-6,
detailed follow up after that. Lately, though, the ‘what’ has been replaced by ‘how’. It’s a sign of how far broadcasters have come in the OTT world that most people I meet now are well aware of what DAI means. The next question, inevitably, contains the phrase
compared to around £25-30 for OTT; the increase
‘The nature of OTT streaming means that targeting can be personalised, adding significant value’
‘business case.’ The response to which is easy, as
From the broadcaster’s perspective, the business logic is a no-brainer. The average viewing session for a live stream is around 30 minutes, more in the case of a live sports event. That equates to around a million new ad spots
we shall see. The OTT market is now showing signs of
is not just substantial: it’s huge.
being opened up per 100,000 viewers. That’s excellent user experience; full personalisation;
an incredibly impressive return, especially
maturity, and many broadcasters are on their
interactivity. The resulting experience is one that
considering it represents a brand new revenue
second or third generation of TV everywhere
the user is very comfortable with because it
stream. When scaled to major audiences that
services. Those who have relaunched in the last
reflects one they are already used to; that
are counted in millions, the revenue potential
12 months or so have almost certainly promoted
of traditional linear TV viewing. They simply
is enormous.
live simulcast to a prominent position. The
press play and then sit back and enjoy being
reasons are, for the most part, two-fold: they’ve
fed premium content. Every now and then
broadcasters are keen to promote live channels
uncovered a huge appetite for live streaming;
there’s an ad break, in the same way there has
in their TV everywhere services. It is also an area
they’ve deployed DAI and realised its value.
always been with linear, and that ad break is
that is so far untouched by the giants of the
now much more relevant and, in turn, valuable,
SVoD world, though probably not for long. It is
than it was before.
crucial for broadcasters to stake their claim in the
I’ll come on to the value of DAI for live streaming in a moment, but first let me explain exactly what I mean by that phrase. I’m talking
We consistently see customer view-through
It’s easy to understand why so many
simulcast space now. They need to protect their
about a user experience that is equal to, or
rates topping 98 per cent for personalised ad
long term ad revenues as audiences continue
greater than, that of traditional linear television.
breaks in simulcast. That figure is higher than
to migrate online. There is also an opportunity to
The viewer reaches an ad break, the viewer
commonly seen in traditional linear television,
gain a foothold in a lucrative new market in a
sees an ad break, the viewer is returned to the
and is the biggest reason why an ad spot
way they were unable to do with VoD.
programme. There’s no disruption in that process
created by DAI in live OTT streams, with full
that the user can see, such as buffering, stream
personalisation enabled, is worth significantly
action, in which online streaming records are
stalling or added latency. I’m also talking about
more than its equivalent on linear. Just how much
broken again and again, it also promises a
ads tailored specifically to the interests of the
value is added is hard to say. CPM rates don’t
record-breaking gold medal for broadcasters. n
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TVBEverywhere
Are pay-TV providers an endangered species? By Simon Trudelle, senior product marketing director, NAGRA
A
s more TV sets become internet-enabled,
oriented. The internet video field moves fast,
online content is moving from computer
but it takes a long time to become an expert at
and mobile to the TV screens of our
creating and developing the TV experience. This
living rooms. Media consumption is increasingly
means not only providing the navigation tools
personal, and ‘watching TV’ is now less about the
but also developing the overall user experience.
Cup, Super Bowl and Olympics have become
TV set and more about engaging with content
By expanding into online subscription services
even more valuable. This is just one of many
across multiple screens. We are now watching
and investing into smart user experience
examples where traditional pay-TV providers
more catch-up and SVoD content than ever, so
applications, pay-TV operators are arguably
have the opportunity to use their highly valuable
how is this all going to affect broadcast TV? Are
better placed than pure-play players to benefit
live content to stay relevant with advertisers and
pay-TV providers an endangered species, or will
from the consumer demand for quality content.
rights owners.
they be able to thrive in this digital era?
The mad men of digital
A future-ready model
industry has undergone a seismic shift. According
Despite the rise of digital, we should not forget
The challenge for pay-TV providers is how to
to a recent Thinkbox report on the UK market,
that traditional TV still brings in the largest
respond with the right platform and business
broadcast TV viewing has stayed relatively stable
advertising share at a projected 38.7 per cent
model. A recent study found that 22 per cent
over the past decade, accounting for 76 per
of advertising spend worldwide, according to
of consumers who have never had a pay-TV
cent of all video consumed. Yet online video
McKinsey & Company. But as the digital share of
subscription are already paying for OTT content
has grown steadily during that period and SVoD
the advertising wallet expands, the new media
services, indicating a willingness to pay for
services now account for four per cent of total
landscape requires pay-TV providers to adopt
subscription television provided they are offered
video (including TV and online video) consumed
the right strategy. Data showing who’s watching
a package that’s right for them. We are also
in 2015, up from 2.3 per cent in 2014.
what will also play a big role in the future.
seeing a growing move towards self-service
Offering advertisers the opportunity to target
bundling. Some leading pay-TV providers have
growing number of connected consumers.
specific audiences is becoming increasingly
responded by introducing innovative ‘skinny’
Young people (aged 16-24 years), are now
important for broadcasters, and those that can
bundles that offer the consumer more flexibility.
spending 58 per cent of their time watching
supply the most precise data will put themselves
At the same time, providers need to incorporate
television. Five to 16 year olds, on average, now
in the best position to offer advertisers the most
the most attractive aspects of OTT services, such
spend three hours a day online compared with
cost-efficient path to the consumer.
as shorter commitment periods, lower entry
Since the launch of OTT streaming, the pay-TV
This rapid shift is being driven in part by the
2.1 hours watching TV, according to Childwise.
However, the ad industry isn’t rushing to entirely
costs and simpler installation requirements. By
replicate the digital model. Rich Lehrfeld, SVP
extending their reach while offering subscribers
Will we still pay for TV?
of global brand marketing at American Express,
more options, providers can turn challenges,
But for all the anticipation of a digital future,
recently highlighted the continued importance
such as the rising popularity of streaming,
traditional TV is not in decline, and pay-TV
of TV advertising, saying: “We need to run two
into opportunities.
providers remain a significant part of the
weeks of digital [advertising] to get the reach of
television landscape. Most OTT providers lack
one day of broadcast.”
substantial TV programming experience.
In an environment where consumers are no
It’s no longer a debate between TV and digital. However disruptive OTT may be, large pay-TV providers continue to hold a
Although some now produce content, the
longer all watching the same programmes at the
major advantage through their established
majority of streaming services remain device-
same time, large-scale live events like the World
infrastructures and programming expertise. n
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31
TVBEverywhere
The rise of the hybrid Matthew Huntington, chief technology officer, Freesat, looks at how traditional TV operators and platforms can embrace disruptive new services
I
It’s an exciting time to be in the TV industry.
programmes that are exclusive to those players.
While viewing of linear TV still accounts for the
Netflix, for example, is currently the only way
vast majority of consumption in the UK, OTT
to watch a host of shows including Orange is
services are beginning to have an impact. One
the New Black. By combining OTT players with
approach to embrace such services is to partner
traditional linear TV, operators can provide
with them, giving viewers access to a range of
consumers with the choice as well as the specific
OTT players alongside linear TV.
programmes they are looking for.
Keep it on the STB
to traditional operators and OTT providers, and
Such partnerships can be mutually beneficial players. Ultimately, a seamless experience
Research by IHS has shown that Apple TV is
will require even tighter integration between
now the third largest set-top box manufacturer
services, such as federated logins enabling
in the world, an incredible feat given its status as a strictly OTT platform. This demonstrates the demand for OTT players, and that consumers
‘Key to the success of a hybrid service is a seamless experience for viewers’
viewers to share credentials and preferences across players and services.
will turn to dedicated OTT devices to access
True alternative to pay-TV
them if necessary. There is an opportunity for
Research has shown that while free-to-air
traditional TV operators to meet this demand by
television platform viewers have rejected pay-TV
incorporating these OTT players directly within
allows providers to market themselves to a wider
subscriptions, they are interested in topping up
their set-top boxes. This approach reduces the
audience, while the TV operator can offer a
their viewing choices with both subscription and
risk of viewers switching viewing to a dedicated
wider choice to the customer, all in one place.
transactional OTT services.
