TVBE November 2016 by Future PLC

www.tvbeurope.com

Business, insight and intelligence for the media and entertainment industry

November 2016

Does IP mean Improved Productivity?

Also in this issue 2016 TVBAwards winners Axon CEO, Jan Eveleens The immersive world of sports TV

TVBEurope 3

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Welcome

EDITORIAL Content Director and Editor-in-Chief: James McKeown jmckeown@nbmedia.com Staff Writer: James Groves jgroves@nbmedia.com Group Managing Editor: Joanne Ruddock jruddock@nbmedia.com Contributors: Michael Burns, David Davies, George Jarrett, Philip Stevens Sales Manager: Peter McCarthy pmccarthy@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6025 Account Manager: Richard Carr rcarr@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000 Digital Director: Diane Oliver Human Resources and Ofﬁce Manager: Lianne Davey Senior Production Executive: Alistair Taylor Managing Director: Mark Burton Designer: Kelly Sambridge ksambridge@gmail.com US Sales: Michael Mitchell mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv +1 (631) 673 0072 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

An evening of just rewards

hursday 20 October was

director of The British Board of

a special evening. For the

Film Classiﬁcation, and most

third year in a row, we

recently as chairman of the

put on a good old knees up

IBC exhibition committee, all

for the industry in the shape of

punctuating his service to,

the TVBAwards, and in doing

and eventual stewardship

so, recognised some of the

of, Aston Electronic Designs.

astonishing work that goes

Indeed, in John’s case, the

largely unnoticed in our market.

word ‘lifetime’ is most beﬁtting.

This is a fundamental tenet

It was the highlight of a

of why we created an awards

ceremony (you can see

programme in the ﬁrst place; to highlight the

images from the evening on page 22 of this issue)

innovation and endeavour taking place at

that honoured 18 companies, productions, and

the coalface of our sector. And however

people for achievements ranging from live sports

unglamorous terms like ‘infrastructure’, ‘asset

production to sustainable business practice.

management’, and ‘workﬂow’ might appear,

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank

they are critical components in ensuring that any

everyone who offered a helping hand in the

of that ‘glamorous’ content gets made at all.

production and staging of the event; from our

It also gives us an opportunity, through our

events, production, and design teams through to

Hall of Fame initiative, to honour some of the

our partners (IBC, Celebro Media and Netgem),

people who have given service to broadcasting

Ian Moore our host, and not least to our judging

down the years. On this occasion, it was the turn

panel. Finally, a hearty congratulations to all of

of John Holton, a man who has given almost

our winners on the night.

45 years of service to this industry through his TVBEurope is published 12 times a year by The Emerson Building, 4-8 Emerson street, London, SE1 9DU England +44 207 354 6002

James McKeown

position on the IBC management committee, as

Editor-in-Chief

SECTION EDITORS NewBay is a member of the Periodical Publishers Association © NewBay 2016. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the copyright owners. TVBEurope is mailed to qualiﬁed persons residing on the European continent. Subscription is free. Allow eight weeks for new subscriptions and change of address delivery. Send subscription inquiries to: Subscription Dept, NewBay, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 7BR, England. ISSN 1461-4197

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

Philip Stevens Production editor

Michael Burns Post production editor

George Jarrett Business editor

David Davies Audio editor

TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

In this issue 6 Opinion and Analysis Russell Grute returns with part three of his series of articles examining how broadcasters can measure tangible returns from media technology investment

Production

We investigate some of the recent activities on the IP front, with case studies from NEP The Netherlands, Suitcase TV, and Dogan TV. Philip Stevens gives us the lowdown

Business

Feature

Jan Eveleens is a 25-year veteran of the broadcast technology market and has a “merited reputation for being candid”. George Jarrett sits down with Axon’s CEO

This year’s TVBAwards celebrated some of the unseen success stories of the past year. We reflect on a glamorous evening in our image gallery

Post Production

Neal Romanek speaks to Avid CEO Louis Hernandez about the company’s strategy for success and the outlook for the media industry

Data Centre

Ernst & Young assesses consumer attitudes on TV services in telecoms bundling packages

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TVBEurope

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Opinion and Analysis

ROI Part III: IBC2016 Who plays and who pays? Russell Grute, managing partner at independent media solutions consultants Broadcast Innovation, concludes his focus on maximising ROI from media technology investment ow, what an IBC! How was it for you?

visitors. That’s a whole lot of people looking for

Chaos and confusion? Or did you ﬁnd

smart answers and better ROI! The noise and

the perfect ingredients for continued

competition were intense.

industry transformation? In parts I and II – following NAB earlier this

Analytics and insights

year – we looked at how to model and improve

Insights and analytics were hot this year. Using

ROI for customers investing in new media

these techniques, the evolving digital and social

technology and services. Based on recent

media communities have overhauled traditional

real projects, I shared some of the techniques

broadcast. The sustained attack on linear pounds

used by broadcast and media businesses

to gain digital pennies is the new battleground.

that are looking to rationalise their operations

‘Multi-outlet broadcasting’ is a useful

and adopt new media services to reduce

expression I heard in Amsterdam. It concisely

costs and increase revenue. To illustrate an

describes linear and non-linear services,

acceptable level of risk and reward, I used the

regardless of how they are delivered.

‘speedometer’ to challenge investment in

Broadcasters of all shapes and sizes have to

six key areas.

balance the presentation of live and thematic programming through their available channels,

Can we identify signiﬁcant themes from this year’s IBC and link them to ROI?

platforms and apps, whilst calculating the

This year, 1,800 innovators – including 249 ﬁrst

driving strategic media planning and ad

timers – took their chances and exhibited at

sales – what we used to call trafﬁc, sales and

IBC2016. Some 430 speakers (including yours

scheduling – are adapting rapidly to drive multi-

truly) contributed to the 100-plus sessions at

outlet broadcasting alongside CDNs and new

the IBC Conference. There were over 50,000

subscriber management systems.

potential effect on revenue. Scarcity creates value, whilst ubiquity may reduce it. The systems

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8 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Opinion and Analysis Media players in the driving seat are those beneﬁtting from new business models, who are

cost reduction

driven by a clear content strategy and possess an understanding of how to engage new viewers

efﬁciency

and identify potential revenue. Others, held in a

more onscreen

more cautious and defensive position – perhaps trapped by legacy – are in a worse position. Practical analytics and insight will be pivotal to

scalability

revenue +

improving ROI. I spoke with broadcasters who, after a few years of ‘doing OTT’, are ﬁnding that as take-up increases, their transactional distribution costs are

legacy

getting out of control with the public CDN service

ROI

providers they are using. They’re now starting to look at intermediate caching and edge caching, which have already been practiced by some net-attached cable and telco operators for a number of years.

6 interactive target areas to improve ROI from media technology and services

Live multiscreen delivery is the next hurdle for OTT

A deterministic cross-point routing switcher and a

cloud infrastructure, seems very appealing. If

Was there an exhibitor at IBC not offering

multi-cast IP network offer very different facilities.

the pricing is competitive and transactional, ROI

OTT solutions? Currently implementing live

Some use cases offer a clearer improvement

seems favourable.

synchronous video streams (like broadcast) is

in ROI from IP. For example, using IP in production

easier said than done. But with so many ‘digital

and contribution is now allowing multiple venues

Is IBC a good investment?

pennies’ on offer, and the power of big iron

and facilities to be connected more ﬂexibly. This

For me, attending IBC remains a great investment.

IT and telco operators (directly partnering

enables wider sharing of both resources and

Key customers, trusted associates and leading

broadcasters), it won’t remain a barrier for very

talent, and access to the cloud for intermediate

suppliers generously share their expertise and

long. Terrestrial and satellite delivery will be

storage, remote post production and OTT.

industry perspective. However, I still don’t

matched by the internet experience, possibly

Another area I’m often asked to baseline is

understand why some exhibitors invest many

sooner at higher ultra resolutions and frame rates.

the cost of media logistics. Simple – if desirable

thousands of Euros in their presence at IBC, and

This complicates ROI analysis when trying to

– cost reduction doesn’t usually give signiﬁcant

then don’t perform. Many behave off-hand at

evaluate long-term commitment vs ad-hoc and

ROI. There were many vendors at IBC2016

reception, ignoring new customers whilst writing

transactional services.

(automation, MAM, and many SaaS) proposing

emails. Others give poor and inappropriate

supply chain optimisation.

demos, with scant knowledge of how their

About the I-word IBC’s IP Interoperability Zone seemed to reassure many seeking proof of the concept. Supported by AIMS and the IABM and working with AES,

solutions would be used. Others don’t follow up

“Practical analytics and insight will be pivotal to improving ROI”

AMWA, the EBU, SMPTE and VSF, IBC created

effectively. IBC’s best exhibitors are doing much better than the worst. Is poor performance at IBC a likely indicator of the poor ROI some suppliers would contribute down the line?

a dedicated exhibit to demonstrate veriﬁed technical progress so far in IP interoperability.

I decided to challenge this and talked with

New drivers for ROI for 2017

This featured the ‘award-winning’ VRT-EBU LiveIP

Simon Eldridge from SDVI on the AWS booth.

From the technology and services sales angle,

studio, which was used for IBCTV’s production this

“IP enables better media workﬂow and

there is now clearly a pitched battle underway.

year. (Incidentally, are there too many industry

ﬂexible infrastructure management, and that

Content, contribution, channels, platforms and

awards at IBC? I’m confused about each

combination ﬁnally provides real increased

apps all compete and complexify the value

reward’s relative value and its accreditation.)

output with similar resource, or better efﬁciency

chain. Who is playing end-to-end? Everyone?

IBC was a salutatory reminder that IP itself,

and optimised resource utilisation. By using

Who knows their sweet spot? Fewer. Speculative

which is sorely testing the industry’s best minds

supply chain methods, SDVI’s solutions can

and aggressive licensing of content has entered

right now, is only an enabling technology.

allocate costs to each process in the chain,

the fray upstream, whilst maturing media services

and make intelligent decisions about allocating

and SaaS surge forwards downstream. All of

SDVNs to transport video ﬁles and streams

the appropriate quality of resource relative to

these are constantly overlapping and trying to

depends on use cases underpinning the

the content’s priority or value. Transparent cost

gain your attention.

transformation to multi-outlet broadcasting.

modeling and reporting provides baseline cost

What also must be considered is how those use

audit trails for every action.” I agree: joining

through whoever) we choose to play our media,

cases can be adapted to exploit the different

up media partners by adapting their existing

by perfecting analytics and insight, new revenue

capabilities IP transport and SDVN’s offer.

in-house media logistics processes, using elastic

will get easier to identify and exploit.

