digital broadcast - feb 2010

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 2 FEBRUARY 2010

An ITP Business Publication

Will 3D TV be a missed opportunity for Middle East broadcasters?

COMMERCIAL BREAKSMaximising revenues from

interactive advertising apps

THE BUSINESS OF DIGITAL CONTENT DELIVERY

AFTER THE STORMBroadcasters to pursue post-

downturn plans at CABSAT

Licensed by Dubai Media City

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CONTENTS

FEBRUARY 2010

36AFTER THE STORMA look at some of the picks from next month’s

CABSAT show in Dubai.

27COMMERCIAL BREAKSHow to get the most from targeted and

interactive advertising technology.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE...

WEB HIGHLIGHTSSpot poll: Will HD compensate

for OSN’s loss of EPL?; top web

stories; editor’s choice: iPad.

THE BRIEFINGAMG CEO steps down; UAE’s

TRA to push for improved telco

competition; OSN goes HD.

SERVICE ARRAYSenior satcoms execs discuss the

benefits of diversifying services.

COVER STORY: ANOTHER DIMENSIONDigital Broadcast looks at 3D TV’s

regional prospects at a time when

HD is only just finding its feet.

MARKET ANALYSISFind out what consumers will and

will not pay for online.

4

8

14

22

40

22 THE MOSTCOMPREHENSIVEFAMILY OFDIGITAL TVMONITORING,MEASUREMENTAND ANALYSISPRODUCTSIN THE WORLD

04 www.digitalproductionme.comFEBRUARY 2010

DPME.COM ROUND-UP

EDITOR’S CHOICE

MOST POPULAR STORIES

1 Middle East should not rush 3D TV: Taj TV exec

2 Omnicom TBWA confirms twofour54 move

3 UAE telco watchdog to boost operator competition

4 JCC unveils first Arabic VOD educational portal

5 Jordan orders online press crackdown

VOD advertising technology and data firm

Concurrent has announced plans to trial its

services with operators in the Middle East as

early as this quarter.

digitalproductionme.com/news

VOD AD FIRM TARGETS MIDDLE EAST IN 2010

The online home of:

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ALSO ON THE DPME SLATE THIS MONTH...

HD and SD graphics systems are becoming increasingly affordable.

ANALYSIS

GRAPHICALLY SPEAKINGMBC’s Sam Barnett reveals how the network has thrived in the downturn.

INTERVIEWS

BUCKING THE TREND

Saudi’s Al Ikhbariya news channel streamlines its newsroom operations.

TECHNOLOGY

AVID NEWS CHASERSThe point of connec-tion: Will Nexus One’s arguably exorbitant retail price damage its chances?

COMMENT

GOOGLE’S NEXUS ONE

IN PICTURES

JOBS UNVEILS IPAD

digitalproductionme.com/analysis

digitalproductionme.com/technology

digitalproductionme.com/interviews

digitalproductionme.com/comment

Apple reveals its latest device designed to shake-up the con-tent delivery landscape.

READER COMMENT: “If I were watching a VOD movie, I’d protest the presence of any advertis-ing. Unless there is an ‘incentive’ to watch ads... Such as exchanging ad views for VOD credits.”Clyde, UAE.

SPOT POLL

WILL THE OSN HD ROLLOUT COMPENSATE FOR THE IM-PENDING LOSS OF THE EPL?

49% EPL will be on OSN, they’ll do a deal with AD Sports.

26% HD will attract more subs than EPL ever did.

15% EPL wasn’t that hot.

10% HD EPL would win out. DA

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EDITORIAL

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COMMENT

FEBRUARY 2010 07

N ext month’s CABSAT exhibition

offers the broadcast industry a much

needed dose of reality.

The combination of Avatar and the

raft of 3D TV announcements generated at the

CES show in Las Vegas fuelled a frantic month

of hype that made its way into the mainstream

press and water cooler conversations everywhere.

CABSAT presents the perfect opportunity for

the region’s broadcasters to come back down

to earth and turn their attentions squarely on

the essential upgrades and short-term changes

needed to fine tune their operations.

While 3D TV deserves its place on the agenda

for the industry at large, there are more pressing

issues locally that need some attention.

The roll out of HD channels is upon us in

the Middle East. Although most of the major

broadcasters have installed the majority of the

infrastructure required for HD, CABSAT provides

the perfect shop window for them to tie up any

loose ends or upgrade HD kit purchased several

years ago.

CABSAT remains by far the best event

for broadcasters to meet face to face with

the manufacturers, developers and systems

BACK TO REALITY

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

integrators to discuss how best to execute these

plans within budget and on time.

The reappearance of the Satellite MENA show is

also timely.

The increasing number of events hosted in

the Middle East is fuelling requests for DSNG

services by overseas clients and the opportunity

is there for local operators that can fulfil these

requirements with a high quality of service.

These events together with the emergence of

HD will drive additional demand for capacity

– for contribution and distribution – making

CABSAT’s sister show the perfect time to discuss

how to meet this demand in the coming year.

Investments in asset management systems,

digital archives, internal and external content

networks and the upgrade of studio sets and

production equipment to meet HD standards will

keep visitors and exhibitors busy at the show.


THE BRIEFING

This year’s edition of CABSAT and Satellite

MENA, the Middle East’s largest annual broad-

cast industry exhibition, is on track to eclipse

the 2009 event in terms of floorspace, claims

event organiser Dubai World Trade Centre.

While declining to reveal actual figures, a

DWTC representative confirmed the show was

“already bigger than last year”.

The claim would appear to be supported by

the fact Sony, Arabsat, SmartSat and Hamresan

have doubled their stand space for 2010 while

other key players including AMT, Hitachi, Tek

Signals, The Vitec Group and UBMS have also

committed to the show.

The exhibition will also welcome some big

names such as Hewlett Packard (HP) and Blus-

ens for the first time in 2010.

CABSAT will run from 2-4 March.

Abullatif Al Sayegh confirmed last month he had

stepped down as CEO of the Arab Media Group

(AMG) after nine years with the company.

“I have been here since 2001, and I believe now

I have completed nine years it is time to (move

on). It is not about making more money, it is

about... I have done quite enough, and I saw my

role was not as effective as it used to be. I am a

person who just wants to keep going and build-

ing and doing more, and right now everything is

established,” Al Sayegh stated.

In October 2009, state-backed rival Dubai Me-

dia Incorporated (DMI) took control of some of

AMG’s products including its daily newspa-

pers Emirates Business, Al Emarat Al Youm

and its Noor Dubai Radio and TV station

following a resolution from Dubai

ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin

Rashid Al Mak-

toum. Under

the resolution,

the transfer

included all assets, properties, rights, liabilities

and commitments while all staff also moved

from AMG to DMI.

Al Sayegh plans to set up a media consultancy

within the UAE to help foreign media players

looking to set up in the Gulf understand local

demographics and sensibilities.

“I believe I could be a great help to the entire

region rather than just focusing on my own

company,” he said adding that

leaving AMG would create an

opportunity for others in the

team he built.

Al Sayegh will be re-

placed by former executive

director Mohammed

Al Mulla.

ARAB MEDIA GROUP CEO STANDS DOWNLong-serving boss resigns months after products and staff shift to DMI

CABSAT TO DEFY DOWNTURN: ORGANISERS

MONTH IN NUMBERS

6.7 billionGoogle’s revenue in the

last quarter of 2009

BROADCAST BUSINESSGOOD MONTHGOOGLEGoogle has announced quar-terly profits of US $1.97 billion after a strong performance in its online ad business during the holiday season.

The results also showed a 17 percent revenue growth compared to the same period last year having taken $6.7 billion during the quarter.

“Given that the global economy is still in the early days of recovery, this was an extraordinary end to the year,” said Eric Schmidt, CEO, Google adding that he was “hugely optimistic” about 2010.

BAD MONTHYAHOO!Yahoo! recorded mixed Q4 financial results, with revenues down on the same period of 2008 but improving slightly over the preceding quarters of 2009.

Revenues decreased four percent from the fourth quar-ter of 2008 and increased 10 percent from the third quarter of 2009.

“Our business has positive momentum and we feel good as we head into 2010,” said Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz.

6.5 billionYahoo’s revenue

for all of 2009

Abdullatif Al Sayegh, former CEO of the Arab Media Group.


THE BRIEFING

FEBRUARY 2010 09

Orbit-Showtime,

which has been re-

branded as OSN

(Orbit Showtime

Network) will

launch eight new

channels this month,

of which three will be

in High Defini-

tion. The new

offerings

will include

OSN Ara-

bia, OSN

Variety,

Food Network, BET (Black Entertainment

TV), Discovery ID and OSN Movies HD,

Discovery HD Showcase and Nat Geo Wild

HD. The network promises that more HD

channels will be available on its bouquet

in the course of 2010.

The HD channels will only be avail-

able on OSN’s HD receivers, which will be

rolled out to its subscribers this month

Marc-Antoine d’Halluin, CEO of OSN

commented that the pay TV operator will

deliver on its promises.