Make the experience seamless
players, traditional TV operators need to look at
OTT device and not returning to linear TV.
Give the viewer choice
Instead of focusing on competing against OTT Key to the success of such a hybrid service is
how they can integrate them into their existing
Viewers are turning to OTT players to gain
a seamless experience, making it easy for the
platforms to give viewers the experience and
greater control over their viewing and to watch
viewer to move between linear TV and OTT
choice they’re looking for. n
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Feature
A century of history on demand: British Pathé goes OTT I
Holly Ashford talks to British Pathé managing director Roger Felber, and OwnZones CEO Dan Gorman, about a new VoD service from one of the oldest content providers
British Pathé has a presence on Amazon Prime in north America
and “turned it into a business.” Despite Felber lifting British Pathé from relative obscurity, its previous owners had made one significant move: obtaining National Lottery funding to digitise the archive, which paved the way for British Pathé TV. Before embarking on this project though,
t dominated the world in newsreel, its visual
as opening a newsreel production office on
there was money to be made elsewhere. “Every
archives chart more than a century of history,
Wardour street in London’s Soho.
day dozens of licenses [for British Pathé content]
and it established a benchmark for cinematic
will be issued electronically”, says Felber. “Most
journalism. Now, British Pathé is returning to
Building a business
of our customers are regular customers. They
screens for the first time in over 40 years, with the
Fast-forward one hundred years and enter Felber,
have access to our content, they can download
launch of subscription video on-demand service,
who bought the company after “it had passed
the content, and they are invoiced digitally
British Pathé TV. Available for Chromecast users
from pillar to post”, he explains, and “no one
or pay the subscription.” Customers include
and Amazon Prime customers, and through iOS
knew what to do with it.” Felber wasn’t in the
broadcasters, producers, and museums, which
and Android apps, the offering will provide a rich
“we do a lot of business with.” On the morning I
library of content for a global audience.
met Felber, a museum in Poland had just spent
Roger Felber bought British Pathé with his
£15,000 on British Pathé footage.
business partner in 2008 from its then owner, the
It is expensive to license footage, Felber
Daily Mail and General Trust. “It took a lot of
admits, so in his early days as MD, he started
revitalisation,” says Felber, to turn it back into a
arranging joint deals and co-productions with
“highly mechanised business”. British Pathé’s last
other companies; “I decided there were some
golden era ended in the mid-1970s, when “pretty
programmes that would never be made if
well everyone had a television, and they didn’t
we charged our normal prices.” Footage was
want to or need to see newsreel in the cinema.”
provided either at a low price point, or for
The company relied on the big screen in the
nothing. It would be shown in TV in one country,
early years for its success, screening footage to
but rights for the rest of the world would be
audiences across the UK. Going back further
retained by British Pathé, or else TV rights would
though, British Pathé’s roots are actually across
be granted for a certain time period, before
the channel, hence its slightly oxymoronic name. The three Pathé brothers founded Société Pathé Frères in Paris in 1896. One stayed in France, while the other two left for New York and London, and soon established “a world network
reverting to the parent company. These deals
“I heard it was for sale and thought ‘this is an incredible archive!’ And bought it” Roger Felber, British Pathé
have helped build relationships in the industry and allowed viewers across the globe to witness fascinating film of events and eras which have shaped our lives today.
Revolution in Colour is an example of this;
of newsreel” says Felber. Despite cinemas not
a feature documentary film produced in
being around in the early days, the brothers
association with Irish indie Zampano Productions,
began filming, amassing hours of footage and capturing “everything they could plan for”. This
broadcast industry, having worked as chairman
which will be part of the British Pathé TV library.
included film of Queen Victoria at a garden
of a manufacturing and distributing company.
Ninety-five per cent of the footage is from the
party, her Diamond Jubilee, and her funeral.
However, he talks animatedly about the
company’s archive and “would never have seen
In 1908 the newsreel was conceived, and two
opportunity; “I heard it was for sale and thought
the light of day”, according to Felber, if it wasn’t
years later the company launched an American
‘this is an incredible archive!’ And bought it.”
for the joint venture. The footage tells the story of
newsreel arm to produce Pathé News, as well
Felber took the company “out of cold storage”
the Easter Uprising in Dublin, Ireland, in April 1916,
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33
Feature adding nothing and changing nothing” in terms of design. Both Felber and Goman are confident that British Pathé TV will grow “in scope and size”, says Felber, with Goman calling the project “an ongoing enhancement and improvement process.” Enhancements and improvements will be made based on audience behaviour data, with OwnZones providing analytics services. One thing that won’t be changing any time soon is the subscription fee: “if we’re successful at this level, there’ll be no reason to change”, says Felber. “I think I’d like to keep it sweet, simple and good value.” This is a strong, honest mantra, and one that has been well received by audiences. In pre-launch tests, Goman explains, and has been restored in full colour which offers
content under a deal with Amazon Video add-
“the feedback has been very positive in terms of
an engaging and surreal viewing experience. It
on subscription. OwnZones’ “massive software
the overall value: the volume of content versus
is ‘forgotten’ footage like this which left Felber
platform” has been developed over the course
the cost.” Goman describes this winning matrix as
questioning “what are we going to do with these
of six years, and over the last year or so, “we’ve
“a no-brainer”; having exclusive content at great
things?” and concluding “why don’t we start
seen tremendous improvements in integrations
value equals success in the OTT world.
our own television channel”, with collaborative
with other platforms to the point where we now
works, British Pathé material and content which
have a media network that stretches globally”,
An education in philanthropy
otherwise would sit “gathering dust”.
says Goman.
The availability of such a fascinating range of
As a result of OwnZones’ experience, the
content at a low cost will also, Felber believes, be
Sweet, simple and good value
main challenge was not technical, but “the look
attractive to students. Not only is the managing
And so, more than a century after the Pathé
and feel on the front-end” explains Goman.
director launching an OTT service to the ordinary
brothers began their visual documentation,
“British Pathé has a very rich history and the look
content consumer, he also harbours a much
British Pathé TV was born. The online on-demand
and feel has to convey what the organisation
grander ambition.
channel will feature the company’s own
is about.” Felber also admits to taking time
Felber would ultimately like to make British
historical archive, as well as documentaries, film
Pathé content available to “all film students
and custom made productions, divided into
throughout the world, who are somehow or
four strands: royalty, British Pathé history, cinema
other affiliated to a school or a college or an
history, classic movies, and railway history, and
organisation”, allowing them not only to see
for £5 a month “subscribers will have access to
“the great film directors, cinematographers,
the whole lot”, says Felber. The project has been
films and actors” but also to access “some real
realised with the help of US-based OwnZones,
material to work with on the editing front”. He
a company which aggregates and distributes
sees this approach as “combining business with
bundled subscription-based digital content.
a little bit of philanthropy”, stating grandly that
The two companies were introduced about
the “three and a half thousand hours of footage”
eight months ago, OwnZones CEO Dan Goman
British Pathé TV can offer “should cost [students]
tells me. At this stage, Felber says, the team
£50,000”. Yet his aspiration goes further: “we’ll
at British Pathé “thought that we had the
probably run four competitions a year, and you
foundations of content in order to create a
can submit your films and the winners’ films will
channel, and the people to work with and license footage to, and we knew how to get the content that we wanted.” But, he continues, “we did not have the know-how, were not a technical company and we never would have been able to do it alone.” Enter Goman et al
“British Pathé has a very rich history and the look and feel has to convey what the organisation is about” Dan Goman, OwnZones
at OwnZones. “Originally we were thinking
go onto our website and will stay there forever.” Quite a coup for a film student. Felber continues to describe further plans for British Pathé TV – at this stage, weeks before launch – including going to “Peru, Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador” to market the service, and attracting a portion of the 52 million
of placing the content on OwnZones.com”,
Amazon Prime members in north America
explains Goman. Instead the company has
to perfect this: the project could have been
to subscribe. British Pathé has had over one
utilised OwnZones’ services, including design,
completed in March, but “we kept on wanting
hundred years to evolve from film gathering
content ingestion, data migration and tagging,
to change this, or we thought, ‘hey, lets add
pioneer to digital content outlet, and with
subscription service, and payment gateway, on
that’, or ‘what a shame not to put this in’, and
Felber’s ideas and hopes for British Pathé TV and
a bespoke site and native iOS and Android app.