Achieving a positive ROI from using IP and

Increasingly, though, I think that however (or

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Learn more by visiting grassvalley.com or visit us at IBC 2016, stand 1.D11.

10 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Opinion and Analysis

Entering the brave new world of IP By Craig Newbury, vice president of sales and marketing, Wohler

the world of computers, then, little by little, like

to digital, and more recently from SDTV to HD

computer technology in general, it moved

and beyond. As its newness and unfamiliarity

into our arena. Now it’s become virtually

decreased, ﬁrst small and then larger

hen it comes to change, broadcasting

impossible to ignore. The switch to IP, just like

implementations of each new technology went

is no different from any other

any other change, brings with it some amount

online, gradually pushing outmoded gear and

enterprise involving technology.

of uncertainty, a fear of the unknown. That’s

practices out the door.

Several years ago, the qualifying term ‘IP-

a normal human reaction, but IP is hardly

based’ was associated with computer and

unknown. The business of transporting data

and product inroads made in IP-based audio

data transport, and not part of the broadcast

packets through a network between sources

over the past few years, now is a very good

environment. Now, it’s almost impossible to

to multiple destinations has been around for a

time to test the IP audio waters. Should you start

attend a tech conference or stroll the aisles

very long time. If it weren’t reliable, there would

your own IP transition with an audio installation,

at any broadcast equipment exhibit without

be no internet and we’d still be sending out lots

the inclusion of proper monitoring equipment

being inundated with IP. Yet many of us are still

of letters, telegrams, and telexes (remember

is a critical element (the days of plugging

uncomfortable with the concept of exchanging

those?) when we needed to communicate

headphones into patch panels or VU meter

coax and shielded twisted-pair cables for the

outside our immediate environment.

bridging when troubleshooting are over). When

Thanks to some very substantial technology

selecting a monitoring device, it’s important to

CAT variety and everything that goes with it. Moving into this new world with small steps may

IP brings multiple advantages

choose one that can accommodate multiple

be the best approach.

Once you get beyond the intangible nature of IP

networking protocols (the industry hasn’t yet

connectivity, there’s really a lot to recommend:

settled on one standard way of moving data

Nothing is more permanent than change

no more expensive, heavy and bulky

packets around; support for AES67, Dante,

Our industry is rapidly shifting to an IP-driven

pair audio cables with labour-intensive

platform, so sooner or later you’ll want to jump

connectorisation; no more multicore

on the IP bandwagon. If you look back at the

control cables; and no need for

technical side of broadcasting, it has always been

separate control, video, programme

audio signals is

in ﬂux. If you’re old enough, you’ll remember the

audio or intercom cables, since all

equally important:

shift from vacuum tubes to transistors.

these signals can share the same

it simpliﬁes

CAT-type cable if you really

operations, saves

“It’s almost impossible to attend a tech conference or broadcast equipment exhibit without being inundated with IP”

double-shielded coax and shielded twisted-

want them to. IP also reduces everything down

Ravenna, etc is key). Support for legacy analogue and AES sources in a world of existing

space and is more cost

to a common data denominator.

effective than

The progressively larger and more

using multiple

expensive audio and video routers we rely on can be replaced with

devices. IP is destined to

In the late 1960s, it was the push from television

inexpensive, off-the-shelf data switches.

revolutionise all

in black and white to the wonderful world of

Equipment manufacturers understand this,

broadcasting and

colour. A move away from discrete transistors

too, developing new products that will

teleproduction

to integrated circuits and microprocessors was

make it easier to bring IP technology into

facilities, so you

soon followed by the digital revolution, ending

your own realm.

sure you can recall many other ‘sea changes’

Transitioning to an IP-based environment

if you’ve been in television production and the

Perhaps the best way to gain

broadcasting industry for any length of time.

a comfort level with a new

Once we create a new infrastructure and have

technology, like IP, is

it running to satisfaction, it seems it’s inevitably

through a gradual

time to start replacing it with new technology.

transition; the same

commencing the transition to SDI and AES. I’m

This brings me back to the subject of IP. Like

need to start preparing for

analogue video and audio’s long run and

way we moved from

it or not, it is destined to be the next major

tubes to transistors,

game changer in our industry. Just a few years

monochrome to

ago, the technology was safely relegated to

colour, analogue

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12 TVBEurope

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Production

Does IP mean Improved Productivity? Philip Stevens investigates some of the recent activities on the IP (Internet Protocol) front, including case studies from NEP The Netherlands; TVBAward winner Suitcase TV; and Cinegy’s work with Turkish broadcaster Dogan TV

solution from Grass Valley. NEP also selected the Grass Valley XF Universe Fiber adapter, XCU HD/4K XF IP base stations and a range of accessories. These cameras are divided over several studios across the Netherlands,

he rapid integration of IP technologies

enables the production crew to focus on the

connected over a high-capacity IP network to

into production practices has come as

quality of the programmes. In addition, this

the XCUs that remain as a sharable asset in the

a surprise to some. Within a very short

centralised approach means signiﬁcantly fewer

NEP central data centre in Hilversum.

space of time, a number of broadcasters and

crew members are needed on location.”

technology and are reaping the beneﬁts of reduced travel costs and more efﬁcient use of facilities. However, while many companies and broadcasters are working on remote production and video-over-IP, NEP The

“The integration of AV and IT knowledge is crucial for a good start and continuity” Ralf van Vegten, NEP The Netherlands

where all technical facilities are securely housed,” states Bruggink. “We are in a unique positon because NEP The Netherlands owns its own ﬁbre network; something that mobile companies in other countries don’t usually allow. In addition, the distances involved are relatively short, which makes the use of

Netherlands has made a leap to a cloud

uncompressed video possible.”

platform on which resources are available on demand from a data centre.

“These connections use NEP’s unique ﬁbreoptic network to reach our own data centres,

production companies have embraced the

He continues, “We chose the name Cloud Production because it aptly describes what

Options for working

to be precise – Carlo’s TV Café was the ﬁrst live

we are doing, with the technology housed in a

He continues, “The production process can be

multi-camera broadcast ever to be televised

data centre. The components will be assigned

fully ‘directed’ from the new Cloud Production

using cloud technology. Produced by RTL4, the

to various programmes for the day. For example,

suites, and always in HD or 4K. Depending on

Dutch commercial TV channel, the programme

in the morning, a mixer, four camera base

the type of production, the director has the

utilised Cloud Production, a comprehensive IP-

stations and an audio console can be used

option of working from one of our new central

based video production platform launched by

for a taping from a remote location, while the

directing, audio and shading galleries, or on-site

NEP The Netherlands.

same equipment can be used later in other

at the studio or outside location. You need only

combinations in, for example, a studio.”

deploy the resources and crew that are strictly

Almost a year ago – on 22 November 2015

“The Cloud Production platform centralises resources so that they can be shared more

necessary, and for the duration of the recording

efﬁciently, sustainably and across multiple

Tools for the job

only. All of this contributes to a more sustainable

productions and locations every day,” explains

At the heart of this Cloud Production platform

environment in which large trucks and crew

Peter Bruggink, CTO, NEP The Netherlands. “This

are LDX 86 WorldCam cameras that use the IP

vans are no longer needed.”

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TVBEurope will act in the capacity of an independent facilitator and moderator Topics of discussion to be set by the client or in collaboration with TVBEurope Can take the form of either a Powerpoint presentation or a webcast Unlike a 1-2-1 conference it is not restricted by geographical or temporal factors Live Q&A session to encourage dialogue Ideal for lead generation Ongoing promotion following the webinar’s transmission

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14 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Production To complete the production workﬂow, NEP

Nico Roest, COO of the company, offers another

worked with other vendors such as Lawo for

perspective. “The necessary steps to switch to an

their IP-based video and audio equipment. The

IP environment actually take place several years

set-up comprises numerous V_remote4 IP video

before the change. You have to train people

production units, as well as Lawo mc2 56 audio

to work with network and IT, because there are

mixing consoles, Nova compact routers, DALLIS

only applications left to manage. Maintenance

I/O systems and A_mic8 analogue-to-IP audio

is taken care of with a laptop instead of toolbox.

interfaces. In addition, SAM’s SDI-to-IP transition

The integration of AV and IT knowledge is crucial

solution was implemented. This includes Sirius

for a good start and continuity in the future.”

800 routers, Kahuna switchers and IQ Modular

He says that once those goals are achieved,

infrastructure. To achieve initial hybrid operation,

working in this environment is ‘a real blast’.

NEP makes use of IQMIX IP/SDI conversion

Peter Bruggink, NEP The Netherlands

modules, using DS Link cables to reduce the cabling between the SDI systems and IP switch

“Workstations are ﬂexible, the content is available where and when needed, not only for linear TV, but for other platforms as well. IP

by a factor of eight. Juniper Networks provides

NEP The Netherlands CIO, Ralf van Vegten, adds,

involves high data ﬂows. It is important that the

the high-capacity network, while VSM is used

“Our most important lesson is that the changes

entire organisation understands this and knows

for controlling the complete Cloud Production

in terms of organisation, support, operational

what to look out for, in order to work undisturbed.

infrastructure. All equipment is centrally hosted in

preparation and customer care are crucial.

Therefore, procedures and work ethics should be

the NEP data centre.

Technology is only one component.”

adjusted on a high level.”

Suitcase Study ast Anglian-based Suitcase TV was involved

Sony cameras, two outside sources that were

with a remote production proof of concept

selectable on a local router, and one graphics

(POC) at this year’s Euro 2016 tournament

input. At Salford, there were two VT sources

in France. This was an ofﬂine trial run in parallel

and one graphic unit.

with BBC Sport’s production using traditional broadcast architecture.

He reports that Iphrame, Suitcase TV’s IP-based broadcast framework, was used for the project.