“When Orbit and Showtime merged in

2009 we promised to deliver the best pay-

TV platform in the Middle East and North

Africa. Now, in less than six months we

are ready to unveil OSN, a single plat-

form that offers even more Western and

Arabic premium content than ever before

on its exclusive 75 channel platform. We

continue to push boundaries and lead the

industry by launching the region’s first

HD bouquet and the region’s first Western

channel fully dubbed into Arabic.”

MOTOROLA ACQUIRES DRM AND CA FIRM SECUREMEDIAMotorola has announced the acquisition of con-ditional access and digital rights management (DRM) software developer SecureMedia.

Under the terms of the deal SecureMedia will be integrated into Motorola’s Home and Net-works Mobility operations. The deal is expected to be finalised before the end of March.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

OSN’S BUDDING HD BOUQUETOSN will launch three new HD channels

this month; OSN Movies HD, Discovery HD Showcase and Nat Geo Wild HD.

PLATFORMS

OSN COMPLETES RE-BRAND AND EXTENDS HD OUTPUTEight new channels including three in High Definition launch this month for new look OSN

The Middle East should concentrate on HD. I don’t see any possibility of 3D coming to the region inside the next three years. MANAF AHAMMED, director of operations at Taj TV.

DISCOVERY LOOKS TO EXPAND MIDDLE EAST PRODUCTIONDiscovery Networks is looking for local partners as it aims to ramp up its Middle East produc-tion, a senior exec has told Digital Broadcast.

Discovery is looking to broaden the range of themes covered in its Middle East content, said Caleb Weinstein, senior VP and general manager, Discovery Networks EMEA.

JORDAN ORDERS EXTENSION OF ONLINE MEDIA CRACKDOWNJordan is to extend its Press and Publications Law to all online content including news sites and blogs, drawing criticism from media activists.

Web filtering watchdog OpenNet Initiative previously referred to Jordan as a “beacon in a region of heavy Internet filtering”, this situation could now be set to change.

Caleb Weinstein.SecureMedia COO, Fred Ellis.

010 www.digitalproductionme.com

THE BRIEFING

FEBRUARY 2010

The UAE’s telecoms watchdog on Monday pub-

lished its new regulations to ensure greater com-

petition between operators Etisalat and du.

Under the new Competition Framework, the

Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA)

said it would crack down on any anti-competitive

practices, adding that any complaints lodged by

either company would be investigated.

Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, director general of

the TRA, said the move was an “important piece”

for regulating the telecoms sector in the UAE in a

statement posted on the TRA’s website.

He added that the new regulations would help

“foster growth and development of the telecom-

munication sector through

the creation of sustain-

able, vibrant and fair

competition”.

The new framework

policy said it was “ulti-

mately for the benefit

of consumers... by

deterring en-

tities from

engaging in

unfair and

e x c e s s i v e

pricing”.

BROA

DCA

ST BRIEFS

BROADCAST BUSINESS

UAE TELCO WATCHDOG TO PUSH FOR COMPETITIONNew framework designed to stop ‘unfair and excessive pricing’ in UAE

THE BRIEFING

JCC UNVEILS VOD ED-UCATIONAL PORTALAl Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC) and the Qatar Founda-tion have launched a learning website called Taalam.TV aimed at teachers and pupils.

The website, which in-cludes educational resources and videos extracted from JCC programming, is aimed at making teaching more stimulating for students.

VOD ADVERTISING FIRM SETS SIGHTS ON MIDDLE EASTAdvertising technology and data specialist Concurrent has revealed it is looking to break into the Middle East this quarter and is looking for partners to trial its services.

The firm offers advertising, content and audience data to enable broadcasters to offer targeted advertising.

“The region is our next expansion territory, we’ll be looking for service providers to trial our solutions,” said Paul Haddad, VP and general manager of Concurrent’s Media Data and Advertising Solutions (MDAS) business.

The total annual revenues from transactional VOD in the US will reach by 2013. Source: Futuresource Consulting2.4 billion

GREG HOSKIN JUMPS SHIP TO OMNIBUSGreg Hoskin has stepped down from his position as man-aging director of MHz Systems to take the role of executive VP

of broadcast sales at Omnibus Systems.Hoskin, who previously worked for Omnibus,

will play a key role in developing the markets for the manufacturer’s iTX IT-based transmis-sion and automation platform.

“I made the decision to rejoin Omnibus because of the huge potential of the iTX plat-form,” said Hoskin.

RED BEE MEDIA APPOINTS NEW CTORed Bee Media has appointed Brian Levy as director and chief technology officer.

Levy was previously VP and CTO for the

communications and media solutions software business at HP.

“Red Bee Media has a unique fusion of inte-grated solutions for the changing demands of the market,” said Levy. “I am looking forward to joining the business. It is perfectly poised to take advantage of the convergence of televi-sion, video, broadcast and the internet.”

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Mohamed Al Ghanim, director general of the UAE TRA.

2 4 54_Intaj_Digital Studio_205x275.ai 2/3/10 12:12:25 PM


THE BRIEFING

FEBRUARY 2010 012

Developments in 3D TV in the Middle East are

unlikely to begin within the next three years,

according to Manaf Ahammed, director of op-

erations, Ten Sports.

With high definition services still in the fledg-

ling stages in the region, Ahammed believes 3D

ambitions should be put aside until these have

been perfected.

“One of the main reasons that I don’t see 3D

TV in this region in the next three years is con-

tent,” said Ahammed. “Real 3D has to be shot in

3D, converting regular content is not enough.”

A new report from Euroconsult has found growth

in the global satellite pay TV market remained

strong in 2009 despite the economic downturn.

The Satellite TV Platforms, World Survey & Pros-

pects to 2019 report found that pay TV platforms

combined currently reach 131 million subscribers

and earned $70 billion revenues in 2009.

“Subscriber growth in the satellite pay TV mar-

ket has been robust, increasing 15 percent world-

wide,” explained Pacôme Revillon, CEO of Euro-

consult. “Growth in emerging digital markets has

been particularly strong.”

MIDDLE EAST SHOULD NOT RUSH 3D TV: TAJ TV EXEC

GLOBAL PAY TV REVENUES TOPPED $70 BILLION IN 2009

TELECOMS MARKET

The United Arab Emir-ates (UAE) Telecom-munications Regula-tory Authority (TRA) has confirmed that a new policy to allow voice

calls over the internet is being ‘implemented’, local daily Khaleej Times reported.

The news is the latest chapter to the issue of legalising VoIP in the country. In 2008, director general of the TRA, Mohamed Al Ghanim, revealed that the authority was developing a framework for VoIP providers but that there were challenges as-sociated with it. In reaction, local ISPs Etisalat and du confirmed they were both prepared to roll-out the technology pending the TRA’s final ruling.

UAE TO PERMIT LIMITED VOIP SERVICES IN UAE

Google has finally taken the wraps off its ‘iPhone killer’, known as Nexus One.

As previously reported by Digital Broadcast, the smartphone handset is being manufactured by Android technology partner HTC, but with some exclusive features that exceed those available in Apple’s iPhone, according to the web giant.

Google has launched a web store located at

www.google.com/phone, where customers located in the US, Great Britain, Sin-gapore and Hong Kong, can place orders for the device. Other international markets for Nexus One will be consid-ered throughout 2010.

GOOGLE TAKES THE WRAPS OFF NEXUS ONE HANDSET

BROA

DCA

ST BRIEFS

4G MULTIMEDIA SER-VICES ‘TO GENERATE $70 BN BY 2014’A new report from ABI Research predicts that as 4G network deployments gather momentum, a substantial 22% of device subscription revenues will come from suites of operator-branded premium services. Further-more, it estimates total 4G mobile consumer service revenue – including mobile Internet services – will grow rapidly to exceed $70 billion worldwide in 2014.

According to ABI Research practice director Philip Solis, “operators of 4G networks will refuse to be marginalised as ‘dumb data pipe’ service providers. Instead, they will offer suites of ‘smart services’ – some internally developed, others with part-ners – that will be provided over ‘smart networks’ en-abled with all-IP technolo-gies, IMS infrastructure and cloud-based storage”.

Solis claimed these 4G services would be optimised to enable a proliferation of mobile devices. He also predicted the technology would ensure a range of multimedia services, includ-ing VOD and P2P video sharing, would come to the fore commercially.

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014 FEBRUARY 2010 www.digitalproductionme.com

VOX POP

MOHAMMED AL SHAHISenior director, du Broadcast Services.

SERVICE ARRAY

It’s very important for a broadcast services operator to offer a diverse range of services. We

don’t just want to focus on satellite we also want to focus on fibre, file transfer, technologies

like Signiant and BT’s MPLS transfer, we want to bring those services into the region and make

our broadcasters use them and utilise them, not just our satellite services.

It’s about providing the latest services to your clients and expanding your product port-

folio so yes we are always looking at new product to enrich our offering.

