tvbe july 2016

www.tvbeurope.com

July 2016

Broadcasting the Olympics

Sport’s Rio Grande

Business, insight and intelligence for the media and entertainment industry

Producing the Proms

The impact of OTT

Live sports streaming

01 TVBE July16 FC_final.indd 1 17/06/2016 16:38

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TVBEurope 3July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

If you’re a fan of sport, or are in the business of

capturing and delivering it to the world in as

near to real time as we are able, then this is

quite a summer.

As we go to press, Uefa’s Euro 2016

tournament is about to enter its second

week with a signifi cant amount of coverage

unfortunately concentrated on events outside

of the stadia. On the other side of the world,

the Copa America is staging South America’s

equivalent continental footballing power

struggle, while the nations who will make up

next year’s British and Irish Lions are touring in

isolation to take on the southern hemisphere,

and world, rugby union powerhouses. And this

is before we even get to the rather grand things

that lie in wait on the horizon. The Olympic

Games will experience it’s fi rst ever Rio Grande

come August, as the eyes of the world focus

on Brazil for sport’s greatest spectacle. We

continue our coverage this issue by speaking to

Yiannis Exarchos CEO of Olympic Broadcasting

Services, as well as a collection of international

broadcasters who are preparing for the summer’s

main event. We also look at how the delivery of

sports content is changing with a feature on live

sports streaming from Adrian Pennington, after

which we gather the perspectives of a number

of industry players on the opportunities and

challenges of OTT. It’s important to remember

that live production isn’t the sole preserve of

athletic competition. Our leading production

feature focuses on a British institution that has

played on our screens and across our airwaves

for generations, as Philip Stevens gets the inside

story on this year’s BBC Proms.

It’s a really good read, this one, and I’d just

like to extend my appreciation to my section

editors, and my deputy editor and staff writer,

for continually raising the bar on the type and

quality of the content we’re able to deliver. It’s a

great team and I'm proud to be part of it. n

James McKeown Editor-in-Chief

Welcome

Untitled-1 1 13/06/2016 10:48

Rio GrandeEDITORIAL

Content Director and Editor-in-Chief: James [email protected]

Deputy Editor: Holly [email protected]

Staff Writer: James [email protected]

Group Managing Editor: Joanne [email protected]

Contributors: Michael Burns, David Davies, George Jarrett, Adrian Pennington, Philip Stevens, Catherine Wright

Sales Manager: Peter [email protected]+44 207 354 6025

Account Manager: Richard [email protected]+44 207 354 6000

Sales Executive: Nicola [email protected]+44 207 354 6026

Digital Director: Diane Oliver

Human Resources and Offi ce Manager: Lianne Davey

Head of Design, Hertford: Kelly Sambridge

Senior Production Executive: Alistair Taylor

Sales Director: Mark Rankine

Managing Director: Mark Burton

US Sales: Michael [email protected]+1 (631) 673 0072

Japan and Korea Sales: Sho [email protected]+81 6 4790 2222 CirculationFree [email protected] Tel +44 1580 883848

TVBEurope is published 12 times a year by NewBay Media, Emerson Building, 4-8 Emerson Street, London, SE1 9DU, England +44 207 354 6002

NewBay Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Association

© NewBay Media 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 qualifi ed 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 Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 7BR, England. ISSN 1461-4197

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

In a summer dominated by sporting spectacle, live production will be at its most cutting edge

Philip StevensProduction editor

Michael BurnsPost production editor

George Jarrett Business editor

David DaviesAudio editor

SECTION EDITORS

03 TVBE July16 Welcome_final4.indd 1 17/06/2016 12:27

In this issue4 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016

The annual Proms concerts return to the BBC this month. Philip Stevens talks to those responsible for bringing music to a mass audience

xx

Feature

24Europe’s largest broadcast facilities provider, Euro Media Group shares its plans for the Olympic Games in August

Interview

32Holly Ashford talks to British Pathé managing director Roger Felber about company’s early origins and recent OTT launch

Production

28 TVBEverywhereOTT focus: a number of senior level � gures from across the industry o� er their views and news on over-the-top TV

10 OpinionJames Groves contributes to the discussion on live streaming with a look at how social media sites are looting sports content

12

Business

38George Jarrett reports from the tenth edition of the annual DTG Summit in London

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Back in April, Twitter secured the $10 million

rights to broadcast ten Thursday night NFL

games online, free of charge. What made

the move so ground-breaking was the ease in

which a non-sports platform suddenly snapped

up the rights to air the biggest sport in the US.

Bearing in mind, of course, that the pinnacle of

the social media company’s sporting content

prior to this was Boring James Milner and the

occasional rant from Piers Morgan. Publicity

stunt, or statement of intent?

Fellow social media giant Facebook launched

Live in August last year, initially limited to

celebrities and other verified Facebook users,

such as journalists. By Christmas, however,

it had rolled out the feature to the general

public. Usage has been gathering pace ever

since, and, considering its interest in purchasing

the NFL rights before Twitter swooped, it

appears its video content is going only one way:

traditional broadcast.

But where has this sudden interest come from?

When did the crosshairs begin to focus on video?

Gareth Capon, CEO of Grabyo, announced as

an official live streaming partner of Facebook at

the F8 Conference in April, explains: “(With Live)

Facebook have found that they’re generating

more engagement, interactivity and sharing that

they have with other formats. They’ve doubled

down their efforts on providing the capabilities

for partners to go live stream into Facebook to

create new audiences and new engagement

and utilise the vast audience on that platform to

be able to distribute the content very quickly to

hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people.”

Football rights: worth every penny?The war for Premier League coverage rages

on, and, despite jumping from £2.79 million per

game in 1997 to a whopping £11.07 million per

game for the upcoming 2016-17 season, the

rising price tag shows no signs of slowing.

Despite this, Google secured a deal with BT in

May to broadcast the 2016 Europa League and

Champions League finals free via YouTube.

The digital giant has previously shown no signs

of wishing to partake in the live sports market, but

this move suggests a change in strategy.

However, speaking at the DTG Summit in

May, Stephen Nuttall, senior director of EMEA for

YouTube, moved to quash the idea of competing

in the sports market, stating, “We are not a

buyer of rights. We are very good at distributing

content to the largest possible audience. We

are a technology company, we do a great job

of creating tools that broadcasters can use to

tell their stories to the largest possible engaged

audience. That is what I expect we will continue

to focus on. Our whole model is about partnering

with people to allow them to make the greatest

possible success out of their content.”

Regardless of YouTube’s stance on competing

directly, it does pose the question: if Facebook,

Twitter and YouTube can generate the same kind

of audiences on their platforms as any pay-TV

channel (and they can), why bother investing in

much more expensive television broadcasts?

Securing global rights and monetisation, it would

seem, are two stumbling blocks.

Capon adds, “The challenge is that it needs to

be new, bespoke, rights unrestricted content.

The content goes out and it’s available for

free. There are no very clear monetisation

models around this yet, other than tagging

branded videos.”

Such deals, then, may be mere experiment:

probes to gauge popularity with viewers.

Capon explains, “It’s such an interesting

way of sharing live feeds. It’s promoted quite

heavily within the Facebook newsfeed, so the

opportunity for you to see that is quite high.

The chance of you joining the stream is greater;

Opinion and Analysis6 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016

A war on two fronts?

“There are no clear monetisation models around this yet, other than tagging

branded videos”Gareth Capon, Grabyo

As major pay-TV players scramble to win back audiences falling victim to the OTT revolution, are social media sites taking advantage of the siege to loot sports content? James Groves reports

www.MultiDyne.com

6 7 TVBE july16 sportssocmed Opinion_final.indd 10 16/06/2016 10:20

that’s what’s different and what is not even

possible in the traditional OTT or TV environment.”

Euro 2016: the last TV-exclusive?With such large sporting events hitting the small

screen in 2016, it appears likely that the ongoing

European Championships in France will be the

last major international football tournament to

air exclusively on television. Dror Ginzberg, co-

founder and CEO of Wochit, says, “Despite BT

Sport paying a record £897 million for Champions

League and Europa League TV rights, it made

the unprecedented move to partner with

YouTube to air both finals for free.

“Combining traditional TV with online platforms

will give UEFA and FIFA, the powerbrokers of

football, an unprecedented opportunity to earn

much more revenue from rights selling, while

also opening the door to a host of new

commercial opportunities. It is really now only

a matter of time until we see future European

Championships and World Cups online.”

All in all, it’s safe to say that the digital revolution

has left TV fragmented, and rights deals in a

tangled mess. In the long term, however, viewers

have the power.

If Facebook continues to host billions of users

on a day-to-day basis, then it’s surely only a

matter of time before mainstream content,

whether in rivalry or collaboration, begins to

filter through onto social media. it would appear

we can arrive only at that frustrating, age-old

conclusion: time will tell. One thing is certain: as

long as these emerging platforms have a say on

the matter, Sky is most certainly not the limit. n


Opinion and Analysis

A war on two fronts?“It is really now only a matter of time until

we see future European Championships and World Cups online”

Dror Ginzberg, Wochit

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6 7 TVBE july16 sportssocmed Opinion_final.indd 11 16/06/2016 10:20

The cost of premium content is increasing,

and more companies - some with little

previous footprint in media - are expanding

their services into the TV space, further increasing

competition and offering up challenges for

traditional media organisations. As more viewers

turn towards mobile screens to access TV

content, OTT might just prove to be a solution for

these challenges.

The capability of some online video platforms

to manage live, linear and on-demand content

over various devices enables content owners to

develop and plan their content across screens

as one complete viewing experience instead

of looking at every delivery method individually.

Complex sports events such as the Olympics

are a good example of how content rights

owners can maximise the OTT opportunity. The

decision as to which sports will be broadcast

live on linear channels is no longer as difficult

to make as before. With the ability to show

content on a second and even third screen, the

main consideration becomes more a case of

establishing which screen will provide the best

possible viewer experience and engage with the

viewer in the most convenient way. For example,

the main linear channel might broadcast

team sports for the large TV screen where

image resolution and detail are key components

of the experience, while sports like athletics or

gymnastics might be available only over

mobile devices enhanced with relevant data

and commentary.

Reuse, repurposeWith the support of the OTT platform, it is possible

to create temporary channels, for example,

focusing on a particular sport and showcasing

live games and sports highlights, additional

interviews and even flashbacks to previous

Olympics. The reuse and repurposing of

content creates more and new monetisation

opportunities. Content owners can create

flexible, content packages, such as offering

subscription-based access to individual


Making the most of OTTFierce competition for exclusive live sports rights means the challenge for media companies has never been clearer, writes Stan Dimitrov, product marketing manager, OTT, Ericsson: attract more viewers, deepen engagement, and extract more value from the content

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8 9 TVBE july16 Ericsson Opinion_final.indd 10 15/06/2016 16:56

sports or live events. To be able to execute all of

this, media companies need to ensure that their

OTT platforms will enable them to publish various

forms of content without significantly more effort,

and ensure that the content management

process is integrated with their product, customer

management and billing systems.