“The location end of the trial was a studio

This is a modular software solution that runs Ed Calverley, Suitcase TV

facility in Paris, while the production centre

across a number of servers and client machines.

was at BBC Salford,” explains Ed Calverley, vice

“Iphrame makes use of our pioneering

president, products, Suitcase TV. “There was

TimeLock functionality, which enables signals

decisions that are passed back to software

also an additional control/monitoring location

to be processed in different locations in a

at a remote location, where uncompressed

at UEFA’s International Broadcast Centre

frame-accurate way to compensate for

signals are buffered and switched/mixed on the

(IBC) facility in Paris.”

the latencies that are unavoidable with IP

appropriate frame after a ﬁxed delay. This allows

connectivity and remote operation.”

switching to take place at the remote location,

By running alongside the full broadcast operation, all feeds could be accessed by

The TimeLock concept enables an operator at

Suitcase TV. The studio sources included four

a production centre to make accurate switching

which means that only one contribution link is required, as opposed to one per source.

Media and content ŵĂŶĂŐĞŵĞŶƚ ƐŽůƵƟŽŶƐ designed to maximize ďƵƐŝŶĞƐƐ ĞĸĐŝĞŶĐǇ ĂŶĚ ƉƌŽĮƚĂďŝůŝƚǇ

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What do you believe in? E U R O P E · U S · M E A · L ATA M · A PA C

TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Production “Low-resolution, compressed proxy feeds were generated for all remote sources, which were transferred over a layer two IP link,” reveals Calverley. “Seven source signals were transported between the server in Paris as uncompressed video and audio-over-IP, but were switched on-site to generate a single HD 1080i contribution feed that was compressed and sent over the same IP link as the source proxies.” A variety of bitrates were tested during the trial, but the total bandwidth required for connection to the remote location was typically under 60mbps for normal operation. Connectivity to a remotely located operator was under 20mbps. The active trafﬁc on the IP link for the trial totalled about 60mbps. “The trial showed that it is not necessary to Iphrame Surface provided the vision switcher user interface where sources were displayed on multi-viewer monitor

bring back all sources,” emphasises Calverley. “Switching can be done accurately at an event

Iphrame Surface provided the vision switcher user

outputs based on proxy feeds from all sources

location, minimising the link required. However,

interface, where sources were displayed on a

Full-resolution, uncompressed switching/mixing

simply remotely controlling a mix process is not

multi-viewer monitor, and on the hard panel for

was a two-stage process, which used software

enough, as additional VT and graphics sources

control. This switcher enables operation from any

in Paris as well as a second downstream mix

likely need to be used from a facility local to the

network-connected location, and generates an

process in Salford, comprising the Paris-feed and

operator, so a more complex two-stage mixer

instant simulation of programme and preview

local VT/GFX sources mixed into ﬁnal TX output.

architecture is essential.”

16 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Production

Turkish delight ollowing the successful implementation

Kiragi goes on to explain that the station’s

gateways convert SDI signals to IP and

of scalable and hardware-independent

workﬂows involving recording, editing, archiving,

IP to SDI. “We also have Cinegy IP tools

archive and MAM solutions from Cinegy

playout, live signalling, graphics and insertion,

to manage, monitor and control all IP

for its library, Turkish broadcaster Dogan TV has

and ofﬂine editing of the news programme are

streams in our workﬂow.”

now created a tapeless production workﬂow

all based on Cinegy and IP technologies.

based on a standard ofﬁce IP network,

“We have 440 concurrent users of Cinegy

In addition, the associated Dogan News Agency and D Productions – one of the leading

including newsroom, ingest, and playout

Desktops and about 800 users in total. We have a

production companies in Turkey – uses Cinegy IP

automation services.

5PB archive and 260TB of storage for production

tools to simultaneously record multiple cameras

purposes. Our 25 ingest stations enable us to

from the same production studio.

“An IP infrastructure is cost effective, less cumbersome, and more scalable” Hasan Kiragi, Dogan TV Holding

productive partnership with Cinegy for more

“As the time came to transition from SD SDI to HD SDI, we calculated the costs for the transformation, anticipated future workﬂow, and decided to migrate to an IP infrastructure that was seen as cost effective, less cumbersome, and more scalable,” explains Hasan Kiragi, director of broadcast operations at Dogan TV Holding.

“We have had a very innovative and

He says the Dogan and Cinegy teams joined

than 12 years,” Kiragi says. “The Cinegy solution means that we do not have dependency on any proprietary hardware and format technology. It provides freedom to use any standard IT equipment and a ﬂexible and scalable system design. There are improvements regarding

forces to explore the principles and functionality

technical layouts that give us the potential for

of the IP-based live broadcast solution. As a result,

work with live records, IP streams and the

cost-effective and ﬂexible design. We do not

by the end of 2015, Dogan TV ﬁnished its transition

remains of SDI signals. There are about 100

have to worry about live signals, neither as an

to a full IP-based broadcasting and production

playout servers in our master control rooms

input port number nor output port number for the

workﬂow with only remnants of SDI in its studios.

for our main and satellite channels.”

routing. Nor do we have to lay down thousands

At that time, Dogan TV was the only national

On the production site, Dogan TV has around

of metres of video cables for live signals. We can

broadcaster in the world whose broadcasting

30 studio playout servers for the 11 studio

carry hundreds of live video signals on a single

and production workﬂows were fully IP operated.

production locations, while 50 IP multicast

10gbps network port.”

Playout services at Dogan TV are based on an IP network

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TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Production

The Airﬁlms operation is centred on an all-terrain vehicle

High Flying television Philip Stevens learns how two companies are using drones for live and recorded productions

ethos to providing a drone service that meets

reputation for dependability and consistency.

the needs of production companies in the UK

In fact, the company is a CAA-approved

and beyond. My job, as managing director, is to

commercial drone operator, ﬂying both the

make sure Flying TV evolves and grows as Mike

Freeﬂy Alta 8 and DJI S900 Spreading Wings.

would have intended.”

of a great deal of justiﬁable, adverse comments in recent months. There have

been reports of near misses with commercial aeroplanes, and numerous court cases have

Monica Wyer, the company’s aerial director of photography and operations manager, picks

rones have been on the receiving end

“Just like any part of the process, we have to use the equipment in a safe, sensible way” Sarah Greene, Flying TV

up the story. “A great many people who were operating at the lower end of the market simply don’t realise that when you go off to do a task, there are certain expectations from the director and the producer that have to be met. It’s not

arisen as a result of drone-related injuries, yet

just you and your drone, it’s about working as

drones have played their part in creating some dramatic images when it comes to television

She says that the Denham-based company

a team and being professional. That approach

and ﬁlm production.

held off moving into drones for a while before

means we are now involved with numerous

offering that service. “Those early models

high-end dramas for major broadcasters,

process; we have to use the equipment and

were at the lower end of quality, and we were

blue chip corporate clients, and commercial

facilities in a safe and sensible way.” That’s the

not sure that they would provide the level of

production companies.”

view of Sarah Greene, whose late husband

service that our clients would have expected

and fellow broadcaster, Mike Smith, set up

of us. Beyond that, the ready accessibility of

Covering the camels

Flying TV in order to bring a new dimension

drones meant that many companies entered

Moving away from the UK, Airﬁlms Productions

to aerial coverage.

the market with little or no idea of how the

was established in 2011 in the Netherlands

broadcast industry works.”

and began live broadcasting from drones the

“It’s just like any part of the production

Greene recalls, “We were in California during

following year. The company also has a base in

the OJ Simpson trial and were watching live shots from a helicopter following the car. Mike

Being dependable

Dubai, with plans for further operations centred

turned to me and said, ‘That’s what we must

By waiting until the technology and reliability

on Singapore and South Africa. Currently, there

do, and do it better’. The next few years were

of both the drones and suitable cameras

are eight drones in the company’s ﬂeet.

spent developing a helicopter ﬁlming service

improved, Flying TV was able to enter the market

that excelled. Now, we have applied that same

in sure knowledge that it would maintain its

“In 2011, we were the world’s ﬁrst company to carry a Red Epic cinema at an altitude of 3,000

TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Production metres,” states Bastiaan Pauw, the company’s CEO, based in The Hague. “The call for drones in broadcast and film work has certainly increased in recent times, with our turnover doubling each year since we started.” To date, Airfilms Productions has been involved in nearly 13,000 registered flights involving drone filming, and with no accidents. The projects have included sailing events, marathons, triathlons, horse endurance races and city rally races. One particular project that is both interesting and challenging is coverage of camel racing in Qatar. “We used an in-house custom built drone for this coverage. It had to be specially constructed to withstand the sandy conditions and heat in excess

The Flying TV hangar

of 45 degrees celsius. No off-the-shelf drone is able to handle that for live and intense productions.

the control panel for the speciﬁc job. Our camera

By using a drone for this kind of coverage,

operator was situated in a vehicle which followed

directors are able to bring inspiring events to life

the race was a ten-kilometre circle above a track.

the race around the circuit, so that we were

with close-range aerial ﬁlming.”

“We were able to get some spectacular shots

always in easy range of the drone.”