Two things drive this diversification, the technology and also the market demand.

We have received a few requests from some of the top broadcasters for services that

weren’t yet offered by us so we have investigated that technology and we do this in

partnership with our clients and our technology partners.

File transfer – whether it’s over the internet, MPLS networks, SDH fibre – this

has been used in Europe and US for some time and as we are seeing more

fibre links come into the region people are starting to use these services for

contribution for sending live and recorded content. A lot of content is sent

from the Europe and the US by tape, why not send these by file transfer.

It’s more efficient and it’s more cost effective too.

New technologies outside of the satellite industry drive added

demand too. HD and now 3D are bringing more business for satellite

operators and will bring them some growth.

If an operator did not diversify its services it would miss out on a

lot of the new trends. The competition would take all the business in

these new areas and expand and they would be left behind with their

narrow portfolio.

As part of a telco we have lots of telco expertise in house that

has helped us move into these new areas. This is a big advantage.

We have the infrastructure, the international submarine cable

systems, we have colleagues in other departments at du that will

help us with other technologies whether its submarine cables or

video expertise.

The satcoms industry has performed particularly well during difficult economic times. Digital Broadcast asks representatives from the industry about the trend for diversifying services that has helped many operators

enjoy a boom during the bust.

FEBRUARY 2010 015www.digitalproductionme.com

VOX POP

DIVERSIFY ON DEMANDOMAR SHOTERCEO, Noorsat.

Diversification has always been a sensible option

for businesses to consider. It is important for

satellite operators to diversify within the scope

of their business to reduce the risk of depending

on one market segment and a limited customer

base. By providing new offerings to the

market companies can achieve growth

and find new ways to better utilise

existing resources.

This situation has always been

the case in the satellite communi-

cations industry for many reasons,

which are a mix of technology and

the natural evolution of the business.

Satellite operators are taking

advantage of the growing demand for

new applications and services,

which will increase the

utilisation of exist-

ing and planned

satellite resources.

The areas of

providing space

segment capaci-

ties for telecom, data and broadband services,

have proven to be successful sources of new busi-

ness. This success was possible because the expan-

sion in these services is supported by the growth

being witnessed in these various telco sectors.

We have expanded our services to offer capacity

for telecom services, including telephony, satellite

based internet and point-to-point connections.

These new services, in addition to our existing

core business of providing satellite DTH TV

capacity on the only two hotspots used

to reach the Arab World and providing

backhauling and TV feeds to the pub-

lic and private Arab TV sector, have

enabled us to sustain our revenue,

achieve growth and offer our available

satellite resources to a broader market.

We are gearing up to provide HD TV

transmissions and preparing other solu-

tions required for new technol-

ogy applications and a

variety of uses of

satellite services.

This will ensure

a continued

diversifica-

tion in the

future.

SOU

RCE: OOX

These new ser-vices... have enabled us to sustain our revenue, achieve growth and offer our available satellite resources to a broader market. We are gearing up to provide HD TV trans-missions and preparing solutions required for new technology appli-cations and a variety of uses of satellite ser-vices. This will ensure a continued diversifica-tion in the future.

OMAR SHOTER

CEO Noorsat

SERVICE SURVEY

TELCO CUSTOMERS BRINGING NEW BUSINESSThe World Teleport Association (WTA) surveyed executives from teleports in 12 dif-ferent countries about the source of their revenues at present and their priorities for their respective businesses in the future.

At present media and entertainment comprises the largest chunk of revenue at around 34.7 percent. Terrestrial telecom service providers come in second on 17.8 percent. Enterprise, satellite carriers and government and military applications make up the rest of the pie.

When you consider the priorities for the future we see a swing with mobile backhaul rated as the most pertinent target for teleport operators beating TV and radio contribu-tion and distribution into second place, even though these service represent more than a third of current revenues.

Other new opportunities, including man-aged networks and internet backbone, also prove popular with more than 40 percent of those questioned citing them as high priorities for the coming years.

The above graph shows that the satcoms industry is increasingly looking to pro-vides full services, rather than providing capacity for others to run these services from. This trend has already protected the sector from the effects of the recession.

Media and entertainment still encompasses the largest chunk of revenue for teleport opera-tors but telcos and enterprise customers are on the up.

SOURCE: World Teleport Association

Th b h h h h i d i i i l l ki

Applications: Priorities of the Business

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Intl voice (nonVOIP)

WiFi backhaul

Mobile TV

Non-broadcast content

Internet backbone & VOIP

Managed network svcs

SNG

TV/radio contrib/distrib

Mobile backhaulHighLowNone

Source of Revenue by Industry

Media & Entertainment,

34.7%

Civilian Govt & Military, 12.1%

Enterprise, 17.5%

Terrestrial Telecom Service

Providers, 17.8%

Satellite Carriers, 15.2%

Other, 2.6%


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timing. Alternatively, the subtitles may be a trans-

lation of existing subtitles with relevant retiming

and editing for inappropriate material.

Often subtitles may not be available in advance

of time of air, or need late editing, and this re-

quires a facility for late playout. While live events,

such as news or sports broadcasts, require live

input from a subtitling workstation via a subtitle

transmission unit, either through the use of high

speed input devices such as Steno or through re-

speaking of dialogue or commentary, using voice

recognition that is trained to the subtitler’s voice,

with the generated subtitles sent to air either by

a voice or keyboard command, with the ability

to correct misspellings or incorrectly recognised

words. These early, late and live workflows require

an end-to-end subtitling solution, with seamless

Compressed production cycles, require-

ments for easier global distribution

and high definition are driving a shift

to file-based or tapeless workflows.

As broadcasters, networks and content creators

switch to file-based operations the traditional

captioning workflow has ceased to be a viable way

of handling the growing requirement for caption-

ing, especially as much content is now delivered

across multiple formats.

In file-based broadcasting, the typical subtitling

workflow is to use early bound subtitles, where

the subtitles are encoded into the asset

stored on the server well in advance of

broadcast, or may even be ingested to

the server complete with subtitles. The

subtitles may be created on a subtitle

preparation workstation, or require

extraction and editing, for example to

fit a version of the content that has been

squeezed to fit a time-slot. A subtitler may

Increasing statutory requirements, viewer expectation and geographically diverse content distribution mean that subtitling is now an integral part of modern broadcasting and content delivery, writes Sam Pemberton.

Estimated value of the European dubbing and

subtitling market.

$650 million

TECH TALK


TECH TALK

integration into a broad range of automation,

workflow and video server systems and sup-

port for numerous file types and formats.

Often content needs to be repurposed for

broadcast or for web and mobile formats,

which may require that the content is also

edited down or squeezed to fit a particular

time-slot or to remove unsuitable material.

If subtitles have previously been created

and encoded into the video, these must be

extracted using Apple Final Cut Pro or similar.

When this is done, an Edit Decision List (EDL) is

created, which describes the edits, detailing the

time code or frame reference of a cut or squeeze.

Using a file-based subtitle and caption data

processor, subtitles can be extracted from the as-

set to a file and can then be edited as appropriate,

referencing the EDL, using a subtitle preparation

workstation. It’s important to select software

designed to make creating and editing subtitles as

efficient as possible. Look for features to quickly

reformat subtitles or change in/out times, and

adapt subtitles to different frame rates at the click

of a button. The preparation software should allow

files created for one format of playout, such as

DVB, to be exported in other formats like DVD or

Blu-ray bitmaps.

Also useful are pre-definable house styles that

include quality control measures such as

reading speed, along with the ability

to review subtitles at any stage,

either before committing them

to the file or after, via a browse

quality clip simulating burnt-

in subtitles.

Once the required edits have

been made, the subtitle file is re-

inserted into the original or edit-

ed video asset, using the file-based

subtitle and caption data processing

software. If content is to be repurposed for

the web or mobile, these platforms can be handled

by transcoding the video to the required output

format then either burning in for mobile or adding

a suitable subtitle file (for example DFXP or SAMI)

to the asset for web playout.

Integration with video servers and workflow

systems for early bound workflows

Seamless integration with video servers and

workflow systems is vital for efficient file-based

subtitling workflow. Integrating with the video

server ensures that native file formats including

key variants such as 436M tracks in MXF files are

As broadcasters, networks and content creators switch to file-based operations the traditional captioning workflow has ceased to be a viable way of handling the growing requirement for cap-tioning.

SAM PEMBERTON,

CEO, Softel

Sam Pemberton, CEO, Softel.

fully supported, as well as making job processing

more efficient by using built-in APIs and interfac-

es. Subtitle processing can usually be performed

against native browse quality clips, saving time,

while final encoding should be faster than real-

time, so for example an hour long program can be

processed in a matter of minutes.

By integrating with workflow systems, subtitle

processing jobs can be made not only more ef-

ficient through increased automation, but can

also be closely aligned and prioritised with the

broadcast schedule. The subtitling solution should

offer different methods to automate job process-

ing: where the product is used manually in a post

production environment, jobs can be submitted

in batches for efficiency. At a higher level, it should

also feature a flexible Software Development Kit

(SDK), providing an extensible interface that al-

lows integration with virtually any automation or

workflow system.