Harnessing OTTHaving the content available across all screens

may not be enough to guarantee that viewers

will tune in or tap in to watch. A new approach

is needed to attract attention and bring

audiences to the desired screens. With all

the content already available in an OTT

platform and managed from a single

screen, it is now easier than ever

before to create clips and teasers

that can be immediately shared

on social networks or published

to YouTube. This functionality can

become a powerful tool to make

highlights available to a larger or a

targeted audience and drive them

to the application showing the live

events as they are happening. However, this puts

an extra requirement on media companies: to

be able to create content clips as the events

unfold and monitor social media activity and

viewer preferences and behaviours in real time.

While the former depends largely on production

and editorial capabilities, the latter can be

facilitated to a larger extent by using the data

available in the OTT platform. The complexity of

the technology and implementation of an OTT

service might seem daunting, but with creativity

and an understanding of viewer behaviour,

OTT can offer a powerful tool to satisfy the

growing number of content-hungry mobile-

native audiences. n


Opinion and Analysis

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201602_200X135.pdf 1 2016-01-14 오후 2:45:41

‘Complex sporting events such as the Olympics are an example of how content

rights owners can maximise the OTT opportunity’

8 9 TVBE july16 Ericsson Opinion_final.indd 11 15/06/2016 16:56


The 2016-17 Premier League campaign is

tipped to be the most exciting one yet. With

Pep Guardiola and José Mourinho set to

renew their bitter rivalry in charge of Manchester

City and Manchester United respectively, the

likes of Sky and BT are licking their lips at the

prospect of more subscribers to their channels.

Yet while these two heavyweights finance their

operations by charging viewers a considerable

amount each month, there’s another player

gaining traction in this space, which doesn’t

require fans to part with any money whatsoever.

Meet Kod, a gratis open-source media player

software, which has unwittingly become a source

for parasite add-ons to feed from. So how does

it work? The football fan simply downloads the

Kodi software to a device like an Amazon Fire TV

Stick or Apple TV, provided it’s been jailbroken,

and the world is one’s oyster. Viewers can not

only access the televised matches on Saturday

mornings and Sunday afternoons, they can also

watch all the 3pm Saturday kick-offs, previously

only available to viewers overseas. That’s

because viewers can now watch coverage

provided by Fox, Canal+ and many other major

non-UK sports broadcasters.

Of course, live streaming of Premier League

matches isn’t new. Sites like First Row Sports, Roja

Directa and Atdhe have been providing links to

matches for years, but the quality has always

been questionable and the user often has to

navigate the pornographic adverts that help

fund the sites and often inflict viruses on their

computers. The difference with Kodi is the quality.

While it may not be HD, providing the internet

connection and speed are up to scratch, the

quality is as close to HD as you can get and it

rarely buffers. That’s where it becomes a problem

for the likes of Sky Sports and BT Sport in the UK.

They pay the Premier League an astronomical

amount of money to share the broadcast rights.

In early 2015, Sky and BT Sport coughed up a

record £5.136 billion for live Premier League TV

rights for three seasons from 2016-17. The figure

represented a 70 per cent increase on Sky and

BT’s previous £3 billion deal.

Sky was the only broadcaster to have rights

to screen Premier League football in the UK from

the division’s inception in 1992 up until 2007. It’s

stranglehold, some say monopoly, was broken by

Irish pay-TV firm Setanta. Yet while Setanta didn’t

have the financial muscle to keep up the fight,

Kodi has has not spent a penny on rights and

doesn’t need to make any money back.

The legal implicationss remain unclear. If a

UK-based viewer takes a Sky Sports or BT Sport

feed, then it’s clearly illegal. If, however, a user

in the UK streams a Premier League encounter

from French premium cable television channel

Canal+, with the commentary and punditry all

in French, is it illegal? It’s also important to point

out that neither Amazon, Apple or any other

conduit to the Kodi add-ons are complicit in

this. Amazon has spoken out against piracy in

the past. In 2015, its Fire TV Stick experienced a

stock shortage in the UK and at the time there

was speculation its association with Kodi was the

reason. Then in June last year, Amazon pulled

Kodi on the grounds it can be “used to facilitate

the piracy or illegal download of content”. In

other words, Amazon were onto it. Nevertheless,

it hasn’t been able to wash its hands of Kodi

altogether. Amazon still distributes Kodi with

pirated add-ons. There lies the problem.

Neither Sky nor BT wished to comment on Kodi,

but isn’t the onus on the Premier League to

protect its rights? A Premier League spokesman

said: “It is only through legitimate investment in

its broadcasting rights that it can put on a world

renowned football competition and support

and invest in the English football pyramid and

beyond.” The organisation said it’s aware that

“this model is threatened by piracy, whether

in the form of illegal internet streams showing

Premier League football, or unauthorised

broadcasts of our matches in UK pubs”.

The Premier League does a huge amount of

work to combat the threat of piracy, including

through partnerships with Net Result, Irdeto and

ID Inquiries. The spokesman also pointed to

the fact that last season, the Premier League

successfully blocked thousands of streams that

were illegally showing Premier League footage,

while it “successfully took legal action against

certain websites, both in the English and overseas

courts”. While that may be true, it’s nearly

impossible to stop streaming sites from popping

up, because when one is pulled down, another

surfaces. The Premier League can still take parties

to civil courts for copyright infringement, can it

really keep taking people to court non-stop?

Alex Haffner, managing associate at law firm

Dentons, said broadcasters who pay premiums

will expect the Premier League to be doing

all it can to protect against “unlawful use”. He

added: “Generally, the parties work closely

together given they have a common interest

here. However, these developments show just

how difficult it is for any rights holder to constantly

stay ahead of technological progress.”

Another lawyer from an international firm,

who wished to remain anonymous, argued

that there may even come a point when the

Premier League can’t justify hiking up the price

each time the bidding process begins. “Why will

Sky and whoever else bids pay top whack for

something you can get for free?” he said.

The Premier League, while not necessarily the

best league in the world, it is certainly the most

exciting, and that’s why the geeks are staying

one step ahead. n

Streaming: the end of subscription?

‘There’s another player gaining traction in this space and it’s one that doesn’t require fans to

part with any money whatsoever’

There are question marks over live streaming Premier League matches free of charge. Robert Shepherd looks at a new player who has entered an arena traditionally dominated by the major broadcasters

10 TVBE july16 football streaming Opinion_final.indd 10 15/06/2016 16:52

TVB-LYNX-GM-NEW-OL.pdf 1 6/3/2016 4:21:06 PM


More than 90 concerts over eight weeks,

including four Last Night celebrations

around the UK, will make up the 122nd

season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts

starting on 15 July. In the spirit of Wood’s

founding vision to make the best music available

to the widest audience, every Prom is broadcast

live on BBC Radio 3, and in 2016, BBC Radio 2

and Radio 6 Music each broadcast multiple

Proms. In addition, around 25 concerts will be

televised including, of course, the renowned

Last Night of the Proms. In 2015, the television

audience for this spectacular peaked at five

million viewers.

Francesca Kemp, who will serve as BBC TV

executive producer for the season, has worked

for the BBC for over 30 years, starting with Radio

3, before moving into music TV as a researcher,

producer and director.

“We start planning the season as soon as the

previous one ends,” Kemp explains. “The BBC

Proms director is responsible for planning each

season of concerts from the Royal Albert Hall

and other venues. Between the autumn and

early spring, as his plans firm up, we discuss with

the channel controllers and head of BBC music

commissioning, Jan Younghusband, which of

them we will cover for television, and confirm

when and where they will be shown.”

Many of the concert broadcasts are shown

on BBC Four, but some are seen across

BBC One, Two and online platforms. During

the Proms season, the BBC also produces

a weekly magazine show called Proms

Extra, shown on Saturday evenings on BBC

Two, featuring star guests from the season,

concert reviews, previews, short films and live

studio performances.

“This year we will have six producers working

across the season, some for many months,

others for a few weeks,” Kemp continues. “Four

of these producers are members of the music

TV department, while two others are joining us

Producing the BBC PromsPhilip Stevens talks to those responsible for bringing music to a mass audience

Productionwww.tvbeurope.com July 201612 TVBEurope

Production©

BBC

Pic

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12 14 15 16 TVBE july16 Production BBC Proms_final.indd 54 15/06/2016 17:27

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ProductionProduction14 TVBEurope

from other parts of the BBC. The production and

editorial teams are usually on board by late May

and continue through to the end of the season in

mid-September. Our teams work very closely with

colleagues across the BBC, particularly with the

Proms concerts team, who plan and manage

the season, and with our colleagues in Radio 3,

who broadcast every Prom live.”

The demands of directingOne of the directors used by Kemp is Bridget

Caldwell. What does she see as the qualities

needed for a director on such a high profile

series? “A real understanding of music. I see

one of my roles as guiding the viewer through

the music. Each piece demands its own unique

response. I try to make sense of the music and

pick out the instruments with the tune, but then

also reflect the countermelodies and anything

interesting happening in the percussion.

Sometimes this is easy, especially with a well-

established piece of music, but it is much harder

with a new commission when, more often than

not, there’s no recording of the piece to hear.

Then you have to study the score and try and

work out how it sounds and what the composer’s

trying to say.”

Caldwell adds that resilience and a good

sense of humour are also essential qualities if a

director is to succeed. “You may have scripted

a concert and then, two days before the

performance, discover the conductor wants

to change the orchestra layout, which means

starting all over again. Or you turn up on the day

and discover that all the percussion shots you’ve

scripted are now masked by microphones or

other instruments. Or perhaps the soloist wants to

perform further upstage, so again your scripted

shots are all blocked, and you need to adapt,

and quickly.”

So, just how far in advance of a concert will

the director get to see the music? Caldwell

reports that the time frame can vary. “A

Beethoven symphony I’ll probably get four

to six weeks in advance, while a new commission

normally will get to me about a week before.

And encores have been known to turn up

on the day!”

Great operatorsNormally six cameras, including one on a jib, are

used for the concerts, although this number will

increase for the Last Night. “I work with the best

operators in the business. I’m always amazed

at what a brilliant job they do in such a short

amount of time. Plus, the first time they hear the

music is the day of the rehearsal, and yet they

respond as if they’ve been living with the pieces

for weeks on end.”

Although there may be a music rehearsal

scheduled for first thing in the morning, the stage

will be cleared for another a little later. Once

that is completed, the first orchestra will be set

back. “This means that players and microphones

will be in slightly different positions so all the shots

you’ve carefully planned for flutes or trumpets

need to be quickly checked.” Not that there is

always an opportunity for any rehearsals. That

luxury depends on the orchestra’s availability.