so forth.” When we spoke in May though, Felber
its “ongoing evolution”, I expect it will be around
The company also programmed British Pathé
assured me he was “pretty resolute that we’re
for some time yet. n
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34 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Post Production
Surreal VFX makes an impact in two very different docs Michael Burns reports on the work of the VFX teams behind two recent feature-length documentaries
The project included a lot of footage shot on
surreal or fantastic elements on show, such as
a handheld iPhone, so the team had some
melting clocks, morphing shadows or drawings
technical challenges with low quality footage
that come alive. Sophie Robinson described
when delivering highly creative treatments.
the visuals as lifting the film to ‘a whole new
However, supervised by Elena Estevez Santos,
level’, while Sodderland called the film ‘a
igh-end drama usually commands the
they were able to embrace such ‘reportage’
sensational visual story’.
biggest budgets for broadcast CG
footage and construct a stunning range of
animation and VFX in the UK, and tends
effects from surreal beauty to dark imaginings.
H
to be from a clutch of London-based studios. However, there’s long been a healthy trade in creating CG content for documentaries, where budgets tend to be lower, except on the odd occasion which usually involves dinosaurs. Two recent examples of the genre are particularly eye-catching for very different reasons, but neither of the studios responsible are part of the traditional Soho VFX community. Bournemouth-based Outpost VFX recently completed 110 VFX shots for My Beautiful Broken
Outpost VFX CEO Duncan McWilliam said the work proved that studios don’t have to be in Soho to be a VFX hit. The facility was growing
“We created all the VFX sequences and treatments of archive material, adding atmospherics to make the historical photography and etchings feel part of our world” Miles Donovan, Peepshow Collective
steadily, added McWilliam, recently drawing Geraint Hixson (ex-MPC and Rushes) down to Bournemouth as a new VFX producer. More nightmarish visions are on offer in National Geographic’s Map Of Hell, with vivid, heavily stylised sequences by Peepshow Collective. Based in London’s Shoreditch, Peepshow is a multidisciplinary studio comprising artists whose talents include illustration, animation, set design, textiles and art direction.
Brain. This Netflix documentary follows the story
The collective has form in the broadcast world,
of Lotje Sodderl, who survives a haemorrhagic
winning Outstanding Motion Design at the
stroke and finds herself starting again in an alien world, bereft of language and logic. The film by Sodderland and director Sophie
67th Primetime Emmy awards in 2015 for the The team developed two different looks, one for
documentary series How We Got To Now, co-
the POV after the stroke, which was colourful,
produced by PBS and Nutopia.
Robinson is executive produced by David
timeless and surreal, and another, nightmarish,
Lynch and contains footage captured by
ghostly and unsettling, for the POV after the
Trejo takes viewers on a journey into the afterlife
Sodderland in the weeks after she woke up
seizure. Both looks were applied across several
to map out where the idea of hell came from.
from an induced coma. The VFX by Outpost
shots to recreate Sodderland’s sight from her
The documentary travels through ‘3,000 years
are used to support the representation of
right eye. Every shot was individually crafted
of ideas’, moving from Ancient Greece through
Sodderland’s vision of the world.
to make the most of each scene, with a lot of
the birth of Christianity to medieval Europe
34 35 TVBE July16 VFX Post Production_final.indd 54
In the 90-minute documentary, actor Danny
16/06/2016 13:32
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July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
35
Post Production and modern America. Keen to do something
the sequence and created an animatic with a
said. “We also supplied a title sequence, caption
completely different to previous TV work
temporary voiceover. This animatic was handed
treatments and map sections which bookend
when interpreting the ideas, landscapes and
over to the editor, Leigh Brzeski, to drop into the
the different chapters of the special.
denizens of the underworld, the team, with Miles
cut. He and Julian would do some re-timing if
Donovan and Luke Best as art directors, turned
they wanted more or less time on a particular
to graphic novels, artist Jack Kirby and film poster
section. We then faithfully shot the animatic
compositions to create the heavily
and began the long process of styling and
Photoshop, After Effects and a bit of Cinema
stylised sequences.
compositing the elements together. Obviously
4D when it’s called for,” added Donovan. “We
there were work in progress and approval stages
filmed actors and dancers on green screen to be
that differs from our other more commercial work
along the way, but we were pretty much left
used as part of the collage, which then allowed
is in the ‘read time’ for the sequences you are
alone to complete the sequences. Then they
for more subtle movement from the actors. As we
presenting to the audience,” said Donovan.
were dropped into the edit during the online.
come from a design and illustration background,
Some shots might get cut by Julian and the
the compositions are very important.”
“The main aspect of broadcast documentaries
“You are not vying for their attention alongside
Everything was supplied as ProRes HD QuickTime movies in 16:9 aspect ratio. “We use a very simple combination of
other work,” he explained. “You have an
editor for the sake of screen time, but on the
audience who is engaged and prepared to
whole, the sequences appear in the show
art-directed by either Donovan or Luke Best,
watch and listen. This allows for sequences to
exactly as we planned and made them.”
who were also present when the work was being
evolve more slowly and for the hard work that we
Peepshow’s list of deliverables included
Accordingly almost every shot was styled and
composited in After Effects.
put into the sequences to be fully appreciated
‘visions of hell’ which illustrated the ideas and
by the audience.”
development of hell itself, and ‘narratives’ which
brief for which was to show fire without light −
told the story of the people and the time in which
were great fun because they relied heavily on
these versions of hell were being conceived.
getting a great performance from the dancers
“We created all the VFX sequences and
on the shoot,” Donovan said. “That element of
“We worked very closely with the writer/ director Julian Jones, as with all documentaries 1 feast 15/06/2016 theNewBay script isConnect a very HP.pdf moveable and is
14:59
“Sequences like the apocalypse of Peter − the
constantly in a state of flux,” said Donovan.
treatments of archive material, adding
chance was very different to more traditional
“Once we had a script that was as close to the
atmospherics to make the historical photography
animation, where everything is so heavily
final version as possible, we heavily storyboarded
and etchings feel part of our world,” Donovan
planned out.” n
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Sales Manager: Pete McCarthy pmccarthy@nbmedia.com +44 (0)207 354 6000
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15/04/2016 12:17
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36 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Audio
Broadcast audio: a half-year report T
As the broadcast audio community prepares for another busy summer of major sports and entertainment events, David Davies looks back on the first half of a year that has seen exciting activity around standards, networking solutions and more
dialogue), and the normalisation of content loudness and contouring of dynamic range. An announcement about the proposed standard was expected in advance of NAB 2016, but it might not surprise anyone familiar with the
he three-month period from June to August
conclusion and publication of all the various
world of standards that it actually took a little
is traditionally the one in which broadcast
parts of ATSC 2.0, the name given to a set of
longer than that. On 2 May, members of the
audio teams are put to their greatest tests
backwards-compatible tools and features that
ATSC’s TG3 Technology Group voted to elevate
of the year. An array of sports and entertainment
can be carried over the ATSC 1.0 RF layer and
both the AC-4 and MPEG-H AA audio systems
events, not least the coverage of global-appeal
MPEG-TS Transport Stream without negatively
to Candidate Standard status. Voting for the
music festivals such as Glastonbury, oblige audio
impacting fielded receivers. Simultaneously, the
A/322 Physical Layer Candidate Standard to
personnel to confront demanding deadlines and
organisation was continuing to advance the
be elevated to Proposed Standard was taking
guarantee absolute efficiency and effectiveness
‘next-generation’ broadcast standard ATSC 3.0,
place at the time of writing, with the next stage
of their operations.