At the core of an integrated subtitling solution,

a sophisticated subtitle transmission unit can play

a pivotal role and become more a master cap-

tion management platform, driving

off-line caption insertion (early

binding), identification and

playout of late and/or near

live caption files and

switching of live input.

With the right blend

of integrated technolo-

gies and expertise,

multi-lingual sub-

titling in file-based

workflows can be

made more efficient

and cost-effective.

Sam Pemberton is CEO

of Softel.

int

wo

po

O

bro

wh

edi

tim

If

and

extra

When

create

time c

Usin

process

set to a

referen

worksta

designe

efficien

reforma

adapt s

The number of hours of sub-titled or dubbed content shown

on European TV stations.

408,320 hours

017FEBRUARY 2010


OPINION

create what they have termed a “mobile innova-

tion ecosystem for the MENA region”. There is no

reason why mobile content generation should not

form part of that ecosystem. The Middle East has

had a healthy mobile content business for several

years with video increasingly becoming a compo-

nent of these offerings.

The impending DVB-H network in the UAE will

only encourage this development.

The country recently passed the 200 percent

penetration barrier for mobile connections high-

lighting the appetite for all things wireless. With

further investment from the broadcast industry,

there is no reason why the region can not make

its mark in developing new formats and content-

based marketing strategies.

Consumers in the GCC are renowned early-

adopters when it comes to consumer technology

making it likely that any content that is produced

for mobile TV platforms will not go to waste.

With the development of content comes the req-

uisite distribution and marketing models required

to connect it to the consumer. Many mobile TV

services in other regions for example, have been

unable to generate any significant information on

consumer behaviour because uptake and usage

were too low. If DVB-H and other mobile video

services can gain traction they would provide the

industry as a whole with valuable information on

how to enjoy any success with the platform.

India has established itself as one of the most

successful destinations for outsourcing of all

kinds. In the media and broadcast industry

the country has enjoyed a vast amount of

animation and post-production work from clients

all over the world.

While the Middle East may struggle to offer

a lower price than competitors in India it could

perhaps offer clients more value.

The region has the distribution capabilities,

the technical facilities and a vibrant advertising

industry to offer broadcasters all the services they

might need in one place affording them greater

control of each stage along the chain.

Other destinations – not just in India but across

Asia and East Europe too – are also competing for

outsourcing work from the big Hollywood studios

and other high-profile candidates. The Middle

East needs to think about what else it can do to

differentiate itself.

One option would be to carve a niche for itself

within the wider content industry. There are two

clear areas that the Middle East could excel at.

The obvious one is Arabic content, but its appeal

outside the region is limited to a relatively modest

number of Arabic speakers in other parts of the

world.

The other possibility is the mobile content busi-

ness. Qtel and the Qatar Science and Technology

Park (QSTP) recently agreed to work together to

Until the region is generating significantly higher levels of content for the international market, the Middle East broadcast sector needs to consider what else it can offer the global industry.

GOING GLOBAL

DVB-H services have suffered varying fortunes from one market to the next. The

Middle East could be in a strong position to discover what works and what doesn’t.

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INTERVIEW

helped during the economic downturn?Yes absolutely, diversification is very important. The

permanent satellite service segment of the business

is very strong. Our agreement with Hotbird is a long

term contract and the capacity we have on that

platform allows us to secure a significant part of

our revenue each year. We are now trying to estab-

lish three parts to the business. Having the ability

to integrate means we have been able to attract

some new and regular customers. For example, last

year we provided all the system for the distribution

of the (sounds like) digital bouquet for one of the

national broadcasters in Italy, Telecom Italia Media.

This has been a very important deal for us.

Who have you been working with in the Middle East?We have signed some customers in Lebanon and

Saudi Arabia for VSAT services.

But this is not our main focus for the Middle East.

We want to go into the region market and compete

on price for the provision of the live coverage of

events in Italy and surrounding countries including

France and Austria to Middle East broadcasters.

This includes coverage of sports, news and also

large concerts.

What will you be looking to show-off at CABSAT and how does this affect your plans for the region in the next 12 months?We will be co-exhibiting at CABSAT with one of our

partners Elber – which manufactures microwave

bridges – and so a big part of our goal at the show

will be to educate the market about what we can do

in terms of digitalisation. Our partner companies

are well established in the Middle East and we are

confident we can expand our turnover in this part

of the business.

What is the scope of M-Three SatCom’s operations and services? We provide a range of services for the broadcast-

ing sector. Through our teleport in Milan we have

capacity on Hotbird and Eurobird 9.

We provide DTH capacity as well as contribution

services. We also offer DSNG services in SD and HD

for live events in Italy and most parts of Europe.

What is the background of the business?We founded M-Three SatCom in 2004 with our

services on the Hotbird platform, then in 2006 we

added the DSNG services. We had been doing some

integration work at this time but then in 2008 we

formalised it as a distinct operation within the

business. We have been distributing Thomson/GV

since March 2009, so we are still in our first year as

an official distributor.

Who are some of your clients and did this customer base change during 2009?We work with regional and international broad-

casters such as BBC and the EBU and we also have

a systems integration business – hardware integra-

tion – so we provide our customers with a turnkey

solution for the digitisation of channels or head-

ends. We are a distributor of Thomson/Grass Valley

equipment and we can integrate RF parts also.

What portion of your business is represented by the systems integration activities versus the traditional satellite services?We derive about 60 percent of our business from

permanent satellite services, 15 percent from the

DSNG and about 25 percent from the systems

integration business.

Has having the systems integration business

With the Satellite MENA event making its return next month Digital Broadcast speaks to Michele Magnifichi, president of satellite service provider M-Three SatCom to gauge the industry’s fortunes after a tumultuous 2009.

STRONG SIGNALS

M-THREE SATCOM Technical and uplink area, 24/7 monitoring, full redundancy

DVB platform, SD and HD channel management

Uplink station operating on Hotbird 8 (13°E), Eurobird 9 (9°E), W3a (7°E), W1 (10°E), EB4 (4°E), AB1 (12.5°W)

Fibre access nodes throughout Italy and Eu-rope, PoPs in Milan, Venice, Rome, Bari and several others

Full HD TV uplink quality available

Equipment supply and systems integration; part-nerships with several major manufacturers


COVER STORYCOVER STORY

HD looks set to take hold in the Middle East in 2010, but with 3D networks being announced last month in other markets, should the region try to play catch-up or consolidate its HD offerings? Digital Broadcast reports.

ANOTHER DIMENSION

Last month Avatar cemented its box office

success by becoming the biggest selling

movie of all time overtaking Titanic’s 12-

year record of US $1.242bn.

The opportunity to spread the 3D message

against the big, bold, blue backdrop of Avatar has

proven impossible for others to resist. The annual

Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last

month was dominated by a raft of 3D stories and

innovations that triggered a mass of mainstream

press coverage discussing 3D TV and its seemingly

imminent arrival.

Pay TV operator Sky in the UK and a consortium

consisting of Sony, Discovery Communications and

IMAX in the US both declared plans for 3D services

this year, although other sectors of the industry

are far more non-committal to the format and are

quick to highlight the numerous challenges that lie

in its path.

Meanwhile in the Middle East, it appears that

HD services are finally finding traction with the

recently re-branded Orbit Showtime Network (OSN)

expanding its HD channel offering and the promise

of more HD channels in the region from several

other operators including Al Jazeera, Rotana and

Abu Dhabi Media Company.

If HD infrastructure investment is about to see

a serious spike, you could be forgiven for glanc-

ing at the 3D developments in other markets and

wondering whether full-HD is still an adequate level

for broadcast facilities to attain when looking to

complete an upgrade.

Should the Middle East jump on the 3D band-

wagon and start investing now, is the seemingly

www.digitalproductionme.com 023

COVER STORY

FEBRUARY 2010

endless transition now advanced enough to allow

this next phase of development and ultimately, do

consumers really want 3D TV or are they simply

blinded by the Avatar effect?

This month, Discovery HD launches on OSN. Dis-

covery has been at the forefront of HD broadcast-

ing for several years, says Caleb Weinstein, senior

vice president and general manager of Emerging

Markets, Discovery Networks EMEA.

“This was a huge innovation that our founder and

chairman John Hendricks led with the introduction

of Discovery HD Theatre in the US back in 2002,”

says Weinstein. “He captured what HD is about

for consumers and the Discovery brand; deliver-

ing quality programming and bringing audiences

something that is new and amazing.

“There is a different HD culture at Discovery that

I saw for myself when I joined last year. We don’t

talk about whether our programming is in HD, we

talk about whether it was shot in Gold, Silver or

Bronze standard HD. We have a more advanced

perspective than the rest of the industry out there,”

claims Weinstein.