“I’ve gone on air not having seen an entire

symphony or only bits of a piece. And for the Last

Night of the Proms, you don’t always get to hear

everything because it’s such a long concert.”

Audio activitiesTelevision sound is produced by the Sound

Alliance, an independent specialist company

which won a TVBAward in 2015. “We provide

a sound mobile unit and crew, and pass on

the mixed audio to the OB provider, Visions,”

explains Andy Payne, TV sound supervisor and

a director of the Sound Alliance. “In the Visions

truck, presentation is added. However, on simpler

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One of the BBC jib cameras provides close up and personal shots of the performers and audience

The Royal Albert Hall, London, the setting for the Proms

www.tvbeurope.com July 2016


Proms, we handle this element as well.”

He adds, “Our own mobile is equipped with

Stagetec Nexus and Cantus mixing along

with 128-track Pyramix recording and editing.

Monitoring is Bowers and Wilkins in fully Dolby

specified 5.1. Television and radio each have a

separate mobile facility connected together for

sharing with MADI.”

Payne reveals that the TV output is delivered

in Dolby 5.1 surround, with stereo derived from

this feed. “There are challenges in producing

stereo without compromise from 5.1, and TV uses

a somewhat different approach to microphone

coverage to Radio 3. For radio, the mix is

principally in stereo and can be expanded up to

a 4.0 surround feed, which is accessible online.

Although there are necessarily independent

approaches to microphone coverage, television

and radio share a good deal of what is rigged.

Schoeps, DPA and Sennheiser type microphones

make up the main coverage. Mostly, Schoeps

and Neumann are used for on-stage soloist and

spot mics, but others creep in from time to time.

On occasion, some vintage types can be seen,

but this is usually a visual design feature rather

than any audio consideration.”

Seeing the lightThe lighting design for the Proms has to cope

with the wide range of concerts and events

that happen over the two-month period, even

though not all the requirements are known at

the start of the season. “Together with the busy

festival schedule of at least one concert per day,

we have little or no time to make changes to the

rig, and so we have evolved a flexible design

which we know from experience should provide

what is needed,” says Bernie Davis, who has

been the Proms lighting designer since 1993.

“From the start it is important for us to understand the needs of this unique event, with the first priority being the comfort of the orchestras and choirs”

Bernie Davis, lighting designer

Production TVBEurope 15July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com



Production

“From the start, it is important for us to understand

the needs of this unique event, with the fi rst

priority being the comfort of the orchestras and

choirs. They must be able to read the music

without lit music stands, they must be able to see

the conductor, and they must not be dazzled.

Beyond that, the concerts must look good in

the hall and, when necessary, on television. The

lighting rig must be silent to meet the demands of

Radio 3 and the Proms audience. Davis says that

people’s expectation of lighting has changed

over the years, and designers have managed to

push the boundaries of what is possible while still

working within the limits of each environment.

“It used to be just ‘white light’ for classical

music, but now we try to enhance the mood

with the careful use of colour around the hall,

and graphics on the LED display panels behind

the orchestra. These panels can show anything

from abstract and subtle patterns to moving

scenery. The important thing is to know when

to use which!” The lighting design for the Proms

now uses some of the latest lighting equipment

available, and that has actually helped to

reduce costs. “We now work with a much smaller

crew than when I started over 20 years ago,”

Davis continues. “The usual crew for the hall for

a TV Prom day is now just lighting designer and

two electricians, and a regular Radio 3 concert

would have just one electrician. The start of the

season takes more crew though, and we take

two days just to rig all the lighting and

make all the systems work. The following

day is a focus day when each of about a

thousand lights get set.”

After that is an opportunity to catch up

with other jobs in the background, leaving

the team ready to balance the lighting and

start rehearsing. Once the grid is set 10m

over the stage it cannot move again for

two months as a range of sound slings are

set underneath.

Davis states that the small pool of crew

are hand-picked for their skills, because they

don’t just have to be experienced lighting

technicians, but also be willing and able to climb

the overhead grid for necessary maintenance.

“In addition, they need to have the skills

and knowledge to deal with orchestras and

conductors on a day-to-day basis. But we all love

the Proms and look forward to it every season.” n

“I’ve gone on air not having seen an entire symphony or only bits of a piece”

Bridget Caldwell, director

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The energetic audience enjoying the Last Night

with patriotic vigour

12 14 15 16 TVBE july16 Production BBC Proms_final2.indd 57 16/06/2016 15:51


As the host broadcaster, Olympic

Broadcasting Services (OBS) is

responsible for providing the images

and sound of the Olympic Games as a service

to all organisations, including the rights holding

broadcasters (RHBs), who have purchased

the television and radio rights. OBS will also

act as host broadcaster for the Rio 2016

Paralympic Games.

OBS produces and distributes unbiased live

radio and television coverage of every sport

from every venue and provides RHBs with

the international signals, also known as the

world feed.

In addition to developing a multilateral

production plan for the International

Signals, OBS provides additional services,

equipment, facilities and supplies to the RHBs

in order to help them produce their own

unilateral production coverage.

According to Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of

OBS, broadcasting the events represents an

innovative and exciting enterprise, with each

Games providing its own set of production

challenges. “This year, golf and Rugby Sevens

have taken OBS into new territories. OBS has

been working diligently to develop an efficient

broadcast plan to deliver live action as it

happens and engage audiences around the

world – from the core fans to the newcomers – in

the drama of the tournament.”

Exarchos says that OBS will rely on the

expertise of NBC and Sky TV New Zealand to

execute its production plan for golf and Rugby

Sevens respectively.

Overcoming obstaclesAlongside the challenges of developing the

production for the two new sports, OBS has found

it necessary to address a potentially difficult

situation which could have impacted production

in the sport of sailing. This event will take place

in Guanabara Bay, the most iconic inlet in Rio

de Janeiro. Unfortunately, this is also located

on the direct flight path to Santos Dumont

airport. “Modern broadcast coverage of the

sailing events requires extensive use of aerial

cameras. Rio 2016 managed to coordinate

with the federal and regional governments and

reschedule flights to and from Santos Dumont

airport during the competition, thus allowing

OBS’s helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to fly

over the courses and properly cover the event

during the Games.”

The hubOBS is also responsible for designing, building,

installing and operating the International

Broadcast Centre (IBC). Located in a new,

purpose-built structure in Barra Olympic Park, the

IBC is close to nine Olympic competition venues

and is adjacent to the Main Press Centre (MPC).

The 85,400sqm IBC houses the technical and

administrative facilities for both OBS and the

RHBs including edit suites, control rooms, studios

and offices. More than 100 RHB organisations

including sub-licensees will have a working space

inside the IBC, while in excess of 12,000 personnel

will be accredited to cover the Games. OBS itself

will have 7,100 personnel on site.

“The IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 has

reinforced the idea of a more sustainable

Games plan,” says Exarchos. “OBS is continually

striving to reduce the impact on the host city

and country, while at the same time optimising

operations. For instance, by implementing

reusable IBC construction modules, OBS has

reduced waste by the equivalent of 2,800 trucks.

So good news for the environment.”

New technologyHe goes on, “As part of its mission, OBS

endeavours to make use of the latest state-of-

the-art broadcasting technology and services to

relay the most memorable celebration of sport

to billions of viewers around the world. While

tradition and precedent from previous Games

is a guiding principle for the host broadcaster’s

work, in its pursuit of excellence, OBS

also recognises the importance of emerging

digital media and the evolving requirements

of the RHBs.”

He cites two examples to prove

his point; the Olympic Video Player

(OVP) and the multi-channel

distribution service (MDS).

“The OVP offers RHBs their

own fully produced platform

containing one of the best live

video and on-demand players

for the internet, tablets and

mobiles, currently available.

Launched for Sochi 2014, the

OVP helped drive the record

digital offerings for those

Games. In Sochi, for the first time

in Olympic history, the amount

of digital coverage exceeded

traditional television broadcasts

with 60,000 hours available on

digital platforms, compared with

42,000 hours on television. We

expect the growth of digital will

continue in Rio.”

Currently, 11 rights holding

broadcasters, representing

more than 60 territories from

around the globe will be

subscribed to the OVP service for

the Rio Games. As a result of the

increased digital distribution and

together with traditional television

coverage, the Games in Rio will

reach more global territories than

ever before.

He continues, “The MDS has

become one of the prime ways

for the television coverage of the

Olympic Games to be distributed to

the world. In London, there were 13

subscribers distributing coverage from

the MDS. For Sochi 2014, that number

grew to 80 RHB companies from 70

different countries using the MDS to fully

produce their entire coverage of the

Inside the chief executive’s officePhilip Stevens talks to Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of the Olympic host broadcaster, about the upcoming spectacular in South America

“The IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 has reinforced the idea of a more sustainable

Games plan”Yiannis Exarchos, OBS

18 19 TVBE July16 Olympics interview Production_final.indd 54 16/06/2016 13:14

Production TVBEurope 19July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Games with little or no

staff or facilities within

the host city. There

will be 52 takers

in Rio, broadcasting

the Games to

198 territories.”

Meanwhile, the

OBS archive team

will be responsible

for ingesting in the

Central Video

Archive

System all live venue feeds, multi clips feeds,

and all output broadcast on the Olympic News

Channel (ONC), as well as press conferences

produced by OBS. All content will be video

logged and tagged.

While this service will not be new, for the first

time all mixed zones interviews from the ONC

teams in the various venues will be ingested and

made available to RHBs and distributed to a

number of services. Another ‘first’ means

the entire archive operation will be tapeless

and completely file based. Dedicated lines

and file acceleration services will be used to

transfer content from Rio to the IOC Archive

in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Planning productionOBS has secured 52 mobile units for the

coverage of the Games, including four

units from Brazilian suppliers and 48 units

from others located in other countries.

Additionally, 12 flyaway systems and

seven independent audio production

units have been secured. There will

be another 31 support vans making

a total fleet of 83 vehicles and 19

production kits.

The venue coverage will be

transmitted to the IBC via the on-site

Technical Operations Centre (TOC).

“OBS will utilise an extensive fibre

optic contribution network that

connects the venues and the IBC; a

combination of dark fibre for venues

in the metropolitan area of Rio and

Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH)

for distant venues,” states Exarchos.

For the majority of installations

OBS will be using standard RF

communications at the venues, with

diverse reception points cabled from

the OB van. At specific venues such

as golf, OBS will install an in-depth

network that will support transmission

and reception of all of the various RF

sources including OBS RF cameras and the

communications network.