for which many elements of the next ATSC 2.0
set to involve the full ATSC membership approval
With UEFA Euro 2016 just getting underway at the time of writing, and the Olympics scheduled to begin on 5 August, the summer of 2016 is destined to be an especially frenetic one. With more platforms and distribution outlets involved than ever before, audio workflows are likely to be under even greater scrutiny than normal. Ahead of future issues of TVBEurope, in which
of A/322 as a Final ATSC 3.0 standard. The A/321
‘While the development of new standards can be said to have encouraged the growth of AoIP per se, individual networked audio solutions have also continued to make significant progress’
the audio production at some of the these
System Discovering and Signaling standard, which is described as the ‘Bootstrap’ part of the Physical Layer, reached final approval back in March. Meanwhile, the AES announced a significant further development in its work around audio networking standards. This had previously entered a new phase in September 2013,
events will be examined in greater detail, it
with the publication of AES67, which enables
seemed like a timely moment to look back at
were perceived as a “solid foundation”. On the
interoperability between existing IP-based audio
some of the major developments to take place
audio side, attention was inevitably given to
networking systems. This was followed in January
during the first half of 2016, many of which
the question of which audio subsystem would
this year when the organisation published AES70,
revolve around the issue of IP-based production
be included in ATSC 3.0, the end-result being
which defines a scalable control-protocol
and distribution.
the world’s first digital broadcast standard to
architecture for professional media networks.
support high spatial resolution in sound source
Perceived in some quarters as a
Setting standards
localisation, as well as personalisation, (including
complementary standard to AES67, the new
It is intriguing to recall that it was only in
enhancements to the control of dialogue, use
standard makes it possible to control and monitor
January 2016 that the ATSC announced the
of alternate audio tracks and other-language
all parameters of a network device, such as the
36 37 TVBE July16 BroadcastAudio_final2.indd 54
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37
Audio creation and deletion of signal paths, access
on the broadcast market to date, also supports
Solutions) since its formation at the end of 2015
control, control of processing and firmware
AES67 and has made a number of major
does appear to have given the debate a greater
updates. With these two documents now in the
announcements during the first half of the year.
focus. Established to foster the adoption of
public domain, focus is expected to shift to the
These include the launch of Genelec’s 8430,
existing standards, and encourage the creation
creation of a discovery (or directory) standard.
Networking nirvana While the development of new standards can be said to have encouraged the growth of Audio over IP (AoIP) per se, individual networked audio solutions have also continued to make significant
of new ones, AIMS’ initial focus is on VSF TR-03 and
‘In the wake of a high-profile showcase at NAB 2016, new AIMS member announcements have continued to arrive on a frequent basis’
progress. As the world’s fastest growing AoIP
TR-04, SMPTE 2022-6 and AES67, the last-named standard described as being “written in stone in our roadmap” by AIMS chairman Michael Cronk in last month’s Audio feature. In the wake of a high-profile showcase at NAB 2016, new AIMS member announcements have continued to arrive on a frequent basis,
solution, Dante’s evolution has been particularly
with Broadcast Solutions, Euro Media Group and
pronounced. The late 2015 availability of the
billed as the world’s first IP studio monitor and
Mediaproxy all confirming their participation
Dante Via software product added further to
using Ravenna technology for audio transport,
during May.
Dante’s momentum, whilst in late May this year
and the introduction of a Ravenna/AES67
Dante developer Audinate announced that 300
interface from Calrec that can transport 256
IP-based production at major events than
manufacturers had now adopted Dante. It also
channels of audio on a single connection.
ever before, this newfound sense of cohesion
With this summer set to involve more remote,
confirmed that more than 750 Dante-enabled
to the IP debate is surely to be welcomed. But it
products had been made available worldwide,
Their AIMS are true
may not be until the summer of 2017 or 2018 that
an increase of 145 per cent on the total at the
The discussion around the implementation of IP
the work of the Alliance and other organisations
time of the ISE 2015 trade show.
technology in broadcast environments is some
in the field truly comes into fruition as IP-based
distance away from reaching a conclusion,
workflows start to become not just ‘a choice’, but
but the rapid rise of AIMS (Alliance for IP Media
rather, a daily default. n
Like Dante, ALC NetworX’s Ravenna, which has specifically placed its greatest emphasis
EDITORIAL PLANNER 2016 Issue
Exhibitions present at
August
2016 will see an even greater commitment from TVBEurope to cover more of the pressing areas of concern, challenge, and opportunity within our burgeoning marketplace. The biggest change for this year will be the introduction of new sections to enable us to provide greater coverage to specific business areas. Our Workflow section will now be divided into two new sections: Production, and Post Production. We will also be introducing a new Business section to follow the increasing acquisition and investment activity permeating the sector, and are also introducing a dedicated Audio section to bring regular insights and updates from an often overlooked strand of our industry. These new sections will be manned by a team of section editors.
Feature
Editorial Close date
Advertising close date
• IBC thought leadership insight and
12th July
5th July
product preview
September
• IBC
• IBC 2016 Show issue: thought leadership insight and product showcase
19th August
12th August
October
•TVBAwards
• Audio for broadcast • IBC Best of Show Winners • IP technology
23rd September
16th September
November
• Post-IBC acquisition focus • Remote production
21st October
13th October
December
• Media Asset Management • M&A business review
11th November
4th December
For all advertising and sponsorship opportunities, contact the sales team: Europe Peter McCarthy: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000 pmccarthy@nbmedia.com TVBE Editorial Planner 2016 half page.indd 1
36 37 TVBE July16 BroadcastAudio_final.indd 55
Richard Carr: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000 rcarr@nbmedia.com
Nicola Pett +44 (0) 20 7354 6000 npett@nbmedia.com
USA Mike Mitchell +1 631 673 0072 mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv 16/06/2016 12:26
17/06/2016 11:10
38 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Business
DTG remains at the Summit George Jarrett reports from the DTG’s annual conference, now in its tenth year, which is dedicated to driving the TV and digital media industry forward
TV. However, 23 per cent in the UK felt that the search function was too difficult to use. It would seem, then, that improved functionality is required.
H
“We saw that 67 per cent would be willing to
ad Alice Cooper sat through the DTG
France, Germany, Japan, China and India. First
upgrade their contract with the pay-TV provider
Summit on ‘re-engineering for tomorrow’s
up, only three per cent of the 4,000 respondents
if they could get better search functionality,”
TV consumer’, he would surely have
had cut the linear TV cord (US seven per cent
said Dawes. “We asked about newer forms of
spotted the potential for re-versioning his hit
and UK five per cent). “Little things are changing.
search like voice and conversation. Rovi takes
Elected with the new chorus line, “I wanna
In Q1 this year, Comcast reported its best
a step beyond the voice input and really allows
be connected”.
video quarter in nine years and Sky reported its
you to have that flow from one query to the next,
strongest consumer growth for ten years. Many
as you would in conversation. Forty three per
demystify and hone new enabling technologies
operators around the world are starting to see
cent said they would frequently use this type of
aimed at driving next generation consumer
that uptake in video subscribers again.”
service; over 50 per cent said they would pay
It may not be the only trade body working to
media habits, but the DTG is one of the best, in
This might be down to traditional providers
extra to have access to this functionality.” Over
no small part down to its ability to bring so many
deploying the right countering strategies to new
20 per cent of smartphone users have used voice
industry strands together.
entrants. His next stats identified that 68 per cent
search within the last month, and 50 per cent of
of US broadband customers now subscribe to
all searches will be voice-based by 2020.
Opening the session with a look at the ‘tipping points’ of TV, DTG CEO Richard Lindsay-Davies
an online streaming service, up 21 per cent in a
said, “It is not a big leap to imagine services
year. In the UK, SVoD penetration jumped 70 per
entertainment? Looking at ‘work, sleep, stream’
becoming must have or only have. The BBC
cent between Q1 14 and Q4 15.
Dawes said, “The consumer relationship with
has led the way on this by moving BBC Three to on-demand.