Discovery has moved on from its early forays

into HD broadcasting offering a number of its other

branded channels in HD in other markets. How-

ever, Weinstein does not believe the Middle East is

quite at this stage yet.

“This is certainly the next step but it will be

driven by market demand. Right now, we have to

meet the needs of our distributors. Typically the

main brands such as the Discovery HD showcase

channel come first. These are channels that the

operators can launch their HD platforms from. This

…There is still a lot of value to be had for HD platforms. So, although we are in the first stages of 3D TV and it is very exciting, HD is here now, its very pow-erful and consumers are demanding it.

CALEB WEINSTEIN

Senior vice president and general

manager of Emerging Markets,

Discovery Networks EMEA

is what OSN is looking to do in the Middle East and

what MultiChoice South Africa did late last year,”

says Weinstein, adding that the early days of HD

deployment also fulfil an important role in demon-

strating the capabilities of HD to consumers and

offer encouragement to subscribe to the services.

“The development of the Discovery HD Showcase

was driven by consumer interest. We also have to

look at what the distributors are offering. For us, it

is consumer first with everything that we do and

what we were seeing was that consumers wanted

something to demonstrate the power of HD in a

new and distinct way,” claims Weinstein.

Discovery Network’s parent company may have

announced its move to develop a 24/7 3D TV net-

work in the US, but is there a substantial market for

3D broadcasting outside the United States?

“Absolutely. We’re currently evaluating the poten-

tial of 3D globally. The CES announcement created

a lot of interest in 3D and we’re now in the process

of gauging this interest around the world and work-

ing out how best to serve it for our distributors.

“In the same way that we innovated in the HD

arena, Discovery is really looking to innovate 3D

TV in the same way. We are, and have always been,

a leader in HD and we feel that our programming

lends itself very well to 3D so we will be able to cap-

ture the power of the 3D experience for consumers,”

claims Weinstein.

With HD services still in the early stages of

development in the Middle East, some may argue

that broadcasters should be thinking about 3D

now. But with the technology relying heavily on

an established, underlying HD infrastructure (for

3D DEMOGRAPHICS

THE AGE DIVIDEIpsos MediaCT’s recent MOTION study has identified a skew in interest for 3D video viewing among people in the 18-34 age group, with TV screen and PCs the preferred viewing medium.

When asked how interested they are in viewing 3D video on various devices 58 percent of 18-24 years olds said they were extremely or very interested in watching 3D on a TV with 49 percent of 25-34 year olds giving the same answer. Just 18 percent of the over 55s indi-cated a desire for 3D content on the TV screen.

Interest in 3D on mobile phones and MP4 players drops off in all age groups with 27 percent of 18-24 year olds indicating an interest and only one percent of the over 55s keen to see 3D on a mobile device. 3D Video Viewing Interest - Percentage Extremely/Very Interested (October 2009)

SOURCE: Ipsos MediaCT

On your TV

On your PC

On your MP3 player/iPod

On your mobile phone or Smartphone


COVER STORY

FEBRUARY 2010

consumers and broadcasters alike) it may not be

wise or indeed possible to make the move from SD

to 3D without all the stages in between.

“I think HD is the natural step in the evolution,”

says Weinstein. “It is hard to buy a TV today that is

not HD enabled and we’re not at the same level of

penetration for 3D. Th is means there is still a lot of

value to be had for HD platforms. So, although we

are in the fi rst stages of 3D TV and it is very excit-

ing, HD is here now, its very powerful and consum-

ers are demanding it. We are meeting that demand

now and we hope to do the same for 3D. Although it

is important to note we are still at an early stage.”

Th e case for 3D is undeniably strong but this

cannot overrule the realities on the ground in the

Middle East.

“Th e Middle East should concentrate on HD. I

don’t see any possibility of 3D coming to the region

inside the next three

years,” says Manaf

Ahammed, director of

operations at Taj TV.

“People have already

invested in LCD TVs.

At the moment to get a

full HD-enabled screen

you have to pay at least

US $1000 and what do

the public get for that?

Th ere aren’t enough

HD channels here and

Blu-ray discs are very

expensive, so there are very few options facilitating

HD content,” he adds.

With talk of HD infrastructure and production

stretching back for several years (Th e Dubai World

Cup horse racing event was fi lmed in HD way back

in 2004), why has it taken until 2010 for a meaning-

ful number of HD channels to aggregate? Aha-

mmed suggests it is purely an issue of economics.

“I feel the broadcasters have been calculating the

revenue they will get from HD and how quickly they

are going to get a return on their investment. Th ey

need to fi gure out how much they can recoup from

off ering an HD channel and what adjustments it

may need for the subscription fee,” says Ahammed.

“If the public are not interested in paying extra for

an HD signal, the broadcasters will wait. Once that

fi gure comes to a signifi cant level, and the opera-

tors see some serious revenue to be had, then the

transition will happen very quickly.”

Ahammed believes that this switch is likely to be

limited to pay TV platforms, with cable based ser-

vices able to off er superior quality. FTA operators

are also unlikely to recoup the cost of HD broad-

casting from ad sources alone.

“Th ere is also the issue of receivers. Pay TV com-

panies can provide their customers with HD en-

abled set top boxes (STB). A FTA channel can only

broadcast to the HD subscribers plus those FTA

viewers who have purchased HD STBs themselves,”

says Ahammed.

“Where the general public is concerned, setting

aside those who are more tech-savvy, HD simply

3D TV dominated the headlines at the recent CES show in Las Vegas. The announcement of several 3D channels could bring the technology to the home.

DON’T FORGET ULTRA HIGH DEFINITIONResearch fi rm In-Stat has estimated that the European market for Ultra-Hi Defi nition (UHD) nudge fi ve percent in 2021 jumping to 28.2 percent in 2025.

UHD – sometimes referred to as Super Hi-Vision – will offer viewers 4k and 8k reso-lutions (3840 x 2160 and 7680 x 4320 respectively) and a 22.2 multichannel sur-round sound in three dimen-sions (via ceiling mounted speakers pointing down).

This resolution represents an improvement of between four and sixteen times the quality of Blu-ray and full 1080p HDTV.

Broadcasters will start of-fering UHD content in 2017, according to the report.

Early UHD work is being carried out by NHK in Japan with the format expected to develop earlier in the Asia-Pacifi c region with Japan in particular leading the way.

The report also suggests that high resolution digital cinema could play an im-portant role in exposing the public to high resolution con-tent and developing demand for the same experience in the home.

CLEARLY D

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FUTU

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www.digitalproductionme.com 025

COVER STORY

FEBRUARY 2010

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means a better picture, that’s all. They don’t think

about the need for bandwidth, they are not aware

of the need for a different STB. The costs add up,

the HD screen itself, the new STB, the monthly

subscription fee… Consumers and broadcasters are

of the same mindset with HD, until they see some

value in it they won’t make the leap.”

Ahammed also paints a realistic picture

of 3D’s short-term prospects in the

Middle East.

“The problem is that 3D is still

in the process of evolution. It is

not convenient to watch a 3D TV

at the moment because of the

glasses. Philips produced a 3D

display that did not require glasses

but it was dependant on you sitting at

a specific position from the screen. The

technology is not perfected yet. It would be wiser

to wait until a finished, convenient version of 3D TV

is developed before we pursue it and in the mean-

time we can go ahead and work on developing HD.”

The problems with 3D TV are threefold; cost,

content and technology.

ESPN will show the World Cup in 3D and I have no doubts it will be amazing. But it doesn’t mean every-thing has to be 3D from now on.MANAF AHAMMED

Director of operations, Taj TV

According to Ahammed, the cost of the Philips

screen was a staggering $14,000 – price that is

almost totally prohibitive.

There is also one crucial difference between HD

and 3D content.

“There is a legacy issue with 3D material. For

example, you can take an old movie and convert it

to HD, but 3D conversion is not as success-

ful. Although 3D effects can be created

from 2D content, to get real 3D it has

to be filmed that way. Converted

content is far inferior.”

For this reason, 3D movies and

entertainment channels will be

unable to rely on existing content.

Given this harsh reality, Ahammed

suggests live events will be key for 3D.

“When you add it all up there are issues

with cost, content and technology. ESPN will

show the World Cup in 3D and I have no doubts it

will be amazing,” says Ahammed. “But it doesn’t

mean everything has to be 3D from now on. Cin-

emas have enjoyed a lot of success with 3D films

but people are still flocking to see movies in 2D.”

30 %The percentage of

screens sold in 2015 that will 3D enabled, accord-

ing to Futuresource Consulting.

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www.digitalproductionme.com 027FEBRUARY 2010

TECH FOCUS

Branded content, series sponsorship,

product placement, call to action,

interactivity, targeted advertising… the

list of options for advertisers is growing

all the time. Broadcasters that rely on advertising

are now being asked to provide a lot more for their

clients than a prominent 30 second ad spot.