RHBs receive ‘dirty’ feeds from OBS

multilateral coverage. Specifically, the

International Television Signal includes the

live camera cut; all replays (including the

Olympic Replay Transition to open and

close the replay sequence), all start lists,

athlete IDs, scorecards and results, result lists,

crunch scoreboards without clocks, all timing

graphics and all production enhancements

including virtual graphics such as flags on the

field of play, world record lines, best throw/jump

lines, course maps and GPS positioning graphics.

Training for the futureFollowing its previous successes, OBS is continuing

with its training programme. “Forming an

integral part of OBS’s legacy strategy, the

Broadcast Training Programme (BTP) aims

to train the next generation of media and

television professionals,” explains Exarchos.

“In collaboration with selected universities in

the host city, the training programme gives

students practical experience in how the largest

broadcasting operation in the world will be

assembled and function. Approximately 1,200

successful students have been offered paid

roles during the Rio 2016 Games, such as audio

assistant, camera assistant, commentary system

operator and liaison officer and utility.”

Upping the qualityFollowing a lead from London, OBS and NHK will

be working together to produce some coverage

in UHD. Beyond that, 8K will be used for the

opening and closing ceremonies and some

selected sports with the output being made

available to interested RHBs. The 8K experience

will also include an immersive 3-D 22.2 multi-

channel surround system.

“We will also be looking closely at another

first in Olympic Broadcasting history,” declares

Exarchos. “Viewers from around the world will be

able to enjoy a truly unique viewing experience

with high definition virtual reality (VR). This

follows a first successful test of a 180-degree VR

experience at the Lillehammer 2016 Winter Youth

Olympic Games.”

Using a compatible headset, viewers will be

virtually transported to the heart of the Olympic

action with VR coverage including the opening

and closing ceremonies and one key event

per day. Olympic content will be available live

through VR technologies, but also as video on-

demand. Highlights of 360-degree video content

will also be available, without the need for VR

headsets. OBS is also exploring the possibility of

a limited experimental production in WCG/HDR

(wide colour gamut/high dynamic range).

Exarchos concludes, “As in every aspect of

the Olympic Games, it is about excellence,

but the Games in Rio provide us with two

unique opportunities. First, on the digital front,

to showcase to the world the first Games in

South America, taking place in one of the most

spectacular cities of the world; and second, to

align the broadcast of these Games with the

ongoing revolution in digital media.” n

18 19 TVBE July16 Olympics interview Production_final.indd 55 16/06/2016 13:14

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July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

F or Jonny Bramley, executive producer

of major events at the BBC, this summer

marks his 13th Olympic Games, and sixth as

executive producer. “As we did for London 2012,

we will be broadcasting live streams of every

sport on the web, mobile, connected TV and

games consoles. There will also be up to eight

red button channels, and we are on air every

day on BBC One and BBC Four. The network

transmissions will focus on the mainstream

sports such as athletics, swimming, cycling and

gymnastics, and also where Team GB athletes

and teams are competing.”

The corporation will send 455 accredited staff

to Brazil. This is around 40 per cent below the

number of accreditations for London 2012, but

with the broadcaster delivering around the same

amount of output. The operation will be based

in the IBC and as well as office space, it will

install production and sound galleries, a central

technical area, operations room, edit suites, off

tube booths, a graphics area and separate office

for radio, news, nations and regions.

Bramley continues, “Our studio is in between

the triathlon and beach volleyball venues. We

will have radio steadicams operating in the

Olympic Park and on Copacabana beach. The

studio itself is provided by OBS as part of a pre-

fabricated structure. We will transport and install

the set, designed by Pico, and source the lighting

in the UK, as it was the most cost-effective option,

and our system integrator Dega Broadcast

Systems will deliver the broadcast equipment.”

In addition, there will be one OB unit provided

by Arena TV at the athletics location, plus

three ENG crews who will focus on filming

features and another 13 who will be operating

live at venues on mixed zones and announce

positions. “Perhaps the biggest challenges are

the unknowns around transport and logistics. No

matter how much planning we do before an

Olympics, travel times are always an estimate

until the Games actually start,” says Bramley.

Philip Stevens asked several European broadcasters about their plans for the Olympics

Production TVBEurope 21

Clare Balding and Ade Adepitan presented peak time coverage of the 2012 Paralympic Games for Channel 4

Ready for Rio

Remotely RioSwitzerland’s SRG will be producing programmes

in different languages for the four regions in

the country; German, Italian, French, and

Romansh. “Our total personnel commitment to

the Games will be approximately 140 people

including technical staff, editors, journalists and

producers,” states Sven Sarbach, head of major

events, SRG SSR. “We will have an office at the

IBC which will include work stations, a master

control room, edit suites, off-tubes, a radio studio

and meeting room.” SRG’s presentations will

originate in the Ipanema View TV Studio in Rio

de Janeiro. “The studio is located in a marvellous

place called Arpoador Rock between the

legendary Copacabana and Ipanema beach.”

Sarbach goes on to reveal that all

programmes from that Ipanema studio will be

operated as a remote production, with the

directors and their staff based in Zurich, Lugano

and Geneva. “The cameras will be directed from

there, with only a small crew on location: two

or three camera operators, the technical staff

and the floor manager. The remote production

arrangement means that we will not need any

outside broadcast units on site. We will, however,

have eight ENG crews in Rio to collect stories

and other colour material.” That material will be

edited in the six edit suites within the IBC using

SRG’s Sony Sonap system.

“We have set a number of strategic goals

for our Olympic coverage,” declares Sarbach.

“These include high level production on TV, radio

and the internet, outstanding programming for

all regions of Switzerland, 24-hour coverage of all

the different sport disciplines and the variety of

the games with Swiss focus.”

German game planAccording to Dieter Gruschwitz, ZDF head of

sports, for the German broadcaster the biggest

initial challenge will be the transportation of the

technical equipment. “The Olympics start not

long after the Euro 2016 football finals in France

and we have to ensure everything arrives in Rio

in good time.”

“We will have around 140 technical

and production personnel, and some 90

commentators, presenters, story makers and

editors on site in Rio. And because it makes

economic sense, we are sharing 2,400sqm of

space in the IBC with our colleagues from ARD.”

Those IBC facilities will include offices, Avid edit

suites, and technical areas. “In addition, we

will be building a studio at the Olympic Park for

interviews and presentations, and will be using

our own outside broadcast van for the track and

field events. For all of these productions, we will

be using our own directors and other technical

and production personnel. We are also planning

to use some remote technical equipment which

will be operated from our facilities within the IBC.”

Slovenian solutionMile Jovanovic, team leader for TV Slovenia,

reveals that planning for Rio 2016 started in

September 2014. “We are sending two on-

location commentators to Brazil, alongside 12

technical and production personnel. They will

be utilising our own equipment, although we will

make use of the facilities at the IBC for some off-

tube commentaries.” The crew will include five

ENG cameramen for collecting background and

colour material. “Editing for this content will be

carried out by our own editors using our Quantel

suite,” says Jovanovic. “Although we will be

using some recorded material, our main aim is to

broadcast live all the events in which Slovenian

athletes are taking part.”

Croatian coverageCroatian national broadcaster HRT is planning to

send 40 personnel to Rio, with a further 20 being

involved with Olympic production in Zagreb.

Stjepan Balog, HRT Rio 2016 project director, says,

“In order to provide stories particularly related

to the Croatian athletes we will be deploying

three ENG crews to collect material from around

Brazil. All of this equipment, including an Avid

edit suite, will be brought in from Zagreb.” HRT

has booked an office of around 130sqm in the

IBC. “We have taken advantage of the video

and audio package and other connectivity for

various circuits back to Croatia,” states Balog.

So what does he see as the biggest challenges?

“To cover all the appearances of Croatian

sportsmen with fairly limited resources, to prepare

the multimedia project, while increasing TV,

radio, and social network coverage. And, of

course, working on another continent with

completely different time zones. But we will

meet those challenges!”

Paralympics, tooChannel 4 viewers in the UK will be able to watch

live events in the Paralympic Games in Rio. This

follows the broadcaster’s acclaimed coverage

of the Paralympics in London in 2012. “We

learned some valuable lessons from 2012 and

are looking to improve on most aspects of our

coverage,” states Stephen Lyle, commissioning

editor for sport at Channel 4. “Any ‘good grace’

from being new to the games last time will have

gone now and any faults will be seized upon. We

are aware of that so we are looking to go event

further in terms of research. Finally, we have

always set a goal to increase the number of

disabled talent on screen.”

“Olympic Broadcasting Services will provide

the majority of the coverage. Sunset+Vine is

producing our output, and will provide two

add-on OBs at the athletics and swimming for

our dedicated coverage.” In addition, Channel

4 will have its own studio in the IBC at the

Olympic Park.

Lyle says that the ability to tell stories – so

key to the Paralympics – will be enhanced by

the massive innovations in camera and edit

technology during the last four years. “Improved

connectivity, infrastructure and facilities around

the Paralympics has made it more possible to

achieve our dream and broadcast the entire

event live from Rio back to the UK. It will be

the most comprehensive coverage ever of a

Paralympic Games.”

That coverage means Channel 4 will provide

more than 120 hours of live sport on television,

plus more than 500 hours of online streaming.

Lyle concludes, “It is a huge challenge to

build an operation of this kind so far away in

Brazil, but our coverage will reaffirm Channel 4’s

commitment to changing public perceptions of

disability and disability sport.” n


From left to right; Dieter Gruschwitz, ZDF; Jonny Bramley, BBC; Stjepan Balog, HRT; Sven Sarbach, SRG SSR

21 22 TVBE june16 Production Olympic broadcasters_final.indd 55 15/06/2016 17:27

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Europe’s largest broadcast facilities provider,

EMG (Euro Media Group) has been gearing

up for the Olympic Games in August. The

group was already one of the key outfits on the

Tour de France in July, the Euro 2016 in June and

the Roland-Garros tennis tournament at the end

of May, through French subsidiary Euromedia.

Over the past ten years, the group has

morphed from being essentially a French-based

audiovisual service provider into a European

giant, a transformation kicked off by the 2007

merger of France’s Euro Media Télévison and

Holland’s UBF Media group. As it stands today,

EMG has seven subsidiaries spread across

the continent, including CTV and ACS (Aerial

Camera Systems) in the UK, Nobeo in Germany,

United in the Netherlands, Video House in

Belgium, 3zero2 in Italy as well as Euromedia and

Netco Sports in France.

For the Olympic Games in Brazil, EMG will

be pushing the boat out: it will have no less

than 14 OB vans on site, (including four from

Euromedia), two planes, five helicopters and

seven motorbikes. It will also send around 60

technicians from the group. Because of tight

disclosure rules agreed with the International

Olympic Committee, it cannot go into much

more detail about its setup. Suffice to say that

it will be the huge cherry on the cake of an

incredibly busy year for the group as whole, and

particularly for French subsidiary Euromedia.