On the subject of cord cutting, he said, “When
How much time do people spend consuming
entertainment is almost as time consuming as
we dug deeper, there is a consistent theme:
working and sleeping. On average, people
“The more on-demand we give them, the
people are frustrated because they cannot
spend about four hours a day watching video
more demanding consumers are getting,” he
get the content they want. The search is on.
content (in the US seven hours, and in the UK
added. “We have got to find a way to blend the
People spend 19 minutes a day looking for
five). When we talked about how entertainment
success of today into tomorrow. We have got to
something to watch.” There is high search tool
choices affect their lives, 43 per cent said it has a
find a way to blend the scale, the certainty, the
awareness (79 per cent in the UK) and 18 per
major effect on their overall mood.”
order, the well understood requirements, and the
cent say they search every time they watch
Stat attack: Some 50 per cent of consumers
democracy we have seen in DTV into this highly
plan their day around favourite content and 19
innovative world. If we don’t do that with critical
per cent make that content part of their day
mass and as an entire industry, we risk losing all the benefits of the market we have today. We now have the likes of Vodafone and Google as DTG members and we know that, increasingly, it
“We need to focus on making our content discoverable in a simple, seamless fashion” Charles Dawes, Rovi
is even more important for the widening group of players to come together.” To focus on the business aspects of an event that mixed technology developments and barriers with future content aspirations, two of the sessions were chosen for the implications of research findings, and for the power of psychological principles when creating content for platforms rather than channels.
Conversation the key to seamless discovery Charles Dawes, senior director of international marketing with Rovi, looked at consumer behaviour as depicted by a research programme his company conducted across seven of the markets it operates in: the UK, US,
38 39 41TVBE July16 DTG Business_final.indd 38
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39
Business every single day. About 44 per cent admit to
‘what’ factor of the content come the why and
staying up too late. Some 30 per cent prefer
how. “This is where the psychology comes in. You
to watch something friends or family have
still have to think about the content you create,
recommended, whilst 70 per cent prefer other
but not just the channel. Which platform are you
sources. The social media buzz factor persuaded
going to use? If you are creating social content,
71 per cent to say it had at least some influence
how are you going to distribute that across new
on what they watched.
online platforms? You then have to give people
Where do people consume their content?
an incentive for why they should watch your
“Around 80 per cent of respondents on all
content and understand how they are going to
markets said they frequently stream content at
watch it, so you can optimise for that behaviour,”
home. About 60 per cent say they frequently
said Nahai.
stream their content on the go, and 28 per cent
The very different ways that we behave
stream content at work,” said Dawes.
online to specific content introduces underlying
In summary, he stated, “We need to focus
psychological reasoning. She looked at the
on making content discoverable in a simple
phenomenon of quirky viral stuff that has
seamless fashion by using voice or conversation,
little reason behind it, but sometimes records
or recommendation.”
millions of hits. “How does this work? We don’t necessarily know, but for some reason it reaches
It is not that TV is dead
critical mass and then propagates,” said Nahai.
Web psychologist Nathalie Nahai focused on
“The other reason we like to watch and consume
what it is that consumers want from media creators. “The way that we are consuming video, TV and media is dramatically changing, and at a very fast pace. The main reason for this is it has become increasingly consumer controlled,”
“The more on-demand we give them, the more demanding consumers are getting” Richard Lindsay-Davies, DTG
she said. “As distributors and broadcasters, you
content is to have our patterns disrupted. This is basically the idea that when you have an expectation of the way that the story is going, if there is a twist you are much more likely to find it engaging and exciting. There is going to be more of an emotional response.”
now gain a huge amount of feedback that you
Pattern disruption worked effectively for an
weren’t able to get before, but it is not so good
advert that had 13 million hits, despite the fact
when it comes to the way that people consume
Periscope and Meercat – and the point is that
that consumers hate ads. Consuming so much
your content,” she added. “For instance, fast
these are now all TV platforms,” said Nahai.
content online is all about a change in your
forwarding through commercials. Ad blocking
“Young viewers are not discriminating between
emotional state – much the same as reading a
software is costing the advertising industry an
one screen and what they see on the next.”
novel or chatting around a campfire. This leads
extraordinary amount of money.” The binge watching trend and shared social
Moving away from specific platforms, she
to a sense of group participation. “One of the
looked at one of the truisms. “The kind of content
things I see happening a lot, in terms of trends,
experiences are two elements behind consumers
that we create might well have changed in the
is this idea of people having their attention
becoming increasingly device agnostic.
way that we present it, but it is still all about the
fragmented, but there is still a deep-seated
way we tell the story. We are still telling them,
desire to feel connected, to have a sense of
becoming much more fluid about how and
just in different ways in terms of delivery and
common cultural discourse,” said Nahai. The
where we consume content, and on which
functionality,” she said. We are moving from an
desire to talk about events in a timely fashion
devices. There are various different platforms
old model with channel schedules and pre- and
is exemplified by the site of Tom Hiddleston’s
that we use now – Premiere, Instagram, Vine,
post watershed to extra variables. Beyond the
naked bum in a scene from The Night Manager.
“It is not that TV is dead, it’s just that we are
38 39 41TVBE July16 DTG Business_final.indd 39
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July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
41
Business “When it happened there was a massive storm
making,” said Nahai. “Take a number and/or
to Facebook. “These are dramatically different
online. TV is very alive, if you can make it into
a trigger word. You then take an adjective, a
viewing platforms when it comes to video. We
a cultural social experience,” she said. Next
key word and a promise and you can create a
tend to use Facebook when we are in transit,
came the factor of emotional contagion, the
killer headline. For example, how to fry an egg:
and people are now accessing it primarily
idea in psychology that we literally transmit or
using the formula you get ’13 unbelievable ways
through their smartphones and not quite as
infect other people with our emotional state. If
you can fry a small egg with socks’. Even if you
much via desktops,” she said.
three people sit quietly facing each other in a
hate eggs your brain goes off on tangents and
room, within two minutes the one who is the most
that is the power of curiosity and psychological
Facebook, you really have to think about mobile
emotionally expressive will have transferred his/
triggers,” she added.
video, and formatting for that. YouTube is the
her mood to the other two.
“If you are thinking of designing video for
The other thing that producers have to
biggest platform for video in the world, but when
consider when using the big platforms is the
it comes to Facebook it is much more visual, and
here, so when you make that explicit through
exploitation of thumbnails. “These will act as
the reason for this is it has the auto play function
video or TV content you get a good emotional
trailers, because consumers are not necessarily
which grabs your peripheral vision,” she added.
impact. The kind of stuff you watch, talk about
going to see the content in motion,” said Nahai.
“You are going to focus on the content.”
and share reflects not only who you are, but also
A great example of this done really well is
who your friends are,” said Nahai. “Our desire
Jamie Oliver’s food videos, for which he creates
about is the dreaded skip ad button. “There is
and drive to consume and comment on cultural
bespoke thumbnails. The click and watch rate
your advert and it is gone. That’s not much time
and TV based media have not really changed,
with thumbnails has jumped up by 35 per cent.
to create something that’s going to hook people
but the way we expect this to be delivered has
“You have to think of them as film posters, not just
in. Content that is effective is often something
seen fundamental change.
screenshots,” said Nahai. Having talked about
that serves as a starting point for conversation
YouTube (and the massive amount of audio
and debate,” said Nahai. “In terms of the
streaming it is renowned for), Nahai returned
younger viewers (25-35), 81 per cent of this group
“There is something really innate that happens
“People are also expecting equal access, and if you don’t give it to them, they are going to get really frustrated,” she added. “There is also the question of a whole bunch of antiquated copyright rules; how can you create a system in which you can allow people to amplify content to the extent that they feel they can share without infringing on copyright? It is a conversation that needs to be had.”