“The handling of ad sales became much more

complex,” says Dr. Siamak Tadjiky, vice president

broadcast management systems, S4M. “This is due

to several factors. For example, nowadays there

are many competing platforms growing in im-

portance. Given the current economic situation,

broadcasters are forced to make as much money

as possible out of the available air time. All of this

makes the handling of ad sales more challenging

than it was a decade before,” adds Tadjiky.

This added complexity brings with it the need

for new skills and technology to enable broadcast-

ers to provide the new opportunities that advertis-

ers are demanding.

“On one hand, with the advanced technology

available today, it is much easier to guide the

audience than it was compared to ten years ago,”

claims Saad Mouneimne, VP Middle East & Asia,

never.no. “At the same time, ad sales that were

traditionally destined for the broadcaster are now

being divided among other platforms. Now broad-

casters have to attract both the advertisers and

the consumer by offering top-notch, effective tech-

nology. Today, most people are connected in some

shape or form during a large part of their day,

which creates huge potential to cleverly engage

these users, but it is far more complicated.”

Several developments have enabled these new

Interactivity, targeting and on demand platforms have contributed to the growing complexity of the TV advertising landscape. Although new revenue streams have been created, tapping into these requires broadcasters to invest time and money. Digital Broadcast investigates.

COMMERCIAL BREAKS


TECH FOCUS

Jeff Tyre, director of product marketing, RGB

Networks. “Having said that, they’re being very

deliberate in rolling out advanced advertising ap-

plications and taking their time to get it right the

first time.

“From an equipment standpoint, there’s also a

desire to keep the number of components down to

keep both costs and complexity manageable. As

a result ‘all-in-one’ products – which combine ad

splicing, overlay and other video processing ap-

plications – are seen as ideal for reducing the cost

and simplifying the implementation of advanced

advertising techniques. Additional components

such as advertising servers and character genera-

tors are required, but broadcasters and pay TV

operators typically have them already,” says Tyre.

S4M’s Tadjiky says that the needs of advertis-

ers will vary from campaign to campaign and

the infrastructure that the broadcasters invest in

should reflect this.

“A very important issue is the provision for even

more flexibility. Customers want to be able to act

independently. They want to develop applications

or let third party companies do so, and they want

to customise sales systems themselves,” some-

thing he says S4M looks to address.

In addition to the technology required to sup-

port targeted and interactive advertising, there

is also an increased demand for accurate data on

technologies to emerge. The popularity of SMS

messages has done much in terms of allowing

viewers to sign-up to a campaign but it is two-way

communication, regardless of the infrastructure

underlying it, that has had the biggest effect on

the inventory available to those looking to spend

their ad dollars.

“Yes, the possibility to interact through a simple

SMS response to an ad is very effective. Feedback

in return for free samples gets viewers involved

and allows advertisers to target these potential

customers directly,” says Mouneimne.

“Two-way communication between consumers

and advertisers is now more tailored to individual

requirements. This trend will continue to spread

to the Middle East, thanks to the technology now

widely available. Broadcasters can integrate in-

teractivity into their routine advertising schemes.

Interactivity is key in regions with large cultural

diversity, allowing advertisers to better target the

consumer’s specific needs.”

With budgets for technology infrastructure suf-

fering as a result of the downturn, any investment

broadcasters make will be expected to offer fast

and attractive rates of return. With spot adver-

tising being the mainstay for FTA channels for

so long, technical heads have to be sure that the

outlay will recover its own cost.

“Broadcasters are convinced it’s worth it,” says

VOD DRIVES ADVANCED AD MARKETA recent report by In-Stat found that the market for advanced advertising is already growing dramati-cally in response to the shifting landscape evi-denced in both the online video market and the pay TV world.

In-Stat predicts that the advanced video advertis-ing market will be worth US $5 billion by 2013. As well as the emergence of significant online content services such as Hulu, the study expects pay TV operators to embrace new forms of advertising.

“The online VOD indus-try has the early lead for delivering advanced video advertising, but the pay TV industry is moving quickly and will surpass broad-band VOD by 2012,” says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst. “Because pay TV services deliver qualified, repeatable audiences, we expect them to be able to negotiate higher CPM fees than online services.”

The extra revenues gained from advanced advertising have provided good returns on the investment required to operate them.


TECH FOCUS

which this targeting can be accurately – and use-

fully – based on.

“Up until now the response and the measure-

ment of the effectiveness of an ad campaign has

been done through panel-based measurement,”

says Paul Haddad, VP and general manager of

Media Data and Advertising Solutions (MDAS)

at video and data management services provider,

Concurrent. “In the US, these samples are typi-

cally 30,000-40,000 households for a population of

300 million. The results are by no means anywhere

close to the reality, but it is the best effort today in

the industry.

“The advertisers are now asking for much more

detail. Who watched what? How often? How ef-

fective was it? They also want to know how much

money to spend on TV, how much do they migrate

to mobile and online advertising in the next few

years. That’s why they want to see a lot more data

about campaign effectiveness,” says Haddad.

According to Haddad advertisers are also look-

ing for an improvement in the methods used to

gather this information.

“As well as better quality, advertisers also

want to know more. At the moment most of the

Up until now the response and the measurement of the effectiveness of an ad campaign has been done through panel-based measurement… This is by no means anywhere close to the reality, but it is the best effort today in the industry.

PAUL HADDAD

VP and general manager of Media

Data and Advertising Solutions

(MDAS), Concurrent.


TECH FOCUS

FEBRUARY 2010

Research and consulting firm Parks Associ-ates has predicted that the growth of US addressable, interactive advertising revenue will exceed $4 billion, accounting for around 12 percent of all pay TV revenues.

“Major U.S. cable television operators, direct broadcast satellite (DBS) TV providers, and telcos have identified advanced adver-tising as a key revenue opportunity moving

forward,” says Heather Way, research analyst, Parks Associates.

“In the short term, the digital TV opera-tors will continue to ramp up their invest-ment in advanced advertising solutions as a pre-emptive move to sustain their ad revenues. In the long term, the investment serves to grow the advertising business seg-ment versus subscriptions.”

US ADDRESSABLE, INTERACTIVE TV ADVERTISING REVENUE(2010-2014)

INTERACTIVE AD MARKET WORTH $4 BILLION IN US ALONE BY 2014

$5000

2010 2012 2014

Addr

essa

ble, In

terac

tive A

d Rev

enue

(in m

illion

s)

Source: Addressable, Interactive TV Advertising in the U.S. ©2009 Parks Associates

$0

advertisers focus on the subscriber data only, it’s

important to collect content data to go with this

information,” says Haddad. “What does an indi-

vidual viewer watch? How many people watch one

specific programme? Which area do they live in?

What kind of people are they in terms demograph-

ics? You have to focus on the content, when you

marry these two kinds of data then you have a

very beautiful picture of the relationship between

the subscriber and the content.”

Haddad believes that even this level of informa-

tion can be built on to inform broadcasters and

operators about how their viewers are consuming

their services.

Concurrent has an 80 percent market share for

all data services in North America’s VOD market,

a sector Haddad believes can yield valuable infor-

mation for broadcasters and advertisers alike.

“It’s important to know about the operational

side, the performance. When a subscriber watches

a movie using on demand you may wish to know

whether they watched it in one sitting or in

chunks? In SD or HD? You can also get informa-

tion about whether the VOD content come when it

was requested or if the session failed.

“The final element is the advertising data. Does

a viewer watch the ads or change channel? How

many turn the ad off half way through and how

In-home technology such as PVRs, coupled with the spread of two-way networks have enabled interactive and targeted advertsing to take a hold.


TECH FOCUS

many click on the request for more information?

This is real information about campaign effective-

ness. So instead of only knowing what a viewer

watched, we now have all this

additional information that

can advertisers use to

provide more efficient

advertising for all par-

ties,” explains Haddad.

This data has

implications for the ad-

vertisers who can now

fine tune their spending.

Broadcasters can raise

CPMs by anything

This trend [interac-tivity] will continue to spread to the Middle East... Broadcasters can integrate interactiv-ity into their routine advertising schemes. Interactivity is key in regions with large cul-tural diversity, allowing advertisers to better target the consumer’s

specific need.

SAAD MOUNEIMNE

VP Middle East & Asia,

never.no.

from a factor of two to a factor eight, depending

on the level of targeting and interactivity, accord-

ing to Haddad, but what does the viewer gain?

“Advanced targeting techniques mean that

the ads themselves will become more relevant to

individual viewers,” says RGB’s Tyre. “For example,

locally relevant information can be added to

nationally broadcast ads. In this scenario, the ad-

dresses of local outlets of a national retailer can be

sent to specific geographies.”

This could mean that viewers in the Middle East

can receive adverts specific to their nation rather

than the frequently Egyptian and Saudi focused

ads shown across the satellite footprint today.

This kind of information can unsettle some

viewers, creating questions over security. Haddad

claims that Concurrent’s combination of automat-

ically swapping the MAC address of a STB with an

arbitrary identifier effectively camouflaging the

identity of that subscriber.