Very much the historical and central plank of

the group, the Saint-Denis-based company,

according to its president Lionel Vialaneix,

accounts for around a third of EMG’s turnover

and has subsidiaries of its own; Aix-en Provence-

based slow-motion specialist DVS (Digital Vidéo

Sud), audiovisual service provider S-TV and

HF transmission specialist Livetools Technology,

based in Switzerland.

“We aim to provide high-end services to our

clients, especially in the area of HF transmission.

Our know-how lies in covering very large sporting

events in France, which have a big international

reach, such as Le Tour de France or Roland–

Garros. Through DVS, we also provide our

unique slow-mo and ultra slow-mo expertise on

national and international competitions. And

lately we have started providing 360-degree

cameras for sport and entertainment events,

responding to an important new market trend,”

Vialaneix describes.

On an expansion spreeEuromedia recently renewed its historical

contract with Gaul pubcaster France Télévisions

for another five years, giving it medium-term

stability and perspective. The company at a

Feature24 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016

“Not only are the number of rights holders constantly increasing, so are the

sports we cover”Lionel Vialaneix,

Euromedia

Euromedia in goodshape for the Olympics

EMG and its French subsidiary have been upgrading their broadcast technology offering in time for the Olympic Games in Rio. Catherine Wright reports

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24 25 TVBE july16 Euromedia olympics Feature_final.indd 54 15/06/2016 17:33


Feature

local level, very much like the group at a larger

level, is looking to expand. “We are studying

a number of possibilities. We are looking to

acquire companies that are complementary,

they could either be innovative start-ups or more

established and well-known outfits, all options are

conceivable,” Vialaneix admits. The strategy is to

become a one-stop shop for broadcasters, both

in France and beyond.

At a group level, the drive is probably to sign

a global contract with a large international rights

holder, in the Bertelsmann-owned RTL mould, for

instance. Areas where Euromedia is looking to

increase its customer base are live performing

arts and entertainment, as well as services for

corporate clients. “We have recently recruited

an account manager, Benoît Baudelet, assigned

to clients who produce live performing arts,”

Vialaneix continues. “We have already worked

on the Printemps de Bourges music festival and

the Download heavy metal music festival, which

takes place in the UK in June. We have covered

a Pavarotti-inspired concert in Monte Carlo

as well as an event with pop star Mika, but

there is a lot of scope to expand and do much

more in this area.”

Sport, however, remains the company’s bread

and butter, and as Vialaneix is keen to stress, this

is a golden age for companies working in that

area. “Not only are the number of rights holders

constantly increasing, so are the sports we cover:

more and more female competitions are being

broadcast, from football to rugby.”

Extreme sports of all kinds are also becoming

more popular and the number of broadcasters

involved in sports coverage is sky-rocketing. In

France, for instance, BeIn is a fairly recent rights

holder, but even newer is the Altice Group,

owner of SFR-Numéricable.

OB and camera fleet in full renewalIn order to meet that rocketing demand,

Euromedia is in the process of renewing its OB

fleet. At the end of last year it renewed the B40,

a smaller, double expander version of the triple

expander A21 van. The B40 is now equipped with

a Grass Valley mixer and a SAM Sirius router frame

that includes a dual production space with two

separate panels. A Telex matrix will still be used

for the intercom system, but the company has

upgraded to a Studer Vista 9 console for audio.

Most of the monitors are Sony Oled, apart from

the remote workstation monitors, which are

made by Eizo. The Erica fibre transport system is

used for fibre optic transmission to outside units.

A couple of months ago, the company also

launched a new, lower-cost OB van called

Nomad, a multi-functional and adaptable

OB, and therefore less expensive to use for

broadcasters. “It’s a four-in-one van which

can have up to nine cameras, it is HD and 4K

compatible and can be used on smaller sports

events as well as on live performances and

concerts. Our nickname for it in the company is

the Swiss army knife,” says Vialaneix.

The company also recently commissioned

three new hybrid 4K vans (one large and two

smaller vehicles), which will be equipped with

SAM Kahuna and Sirius technology. The Kahuna

9600 production switcher’s great strength is that

it supports any combination of SD, HD, 1O80p

and 4K environments. On the router front, the

Sirius 800 was chosen for its processing capability

on every input and output (IP), thereby saving

space due to less cable.

At a wider level, EMG is in the process of

upgrading its broadcast camera fleet and has

opted for Sony HD 2500 and HDC 4300s, after a

long selection process involving a tender with

multiple broadcast companies. The cameras

enable the group to make the gradual upgrade

to 4K, HDR and High Frame Rate shooting.

Both EMG and Euromedia are investing in

R&D, as it is an essential way to remain

competitive. “Technology is changing so fast,

you can’t afford not to prepare for the future

to meet customer demands,” Vialanex adds.

Euromedia recently set up a new department,

innovations et technologie, headed by Mathieu

Skrzypniak, precisely with that goal in mind.

Areas of interest are of course VR, HDR and

4K, but also remote production developments,

aerial shots and cameras, as well as mini-cams.

Last but not least, Euromedia is also

streamlining its historical studio and TV

set business. “There is too much supply and

not enough demand, so we are planning to

go on rationalising that side of the business,”

Vialaneix concludes. n

‘EMG ‘s main shareholder is private equity fund PAI Partners,

which holds 58 per cent of the company’s shares, worth €170 million. In 2013, it made sales worth €302 million, around a

third of which can be attributed to Euromedia’

Lionel Vialaneix, Euromedia

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24 25 TVBE july16 Euromedia olympics Feature_final.indd 55 15/06/2016 17:33

Sports rights are now a target of social

media players just as much as extending

the reach of sports properties onto OTT

platforms is a strategy of sport franchises and

broadcasters. Broadly, traditional players need

to expand into social and online to reach

millennials who are deserting studio-bound linear

presentations for interactive, informal, and mostly

free TV anywhere experiences.

Social giants, on the other hand, are

increasingly moving into premium sports because

the audience and profile of these businesses rely

on scale, suggests Richard Broughton, research

director for Ampere Analysis. “Sports are a mass

market form of entertainment and capable of

attracting large audiences with a high value to

sponsors and advertisers.”

Examples of the former include BT’s live

coverage of the UEFA Champions League on

YouTube; Discovery’s deal with Snapchat to

create a dedicated mobile channel around the

Olympics (with content supplied by BuzzFeed);

and Sky’s investment in online sports network

Whistle Sports.

All sides are dovetailing on internet delivery,

which begs the question as to whether the

quality of service between linear (satellite, cable)

TV and broadband is indistinguishable.

“It can be equivalent, and in all honesty I think

OTT can be better in some cases; for example,

OTT can do 4K now,” says Shawn Carnahan,

CTO, Telestream. “The big question is what

device is the viewer using and is their prime

concern quality or convenience?”

He adds, though, that OTT may not ever

be able to achieve the very low latency of

broadcast from a technical perspective. “In

broadcast, each viewer has the exact same

bandwidth and very low latency. I’m not sure

OTT could ever achieve that same level.”

Telestream has introduced Lightspeed Live

Stream to bring broadcasts and OTT together in

the live space. The solution is designed to provide

high quality encoding and control the amount

of bandwidth available between production

and distribution, as well as the amount available

between distribution and the end user.

NeuLion’s EVP and co-founder Chris Wagner

is in no doubt. “Online is better. Satellite and

cable deliver at 30fps. We deliver at 4K at 60fps

[NeuLion streamed El Clásico’ Barcelona Real

Madrid match live in 4K 60fps over the NeuLion

Digital Platform to Sony 4K TVs in April].”

NeuLion was signed by Eleven Sports Network

to stream live (and VoD) coverage of La Liga,

UEFA Euro 2016, Formula One and the FA Cup

Final to subscribers in Belgium, Luxembourg,

Poland, Singapore and Taiwan. “Digital delivery

of live video is better and looks better than

cable,” says Wagner. “Satellite and cable

platforms are being replaced by digitally

delivered video.”

Ian Munford, director of product marketing,

media solutions for Akamai, says the industry

has reached the point where good HD quality

live streams can be delivered with reliability.

“We have the luxury in the UK of a great HD TV

service. We can easily surpass that.”

For Superbowl 50, Akamai saw a “dramatic

increase in every single viewing metric” says

Munford. In 2015, it counted 2.5 million viewers

concurrently streaming the event live. This year,

it peaked at four million. “The average viewing

time increased from 84 to 101 minutes and we

saw a big jump in bit rate from a 3.5Mb average

to 4.5Mb average. This tells us that there’s a


Does the screen matter for live sports?

As live sports pour online, Adrian Pennington asks whether OTT streams are as good as, or better than, the cable and satellite delivered TV experience

26 27 TVBE july16 live sports streaming Feature_final3.indd 54 17/06/2016 16:22


Feature

shift toward watching major sports using an

OTT service and away from snacking to long

form viewing.” There were reports, though, that

online viewers of SB50 did not receive a buffer-

free experience (not necessarily to do with

any of Akamai’s involvement). The transition to

HTTP-based streaming may have enabled OTT

delivery, but it inherently introduces latency.

A study by network performance analytics firm

IneoQuest (conducted before SB50) found that

that sports buffering inflicted rage in viewers, with

two out of five consumers likely to will wait only

ten seconds or less for the video to resume, or

they leave the stream.

“When you’re using HTTP streaming

technology, there can be a challenge from

the camera through to the playing device,”

says Munford. “Some things are not in the rights

owner’s control.”

One issue is the shift in bit rate, where the

live stream pixelates or blurs on account of

ABR. “Dramatic shifts do impact the viewer

experience,” says Munford. “We’re seeing quite

high abandonment rates as a result.”

The content delivery network (CDN) has

a number of Media Services Live delivery

technologies designed to reduce latency. Its

accelerated ingest capabilities minimise the

amount of time live video streams take to reach

the CDN from their origination point. It uses

HTTP/UDP to prevent packet loss and speed the

transit of content, and make it easier to handle

unpredictable peaks. It will also use multicasting

and peer-assisted delivery using WebRTC.

It also opened a Broadcast Operations

Control Center at its Cambridge, Massachusetts

headquarters to monitor the reliability of OTT

streams around major events like the Rio

Olympics. “During London 2012, online traffic

peaked at about a [one] Terabit per second

[Tbps],” reveals Munford. “We expect peaks

globally of between 15-18Tbps during Rio to

set new global records in terms of online

streaming traffic.”

Akamai forecasts that 500 million viewers

will soon be watching prime time live sports

online. “With 500 million online viewers, we need

1,500Tbps. Today we do 32Tbps [at peak], so

you can see the huge gap we have to bridge,”

says Munford.

“Any organisation looking to deliver high

quality scaled events needs to plan how to deal

with very large peaks of audience,” he says. “It’s

a bit like a power surge. Peaks can

be unpredictable.”