Creating a killer headline
The other thing the industry has to think hard
are expecting companies to make a public
“It is not that TV is dead, it’s just that we are becoming much more fluid about how and where we consume content, and on which devices” Nathalie Nahai
commitment to good corporate citizenship, and it does not matter what industry you are in. “If you want to create good content and you want people to engage with your brand, you have to figure out what you stand for and make sure that comes across,” she concluded. n
Producers can also enable people to amplify their content. They should use the breadcrumb approach. How do we achieve creative success in the post-traditional TV world? How do we use social video precisely to amplify TV? “There are several things you can do. First is to work out where and when your target market is active. That does not mean time, it also means which culture, which city. Then you chose the platforms to focus on,” explained Nahai. “For instance, Twitter is very much a less feely platform. If you want people to discuss certain issues that are more newsworthy, that’s where you will see that gravitate to most. Facebook is now moving towards a publishing model, and you are going to find people consuming much more video there. You have to create content for that platform; you can’t just copy and paste what you created for TV and expect it to work elsewhere.” It is impossible to ignore YouTube, the highest ranking for both musical content and video content. “When you are creating content for these social channels, you need to get in on the game, so (I created) a quick formula so that you can apply some of the psychological principles to the titles of the content you are
38 39 41TVBE July16 DTG Business_final.indd 41
17/06/2016 16:49
42 TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Data Centre
A smarter strategy for multi-DRM deployment by Steve Christian, senior vice president of marketing, Verimatrix
A
s the prevalence of online video
significant strain on player and server teams.
reinventing the wheel is a risky business strategy
Delivering a service consistently, reliably and
that can put a strain on a VSO’s bottom line.
securely to this vast plethora of endpoints is a
According to the piece, multi-DRM vendors
formidable undertaking, but one that must
are much better equipped to handle the
be achieved if a service is to break out of the
underlying fragmentation of various devices,
service subscribers continues to grow at a strong double-digit pace, video
service operators (VSOs) around the world are collectively shifting toward delivering more content at higher resolutions online. In order to succeed with online services, VSOs must move away from simpler streaming encryption
core DRM systems and compression and
‘There is a limited understanding of the true levels of cost and complexity associated with a do-it-yourself approach to DRM’
streaming standards, as compared to all but the largest and most technologically savvy operators. By tapping into this expertise, VSOs gain agility, reduce costs, strengthen security, and tighten protection of revenue, all while at the same time broadening the reach of
solutions and adopt fully-fledged digital rights
their services and improving the overall
management (DRM) protection, and their
customer experience.
profitability and growth are heavily dependent
noise to achieve significant growth and
on getting their monetisation components right.
retention of subscribers.
an in-house implementation can become
New research from Frost & Sullivan reveals that
What is technologically revolutionary with
VSO engineering teams building secure players
simply evolutionary with a reliable partner.
the perceived high cost of a commercial DRM
in-house often under-appreciate the magnitude
The revolution can then move to customer
system and perceived low complexity of building
of this fragmentation challenge when estimating
attraction and revenue growth, allowing VSOs to
DRM in-house are compelling well over half of
the total cost of ownership of their DRM solutions.
successfully ride the OTT opportunity wave. n
VSOs today to attempt to build their own security
Frost & Sullivan research finds that the average
platforms. However, while this may seem like a
cost of porting a secure player to a new platform
good short-term tactic to quickly roll out a new
is in the range of $100,000 to $250,000. Services
service through an app or a web browser, it is
must support a minimum of ten to 12 devices
rarely an effective long-term strategy.
to be considered viable and ideally should be
Media streaming devices 2% Video games systems 2% IP STBs 3% Blu-ray players 4%
supported via browsers or apps on more than 40
The unanticipated cost of ownership
devices (with that number growing every year)
At present, there is a limited understanding of
must be chosen optimally for each device,
the true levels of cost and complexity associated
creating another layer of management
with a do-it-yourself approach to DRM, but
overhead and complexity.
globally, VSOs are finding that the modern
Accordingly, the R&D investment
OTT ecosystem is a treacherous landscape
required simply for upfront
and is best navigated in partnership with an
development itself can quickly
experienced multi-DRM vendor.
run into the millions of dollars.
in order to be competitive. DRM core logics
Other smart phones 5% IDTVs 8%
Tablets 8%
A major issue associated with building a
fund dedicated product management,
Navigating the complexities of DRM development
development and testing teams with
In a new paper on the total cost
competency in security. As a result, they are
of ownership of DRM solutions,
committing themselves to a significant ongoing
Frost & Sullivan suggests that
R&D investment in maintaining and expanding
undertaking in-house development
the secure playback and monetisation platform.
of a full-fledged DRM platform is
security infrastructure in-house is that VSOs are faced with having to create and permanently
This complexity is further amplified by constant
Android smart phones 45%
comparable to instituting a new product
disruptions in technology. 2016 will see the
line that is tangential to the VSO’s intended
shipment of nearly 2.5 billion connected devices
product roadmap and outside of its core
across nine device types, and keeping track of
competency. The paper warns that spending
new devices, platforms and technologies places
scarce resources in an attempt to experiment in
42 TVBE June16 Data Centre_final2.indd 46
PCs 12% iOS smart phones 11%
Unit shipments of CE device by type, global 2015
16/06/2016 13:47
r a e y t x e n in ga a u o See y in Amsterdam. new tvbe template remade.indd 1 ISE2017_SeeYou_220x290_.indd 1
A joint venture partnership of
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www.tvbeurope.com
TVBEurope Supplements
July 2016
From assets to insights
Media operations today more than assets more than systems more than people
In association with
ii TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Supplement
In association with
Delivering real operational benefits By Michael Harrit marketing director, media solutions Sony Professional Solutions Europe
W
ith the growing need for every
MAM has been a critical factor in bringing us
Cloud and datacentre technologies are
operation in our industry to deliver
on this journey, and while MAM technology
enabling the business to take back control, by
more content, to more places, more of
remains important, and will be ubiquitous, we
allowing us to focus more on the end users in
the time, the equal need for managers to ensure
need to go beyond it. MAM is about visibility
both operations and business management.
their operation works as efficiently as possible
and movement of content – MOM (Media
Going forward, business agility and flexibility
becomes priority. But to truly meet this demand,
Operations Management) is about tracking,
will be even more important, enhanced by
we must acknowledge that the industry is
managing and optimising processes related to
adopting the technical flexibility brought by IT.
evolving still – and with this, highlight the benefits
content to deliver business benefits.
of focusing more on managing our entire media operation and not just our media assets.
Sony takes a holistic view of this overall
It’s already a cliché to talk about the impact of the disruptive nature of OTT, especially with the
process from the creation of the image to the
likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime on consumer,
workflows for managing, delivering and storing
broadcaster and content creators’ behaviour.
in the last ten years of digital disruption in
it. With this in mind, the ‘Media Backbone’
However, it is vital for survival, let alone success,
broadcasting, it is that we need clarity in our
concept has been updated to enable greater
in a more competitive and diverse media market
communications. That’s why much of our focus
control and management in the rapidly
that agile and more elastic operational models
in areas like IP is in standards because we have
changing real world of modern broadcasting:
are adopted. Ultimately, the only means of
If there is one thing that has been evident
to have a common understanding, and a common way of interacting. File-based workflows, however, are now
Media Backbone Conductor focuses on MOM
lies in how you adaptably manage your entire
processing, Media Backbone Navigator provides
media operation. n
pervasive but in many respects we have not
dynamic asset management
moved much beyond deploying digital versions
capable of scaling from
of analogue processes. And this is where we
single users to enterprises, and
need to go further.
Media Backbone Hive is our
We can now go beyond simply storing and
delivering real operational benefits from these
for programme traffic, versioning and content
next generation production
managing our assets to really making our assets
platform, the first in the market
work for us – that is, deliver real operational
to utilise internet technologies to offer dynamic scaling that can flex with business needs.
‘Sony takes a holistic view of this overall process from the creation of the image to the workflows for managing, delivering and storing it’
The common element to all three is control, but control based around business and operational needs not technical imperatives. The shift to IT has brought many benefits in terms of lower cost, increased competition and far greater use of more flexible defined
benefits through automating processes, tracking
approaches to infrastructure.
assets and workflows, and most importantly
But at the same time, this
finally gaining a true understanding of the cost
has demanded a growing
of our operations and thereby getting more
technical focus and drive
value out of them.
for broadcasters.
new tvbe template remade.indd 2
17/06/2016 16:30
6
Robust Content Management and Archive Boost the real value of your content. Today and tomorrow. The speed and dependability of Optical Disc Archive. Plus the flexibility of Media Navigator. At an amazing price.