Pauw reports that the maximum ﬂying range for

immediately over the racing animals and with the

Back at Flying TV, Wyer believes the next big

To accommodate the live broadcast, Airﬁlms

move for live drone technology will be 4K. “That

shadows created by the sun, this was dramatic

Productions used Cobham Solo H.264 transmission

is some way off because of the delay issues. At

footage. To meet the production requirements,

for ultra-low latency. Pauw concludes, “The

present, it’s 250 milliseconds, which is too great

we used a modiﬁed DSLR camera with a

director was able to monitor the shots provided

for live programmes. Technology is moving at a

resolution of 1080i. Like the drone, we custom-built

on the ﬂight in the OB van in the normal way.

pace; who knows what the future will hold?”

www.asperasoft.com moving the world’s data at maximum speed

TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Production

The aerial view Nils Granholm, drone expert at Adorama Drone Experience, discusses the current state of the unmanned ﬂying machines

becoming commonplace for viewers, and with major news outlets jumping on the trend, it proves that drone applications in broadcast

he days of reporting with a full crew

bird’s-eye angles captured by UAVs (Unmanned

are gaining traction. The aviation authorities are

from a helicopter are quickly giving

Aerial Vehicles or, more commonly, drones).

making headway in creating new legislation,

way to unmanned ﬂight. The increasing

These types of natural disasters can happen

giving mainstream media outlets the ability to

accessibility of drones, combined with the rapid

anywhere in the world, and the fact is, viewers

take advantage of aerial camera platforms.

deployment options they offer, make them

want to get full coverage news reports as

the obvious choice over more complicated

quickly and as comprehensively as possible.

for gathering footage, TV stations and networks

ﬂights requiring the full complement of skilled

And, of course, it’s not just the results of the

around the world are establishing relationships

operators. The modern day news cycle

forces of nature that can be captured.

with legally operated drone providers to

Electronic News Gathering (ENG) has literally

Although UAVs are still a relatively new tool

Drones have several advantages when

get aerial footage faster and cheaper than

taken ﬂight in an attempt to show viewers

it comes to broadcasting news, as they are

ever before. Modern drones, such as the DJI

the full scope of the situation. For example,

smaller and less expensive than helicopters and

Phantom or DJI Inspire 1, offer the latest in fully

viewers can witness emotional scenes of how

also offer greater safety for users in non-military

gyro-stabilised 4K footage, which is great news

destructive mother nature can be through

operations. In fact, aerial shots are quickly

for broadcast agencies. Simply remove the

The Phantom DJI is one of the drones supplied for ﬁlm and broadcast work

TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Production vehicle from the ENG car or van and within 30

a ‘Drone Journalism Lab’. Initially, they were a

organisations that abide. With that success, it

seconds you are able to give the public access

bit ahead of the curve, as a cease-and-desist

appears likely that we will see media colleges in

to national cataclysms, weather events or aerial

letter from the aviation authorities grounded

other parts of the world follow suit. So, the sky is

landscape shots that can be transmitted live.

them for some time, but these latest rules are

the limit; as long as the sky is not higher than 400

going to give much more freedom to those

feet above ground level.

This year has proved to be the breakout year for drone journalism. In the US, for instance, institutions such as the University of Nebraska recognise this breakthrough and are becoming leading forces in this movement.

“Natural disasters can happen anywhere in the world, and viewers want to get full coverage as quickly as possible”

Former journalist Matt Waite won a $50,000 grant from the Knight Foundation to kick-start a small drone programme at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where they have established

22 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Feature

TVBAwards host, Ian Moore, welcomes guests to the 2016 event

TVBAwards

LIVE PRODUCTION Successful productions rely on many components

turns three

working in orchestration to deliver the end result.

A full list of the nominees and winners of this year’s TVBAwards for outstanding technical achievements in the broadcast industry

LIVE SPORTS BROADCAST

he third annual TVBAwards were held in

LIVE BROADCAST PRODUCTION

This category recognises the teams working together to deliver the best in live sports broadcast, live broadcast, and live broadcast sound.

WINNER SUITCASE TV All-IP remote production trial at Euro 2016

WINNER

London at the Grand Connaught Rooms on 20 October.

VRT EBU LiveIP project

Hosted in partnership with sister publication

APERI – Aperi ‘delivers on the IP promise’ at the

TV Technology Europe, the TVBAwards honour

Euro 2016

outstanding achievements in the broadcast

AVID – ARD and ZDF embrace Avid MediaCentral

FEATURE STORY NEWS – Live streaming of US

technology ﬁelds.

for Euro 2016 and Brazil’s summer Games

presidential visit to Cuba

CINEVIDEO SRL – UEFA Champions League

MOOV – Custom-built eight-camera live-

a lifetime achievement award on broadcast

Final 2016

production ﬂy-away for the PSA World Tour

industry luminary John Holton. In addition to

EVS – Workﬂow for ITN’s production of The

ABC/PRESTEIGNE BROADCAST HIRE – Good

developing the ﬁrst character generator widely

Football League

Morning America on Safari

adopted by the UK broadcast industry, Holton

GEARHOUSE – ﬁle delivery network for

ASPERA/BASE MEDIA CLOUD – Delivery of cloud-

became a regular contributor to the success of

ITV Sport at Euro 2016

based solutions for FIA Formula E

the annual IBC conference in Amsterdam and

NET INSIGHT AB – Net Insight and SVT deliver

DELUXE MEDIACLOUD/MP & SILVA – European

headed up the trade show’s exhibition.

Europe-wide remote production

NFL delivery

This year’s gala featured the bestowal of

TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Feature LIVE BROADCAST SOUND WINNER RIEDEL/EBU Eurovision Song Contest ITV – The Sound of Music Live NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE – Hamlet SIS LIVE – Rugby World Cup

PRODUCTION AND POST Highlighting the innovation coursing through the veins of the production and post sector, this category rewards those pushing the envelope in image capture, broadcast audio, and post production.

ACHIEVEMENT IN IMAGE CAPTURE WINNER THE GARDEN PRODUCTIONS LTD All Aboard: The Sleigh Ride

INFRASTRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT An often overlooked area of expertise, the infrastructure category highlights the impressive work being done in systems integration, archive digitisation,

AVECO – Take 2 Studio production automation by Aveco with customer

and media asset management.

development partner SWR Germany CANON – Canon UK / Offspring Films / VMI and Mark Payne-Gill for Monkeys:

An Amazing Family ELEMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES – High Dynamic Range Video Processing

TVBEUROPE IBC BEST OF SHOW STANDOUT AWARD WINNER

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND WINNER BBC R&D The Turning Forest

X.NEWS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY x.news v2.0 (ﬂexible panels upgrade) BRIDGE TECHNOLOGIES – Nomad MEDIABANK – SaaS product MAKE.TV – Live Video Cloud platform

MARK BRISCOE (HEAD OF AUDIO, DOCK10) – The Five ROBERT EDWARDS – Britain’s Got Talent

ACHIEVEMENT IN ARCHIVE DIGITISATION

BBC/THE SOUND ALLIANCE – BBC Proms

WINNER

ACHIEVEMENT IN POST PRODUCTION

BFI BFI National Archive BBC – BBC VE Day: Remembering Victory MEDIABANK – SaaS product TMD – TMD powers new cultural archive project at RTÉ

ACHIEVEMENT IN ASSET MANAGEMENT/ SYSTEMS INTEGRATION WINNER WINNER

IMAGINE COMMUNICATIONS Technology integration for Sky Italia

DOCK10 Happy Valley, series two

TEDIAL – MAM and BPM platform for WIN TV. Distributed regional

QUEST TV – 2016 Le Mans 24 Hour Race on Quest UK

VIZRT – The PGA’s MAM installation

BBC STUDIOWORKS – Eastenders

CANTEMO – Cantemo Portal implementation for Endemol Shine

DOCK10 – Match Of The Day

Australia

TIMELINE TELEVISION – Muhammad Ali: The Greatest (BBC Sport/BBC 1)

TSL – Marjan TV Networks

news and production network

24 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Feature TVBEVERYWHERE As the industry continues its move to more digital and non-linear means, the TVBEverywhere category pays homage to some of the cutting edge systems being used in programming and content provision across the industry. This year’s awards recognise VoD/catch-up and mobile TV provision, social media integration, as well as multiplatform production and delivery.

MULTIPLATFORM PRODUCTION AND DELIVERY WINNER HARMONIC AND NASA NASA TV UHD

SUSTAINABILITY Our new Sustainability category is introduced this year to recognise the invaluable work being done across the industry by individuals, productions,

ELEMENTAL TECHNOLOGIES – SDI-over-IP Transport

and organisations to improve the sector’s engagement with sustainable

SIMPLESTREAM – At The Races

business practice.

TV5 MONDE/PIXER POWER – StreamMaster VIZRT – Vizrt infrastructure for Expressen TV

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION

SOCIAL MEDIA INTEGRATION WINNER BBC PRODUCTIONS Coverage of Tim Peake’s mission to the ISS QUEST TV – 2016 Le Mans 24 Hour race on Quest UK SHOTGLASS MEDIA – Shotglass Media for X-Factor NEWTEK – TriCaster Advanced Edition and Facebook Live enable TRT World to report attempted coup in Turkey

TV ANYWHERE SOLUTIONS: VOD/CATCH UP AND MOBILE TV

WINNER BBC BLUE PETER PRODUCTION TEAM ANDY’S PREHISTORIC ADVENTURES (BBC Natural History Unit/CBeebies) EASTENDERS (BBC) LOOSE WOMEN (ITV)

INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNER WENDY WRIGHT – BBC DRAMA SUZANNE DOLAN – BBC TIM SCOONES – executive producer, BBC Natural History Unit

WINNER

STEVE SMITH – freelance director & sustainable production consultant

ERICSSON VoD infrastructure solution

BUSINESS AWARD

DVEO – Atlas Media Server

WINNER

EDGEWARE – Edgeware TV CDN: Dedicated TV service delivery architecture

BAND FILMS

SIMPLESTREAM – BoxNation NETGEM – Netgem’s multiscreen 4K TV solution for Post Luxembourg

RIMMS POWERLINE

TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Feature LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

HALL OF FAME

WINNER The new Hall of Fame initiative has been created to honour the individuals,

JOHN HOLTON

organisations, and technical advancements helping to shape the broadcast and media technology sector as we know it today. The Hall of Fame awards recognise three speciﬁc areas:

INNOVATION AND R&D AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT WINNER VRT EBU LiveIP project NEWSTAG – Newsshow as a service TIMELINE TELEVISION – UHD OB unit for BT Sport

START-UP/RISING STAR AWARD WINNER VESET John Holton was this year’s Lifetime Achievement award winner

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26 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016 Panel at IBC Rising Stars

Feature

Rising stars Rising Stars is a hidden gem of a sub-conference nestling within the giant broadcast and tech conference IBC, writes Oisin Lunny, senior market development manager at OpenMarket, and host of IBC Rising Stars 2016

to keep up with it; Elisabeth stating, “Could we have imagined autonomous cars seven years ago? It’s happening now. The ability to embrace change and transformation is a key skill.” Van Meer added that it’s not all about technical prowess, “Emotional intelligence is also needed

mongst the 55,797 delegates who

stars was that the best way to predict the

gathered in Amsterdam last month for

future is to invent it. AJ+’s Michael Shagoury

the main event, a hand-picked selection

then delivered a condensed social media

main theatre to join the ‘Power Lunch’ sessions

of younger participants, who IBC consider to

masterclass, using their innovative and highly

where industry experts hosted smaller workshops.

be ‘Rising Stars’, were treated to two days of

effective Colin Kaepernick social news items

Amongst the table hosts were Muki Kulhan,

carefully curated sessions, tours, workshops and

as the examples. He advised the audience to

executive digital producer of ITV’s The Voice,

mentoring, for free.

capitalise on the issues that people care about.