Carnahan points out that no one would

ever know about latency if it wasn’t for ‘back

channels’ such as Twitter providing information

about a live sporting event. “Tweets from my

friends may be talking about something I haven’t

seen yet, due to latency on my OTT feed to my

device. However, it can be down as low as under

30 seconds, possibly under 15 seconds.”

Wagner counters, “You can’t compare video

streaming to texting. It’s like watching a match

live but listening to the radio commentary. Video

quality and latency go hand in glove. If you want

no latency then you’ll get video quality

at 800kbps.”

With 4K in particular, the caveat is the last

mile to the home. “When we deliver 4K, we are

reliant on end user bandwidth,” says Munford.

“We are seeing an average 13Mbps [for 4K] and

for that we need good fibre in the home. The

technology is there, we can surpass [this speed]

and we’re confident we will continue to push

those boundaries.”

Verizon claims to have reduced latency on

live 4K online delivery to four milliseconds, for

delivery of content including San Francisco 49ers

pre-game coverage over the UltraFlix network.

However, the industry norm for streaming HD

content is still only 720p.

Beyond the TV experienceViewers will accept buffering and some

pixelation due to ABR for the trade off of

interactivity and anywhere viewing. “It’s a bit like

the transition of music from CDs to streams; the

quality is down but the fact that I can listen to it

wherever I am is a bonus,” says Carlo De Marchis,

chief product and marketing officer at online

video sports specialist Deltatre.

Beyond a simple simulcast of the live video

is the opportunity with OTT to create what De

Marchis calls the “beyond TV experience”.

“In Diva [deltatre’s online platform] you

can multi-angle synchronised feeds of up to

12 cameras available for review after a few

seconds. We have timeline markers for pausing

the live stream and playback of key incidents.

There is social media interaction. There will be

greater levels of audio choice and, in future, we

will take the clean feed with no graphics and

send it to a device where the user will define

what graphics makes sense to them.”

For live events, one of the immediate

opportunities is to stream additional content

(such as alternate camera angles, secondary

audio, etc) in addition to the broadcast feed.

“Eventually, there will be an opportunity to

stream additional content that is intended for a

VR environment,” says Carnahan, adding that

Telestream is investigating this. “An interesting

case is to imagine a crowd-sourced production

where a central location could be getting feeds

from mobile users. Multi-camera production

sourced from the crowd, perfect for sports.”

Armed with its ten-match (non-exclusive)

Thursday night NFL deal, Twitter is trying to turn

a second screen experience into a first screen

experience, suggests Carnahan. “Instead of

watching TV and tweeting about it, it will all

be on Twitter. It remains to be seen how many

people will turn to Twitter to ‘watch TV.’ It’s an

experiment. The issue is the trade-off between

image quality for an enhanced user experience.

Twitter is betting that the enhanced social

experience of watching NFL football on their

platform will, for some, outweigh the benefits

of a traditional TV viewing experience. Twitter is

not aiming to be just a second screen; they are

changing the viewing experience. For some, this

may be worth it.” n

“Digital delivery of live video is better and looks better than cable. Satellite and cable

platforms are being replaced by digitally delivered video”

Chris Wagner, NeuLion

Shawn Carnahan, Telestream

Ian Munford,Akamai

27 TVBE july16 live sports streaming Feature_final.indd 55 16/06/2016 13:26

The UK telecoms market is more

competitive than ever before, with new

service providers challenging the

traditional telcos by offering enhanced

entertainment services through OTT. Research

indicates that 64 per cent of telcos highlight

competitive pressures as the biggest challenge

they expect to face over the next five years.

But what if this increased competition could be

turned into an advantage?

Partnerships save money and time A common strategy adopted by some telcos

is to approach OTT providers directly to secure

individual content partnerships. However,

operators are discovering that many of these

content partners come from a pay-TV world, for

example the WWE and UFC, and they want a

minimum guarantee of revenue in order to add

their content.

There is an alternative. A successful strategy is

to approach these content owners on behalf of

the telcos, because although they will receive

less revenue upfront, they will get to keep the

majority of the revenue generated and be able

to push content on the platform.

The main expenditure for telcos that deal

directly with OTT providers is the integration

of services to the platform. Working with an

established partner that has already developed

the solution to host, package and deliver a

service cuts out this cost.

As well as being expensive, establishing

partnerships directly between content owners

and telcos can be time consuming and, with

the number of new content services coming

on-stream, can prove a huge drain on resources.

Partnering with a service provider can give telcos

the access to the wide range of channels that

they need to supplement traditional linear feeds.

Partnerships help you keep upOnce a partnership is in place and the service

has been launched, the next step for telcos is to

keep track of developments and innovations in

the industry and to make sure their services are

kept updated. The nature of OTT means that

there are always new services launching or old

ones disappearing, and that means having to

effectively maintain the service in order to adjust

to the changing demands. Having a partner

takes the load off the telco.

One thing I have seen time and again is

that the biggest pain point among viewers

is spending too much time looking for

programming to watch. While this is hardly a new

issue, the is increasingly a problem with those

services that require the viewer to go into each

player individually.

To combat such usability issues, one effective

method is to install tools that recommend and

push programmes to the viewer straight out

of the platform and combine these functions

with content search. The industry is constantly

evolving and companies are

finding new ways to improve the viewing

experience, and telcos need to adapt and

keep up as a result.

The best way to ensure a single consistent

viewing experience that combines different OTT

programming is through a partnership. This can

include surfacing live programmes delivered

via OTT to the main TV service. By working with

a partner to help surface content and use

metadata effectively on the channel list and

EPG, operators can remove the app from the

viewer’s television UI and so they just see the

content as another channel, which can help to

create a market differentiator for the operator.

The technology itself is also a differentiator for

the telco service. Integrating OTT by working with

a partner puts telcos in a much stronger position

by providing enhanced features, for example

integrating OTT services that go beyond just

having these delivered through an app.

Partnerships improve marketingAn often overlooked element of these

partnerships is content marketing. One of the

main reasons to integrate OTT services is to

be able to offer a variety of programmes that

appeal to the widest range of consumers. By

establishing partnerships with new content

providers, telcos are able to market their services

through the provider’s shows.

The boom in OTT makes keeping up with the

pace of the industry a daunting prospect. With

the rise in the number of OTT service providers,

it is understandable that so many telcos fear

growing competitive pressures, but choosing a

partner wisely can bring a number of benefits,

and allow a company to survive and thrive in a

crowded markeplace. n

Telcos need partners to launch OTT servicesTo open our feature taking in various perspectives on OTT, Sylvain Thevenot, managing director, Netgem explains how adding OTT services can help telcos keep up with the competition

‘The industry is constantly evolving and finding new ways to improve the viewing

experience, and telcos need to adapt’

TVBEverywhere28 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016

28 29 30 31 TVBE16 TVBEverywhere_final2.indd 32 16/06/2016 13:33


TVBEverywhere

W hat exactly is dynamic ad insertion

(DAI)? A couple of years ago, this was

a question I was asked an awful lot at

our stand at IBC. My reply tended to generate

one of two responses: glazed-over looks of

detachment, followed by a handshake and

swift exit; or wide-eyed enthusiasm as the dollar

signs flashed up, but without much in the way of

detailed follow up after that.

Lately, though, the ‘what’ has been replaced

by ‘how’. It’s a sign of how far broadcasters

have come in the OTT world that most people I

meet now are well aware of what DAI means.

The next question, inevitably, contains the phrase

‘business case.’ The response to which is easy, as

we shall see.

The OTT market is now showing signs of

maturity, and many broadcasters are on their

second or third generation of TV everywhere

services. Those who have relaunched in the last

12 months or so have almost certainly promoted

live simulcast to a prominent position. The

reasons are, for the most part, two-fold: they’ve

uncovered a huge appetite for live streaming;

they’ve deployed DAI and realised its value.

I’ll come on to the value of DAI for live

streaming in a moment, but first let me explain

exactly what I mean by that phrase. I’m talking

about a user experience that is equal to, or

greater than, that of traditional linear television.

The viewer reaches an ad break, the viewer

sees an ad break, the viewer is returned to the

programme. There’s no disruption in that process

that the user can see, such as buffering, stream

stalling or added latency. I’m also talking about

ads tailored specifically to the interests of the

viewer. The nature of OTT streaming, where

viewers tend to have a screen each, means that

targeting can be personalised, adding significant

value. This is increased further with a call-to-

action that encourages interactivity, such as a

button on the screen that opens up a browser

window associated with the ad being viewed.

I’m assuming three elements are in place:

excellent user experience; full personalisation;

interactivity. The resulting experience is one that

the user is very comfortable with because it

reflects one they are already used to; that

of traditional linear TV viewing. They simply

press play and then sit back and enjoy being

fed premium content. Every now and then

there’s an ad break, in the same way there has

always been with linear, and that ad break is

now much more relevant and, in turn, valuable,

than it was before.

We consistently see customer view-through

rates topping 98 per cent for personalised ad

breaks in simulcast. That figure is higher than

commonly seen in traditional linear television,

and is the biggest reason why an ad spot

created by DAI in live OTT streams, with full

personalisation enabled, is worth significantly

more than its equivalent on linear. Just how much

value is added is hard to say. CPM rates don’t

tend to be publicly available, but there have

been a number of indicators published over the

last few years that will give you a general idea.

In one article in Campaign, the CPM for major

linear television was quoted at around £5-6,

compared to around £25-30 for OTT; the increase

is not just substantial: it’s huge.

From the broadcaster’s perspective, the

business logic is a no-brainer. The average

viewing session for a live stream is around 30

minutes, more in the case of a live sports event.

That equates to around a million new ad spots

being opened up per 100,000 viewers. That’s

an incredibly impressive return, especially

considering it represents a brand new revenue

stream. When scaled to major audiences that

are counted in millions, the revenue potential

is enormous.

It’s easy to understand why so many

broadcasters are keen to promote live channels

in their TV everywhere services. It is also an area

that is so far untouched by the giants of the

SVoD world, though probably not for long. It is

crucial for broadcasters to stake their claim in the

simulcast space now. They need to protect their

long term ad revenues as audiences continue

to migrate online. There is also an opportunity to

gain a foothold in a lucrative new market in a

way they were unable to do with VoD.

As the sun shines on a summer full of sporting

action, in which online streaming records are

broken again and again, it also promises a

record-breaking gold medal for broadcasters. n

The gold rush: Explaining the value in dynamic ad insertionDynamic ad insertion has transformed the way broadcasters monetise OTT content, especially where live simulcast is concerned. Paul Davies, manager of communications, marketing and commercial at Yospace, looks at the revenues being generated and what they mean for the future of broadcasting

‘The nature of OTT streaming means that targeting can be personalised, adding

significant value’


As more TV sets become internet-enabled,

online content is moving from computer

and mobile to the TV screens of our

living rooms. Media consumption is increasingly

personal, and ‘watching TV’ is now less about the

TV set and more about engaging with content

across multiple screens. We are now watching

more catch-up and SVoD content than ever, so

how is this all going to affect broadcast TV? Are

pay-TV providers an endangered species, or will

they be able to thrive in this digital era?