Maximise your assets. Unlock your content’s true value with Navigator. Effortlessly manage every phase of today’s content workflow. From ingest, catalogue and editing to review, approvals, distribution and archive. •
Organise, manage and share your valuable media content
•
Fast, flexible, efficient workflow for wide range of applications
•
Top-flight performance at a fraction the cost of enterprise-grade MAM solutions
•
Scales easily from single users to small workgroups
e
t
Navigator
Seamless integration with Optical Disc Archive for a complete long-term asset management solution.
Find out more at www.pro.sony.eu/TV/Navigator
Once in your lifetime. Archive it right first time with Optical Disc Archive (ODA). Preserve all your precious media content assets with Optical Disc Archive. The cost effective, long-term storage solution that grows with you, from desktop drives to expandable library systems. •
Ideal for deep, near-online and plus-one archive, data preservation and disaster recovery
•
Playout directly from archive media, just like HDD
•
Robust, reliable high-capacity contactless media with 50+ year life
•
Energy efficient with low lifetime ownership costs
Seamless integration with Media Navigator for a complete asset management solution.
Find out more at www.pro.sony.eu/TV/ODA
new tvbe template remade.indd 3
17/06/2016 16:30
iv TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Supplement
J
In association with
Let MOM transform your business Media Operations Management (MOM) is more than just another acronym, it signifies a fundamental change in how broadcasters manage their entire operation
F
rom SDI and BNC to UHD and HDR, the
director. And the improvement
TV industry is overflowing with acronyms.
cycle continues. Knowledge truly is power. If
So you’d be forgiven for thinking that the
you’re not convinced, let’s take a temporary
last thing we need right now, in a time of great
step backwards.
technology upheaval, is the introduction of Yet Another Acronym (YAA).
Running a media business is more complex, more challenging and more dynamic than it has
The difference with this one is that it pertains
ever been. Across the TV industry, budgetary
to a fundamental change in how broadcasters
pressures are intense. In fact, it’s never been more
manage their entire operation, not just their
important to do more with less (and to keep doing
The largest media organisations are often
assets. Let’s define it.
even more with even less as the market changes).
inherently siloed, with different teams rarely
Media Operations Management (MOM) is the
‘Why do it? Simple. MOM makes is possible for broadcasters to spot bottlenecks, reduce redundancy and proactively deal with the efficiency challenges and issues they face. MAM might track your assets but MOM tracks everything else as well’
process of analysing and appraising a broadcast operation – its assets, systems, people and resources – and then optimising it to make it better. Unlike Media Asset Management (MAM), which gives users a visibility of their assets, and in some cases, automates various processes, MOM is designed to enable broadcasters and other media businesses to continuously track
aware of what another is doing. This makes
T
gaining the perspective needed to affect long-
t
lasting, meaningful change almost impossible.
m
Fortunately, there is a solution.
a
As much as people hate to admit it, while
‘
broadcasting is, in many ways, at the cutting
t
edge when it comes to innovation, in some
t
ways, it still lags behind other industries. Enterprise
a
Resource Planning (ERP) is one example. There are, of course, many unique aspects to
a
their operation. It is the practice of capturing
running a media operation. No one can pretend
s
information about the media production and
it’s the same as manufacturing a car, or running
a
and then improve performance right across
delivery chain and then delivering a clear picture
With the explosion of possible distribution
a retail business, or being a consultancy. But
of exactly what’s going on, where and how.
channels, every operation is now faced with
broadcasters still need to gain true visibility across
t
delivering content across more platforms, in more
their operations, have a requirement to manage
p
for broadcasters to spot bottlenecks, reduce
places, to ever-tighter deadlines. This makes
both fixed and variable costs, and absolutely
o
redundancy and proactively deal with the
ensuring operations work as efficiently as possible
must get stuff done on time and on budget.
a
efficiency challenges and issues they face.
is a key priority. But many media companies are
MAM might track your assets but MOM tracks
struggling to keep up.
Why do it? Simple. MOM makes it possible
By providing accurate data and intelligence
improved workflows. Improved workflows means more efficiency. More efficiency
y
e or n m cree s on
operates. Increased understanding allows for
sca lab ilit
exactly how a broadcast operation, well,
co reduc st tion
cy cien effi
MOM helps to increase the understanding of
makes everyone happy, from the
legacy
ROI
ROI from media technology investment.
revenue +
staff on the shop floor to the financial
Moving beyond legacy technology
s
individual processes that organisations use in order
a
to operate effectively. It prevents separate silos
everything else as well.
A combined view of the wider potential
In a manufacturing plant, ERP integrates all the
obscuring a true picture of the business. And by
b
offering a ‘single version of the truth’ it can uncover
1
inefficiencies within operations. It provides key
d
metrics such as utilisation rates, on-time delivery
2
figures and profitability analysis: the kind of data
t
that is often impossible to find in media operations,
d
but would be very helpful indeed.
t
3
r Broadcast Innovation Ltd is a specialist independent
b
broadcast and media solutions consultant. The illustration snapshots part of fast track process used
S
with broadcasters, pay-TV operators and service
A
and the efficiency in media planning
providers to successfully plan new technology
i
and operations to cost effectively provide
investment and solutions architecture for next
new on-screen services and revenue.
generation tv and media services.
integration toward greater scalability
new tvbe template remade.indd 2
6 interactive Target Areas to monitor to achieve improved ROI
17/06/2016 16:38
6
r
TVBEurope v
July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
Supplement tracking how individuals, departments and projects use resources. With this knowledge, it is then possible to identify areas for improved workflows that can be embedded into the system. A comprehensive workflow design environment makes is possible to test and model new processes, and simulate what impact they will have, before deploying them.
“Over the last few years, digital tools have created new possibilities for our teams in terms of creative production, swift acquisition and multi-platform distribution of content; we wanted to harness digital technology to benefit our asset management in the same way… By selecting Media Backbone Conductor we’ve been able to modernise our existing workflow while retaining the necessary flexibility to adapt and extend our approach as our business requirements change in the future” Steve Fish, department head of technology and operations, Turner Broadcasting System Europe
With live process monitoring it is possible to quickly and easily view data flows and spot bottlenecks, and other problems, and solve them. Similarly, a prioritisation module makes it possible to reassign tasks and resources to meet changing requirements and allows a broadcaster to focus on the assets or issues that really matter. Importantly, adding MBC to a broadcast operation doesn’t require a complete overhaul of existing systems. Applied as middleware, either on site or in the cloud, it can be applied in an agile, rather than ‘big bang’ way, growing over time and integrating with existing MAMs and other third-party systems.
The question is: why aren’t media businesses doing
sustain and continuously improve the workflows
Apologies for using another acronym but it also
the same? It is possible to point to three reasons:
that underpin everything they produce.
adheres to standard SOA (Service Oriented
media products are predominantly focused
MBC provides a detailed picture of resources
Architecture) integration principles.
around highly changeable digital assets; each
and assets, people and processes, and their
‘product’ may have multiple versions existing at
capacity, availability and downtime. Users can
platform provider Software AG, and by using
the same time; and the business must be able
orchestrate and unify all the disparate systems
Open Standards and protocols for software
to react quickly to changing circumstances,
they use on a daily basis: from transcoding,
development, there is less of the risk normally
avoiding costly last minute changes.
ingest and planning through to editing, playout
associated with having a single vendor providing
and distribution.
a technology solution.
These differences mean that, while the approaches behind traditional ERP systems
It is also possible to automate manual,
By embedding core tools from SOA
Applying MOM principals to a broadcast
still apply, the systems themselves are not
repetitive tasks – such as creating, adapting,
operation can take users far beyond the
appropriate to today’s media operations.
approving and distributing content – making
limitations of MAM. And, by adopting MBC
them easier, faster and more cost effective.
in particular, users get an open orchestration
In addition, media businesses tend to have their own unique way of working which is often a
To see how the operation is doing, users
platform, in-depth workflow engine and
poor fit for more generalist systems. Consequently,
can access customisable business intelligence
actionable business intelligence that can
operators need to be able to customise an
dashboards. These provide a real-time graphical
transform the way they work. And no amount of
application, unlocking the best approach for their
view of the complete broadcast operation,
acronyms can deflect from that. n
specific needs. Which brings us neatly back to our acronyms. MOM is the media industry’s ERP. At its heart, MOM should have three core building blocks: 1) A core integration platform that connects disparate systems and processes 2) An orchestration engine that allows users to model workflows and processes across departments, resources and people, automating them where appropriate 3) Graphical dashboards that offer configurable real-time views of how resources are being used
ent
by user, department or project
d
Sony built Media Backbone Conductor (MBC).