Alex Pettitt, live broadcaster, and representatives

Next, Steve Shannon demonstrated that less is

from Avid, NBC Universal, Filmstro, IET, Adobe

brought together some of the most important

more, and how Roku’s ad experience delivered

Systems and Fullscreen.

players imaginable across a diverse range of

more revenues and a better user experience

topics, with the goal of informing, nurturing and

through superior targeting. There are over

broadcasting hardware solutions for live sports

inspiring the next generation of talent.

30,000 developers globally working on the Roku

coverage while Michael Geissler, CEO of Mo-Sys

platform, triggering what Shannon called “the

Engineering, revealed the technical wizardry

revenge of the TV”.

behind their coverage of the Red Bull Races.

Olga Kim and the team behind Rising Stars

The sessions covered topics such as AR, VR, AI, robotics, social media, editing, streaming, music, extreme ﬁlming, new tech trends and the future of entertainment. Well-known brands in the space such as Avid, Roku, NBCUniversal, RTL, Cisco, Ericsson, AJ+, GoPro, BBC, HBO, Intel and Google shared the stage with innovators

Next, Danny Melger covered innovative

Television School then outlined what courses their Oscar and Bafta-winning alumni had taken, and advised how to follow in their footsteps. The conclusion of the speakers was that “without the right tech, you can’t get the story out there”, regardless of whether you are ﬁlming in space, in

The Edit, Mo-Sys, MUBI, The Foundry and Inﬁnite The concept of each session was to help

The rising stars then took a break from the

John Maxwell Hobbs from the National Film and

‘I have a feeling this will prove to have been a pivotal, career-changing event in many of the delegates’ lives’

and startups such as Brandwidth, Filmstro, Inside Wisdom Studios.

to bring companies to the next level.”

Finally, Eric Black, CTO of NBC Sports Group Digital, spoke about the huge logistics involved

a football stadium, or on a ﬁlm set. Virtual Reality is a hot topic in the

young professionals and entrepreneurs to

in covering the Rio Olympic Games, the largest

entertainment business, with the VR market

develop essential skills and knowledge that

digital event in history. This involved capturing 2.7

forecast to top $70 billion by 2020, according

will help them get ahead in the competitive

billion minutes of digital Olympics content over 17

to TrendForce. Rising Stars brought together

electronic media and entertainment industry. The

days. Asked how does he manage such massive

several of the leading lights to talk about “Virtual

delegates are able to see and handle the latest

scale events Eric’s answer was “coffee!”

Reality: the new reality” next. Jonathan Starck

technology, learn how the industry is developing,

The next panel discussion addressed the need

from The Foundry spoke about new VR use cases:

and also network with those who can really help

for ‘New Skills for the Robot-Dominated Future’,

VR tourism, projects such as UNICEF’s VR tours

raise their proﬁle and advance their career.

with Elisabetta Romano, vice president and

of a refugee camp and the New York Times

Day one kicked off with a hilarious but

head of TV and media at Ericsson, leading a

series The Displaced. Alexandre Jenny from

informative session from Dean Johnson, head

fascinating discussion with Alexander McWilliam

GoPro then spoke about how their affordable

of innovation at Brandwidth. Johnson somehow

(MUBI), Dave Ward (Cisco Systems), Geoffrey

technology is democratising VR production,

managed to cram in AR, VR, AI, hearables,

van Meer (RTL) and Laura Williams Argilla (Adobe

and predicted that Netﬂix and Amazon Prime

Chewbacca Mom and ﬂying ﬁsh into his opening

Systems). The panel agreed that technology is

would drive VR growth. Finally, Michael Ford from

industry overview. His sage advice to the rising

moving so fast it’s a vital career differentiator

Inﬁnite Wisdom warned not to dismiss VR as a

TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Feature niche, citing Netﬂix as having grown from niche to mainstream dominance in only a few years.

Finally, the Rising Stars audience gave an

Greg Spence at IBC Rising Stars

uproarious welcome to Game of Thrones producer

His motto or “whenevr, wherevr, and whoevr”

Greg Spence. He “opened the kimono” on one

was then showcased with a sneak preview of his

particular episode of the biggest TV show in the

hugely innovative collaboration Vertigo Films, the

world. Sharing unseen footage and SFX montages,

forthcoming hybrid drama-doc BASE.

Greg explained the huge logistical effort that went into producing the award-winning ’Battle Of

Rounding off day one was a session called ‘Back to the Future: Then, now and what’s next’

The Bastards’ episode, from casting to locations,

where industry legend Nick Lodge chaired a

costumes to backgrounds, stunt sequences to

vibrant panel discussion on the ‘Next Big Thing’.

bespoke camera equipment, and duplicated

Oliver Grau (Intel), Sascha Prueter (Google),

warriors to computer-generated horses. When

Jacklyn Pytlarz (Dolby Laboratories), and Si Lumb

this ﬁnal workshop ended, Greg stayed to answer

(BBC R&D) shared their own path to where

questions, surrounded with delegates visibly

they are now, and their thoughts on where

buzzing with excitement and inspired to take on

next for the industry.

the next stages of their careers.

Day two of Rising Stars shifted format to

IBC Rising Stars is an incredible chance to

include two tours of the IBC show, tailored for

learn, to get inspired, and connected; and it’s an

technical and creative purposes, and three

Jaeger, CEO of Filmstro, gave a live demo of

opportunity for senior professionals to invest in the

workshops from the best in the business. Paddy

their incredible time-bending, vision-matching

future of their industry. I have a feeling this two-day

Bird, CEO of the ‘Inside The Edit’ course gave

audio composition software, also demonstrating

event will prove to have been a pivotal, career-

an impeccably timed (and edited) tour of their

the huge impact that ﬁnding the right music can

changing event in many of the delegates’ lives. If

course and the results one could expect. It was

make to the ﬁnished article. The software gave

you would like to attend a future Rising Stars event,

both an enlightening look at the ﬁne art of video

one audience member “goosebumps” as she

you need to be under 30, or studying with a valid

editing, and a deep dive into some of the hidden

realised that the degree to which Filmstro software

student ID. Check out the IBC website for details of

subtleties of the craft. Following this, Sebastian

is “empowering creatives to become composers”.

next years event. I hope to see you there!

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28 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

TVBEverywhere

The immersive world of sports TV By Stan Dimitrov, product marketing manager, online video services and sports graphics, Ericsson s viewers increasingly watch video

ﬂexibility and reliability. Advances in UHD

content on multiple screens, often

broadcasting, such as new HEVC-based

engaging with more than one platform

solutions that can process UHD as a single

at the same time, the battle for content providers

picture, show that it is possible to deliver high

is no longer just about growth of viewership, but

quality content without stitching together

also about retaining the audience’s attention.

multiple signals. This delivers savings of up to

That holds true even more in the case of

40 per cent on bandwidth use for TV service

premium content – and sports in particular – as

providers, with far greater network efﬁciencies

broadcasters seek to extract as much value

and far smaller investments in hardware

as possible from their investment. Creating

to deliver the picture quality essential for

immersive sports experiences can be one way

coverage of premium events. These

to turn viewers into fans, not only of a particular

kinds of media processing

sport but of a media brand as well.

developments will contribute

“4K/UHD will no doubt become the baseline standards for viewing sports and other live programming ”

to improving affordability and increasing the availability of 4K and UHD

An immersive experience is stimulating to the senses and captivating enough to keep a viewer’s attention focused on the screen (or screens) used for consuming the content. There are three main elements to this: excellent picture quality; data and insights related to the sport/ game, presented in an understandable way; and the social aspect of sharing the experience and interacting with the content.

Picture quality Providing the best picture quality is often considered to be sufficient to deliver an immersive experience. It’s certainly an essential component and 4K/UHD will no doubt become the baseline standards for viewing sports and other live programming. Almost every broadcaster and sports content owner will want to include the option of offering high quality video experiences. However, the challenge will be to deliver them in an efficient manner without sacrificing

content.

TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEverywhere Access to data and insights Data is also turning out to be an integral part of the immersive sports experience. As with any other TV content, viewers want to have access to the most relevant information about the games they are watching: biographies of the athletes, leagues, teams, past sports events, and so on. All that information should be easy to discover and be available at their ﬁngertips, especially when they have multiple screens at their disposal. However, having this information available alone cannot deliver much value and engage viewers; it has to be structured and represented in an intelligent and visually appealing way.

“Data is turning out to be an integral part of the immersive sports experience”

A demonstration of augmented reality on Final Score

With sports graphics, data is turned into sports

players and other fans are tweeting about,

A player’s positions and speed during the

insight. As sports analytics and visualisation

what the comments from pundits are, and

entire game, the direction of a kick, tracking a

technology develops, these insights will be

how their friends are experiencing the game.

ball at every serve or pass – these are just some

used to create alternative sports stories,

All this chatter might be both distracting and

comparing the real game with a theoretical

stimulating, so it is important to integrate it

best move. In the not-too-distant future,

appropriately with the screen or multiple

viewers may even be able to have full access

screens where the sports content is.

examples of data that might be interesting to fans. But unlike team and events information, showing this data in its raw state won’t mean much and won’t be

to the data and visualise it on their own TVs.

able to capture and retain a viewer’s

The right combination of picture quality, sports insights and shareable highlights is an

attention. By analysing and interpreting

Sharing the experience

important part of any initiative to increase

the raw data, broadcasters can create

Another integral part of the sports experience

viewers’ attention and engagement. However,

a compelling story through graphics

is the social aspect; the ability to share the

the ultimate immersive experience is no

and on-screen effects.

sports experience with others and enjoy it

doubt yet to come as augmented reality

For example, instead of just pointing at

together. An important opportunity to spark

technology evolves and become more widely

where a player is positioned on the ﬁeld,

discussions and engage viewers is the possibility

available. Viewers will be able to experience

why not bring to life the whole team

to create ‘snackable’ pieces of content with

all the action in their living rooms without

the highlights of the games ready and easy

disconnecting from their environment and the

the course of a match? Instead of noting

to share with their friends and family on social

people they are with. At the same time, they

a player’s serve, why not map out the

media, for example. But they also want to

will have access to content and data to play

trajectory of all the balls served and display

know all of the buzz that’s happening around

with in real-time without moving their eyes from

that particular game on social media – what

the game they are watching.

formation and see how it changes over

it on screen for further analysis?