Since the launch of OTT streaming, the pay-TV

industry has undergone a seismic shift. According

to a recent Thinkbox report on the UK market,

broadcast TV viewing has stayed relatively stable

over the past decade, accounting for 76 per

cent of all video consumed. Yet online video

has grown steadily during that period and SVoD

services now account for four per cent of total

video (including TV and online video) consumed

in 2015, up from 2.3 per cent in 2014.

This rapid shift is being driven in part by the

growing number of connected consumers.

Young people (aged 16-24 years), are now

spending 58 per cent of their time watching

television. Five to 16 year olds, on average, now

spend three hours a day online compared with

2.1 hours watching TV, according to Childwise.

Will we still pay for TV?But for all the anticipation of a digital future,

traditional TV is not in decline, and pay-TV

providers remain a significant part of the

television landscape. Most OTT providers lack

substantial TV programming experience.

Although some now produce content, the

majority of streaming services remain device-

oriented. The internet video field moves fast,

but it takes a long time to become an expert at

creating and developing the TV experience. This

means not only providing the navigation tools

but also developing the overall user experience.

By expanding into online subscription services

and investing into smart user experience

applications, pay-TV operators are arguably

better placed than pure-play players to benefit

from the consumer demand for quality content.

The mad men of digitalDespite the rise of digital, we should not forget

that traditional TV still brings in the largest

advertising share at a projected 38.7 per cent

of advertising spend worldwide, according to

McKinsey & Company. But as the digital share of

the advertising wallet expands, the new media

landscape requires pay-TV providers to adopt

the right strategy. Data showing who’s watching

what will also play a big role in the future.

Offering advertisers the opportunity to target

specific audiences is becoming increasingly

important for broadcasters, and those that can

supply the most precise data will put themselves

in the best position to offer advertisers the most

cost-efficient path to the consumer.

However, the ad industry isn’t rushing to entirely

replicate the digital model. Rich Lehrfeld, SVP

of global brand marketing at American Express,

recently highlighted the continued importance

of TV advertising, saying: “We need to run two

weeks of digital [advertising] to get the reach of

one day of broadcast.”

In an environment where consumers are no

longer all watching the same programmes at the

same time, large-scale live events like the World

Cup, Super Bowl and Olympics have become

even more valuable. This is just one of many

examples where traditional pay-TV providers

have the opportunity to use their highly valuable

live content to stay relevant with advertisers and

rights owners.

A future-ready model The challenge for pay-TV providers is how to

respond with the right platform and business

model. A recent study found that 22 per cent

of consumers who have never had a pay-TV

subscription are already paying for OTT content

services, indicating a willingness to pay for

subscription television provided they are offered

a package that’s right for them. We are also

seeing a growing move towards self-service

bundling. Some leading pay-TV providers have

responded by introducing innovative ‘skinny’

bundles that offer the consumer more flexibility.

At the same time, providers need to incorporate

the most attractive aspects of OTT services, such

as shorter commitment periods, lower entry

costs and simpler installation requirements. By

extending their reach while offering subscribers

more options, providers can turn challenges,

such as the rising popularity of streaming,

into opportunities.

It’s no longer a debate between TV and

digital. However disruptive OTT may be,

large pay-TV providers continue to hold a

major advantage through their established

infrastructures and programming expertise. n

Are pay-TV providers an endangered species?By Simon Trudelle, senior product marketing director, NAGRA

TVBEverywhere30 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016



TVBEverywhere

IIt’s an exciting time to be in the TV industry.

While viewing of linear TV still accounts for the

vast majority of consumption in the UK, OTT

services are beginning to have an impact. One

approach to embrace such services is to partner

with them, giving viewers access to a range of

OTT players alongside linear TV.

Keep it on the STBResearch by IHS has shown that Apple TV is

now the third largest set-top box manufacturer

in the world, an incredible feat given its status

as a strictly OTT platform. This demonstrates the

demand for OTT players, and that consumers

will turn to dedicated OTT devices to access

them if necessary. There is an opportunity for

traditional TV operators to meet this demand by

incorporating these OTT players directly within

their set-top boxes. This approach reduces the

risk of viewers switching viewing to a dedicated

OTT device and not returning to linear TV.

Give the viewer choiceViewers are turning to OTT players to gain

greater control over their viewing and to watch

programmes that are exclusive to those players.

Netflix, for example, is currently the only way

to watch a host of shows including Orange is

the New Black. By combining OTT players with

traditional linear TV, operators can provide

consumers with the choice as well as the specific

programmes they are looking for.

Such partnerships can be mutually beneficial

to traditional operators and OTT providers, and

allows providers to market themselves to a wider

audience, while the TV operator can offer a

wider choice to the customer, all in one place.

Make the experience seamlessKey to the success of such a hybrid service is

a seamless experience, making it easy for the

viewer to move between linear TV and OTT

players. Ultimately, a seamless experience

will require even tighter integration between

services, such as federated logins enabling

viewers to share credentials and preferences

across players and services.

True alternative to pay-TVResearch has shown that while free-to-air

television platform viewers have rejected pay-TV

subscriptions, they are interested in topping up

their viewing choices with both subscription and

transactional OTT services.

Instead of focusing on competing against OTT

players, traditional TV operators need to look at

how they can integrate them into their existing

platforms to give viewers the experience and

choice they’re looking for. n

The rise of the hybridMatthew Huntington, chief technology officer, Freesat, looks at how traditional TV operators and platforms can embrace disruptive new services

‘Key to the success of a hybrid service is a seamless experience for viewers’


It dominated the world in newsreel, its visual

archives chart more than a century of history,

and it established a benchmark for cinematic

journalism. Now, British Pathé is returning to

screens for the fi rst time in over 40 years, with the

launch of subscription video on-demand service,

British Pathé TV. Available for Chromecast users

and Amazon Prime customers, and through iOS

and Android apps, the offering will provide a rich

library of content for a global audience.

Roger Felber bought British Pathé with his

business partner in 2008 from its then owner, the

Daily Mail and General Trust. “It took a lot of

revitalisation,” says Felber, to turn it back into a

“highly mechanised business”. British Pathé’s last

golden era ended in the mid-1970s, when “pretty

well everyone had a television, and they didn’t

want to or need to see newsreel in the cinema.”

The company relied on the big screen in the

early years for its success, screening footage to

audiences across the UK. Going back further

though, British Pathé’s roots are actually across

the channel, hence its slightly oxymoronic name.

The three Pathé brothers founded Société

Pathé Frères in Paris in 1896. One stayed in

France, while the other two left for New York and

London, and soon established “a world network

of newsreel” says Felber. Despite cinemas not

being around in the early days, the brothers

began fi lming, amassing hours of footage and

capturing “everything they could plan for”. This

included fi lm of Queen Victoria at a garden

party, her Diamond Jubilee, and her funeral.

In 1908 the newsreel was conceived, and two

years later the company launched an American

newsreel arm to produce Pathé News, as well

as opening a newsreel production offi ce on

Wardour street in London’s Soho.

Building a businessFast-forward one hundred years and enter Felber,

who bought the company after “it had passed

from pillar to post”, he explains, and “no one

knew what to do with it.” Felber wasn’t in the

broadcast industry, having worked as chairman

of a manufacturing and distributing company.

However, he talks animatedly about the

opportunity; “I heard it was for sale and thought

‘this is an incredible archive!’ And bought it.”

Felber took the company “out of cold storage”

and “turned it into a business.” Despite Felber

lifting British Pathé from relative obscurity, its

previous owners had made one signifi cant move:

obtaining National Lottery funding to digitise the

archive, which paved the way for British Pathé

TV. Before embarking on this project though,

there was money to be made elsewhere. “Every

day dozens of licenses [for British Pathé content]

will be issued electronically”, says Felber. “Most

of our customers are regular customers. They

have access to our content, they can download

the content, and they are invoiced digitally

or pay the subscription.” Customers include

broadcasters, producers, and museums, which

“we do a lot of business with.” On the morning I

met Felber, a museum in Poland had just spent

£15,000 on British Pathé footage.

It is expensive to license footage, Felber

admits, so in his early days as MD, he started

arranging joint deals and co-productions with

other companies; “I decided there were some

programmes that would never be made if

we charged our normal prices.” Footage was

provided either at a low price point, or for

nothing. It would be shown in TV in one country,

but rights for the rest of the world would be

retained by British Pathé, or else TV rights would

be granted for a certain time period, before

reverting to the parent company. These deals

have helped build relationships in the industry

and allowed viewers across the globe to witness

fascinating fi lm of events and eras which have

shaped our lives today.

Revolution in Colour is an example of this;

a feature documentary fi lm produced in

association with Irish indie Zampano Productions,

which will be part of the British Pathé TV library.

Ninety-fi ve per cent of the footage is from the

company’s archive and “would never have seen

the light of day”, according to Felber, if it wasn’t

for the joint venture. The footage tells the story of

the Easter Uprising in Dublin, Ireland, in April 1916,


A century of history on demand: British Pathé goes OTT

Holly Ashford talks to British Pathé managing director Roger Felber, and OwnZones CEO Dan Gorman, about a new VoD service from one of the oldest content providers

“I heard it was for sale and thought ‘this is an incredible archive!’ And bought it”

Roger Felber, British Pathé

British Pathé has a presence on Amazon Prime in north America

32 33 TVBE July16 Pathe Feature_final2.indd 54 17/06/2016 14:31

and has been restored in full colour which offers

an engaging and surreal viewing experience. It

is ‘forgotten’ footage like this which left Felber

questioning “what are we going to do with these

things?” and concluding “why don’t we start

our own television channel”, with collaborative

works, British Pathé material and content which

otherwise would sit “gathering dust”.

Sweet, simple and good valueAnd so, more than a century after the Pathé

brothers began their visual documentation,

British Pathé TV was born. The online on-demand

channel will feature the company’s own

historical archive, as well as documentaries, fi lm

and custom made productions, divided into

four strands: royalty, British Pathé history, cinema

history, classic movies, and railway history, and

for £5 a month “subscribers will have access to

the whole lot”, says Felber. The project has been

realised with the help of US-based OwnZones,

a company which aggregates and distributes

bundled subscription-based digital content.