“Anything related to data that is collected at a

user level, is filtered for privacy, in order to meet

privacy regulations. We have no visibility to the

account information or who owns that STB. Our

systems filter that out,” assures Haddad. Saad Mouneimne.

ARCHIVES


Replacing tape and film archives with digital alternatives has obvious benefits and has led to the creation of a mature market for both the storage systems themselves and the software required to organise and exploit file-based libraries. Digital Broadcast showcases the burgeoning digital storage market.

CONTENT CONSERVATION

OMNEONCONTENTSERVERThe Omneon ContentServer provides the storage capacity for the company’s MediaGrid active storage system.

The ContentServer takes up 1RU and comprises four SATA disk drives with a total storage capacity of 1TB, 2TB, 3TB or 4TB.

As part of the Omneon Medi-aGrid set-up, the company says that each individual ContentServer can be networked to create a total sys-tem capacity of a few terabytes to multiple petabytes. MediaGrid also uses a Dynamic Data Redundancy (DDR) concept that immediately replicates content once it has been written to the system placing multiple active copies in different locations within the network. As well as speeding up the data recov-ery process the accessibility of files during normal use is also improved.


ARCHIVES

033FEBRUARY 2010

FRONT PORCH DIGITALDIVAWORKSFront Porch Digital provides data tape library infrastructure and a range of software applications required to control them.

The company’s DIVAworks family is a group of entry-level products including 4RU, 9RU and 13RU op-tions featuring between 24 and 50 slot LTO-4 tape libraries, either one or two tape drives and Windows-based CPU servers.

The Front Porch system allows tapes to be taken offline, removed, and stored externally allowing the library to be extended indefinitely, according to the manufacturer. If data is requested by a user that is stored on an external tape, they are prompted to install the correct one.

A number of extras are also available including Avid or Final Cut Pro interfaces for post-production and newsroom environments, near-line RAID protected storage allow-ing faster access to high-rotation or pertinent data.

NOANOA RECORDAudio-archiving specialist NOA offers radio and TV broadcasters a dedicated ingest system to digitise legacy analogue audio libraries.

The NOA Record ingest system provides for three parallel analogue

stereo inputs. The system includes the NOA Record software, and the N6071 workstation (including high-quality A/D converters and re-player communication modules).

Users can view each ingest simultaneously on a single screen that displays the relevant record

and playback parameters. Quality assessment can be done

directly through the capturing soft-ware or within the workflow system at a later stage.

NOA recently installed eight NOA Record systems for the Sudan National Radio Corporation.

BCE – OU

TSOU

RCE YOU

R ARCH

IVE

Smaller broadcasters may decide against invest-ing in their own archiving infrastructure, choosing to outsource it to a third-party. Luxembourg-based BCE offers clients remote access to their own content which it houses on fully redundant digital archive.

The company uses two separate physical archives in different buildings several kilometres apart. They feature fire detection and extinguishing systems, surveillance cameras and a fully redundant power supply that can provide power for three weeks without the main power grid.

Each is housed in a dedicated vault designed to meet the security standards of the banking industry. The security encrypting the electronic access to the data is also comparable to that of the financial sector.

034 FEBRUARY 2010

ARAB TELEVISION NETWORK (ATN)The Arab Television Network (ATN) – part of the Arab Me-dia Group (AMG) – installed a Quantum Scalar tape library controlled by an SGL FlashNet storage management system and using Snell’s Morpheus automation solution.

The archive has capacity of around 4000 hours.

SAUDI ARABIAN MIN-ISTRY OF CULTURE AND INFORMATIONThe Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) is undertaking a mammoth restoration and digital archiving project that will see it create 700TB of digital information taken from 770,000 video and audio tapes.

Content management software developer Netia provided a number of solu-tions for the project ensur-ing the interoperability of media management systems throughout the MOCI facility with EMC providing much of the hardware.

French firm Vectracom provided the restoration services for the project.

TWOFOUR54 Abu Dhabi-based two-four54’s intaj broadcast facility has installed a digital archive for the benefit of the media precinct’s tenants.

The archive is built around Sony’s Petasite LTO tape library and uses a number of additional technologies including Avid Interplay, Pharos Mediator 4 and Front Porch Digital’s DIVArchive content storage manage-ment system.


ARCHIVES

SEACHANGEMEDIALIBRARY 1GVOD and digital advertising soft-ware and hardware manufacturer SeaChange offers broadcasters a nearline archive and a back-up play-to-air server via its MediaLi-brary 1G solution.

The system is based on high ca-pacity, enterprise class SATA disks offering customer anything from nine to 243 TB of storage.

SeaChange claims that this al-lows it to increase the productivity of broadcasters by offering faster and easier access to their archived material than alternative data-tape based systems.

IPVTERAGATORIPV, an independent supplier of low bit-rate, frame-accurate video tech launched its Teragator relational metadata aggregation and man-agement engine at IBC last year.

Teragator provides a platform to aggregate metadata sources and data mining services to identify and manage complex relational links between assets and provide a

simple visually compelling graphical user interface to represent and interact with these links.

Users can browse through the contents of multiple libraries to identify related content, quickly and simply, driving improved workflow and cost-efficiencies in finding, retrieving and managing assets and associated metadata and maximis-ing earnings from a media asset portfolio, claims the manufacturer.

With the advent of digital libraries and file-based workflows, metadata has become as important as the asset itself. Metadata that describes a single source may exist in multiple formats – plain text, an XML file or a relational database record – and be distributed across numerous locations. Teragator allows users to aggregate these elements extracting the semantic content from the aggregation.

RECENT M

IDD

LE EAST A

RCHIV

E PROJECTS


COVER STORY

markets, are looking for systems integration

partners who will co-operate with them not

just during the planning and installation

phases but over the long-term. We maintain a

dedicated support department that can be de-

ployed throughout the entire life of a system.”

The rapid growth in the number of FTA

channels may have subsided recently but the

continued investment in new infrastructure

by the remaining stations has been signifi-

cant. Technology trends led by HD upgrades

and digital archiving have played their part

as has the pursuit of distribution on new

delivery platforms.

Following on from its successful launch

last year, the Satellite MENA exhibition

returns with a host of leading satellite opera-

tors, service providers and infrastructure

suppliers demonstrating why the industry

What was always expected to be

a challenging year, 2009 also

saw a number of developments

for the broadcast and comms

industry that could prove to have long-term

benefits far exceeding the difficulties experi-

enced by some since last year’s CABSAT.

Increased competition from new platforms

provides continued investment from the

telcos and a very active period of mergers and

industry consolidation have taken the edge

off the economic downturn for many.

“The DTH landscape in the MENA region

is now less crowded and on a much more

realistic business footing,” says Guy Elliot,

managing director of systems integrator

ATG Broadcast, who says there is a growing

sense of maturity within the regional media

sector. “Middle East broadcasters, as in other

CABSAT and its companion show Satellite MENA return next month as international service providers and technology developers serving the Middle East market come together in the wake of a turbulent, but ultimately positive year for the industry.

STORM…

Net Insight

Zabeel Hall , Stand ZM-1

continues to thrive despite the wider eco-

nomic situation.

A number of research reports in the previ-

ous 12 months have identified the Middle

East and Africa as a key region of growth for

the global satellite industry. This interpreta-

tion has been confirmed with several opera-

tors – including Noorsat, Eutelsat and Intelsat

– choosing to expand their coverage for MEA

clients. In addition to the expansion of exist-

ing satellite capacity providers, the region has

also seen two new entrants to the market in

as many years with Yahsat and Smartsat set

to boost capacity over the Middle East as they

launch their hardware in the near future.

This year’s Satellite MENA show will also

incorporate the GVF MENASAT Summit

2010, which will focus on the broadband sat-

ellite and hybrid applications market.

After the

Media transport solutions provider Net Insight will look to build on its CABSAT debut last year with a larger

presence at the show in 2010. “Last year was more about analysing the mar-

ket, and meeting as many people as possible to build up our regional contacts as we looked for potential customers and partners,” says Tomas Delden, Middle East sales director, Net Insight.

“We met a lot of customers in 2009 and we have formed some partnerships, we have also done some work to develop the brand. At CABSAT this year we have a clear message that we are look-ing for qualified partners. This selection process will be very stringent. I know from my experience in the region’s telco sector that it is quite easy

to get partners, but to find the right one can be more difficult.”

Net Insight will have a number of live dem-onstration products on its stand including the compact 2RU Nimbra 360 multiservice access and switching device for video and data applications.


CABSAT

Polytron IPM 600 & 1100

Hall 2 , Stand A2-3

Polytron will be demonstrating its IPM series of IPTV head-ends. The modular units come with space for

either six or 11 modules, each with its own power supply.

They are capable of converting DVB-S and DVB-T signals into the IP data stream required for IPTV applications.

The base units of the IPM series can be com-bined to from larger systems.