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TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Business

The art of reinvention George Jarrett speaks to Axon CEO Jan Eveleens about the new mentality driving IP and opex

an Eveleens, a 25-year veteran of the broadcast technology market, has a merited reputation for being candid.

As CEO of Axon, he readily admitted that the industry’s move away from SDI and capex to IP and opex has required some internal re-focusing,

“What are you going to do? Shut it down for

to verify exactly what the standard is going

maintenance – like all the cloud servers – for

to be. The fact that due process takes time is

a few hours or days? Leave viewers with no

slowing adoption down.

signal for a few days? You cannot do that in

“I completely agree with the (VRT’s)

broadcast,” said Eveleens. “Taking the concept

suggestion that it is best to start small when

of upgrading systems may not be as easy in

it comes to IP. There are so many things that

some parts of the industry.”

everybody has to learn – both vendors and

“Broadcast is way behind other industries moving into IP, so lets not try and reinvent things”

this because we are designing next generation

users, and then integrators. If you risk a big project, there is a very large chance that something serious will go wrong; that is not because the technology is particularly difficult or wrong, it is about your people. It’s about the knowledge level of everybody in the chain,”

systems,” he added. “They like the fact that it is

he added. “We all have to learn and make

capex to opex, but the implications of that are

In Axon’s experience of the end-user world,

mistakes, because that’s the best way

that you are not in full control anymore, and

strange things have happened. Eveleens said,

of learning.” It’s best to avoid the big

you have to rely on somebody else’s platform,

“People going into IP build what I would call

mistakes, however.

hardware or services. Not everybody has

almost a one-for-one replacement of the SDI

accepted that as a general mindset.”

network; they put a big switch in the middle and all the ports connect to the devices in

The new mentality

a central approach that is little different

In the IP world, you deploy the physical

from the SDI world.

infrastructure, and once the base configuration

“The reason for this is that they feel insecure

is proven, everything becomes software, all of

if you start to do fuller distributed or more

which can perpetually be upgraded. Open-

complex systems. Network management

source software was a big factor of IBC.

then becomes a real problem, and how you

“Software is going to play a big role in this

manage the streams,” he added. “A lot of

whole new world. It is replacing the traditional

people talk about using SDN technology for

systems, and certainly the move to IP makes us all

that, but very few people understand

more software-centric,” said Eveleens. “I am not

what they require there, so that’s why

sure how open-source will be used; we use it and

most implementations today just

everybody uses it for some parts of their chain.

adopt the central approach.”

There will also be a lot of proprietary stuff around, and I do not think it will be a fully open situation. “If you look at SDI, it was a proprietary

Users are waiting for SMPTE 2110

technology, and many of the tape formats

This can be an advantage

started as proprietary technology. We are an

as users get to experience

industry with a history of taking proprietary

a learning curve, but on

formats and making them the industry standard,

the downside, it does

so it is not strange that the mentality remains

not give them the full

in the industry,” he added. “But moving to IP is

flexibility provided

software driven, and there is the push towards

by an IP solution.

more generic systems. The new mentality is driven

The conversation

by the influence of the internet, and the broader

switched to the key

scale. This will have a huge impact on how the

elements of IP, starting

industry is shaped.”

with SMPTE 2110. “It’s good that this work is

A big switch in the middle

happening,” said Eveleens.

There is upgrading and upgrading, particularly

“Everybody wants it to go

for a facility that has to think about the

faster because many end-users

implications of putting out a live 24/7/365 service.

are now saying that they want

Jan Eveleens, Axon

32 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Business

BFBS using Axon Cerebrum At IBC, the issues around IP involved auto

to come to a common set of standards. This

Software is the future

discovery, registration and the eventual

is a big step forward from when everybody

Partnerships have been a big factor in Axon’s

wonderland of virtualisation.

tried to push his own technology forward. In

progress, and these have involved Dolby and

the beginning, we were not sure whether it

Civolution for technologies, and Utah Scientiﬁc

Project should become part of the SMPTE set of

was just another marketing hype from a few

for cross selling.

standards,” said Eveleens. “We’re getting there,

companies trying to get their message across.

but there are still open issues. A year ago, we

In fact, real stuff is going on, and AIMS is the

have the expertise everywhere, or the bandwidth.

knew the issues but nobody was really working

best of all activities right now, for reaching that

If you work with the right partners, it makes you

to solve them. But the AMWA project has moved

interoperable world in the IP domain,” he said.

stronger, but they also cost energy,” said Eveleens.

“The AMWA Networked Media Incubator

everything on quite a bit, so there is now a basic

“We joined AMWA in 2015 and now

“We cannot do everything ourselves. We don’t

“We are looking for a few other companies now

layer; a basic system is described and being

everything seems to be converging: AMWA

to see if we can strike partnerships. Especially

implemented. The next thing is the network

and AIMS are very close, and so too are VSF

going into the IP domain, there will be certain

management/control. This is just a big cloud in

and SMPTE, so it all starts to become one

aspects we can do, and then some we don’t

the system, and nobody knows how to do that

central effort.”

want to do, or think some are too big a mountain

reliably yet,” he added. Moving to the internet will inevitably raise signiﬁcant issues with regards to cyber security;

In addition to his main concentration on IP, Eveleens also has an acute understanding of UHD and HDR.

“There is no single answer for cyber security risk. Once you connect to the internet, sooner than

Eveleens, who believes that IBC will become a software show within ﬁve years, said, “In the long term we will see virtualisation and people moving

which is one reason that large, internet-based companies currently run on proprietary systems.

to climb. It’s a pragmatic approach.”

“Everybody is now convinced that the move to IP is for real, and not just another hype”

later somebody is going to try and get through

into the cloud with their systems and that will be all software. Lights and cameras will never turn into software. The other question is whether NAB and IBC will eventually disappear.”

your walls. That’s a given,” said Eveleens. “But

Skills shortages are a multi-industry concern,

that’s a generic IT problem. Do not try to solve

and Eveleens has speciﬁc views. He said, “There

it from the broadcast end, because the best IT

“UHD is going to happen, but at a slow pace.

are two elements to this problem. One concerns

people in banks and the military already know

In the transition to HD, we made mistakes –

people that are educated to the domain, so

the best practices.

we allowed interlace to happen, which was

they know what the industry is about and what

really stupid. All the screens used for HD are

the basic principles are: they are very hard to

can put in a ﬁrewall for video, allowing you to

progressive, so why the heck do we transmit

get because they are not what many schools

secure that piece of the trafﬁc. Attacks happen,

1080i? We should have gone to 1080p 50/60

and colleges turn out. Software engineers are

and sometimes they are successful because

right from the off, and we did not anticipate

also difﬁcult to get. The reason for this is that the

somebody made an error,” he added.

we could do more with the screens in terms of

economy is doing better and lots of companies in

colours and brightness,” he said.

many industries are hiring software people.

“We are thinking about some of the things you

One central effort

“Now we try to repair that, and most people

“Software is the future, but the schools are not

Axon is one of the later members of AIMS, and

combine HDR and wider colour gamut with

turning out as many engineers as they should.

it joined AMWA last year. What has Eveleens

4K. However, most viewers would not see the

Surprisingly, students are not motivated to go into

learnt? “AIMS is a good initiative because it tries

difference between a 4K screen with HDR and a

software engineering, so we are importing our

to unite a large group of vendors and end-users,

1080p picture with HDR,” he added.

engineers from Spain and India.”

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www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

34 TVBEurope

Post Production

Avid at the centre When Louis Hernandez Jr took the reins of Avid in 2013, he advocated an open-source revolution in workflows and opened the door to industry input via the creation of the Avid Customer Association. Some viewed the new Avid with caution. But with most vendor profits flatlining, the uptake of Avid’s Media Central platform grew by 47 per cent in the second quarter of this year. Neal Romanek spoke with the Avid CEO about the company’s strategy for success and the outlook for the media industry We’re in a volatile time for the media industry. What are the biggest challenges for content producers and the companies serving them? As tools have become cheaper, content has exploded. As a result there’s a lot more competition in the media business. The good news is you can reach more people now, but the bad news is the economic model for reaching them is quite different from how it used to be. Content consumption has gone up about 50 per cent in the last ten years, which is an amazing statistic. Humans want to connect through storytelling. The problem is that the 50 per cent increase in viewing doesn’t match the now 400 per cent increase in content choices and availability.

“Everyone feels like they are doing a lot more for a lot less” I’m on the road 80 per cent of the time, talking to clients mostly. Those running any of the major media companies always tell me some version of the same problem. The need for quality is more intense than ever because the dramatic increase in content has created so much noise in the system. You also have to make that Louis Hernandez Jr

content more available to more channels and devices, which costs money, and yet the ad conversion rate is so much lower. Everyone feels

but it’s strategic leaders in the media industry

all these organisations is that standardising

like they are doing a lot more for a lot less.

trying to navigate together. We’re up to about

proprietary tools is not your answer. I think you’ll

6,000 members now. The reason the Association

go from 25 per cent cost of connecting down to

big gears that used to be so proﬁtable trying

has become so vibrant, and some people –

15 per cent, which is good, but it should be zero.

to transition into a much more distributed,

not us – were shocked by it is that so much

If we all just used open platforms, we wouldn’t

economic model, where you have to be a lot

is changing. I felt like somebody, anybody,

need to have this discussion.

more efﬁcient. How do you participate when the

needed to step forward and attempt to lead

economic model is changing radically and still

this. I’m not a hardware person, and that’s why

is trying to standardise because it’s a business

be relevant to your community?

we’ve built things this way.

pressure. If we were white-boarding it, however,

What has the role been for the Avid Customer

What do think of the work of AIMS and other

be a more seamless connection. These open

Association, now that it has matured?

standards bodies?

standards-based systems are prevalent in many

Many people at ﬁrst thought the Avid Customer

We’re AIMS members. We think AIMS is a great

other industries and also prevalent at earlier

Association was a vendor-speciﬁc organisation,

idea, but the issue I sometimes have with

stage companies in the media industry.