These are the foundations upon which Admittedly, that’s another acronym. But MBC is a MOM that enables broadcasters to create,
new tvbe template remade.indd 3
Benefits of using Media Backbone Conductor • Save time: Increasing efficiency and systems you already have cutting production time as you automate • Increase flexibility: Enabling you to adapt processes and workflows to ongoing changes in the industry • Reduce and focus: Making better • Catch errors early so you can schedule fixes in good time and avoid using use of existing resources – from people to facilities emergency cash • Gain control: Managing technology • Plan ahead: Gaining a way to plan more effectively for the future while integrations more effectively, realising a greater return on your investment minimising risks • Save money: Avoiding costly capital www.pro.sony.eu/MBC expenditure and making the most of the 17/06/2016 16:38
vi TVBEurope
www.tvbeurope.com July 2016
Supplement
J
In association with
The end of broadcast news? By focussing on operations management, broadcasters can regain control of the increasingly complicated news production process and still be first with the story
S
o, you’ve got a news story to tell. How do
Sadly, that means that the King’s messenger is
you go about telling it to the world?
probably out of a job. But then, so it seems, are
In the Middle Ages, news would have
some traditional broadcasters.
been passed to the masses via word-of-mouth, a
The reality today is that news often breaks
church service, or the King’s official messenger. It
initially on social media with the earliest
was rudimental but it worked.
exposure to a story coming from whoever is
In 2016, of course, we have the relative luxury of television, radio and, increasingly, the internet.
first on the scene, armed with their Twitter app and their smartphone. Sometimes this is a news journalist but more often than not it is a member
‘If traditional, newscast-driven processes get in the way of internet-first publishing, the organisation can disappear from its potential viewers’ mindshare and, perhaps more importantly, their newsfeeds’
of the public. As a result, the “internet of news” is now the first place that people turn to. They might move on to a rolling news channel or wait for the 10pm bulletin to get the full picture, but the web is their first port of call. This is having a significant impact on how news organisations create, develop and distribute their stories and many are now taking an internet-first approach, creating stories for
But while news dissemination is undoubtedly
digital media and then developing them for
quicker now than it was 500 years ago, it is also
broadcast later.
infinitely more complex. In fact, it’s infinitely
Wireless cameras, video streaming, and
more complex than it was five or ten years ago
social networks can help the journalist in the field
because the way that people consume their
get their stories to air (or the web) quicker, but
news continues to change.
what can help the newsroom when, in a world
Television news is still highly relevant,
of instant updates, “now” is the new deadline?
‘It simplifies the task of getting news out quickly and accurately to multiple people, on multiple devices, from anywhere in the world’
N
a
v
especially to people of a certain age, and
At the same time, for the man or woman on
particularly in countries where it is reported
the street with his or her smartphone, there is little
N
without censor, such as the UK.
consideration for integrity or balance. Speed
s
According to industry regulator Ofcom, 75
o
is the only concern. For news broadcasters,
per cent of British people still get their news
editorial control remains critical. As they have
that incorporates the central story across
through TV. For people aged 55 and over
always done, editors must add insight and
multiple media, without hindering the journalist’s
l
that figure reaches 90 per cent. The millennial
context if the news is to be relevant and must
ability to fact-check, double-source and polish
p
generation, however, sees and hears things
ensure accuracy and fairness if they’re to
a story? The short answer is yes. And it comes
c
rather differently. The majority of 16 to 24-year-
maintain their status and reputation. They just
down to improved operations management.
i
olds use the internet or apps. In 2014, 60 per cent
have to do it much quicker.
The NRCS (News Room Computer System) is still the beating heart of a news organisation,
t
way. That figure will have grown significantly
newscast-driven processes get in the way of
connecting all the vital equipment that is used
o
in the two years since the research was carried
internet-first publishing, the organisation can
to put a news bulletin on air. But while it is crucial
a
out. At the same time, evidence suggests that
disappear from its potential viewers’ mindshare
to success, the NRCS is mainly focusing on
c
the more devices a person owns, the more news
and, perhaps more importantly, their newsfeeds.
the editorial side of news production leaving
i
the actual content creation to dedicated
m
production systems.
a
of that age group got their daily news fix that
they are likely to consume. The upshot of all this is that there is now a
And here’s the real quandary. If traditional,
But, if rushing to get out multiple versions of a story compromises the quality of that story,
In a modern newsroom, the NRCS needs
huge demand for online news: and people
the organisation loses the audience’s trust, its
want it on different devices, via their preferred
brand reputation diminishes and viewers leave
to be able to go beyond broadcast news to
c
purveyor, and they don’t want to wait for it.
anyway. Can a newsroom have it both ways?
allow one story to be told in different ways, via
p
They want it now.
Is it possible to have a news production process
different platforms. One option is to buy a better
b
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TVBEurope vii
July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com
Supplement
NRCS. But no broadcaster wants to throw away
with networked news production capabilities,
a system that is familiar to their news team and,
it simplifies the task of getting news out quickly
very probably, required significant investment.
and accurately to multiple people, on multiple
One solution, therefore, is not to replace the NCRS but to bolster it with a network production
devices, from anywhere in the world. Journalists can read the wires, pull video,
system that helps to improve how the whole
edit it, collaborate with remote correspondents
operation is managed. That is why Sony
and other journalists – just like a traditional
launched Media Backbone Hive.
NRCS operation – but now they can take
The successor to the SONAPS news
it much further. They can also do all the
production system, Hive is a scalable journalist-
additional production work that’s increasingly
centric software layer that can be deployed
the norm: creating different versions for
in-house or off premises in a data centre.
different media, publishing fast, and allowing
Making use of Hyper Convergent Node
partners to brand their own versions. And
technology in the back-end, and providing
they can do it without the need to waste time
operations analysis via customisable dashboards
jumping from old system to new system.
at the front, Hive streamlines, and provides
Ultimately, it means broadcasters can tackle
control of, the news production operation,
the challenge of adopting an internet-first
integrating third-party tools, providing flexible file
news production approach without completely
management capabilities and offering built-in
changing the broadcast production process.
applications of its own. Hive oversees all the different elements that
News consumption in the 21st century is a complicated business but news production
connect to an NRCS, across import, production,
doesn’t have to be. And we certainly don’t
publishing, planning, archive and playout (see
have to go back to the Middle Ages to make
benefits list). And, by combining NRCS control
it simple again. n
Benefits of Media Backbone Hive • Integrated assignment and planning automatically gets journalists up to speed, sending assignments direct to their cameras, linking and structuring key assets. • Multiple ingest capabilities intelligently route video inputs to the right places, making a proxy available to all users instantly. • Key metadata is linked to news content – Hive automatically updates newsroom systems with new content. • Full integration with wireless cameras enables journalists to begin editing with proxy footage as soon as it’s shot and then effortlessly switch to high res files when they’re available. • Hive is file agnostic working with any file type, format or resolution, whether video, audio or non-media. • Simple and advanced logging can add markers in real time, building metadata that’s immediately usable. • Journalists can quickly and easily search the entire newsroom system to find what they need – whether current or archived content, or material arriving in the moment. • The system enables story creation wherever it’s needed on the system, in a web-based environment, or remotely in the field. • Hive publishing serves both traditional TV playout as well as social media, web and mobile ensuring the story is delivered on time every time – plus the server houses all content ready for air, keeping it secure and separate from source files. www.pro.sony.eu/hive
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www.pro.sony.eu/hive www.pro.sony.eu/MBC