Horizon Satellite Services will be showcasing its offerings at this year’s Satellite MENA exhibition co-located

with CABSAT.As well as a number of services for the

telecommunications industry, Horizon can offer broadcasters occasional use or permanent access to capacity on a number of orbital positions held by Eutelsat and Intelsat hardware.

Horizon was the first company in the Middle East to provide DVB-S2 services.

Omnibus will be showing the latest version of it iTX software-based automation system at this year’s

CABSAT MENA exhibition. The latest iteration has more than 100 new

features including a number of updates to its graphics functionality such as adjustable speed text crawls driven from RSS feeds or external text files and support for full-screen-resolution TARGA sequences.

The audio processing engine delivers multi-stream PCM and AC3 capability, remapping and processing of streams with 16-channel embedded output, automatic multi-language mapping using language tags and desktop preview monitoring.

Horizon Satellite

Hall 2 , Stand E2-1

Omnibus

Zabeel Hall , Stand ZP-12

The manufacturer claims it is best suited for smaller IPTV installations such as enterprise and hospitality complexes.

The head-ends are programmed using either a PC or a separate handheld device.

PHABRIX SxA

Hall Zabeel, Stand ZR 28

PHABRIX will be exhibiting at CABSAT for the very first time this year on stand ZR 28. On display will

be its award winning range of handheld test and measurement instruments designed for the broadcast industry which have made it a mul-tiple award winner in the US, Asia and Europe.

To celebrate this first introduction to the Middle East at CABSAT, PHABRIX will be offering visitors the chance to win the IABM award winning PHABRIX SxA simply by leaving a business card. The winner will be announced at the show.

The PHABRIX SxA is a combined generator, analyser and monitor hand held device sup-porting SD-SDI, HD-SDI and the new 3G-SDI as standard. Configured with a full range of test patterns, both static and animated, the SxA is

ideal for studio, OB, and lab environments operating from either the internal four hour battery or mains adaptor. It has a waveform monitor and vector scope as part of its complete toolset. Audio support includes 16 channels of embedded audio and AES in and out. With built-in Ethernet connectivity for remote operation, the PHABRIX SxA sets a new standard in portable video/audio signal test generation and monitoring.

PHABRIX’s new SxE will also be on show. Of-ficially the world’s first hand held device capable

d lab

r mains tor

of displaying eye and jitter patterns with measurement up to 3G, PHABRIX has sold

over 300 since its release at IBC 2009.“We are really looking forward to

meeting potential customers at CABSAT,” said Paul Nicholls, PHABRIX’s sales and

marketing manager. “We have a great range of products for test and measurement and I am sure anyone visiting our stand will be impressed,” added Nicholls.

2006 – 4392007 – 5802008 – 6502009 – 678Source: DWTC

CABSAT EXHIBITOR NUMBERS


CABSAT

PHABRIX®®

THE VERY BEST IN HAND HELD SDI TEST AND MEASUREMENTWWW.PHABRIX.COM TEL +44 1635 255494 UK CABSAT ZR-28

STAND ZR-28STAND ZR-28

Broadcast Traffic Systems

Zabeel Hall , Stand ZR-23Hiltron

Zabeel Hall , Stand LB-1

Traffic management specialist Broadcast Traffic Systems will place its entry-level application Express at the heart of its

CABSAT stand. The downloadable software app will be making its CABSAT debut.

“Express is based on three modules which together provide programme planning, traffic scheduling, transmission scheduling, as-run scheduling and media management,” says Craig Buckland, technical director of BTS.

Hiltron will launch the HMAM motorised satellite antenna mount at this year’s CABSAT exhibition.

The new HMAM is a high-precision rotatable satellite antenna mount capable of supporting a reflector dish of between 1.2 and 3.4 metres in diameter.

“It was shown as a prototype at IBC2009 and is now in full production,” says Michael Schiestl, managing director of Hiltron. “Designed for two-way VSAT communica-tion or receive-only downlink applications, it has a combined head and drive forming a three-axis motorised system with 180 degrees of azimuth adjustment, 90 degrees of elevation adjust-

ment range and fully adjustable polarisation,” he adds.

A number of additional options are available for the HMAM mount including a satellite track-ing system, inclined orbit tracking, integration of parabolic reflectors according to customer pref-erence and a choice of standard steel mounts or non penetrating mounts.


DATA

A recent survey by Nielsen Online

has found that consumers are more

willing to pay for online content than

previously believed.

The survey asked a global sample of consumers

to identify the genres of content that they have

paid for online or would consider paying for.

The overall results showed that there is a

broad willingness to pay for a variety of content

although this is matched by an appetite for in-

creased advertising to further subsidise costs.

Music and movies generated the most enthusi-

asm among content consumers with 57 percent of

the 27,500 surveyed saying they have or would be

prepared to pay for online sources.

Games notched up 51 percent and profession-

ally produced video – chiefly television content

– was identified by half of those asked.

At the other end of the scale, only 20 percent

said they would be willing to pay for access to

blogs and less than a quarter identified user-

generated content as something they would be

prepared to purchase.

These two sets of results highlight the skew

towards material produced with the professional

production markets. There is also a visible trend

towards video-based content – whether it be

As the paid versus ad-funded debate continues in the online content realm, a new study by Nielsen goes straight to the consumer and asks ‘what would you pay for?’.

PREPARED TO PAYDATA SOURCE: The Nielsen Company

movies, TV or games – at one end of the scale, and

spoken- and written-word content at the other.

Nielsen’s Nic Covey, director of cross-platform

insights, also identifies a trend among consum-

ers to pay for content that already costs them

money and a reluctance to pay for material this

has traditionally been free such as music radio

(32 percent), talk radio (26 percent) and social

networking (28 percent).

When asked whether they would accept more

advertising to subsidise the cost of content, con-

sumers revealed a distinct polarisation in their

answers based on their geographic location.

The Middle East region was the keenest to see

further ad-funded models utilised with 57 percent

advocating their use, ten percent above the global

average. Asia Pacific-based respondents were

close behind on 55 percent. This number drops

sharply in developed markets with just 40 percent

of North American and 39 percent of European

consumers willing to accept a rise in advertising.

The survey shows that there is an overriding

willingness to pay for content but the extent of

this varies greatly across platforms and territo-

ries. Those charged with the task of monetising

content must be aware of these differences and

tailor their own online ventures accordingly.

57%Percentage of those surveyed willing to pay for music online.

57%The proportion of respondants that would pay online for access to theatrical movies.

20%Percentage prepared to pay for access to blogs.

SOURCE: Nielsen Online

Perc

enta

ge %

Mus

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Thea

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l mov

ies

Gam

es

Pro-

prod

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how

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Mag

azin

es

New

spap

ers

Inte

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-onl

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Radi

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Podc

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Socia

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Radi

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)

Cons

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gene

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Blog

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What types of online content have you or would you be prepared to pay for?

57% 57%

51% 50% 49%

42%

36%32%

28% 28% 26% 24%20%

P. O. BOX 7639 - DOHA, QATAR Tel : +974 431 4972, 466 98 68 Fax : +974 442 4046

N o t a n y I n t e r a c t i v e T V i t s I P T V

vis ion through innovat ion

Technoserve delivers Interactive TV solutions based on IPTV technologies that work with any type of TV set and with any kind of distribution network.

Technoserve solutions allow for time-shifting over live TV reception and personal video recording over the network (nPVR), so your guests will never have to miss any of their favorite programs while travelling.

That is one way we add value to hospitality business and increase customer loyalty.

Please contact us to know about even more inspiring features. www.technoserve.net

Are you planning to broadcast your satellite TV channels over the internet and searching for a solution to give you control over broadcast bandwidth with built in billing system, customer Management interface and reporting & statistics tools. Technoserve brings to you a turnkey solution to transcode your DVB-S/S2 TV streams with multiple output video formats per channel (MPEG2, MPEG4, WMV7, WMV8, VC1 or FLV) which guaranty to carry your channels to millions of internet clients around the world regardless of the soft client browser or IP-STB they are using.

Please contact us for full [email protected]

Newtec

Belgium | USA | Singapore | Dubai | China | Brazil www.newtec.eu

IP Transmission Equipment

So many paths to choose from. So many technology providers, so many IP over satellite solutions. So many plans in your head.

Time to choose. Time to get the facts straight.

Fact #1: No technology provider off ers in-house hardware and software expertise like Newtec does. Integration should not cost you extra.

Fact #2: No IP trunking solution suits your changing business needs like Newtec’s Elevation. Basic to cutting edge, Elevation grows comfortably with you, at your pace.

Many paths will present themselves to you, but only one leads to the ROI you want. And here’s another fact for you: no technology provider has gone as far down the satellite path as Newtec. We set the standard.

All things considered, maybe this is not such a tough choice after all.

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IP over satellite by Newtec, from high performance to unmatched performance

HERE YOU ARE

Visit us at CabSat 2010

Dubai,March 02-04

Booth Hall 2 E2-11

Satellite 2010Washington,March 16-18

Booth 817

WTA Teleport Technology of the year 2009.

digital broadcast - feb 2010

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