That big wrenching noise you hear is those

This industry is dealing with its heritage and

we wouldn’t have all these blocks, and it would

TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Post Production We’re members of all those standards bodies – about 38 of them, which is part of the problem. One of those standards bodies is celebrating its hundredth anniversary this year. That’s not a good sign to me. More people than ever are now able to make and distribute content – is this democratisation of media paying off ﬁnancially? The democratisation of the creation and consumption of media doesn’t mean there has been economic democratisation. In fact, it’s the reverse. The yield term has become tighter, and fewer people make most of the money. It’s an important distinction.

“The intention wasn’t to make it harder to become a storyteller, but that’s actually what has happened”

Avid Customer Association event at NAB industry. The thinking used to be that movie

greater connection of creator and consumer

studios would have a portfolio approach. You’d

through digitisation. The intention wasn’t to

have some indie ﬁlms and some mid-market ﬁlms

make it harder to become a storyteller, but that’s

and some big budget ﬁlms. That’s pretty much

actually what has happened.

If you think about music, the top one per cent

gone. It’s all big blockbuster ﬁlms for the major

of musicians make almost 70 per cent of the

studios. Why? They’ve learned, through this yield

What’s going to bring about the evolution

revenue. Fifteen years ago, it was more like

curve model, that success with having a known

that the media industry needs to survive?

40 per cent. The rise in the amount of content

brand with known music, known actors and

I think the IT groups are going to force it – and

and choice is dramatic and the revenue

a known director is much more likely, and the

non media-savvy IT companies – because that’s

allocation is much more fragmented; and

adjusted failure rate is much lower.

how they operate and that’s how most of the

that’s true in all forms. I want to make sure we don’t confuse the fact that because there are more ways for you to consume that that equals the economic reality.

rest of the world operates. This is an industry with

“This is an industry with a rich and romantic heritage”

I actually think that this is the reason you’re

a rich and romantic heritage, and it enjoyed a time when the niche was proﬁtable enough that you could use what you perceived as best-ofbreed proprietary systems and connect them

seeing such intensity. If you’re not at the top

together. Those days are gone.

of the yield curve, you’re having a tough time

You don’t have a lot of small ﬁlms from the

making it. Maybe you’re in a category of

majors any more, and a lot of them have just

organisations in the industry and the economic

The two forces at work are the culture of the

company where investors don’t mind that you’re

shut down those indie brands. Music is even

reality. I believe that there are very few

losing money right now. Or you’re on the other

worse. It’s become much more concentrated,

organisations that are changing because of a

side of the yield curve and you want to optimise

in terms of who makes money. That’s the

cultural bias toward being agile: it’s because

what you’ve created. You see this in the ﬁlm

unintended economic consequence of the

economic reality is setting in.

36 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Audio

Leveraging the potential of immersive audio As the buzz around immersive and personalised audio continues to intensify, a small group of companies is at the forefront of change, among them German pro audio giant Lawo. Senior product manager Christian Struck discusses the present and future of these exciting technologies with David Davies

impact worldwide, with the number of immersive audio cinema screens increasing all the time. Meanwhile, the implications for the domestic environment remain more difﬁcult to predict. It is generally accepted that a 9 or 9.1 speaker conﬁguration is required to create an immersive

lthough 5.1 sound was actually used

whereas 5.1 and related conﬁgurations had

audio installation; something that only a fairly

in ﬁlm as far back as the 1970s (albeit

the ability to serve audio on one level only,

limited number of householders will have the

in a very minimal way), it was only

immersive audio adds height speakers to provide

space to accommodate.

in the 1990s that it started to become more

the listener with the opportunity for a truly three-

commonplace. This approach of employing ﬁve

dimensional experience.

full bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel to create a more compelling audio experience began to achieve traction in public cinemas and, eventually, the burgeoning home cinema market. In time, 7.1 and 9.1

screens, and which simulate three-dimensional

“The adoption of immersive audio is likely to be determined by the level of interest in 4K and 8K”

conﬁgurations would also gain popularity in some

sound by psycho-acoustic methods or clever sound reﬂection methods, does hold promise. A third approach – in which sound reproduction is optimised for headphone-only listening – arguably offers even greater potential for mass

areas of the consumer market. In the last few years, though, the conversation

However, an emerging new generation of soundbars that can be situated below TV

market adoption. Thanks to the advent of several speciﬁc

In short, it is evident that we are in a period of

has moved on once again. Now, increasingly,

immersive audio technologies, this new

signiﬁcant transition. But it is equally clear from

immersive audio is the name of the game;

approach to audio has already made a major

the increasingly frequent public and trade show

TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Audio More recently, the V2.0 of KICK,

As well as full support for the AES67

launched at IBC2016, extends

interoperability standard, the truck

the capabilities of the system to

is capable of up to 22.2 surround

address other sports and allows the

sound as a potential audio delivery

system to be supplemented with

format for the network. As part of

Lawo’s new motorised microphone

a long-term cooperative effort

stands, which are remotely

between NHK and Lawo, the two

controlled by the software and

companies have been working

allow the mics to automatically

together to develop the tools and

follow on-ﬁeld action.

practical applications needed

Lawo has been involved with some major projects that will help

Onboard the NHK OB truck

to create an immersive audio experience with 3D surround audio.

to signpost the future of immersive

In its current conﬁguration, the

audio. A new OB truck ﬁelded by

truck supports conventional stereo

Japanese broadcaster NHK last

and surround mix capabilities and

year is a prominent example of

serves as a test bed for deployment

work in this area.

of 22.2 mixing and monitoring.

“Immersive audio has the potential to draw the viewer more fully into the action than ever before”

demos taking place that immersive

brave new world of audio. The

audio has the potential to draw the

KICK automated audio mixing

The ﬁrst OB truck featuring

The adoption of immersive audio is

viewer more fully into the action

technology is a case in point.

Ravenna audio-over-IP technology

likely to be determined by the level

in the US, the facility features

of interest in 4K and 8K – the higher-

than ever before. Music and other

Introduced at IBC2015, KICK

entertainment content will be a

closeball mixing technology is an

Lawo’s mc²56XT mixing console.

resolution visual technologies for

primary beneﬁciary of immersive

important addition to immersive

The console provides a 64-fader

which NGA techniques will augment

audio, but the same can be said

and personalised audio, redeﬁning

surface in an audio booth with

sound-wise. On a content level, there

of sports, which has always been

audio production for live sports

only 84 inches of linear space,

is no doubt that immersive audio

a great driver of technological

events that use a ball. Interfaced

and accommodates 288 DSP

holds considerable promise in terms

change in broadcast.

to popular image analysis and

paths with 8,192 x 8,192 audio

of engaging viewers in ways like

tracking systems, KICK guarantees

routing capability and three

never before, and that has to be a

the early adopters of personalised

a consistent, fully-automated,

DALLIS I/O stageboxes in a

source of excitement for all members

audio, whereby home viewers will

high-quality, close-ball audio mix,

redundant conﬁguration.

of the pro audio community.

be given greater control over the

according to Lawo.

Sports is also likely to be one of

audio mixes that they experience,

It is important to note that

allowing them to adjust variables.

in object-based playback

For example, this would allow

environments – where allowance

viewers to position the commentary

must be made for personalisation,

more prominently in the overall mix

such as the TV viewer wishing

whilst reducing the audibility

to adjust the commentary level

of crowd noise.

in favour of the ambient noise

Given the impact that these

around the pitch, for example

new technologies may have on

– consistent closeball mix

the home audio experience in the

becomes even more important.

future, it is perhaps unsurprising

In immersive audio production,

that they are increasingly being

the sound engineers will have

grouped together under the term

to deal with many more tasks,

‘Next Generation Audio’ (NGA).

including metadata for audio

THE FUTURE IS CONTENT-CENTRIC Let’s optimize multiplatform scheduling

objects or listening to various

KICK-starting the future

downmixes; so any assistance that

Whilst the roadmap for NGA

can be provided during mixing

continues to take shape, the

is highly welcome. In addition to

team at Lawo is working to

audio-follow-video, KICK is the

provide broadcasters and content

logical next step, adding another

creators with the tools that they

important element to broadcast

need to move boldly into this

audio production.

www.mediagenix.tv

38 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Feature

Inside the managing directors’ office Rogo Scott may not be an established name throughout the media industry, but its rapid growth in the last year should see everyone stand up and take notice. James Groves hears from managing directors Ben Clasper and Peter Cook on recruitment, rebranding and a “four-minute” start-up

he story of how one finds themselves as a significant figure in the media industry is

always one that fascinates. Seldom do you ﬁnd an innovator who has planned such a route from an early age. Ben Clasper and Peter Cook, joint-managing directors of Rogo Scott, are no different.

“We achieved in one year what we set out to do in three” Peter Cook, Rogo Scott Clasper studied film and drama at the University of Kent, initially beginning his career in film production. “I hated it!” he says with a wry smile. “I quickly moved across into film distribution, which is where I really got into the business side. I pretended to enjoy the creative side, but it didn’t really make me tick. Show me some box office figures to analyse, however, and I’ll burn the candle at both ends!” Clasper spent just over two years in this space before moving to Counterpoint in 1998. He became an integral cog over 16 years, starting out as product manager and rising to senior vice president before the company was acquired by Vistex. At this stage, it was time to Ben Clasper (L) and Peter Cook

move on. “By then I had taken on a far more consultative and strategic role, which was considerably more

Clasper began helping small

ﬁnance and projects manager. “I

Turner Broadcasting. Starting off as

interesting to me,” he explains. “I

companies with their projects, and

quickly realised that it wasn’t where

a presentation coordinator, Cook

chose not to stick around when

that’s where Cook came in.

I wanted to be,” Cook explains. “I

rose through the ranks to work on

had ambitions in the media industry,

‘special projects’ with EMEA and the

Cook studied drama at the University

so I upped sticks and moved to

international business. “I was lucky in

of the West of England, working in

London.” Cook took on roles with

that I gathered a lot of experience

was in place to provide strategic

TV and theatre for a time before

ITV and the English National Opera,

on how the media industry works in

services to the media industry.

taking on a role at Morrisons as area

culminating in a six-year stint at

a short space of time,” says Cook.

Vistex came knocking, and started up Rogo Scott in 2014.” The newly-founded company

Not dissimilar to his counterpart,

TVBEurope

November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Feature Opting for voluntary redundancy in

client’s head ofﬁce, stipulating that

no idea how to execute. We

we work with that you don’t hope

2012, Cook left Turner to set up his

I had to have a limited company,

stick within the areas that we

you’re working with for the rest

own company – CookMedia – with

and it had to be set up by

know – mainly broadcast.”

of your career.”

a very similar mandate to what we

tomorrow! That was understandably

see at Rogo Scott today. “About

somewhat rushed, so I could start

to the bigger consultancies in the

a realist’s outlook when their

two years in, I heard about Ben and

trading, and the brand sort of just

industry: “They have these partner

heads could be lost in the clouds.

his company, so I got in touch.”

got parked as it was, as I started

or director-level people who have

“We have a natural limit on

taking on clients rather than

been hired because they know the

how far we can grow, in my

competition!” smirks Clasper. “We

focusing on the brand visuals

industry. They sell a project, and

opinion,” says Clasper. “In this

had both started up companies

and the marketing.”

then some bloke shows up who has

model where we’re so speciﬁc

“He was worried about the

Clasper compares this mandate

in the jobs we take on, and the

with the same objective, and it made sense to get Peter on board; which is why he’s here as joint managing director.” The pair had previously worked together on a rights management

To their credit, the pair maintain

“We wanted to create something purely staffed by people from the media industry” Ben Clasper, Rogo Scott

fact we want to have worked with the people we hire.” Summarising his time at Rogo Scott, Cook says, “I love what we’re doing together, and knowing that all of the people that we

project in 2013, when Cook was

have are just loving what they do

working for himself. “I knew our strengths and weaknesses,” Clasper

Due to these chaotic beginnings,

never seen a TV company in his life.

every day. We’re having fun along

says. “When companies bring me

Rogo Scott is now undergoing a

I don’t think consultants understand

the way, and the satisfaction in

in, they rely on me to choose the

rebrand – everything from the logos

how despised that process is. The

knowing that is immeasurable.”

best strategy, or come up with

to the visual and the colour. The

fact that we don’t do that has put

an entirely new one, and to be

ofﬁcial Rogo Scott launch event –

us into contention for very large

Christmas party at the end of

in governance, somewhat. The

despite being in operation for 18

projects very early on. People like

your ﬁrst full year, knowing that

number one gap in my skill set

months – will take place in February

the fact that they don’t have to

you’ve created a lot of jobs for

when starting Rogo Scott was

next year. “It will be as much about

explain their business processes.”

a lot of really good people – it’s

formal project and programme

educating our current clients on the

management, and I knew Peter

range of services we offer, just as

an impressive client list working

business that is going to double in

was more than capable of ﬁlling it.”

much as it will be about introducing

with well-known industry media

size, not because of revenue or

The vision leading to the creation

Rogo Scott formally to the industry,”

companies ranging from network

sales, but the community of people

of Rogo Scott was to build a

says Cook. “It’s an exciting time

owners to ﬁlm studios, broadcasters

that you set out to work with. We

company that didn’t exist in the

as we’ve attracted so much

to channel owners and music

only moved into our new premises

market. “We wanted a company

business and gone through so

publishers. Cook notes, “We’ve

a month ago, and now we need

that’s not an enormous consultancy

much growth before we’ve even

got our wish list. There isn’t a client

more ofﬁce space!”

like PwC or Deloitte, and to create

formally launched.”

something purely staffed by people

deﬁnitely something; having a

The atmosphere at Rogo Scott is

from the media industry,” explains

certainly one to envy. “The thing I

Clasper. In its initial hiring process,

like about what we’re doing is that

Rogo Scott built a skill set in every

we’ve worked with every one of

area they wanted to work in, and

our employees in some capacity

it grew very, very rapidly. “We only

throughout our careers,” says

really started properly in May 2015,”

Cook. “When someone comes into

says Cook. “We’re up to a dozen

the business, we already have a

people now, and the company

relationship with them. It all feels

has grown 300-400 per cent in the

very natural.”

last year. We achieved in one year

It’s often difﬁcult to decipher

what we set out to do in three. We

whether a business is the genuine

very much feel that we’re at this

article, or if they simply have

junction now where a ﬁve-year

a very good sales pitch. When

plan becomes a two-year plan and

meeting Rogo Scott, it’s clear that

we’re constantly looking towards

it couldn’t be closer to the former.

what’s happening.”

“We want people to be able to

Clasper barely appears to be

The company has already built

Clasper concurs: “Having a

walk straight into a project and

bending the truth when he says

contribute without taking our clients

that Rogo Scott had to be started in

away from their day job,” explains

“four minutes ﬂat”. He explains, “My

Clasper. “We don’t go and sell into

ﬁrst contract had to go through the

company’s projects that we have

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November 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 41

Data Centre

Content is still king

Rahul Gautam and Khalid Havat, respectively partner and director at Ernst & Young (EY), look at consumer attitudes towards TV services in telecoms bundling packages ast month, we released

market, a period marked by rapid

our ‘Navigating the Bundle

and continuing evolution and – in

Jungle: Content, connectivity

recent years – by growing maturity.

and consumer trust’ study, which

A number of factors have reshaped

monitors and evaluates the

the bundle landscape, including

attitudes of UK consumers towards

the widespread introduction of

bundled packages that incorporate

ﬁbre-optic broadband and 4G

both telecommunications and

services, and TV rights auctions.

TV services. The study draws on

The Bundle Jungle 2016 updates an

consumer insights generated

earlier study – released in 2013 – that

through an online survey of 2,500 UK

also explored end-user attitudes

consumers conducted in April 2016.

towards residential bundling. We

The publication of the report

took a closer look at the results

came at the end of a period

from a media and entertainment

of dramatic progress and

perspective, as well as changing

development in the UK bundle

consumer viewing habits.

VOD IS THE NEW LINEAR Let’s unify the workflow www.mediagenix.tv

xxx www.tvbeurope.com 42 201x TVBEurope

TVBEurope xx www.tvbeurope.com November 2016

Data Centre

Data Centre Looking to the future The continued (and potentially increasing) trust viewers place in the free-to-air broadcasters is a positive for traditional channels, but creates challenges for payTV operators. Might it mean consumers eventually value payTV less? On the other hand, set against this risk, it is notable that pay-TV delivers greater satisfaction for bundle consumers. This suggests that the pay-TV operators’ focus on customer experience – with enhanced content and connected TV propositions – may be key to competing with free-to-air broadcasters. In turn, free-to-air operators may ﬁnd that enhancements to the consumer proposition are crucial to their future success. Our survey results show that consumers are big on simplicity and trust, so media businesses should go with the grain

picture, with consumers embracing

xxxxxproved viable in the past, but that getting more important, with more change as viewers get used xxxxxcould consumers telling us they are to paying for ad-free subscription

new technology whilst also valuing

willing to pay for sport in 2016 than

the familiar. For example, far from

was the case three years ago.

seeing the demise of traditional

As well as watching just as much

Viewing on the move

video content to multiple

TV, we ﬁnd that more consumers

free and pay-TV broadcast

Despite signiﬁcant take-up of

devices in the home, that may

watch the ﬁve main channels

services, consumers are

smartphones and tablets, there’s

well change as superfast

than in our 2013 survey – perhaps

increasingly using VoD services. This

still little appetite for watching long

broadband becomes more

helped by innovations that make it

thirst for content is driving heavy

form content on the move, and

ubiquitous and viewing behaviours

easier to view anytime, anywhere.

investment in original programming

despite plenty of digital multi-

continue to evolve.

This mix of old and new highlights

from both established and newer

tasking in the home, there is – as

Consumers’ reluctance to

the need for providers to keep

entrants. Timeshifted viewing –

yet – little simultaneous streaming

hand over personal information

within the users’ comfort zone.

whether through catch-up TV or

of video content to multiple

should be a central concern for

Faced by multiple package and

personal video recorders (PVRs) – is

devices there.

all players, with 70 per cent of

Embracing the familiar Our report draws a complex

money. Premium content is also

VoD services.

they know, giving trusted brands a stronger base.

Device usage and proliferation is also a key issue: while consumers appear to have little appetite for simultaneous streaming of

customers saying they wouldn’t

platform options, consumers may be more likely to stay with what

of this priority.

“Freemium hasn’t proved viable in the past, but that could change as viewers get used to paying for ad-free subscription VoD services”

A thirst for content

pay a premium for ad-free video streaming. Here, trusted brands will have the advantage, making them better placed to responsibly harvest and harness consumer

Pay-TV providers can take comfort

data. In the future, this data may

from the fact that their content is

also on the rise and increasingly

This may change, however, with

prove vital for all parties, helping

an increasingly important part of

becoming the norm. While

the UK government’s commitment

pay-TV providers target new and

the bundling mix. The take-up of

consumers are happy to watch

to improving broadband

existing customers, and free-to-air

bundles that include TV options

TV content through VoD services,

infrastructure, and media

channels better meet the needs

was not only above 2013 ﬁgures,

they’re not so keen to pay.

companies’ renewed focus on

of advertisers.

but generated higher levels of

The freemium model is one that

enabling users to simultaneously

Old or new, free or pay, at home

satisfaction and loyalty. Users also

has been tried by broadcasters to

view different bundle channels

or on the move: bundle providers

see greater worth in their pay-TV,

attract paying viewers to catch-

on a range of devices within the

face a new set of challenges in

with 60 per cent of households

up TV services in return for ad-free

home, including tablets, laptops

a market that is both mature and

agreeing they deliver value for

content – that approach hasn’t

and mobile phones.

constantly changing.

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