The two companies were introduced about

eight months ago, OwnZones CEO Dan Goman

tells me. At this stage, Felber says, the team

at British Pathé “thought that we had the

foundations of content in order to create a

channel, and the people to work with and

license footage to, and we knew how to get

the content that we wanted.” But, he continues,

“we did not have the know-how, were not a

technical company and we never would have

been able to do it alone.” Enter Goman et al

at OwnZones. “Originally we were thinking

of placing the content on OwnZones.com”,

explains Goman. Instead the company has

utilised OwnZones’ services, including design,

content ingestion, data migration and tagging,

subscription service, and payment gateway, on

a bespoke site and native iOS and Android app.

The company also programmed British Pathé

content under a deal with Amazon Video add-

on subscription. OwnZones’ “massive software

platform” has been developed over the course

of six years, and over the last year or so, “we’ve

seen tremendous improvements in integrations

with other platforms to the point where we now

have a media network that stretches globally”,

says Goman.

As a result of OwnZones’ experience, the

main challenge was not technical, but “the look

and feel on the front-end” explains Goman.

“British Pathé has a very rich history and the look

and feel has to convey what the organisation

is about.” Felber also admits to taking time

to perfect this: the project could have been

completed in March, but “we kept on wanting

to change this, or we thought, ‘hey, lets add

that’, or ‘what a shame not to put this in’, and

so forth.” When we spoke in May though, Felber

assured me he was “pretty resolute that we’re

adding nothing and changing nothing” in terms

of design. Both Felber and Goman are confi dent

that British Pathé TV will grow “in scope and

size”, says Felber, with Goman calling the project

“an ongoing enhancement and improvement

process.” Enhancements and improvements will

be made based on audience behaviour data,

with OwnZones providing analytics services.

One thing that won’t be changing any time

soon is the subscription fee: “if we’re successful

at this level, there’ll be no reason to change”,

says Felber. “I think I’d like to keep it sweet,

simple and good value.” This is a strong, honest

mantra, and one that has been well received by

audiences. In pre-launch tests, Goman explains,

“the feedback has been very positive in terms of

the overall value: the volume of content versus

the cost.” Goman describes this winning matrix as

“a no-brainer”; having exclusive content at great

value equals success in the OTT world.

An education in philanthropyThe availability of such a fascinating range of

content at a low cost will also, Felber believes, be

attractive to students. Not only is the managing

director launching an OTT service to the ordinary

content consumer, he also harbours a much

grander ambition.

Felber would ultimately like to make British

Pathé content available to “all fi lm students

throughout the world, who are somehow or

other affi liated to a school or a college or an

organisation”, allowing them not only to see

“the great fi lm directors, cinematographers,

fi lms and actors” but also to access “some real

material to work with on the editing front”. He

sees this approach as “combining business with

a little bit of philanthropy”, stating grandly that

the “three and a half thousand hours of footage”

British Pathé TV can offer “should cost [students]

£50,000”. Yet his aspiration goes further: “we’ll

probably run four competitions a year, and you

can submit your fi lms and the winners’ fi lms will

go onto our website and will stay there forever.”

Quite a coup for a fi lm student.

Felber continues to describe further plans for

British Pathé TV – at this stage, weeks before

launch – including going to “Peru, Chile, Brazil,

Argentina, Ecuador” to market the service,

and attracting a portion of the 52 million

Amazon Prime members in north America

to subscribe. British Pathé has had over one

hundred years to evolve from fi lm gathering

pioneer to digital content outlet, and with

Felber’s ideas and hopes for British Pathé TV and

its “ongoing evolution”, I expect it will be around

for some time yet. n


Feature

“British Pathé has a very rich history and the look and feel has to convey what the

organisation is about” Dan Goman, OwnZones

32 33 TVBE July16 Pathe Feature_final2.indd 55 17/06/2016 14:31

Post Production

High-end drama usually commands the

biggest budgets for broadcast CG

animation and VFX in the UK, and tends

to be from a clutch of London-based studios.

However, there’s long been a healthy trade in

creating CG content for documentaries, where

budgets tend to be lower, except on the odd

occasion which usually involves dinosaurs. Two

recent examples of the genre are particularly

eye-catching for very different reasons, but

neither of the studios responsible are part of the

traditional Soho VFX community.

Bournemouth-based Outpost VFX recently

completed 110 VFX shots for My Beautiful Broken

Brain. This Netflix documentary follows the story

of Lotje Sodderl, who survives a haemorrhagic

stroke and finds herself starting again in an alien

world, bereft of language and logic.

The film by Sodderland and director Sophie

Robinson is executive produced by David

Lynch and contains footage captured by

Sodderland in the weeks after she woke up

from an induced coma. The VFX by Outpost

are used to support the representation of

Sodderland’s vision of the world.

The project included a lot of footage shot on

a handheld iPhone, so the team had some

technical challenges with low quality footage

when delivering highly creative treatments.

However, supervised by Elena Estevez Santos,

they were able to embrace such ‘reportage’

footage and construct a stunning range of

effects from surreal beauty to dark imaginings.

The team developed two different looks, one for

the POV after the stroke, which was colourful,

timeless and surreal, and another, nightmarish,

ghostly and unsettling, for the POV after the

seizure. Both looks were applied across several

shots to recreate Sodderland’s sight from her

right eye. Every shot was individually crafted

to make the most of each scene, with a lot of

surreal or fantastic elements on show, such as

melting clocks, morphing shadows or drawings

that come alive. Sophie Robinson described

the visuals as lifting the film to ‘a whole new

level’, while Sodderland called the film ‘a

sensational visual story’.

Outpost VFX CEO Duncan McWilliam said the

work proved that studios don’t have to be in

Soho to be a VFX hit. The facility was growing

steadily, added McWilliam, recently drawing

Geraint Hixson (ex-MPC and Rushes) down to

Bournemouth as a new VFX producer.

More nightmarish visions are on offer in

National Geographic’s Map Of Hell, with

vivid, heavily stylised sequences by Peepshow

Collective. Based in London’s Shoreditch,

Peepshow is a multidisciplinary studio comprising

artists whose talents include illustration,

animation, set design, textiles and art direction.

The collective has form in the broadcast world,

winning Outstanding Motion Design at the

67th Primetime Emmy awards in 2015 for the

documentary series How We Got To Now, co-

produced by PBS and Nutopia.

In the 90-minute documentary, actor Danny

Trejo takes viewers on a journey into the afterlife

to map out where the idea of hell came from.

The documentary travels through ‘3,000 years

of ideas’, moving from Ancient Greece through

the birth of Christianity to medieval Europe

Post Production34 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016

Surreal VFX makes an impact in two very different docs

Michael Burns reports on the work of the VFX teams behind two recent feature-length documentaries

“We created all the VFX sequences and treatments of archive material, adding

atmospherics to make the historical photography and etchings feel part of

our world” Miles Donovan,

Peepshow Collective

34 35 TVBE July16 VFX Post Production_final.indd 54 16/06/2016 13:32

Post Production TVBEurope 35July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

and modern America. Keen to do something

completely different to previous TV work

when interpreting the ideas, landscapes and

denizens of the underworld, the team, with Miles

Donovan and Luke Best as art directors, turned

to graphic novels, artist Jack Kirby and film poster

compositions to create the heavily

stylised sequences.

“The main aspect of broadcast documentaries

that differs from our other more commercial work

is in the ‘read time’ for the sequences you are

presenting to the audience,” said Donovan.

“You are not vying for their attention alongside

other work,” he explained. “You have an

audience who is engaged and prepared to

watch and listen. This allows for sequences to

evolve more slowly and for the hard work that we

put into the sequences to be fully appreciated

by the audience.”

“We worked very closely with the writer/

director Julian Jones, as with all documentaries

the script is a very moveable feast and is

constantly in a state of flux,” said Donovan.

“Once we had a script that was as close to the

final version as possible, we heavily storyboarded

the sequence and created an animatic with a

temporary voiceover. This animatic was handed

over to the editor, Leigh Brzeski, to drop into the

cut. He and Julian would do some re-timing if

they wanted more or less time on a particular

section. We then faithfully shot the animatic

and began the long process of styling and

compositing the elements together. Obviously

there were work in progress and approval stages

along the way, but we were pretty much left

alone to complete the sequences. Then they

were dropped into the edit during the online.

Some shots might get cut by Julian and the

editor for the sake of screen time, but on the

whole, the sequences appear in the show

exactly as we planned and made them.”

Peepshow’s list of deliverables included

‘visions of hell’ which illustrated the ideas and

development of hell itself, and ‘narratives’ which

told the story of the people and the time in which

these versions of hell were being conceived.

“We created all the VFX sequences and

treatments of archive material, adding

atmospherics to make the historical photography

and etchings feel part of our world,” Donovan

said. “We also supplied a title sequence, caption

treatments and map sections which bookend

the different chapters of the special.

Everything was supplied as ProRes HD

QuickTime movies in 16:9 aspect ratio.

“We use a very simple combination of

Photoshop, After Effects and a bit of Cinema

4D when it’s called for,” added Donovan. “We

filmed actors and dancers on green screen to be

used as part of the collage, which then allowed

for more subtle movement from the actors. As we

come from a design and illustration background,

the compositions are very important.”

Accordingly almost every shot was styled and

art-directed by either Donovan or Luke Best,

who were also present when the work was being

composited in After Effects.

“Sequences like the apocalypse of Peter − the

brief for which was to show fire without light −

were great fun because they relied heavily on

getting a great performance from the dancers

on the shoot,” Donovan said. “That element of

chance was very different to more traditional

animation, where everything is so heavily

planned out.” n

The global resource portal for media technology content

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34 35 TVBE July16 VFX Post Production_final.indd 55 16/06/2016 13:32

36 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016

Audio

The three-month period from June to August

is traditionally the one in which broadcast

audio teams are put to their greatest tests

of the year. An array of sports and entertainment

events, not least the coverage of global-appeal

music festivals such as Glastonbury, oblige audio

personnel to confront demanding deadlines and

guarantee absolute efficiency and effectiveness

of their operations.

With UEFA Euro 2016 just getting underway at

the time of writing, and the Olympics scheduled

to begin on 5 August, the summer of 2016 is

destined to be an especially frenetic one. With

more platforms and distribution outlets involved

than ever before, audio workflows are likely to be

under even greater scrutiny than normal.

Ahead of future issues of TVBEurope, in which

the audio production at some of the these

events will be examined in greater detail, it

seemed like a timely moment to look back at

some of the major developments to take place

during the first half of 2016, many of which

revolve around the issue of IP-based production

and distribution.

Setting standardsIt is intriguing to recall that it was only in

January 2016 that the ATSC announced the

conclusion and publication of all the various

parts of ATSC 2.0, the name given to a set of

backwards-compatible tools and features that

can be carried over the ATSC 1.0 RF layer and

MPEG-TS Transport Stream without negatively

impacting fielded receivers. Simultaneously, the

organisation was continuing to advance the

‘next-generation’ broadcast standard ATSC 3.0,

for which many elements of the next ATSC 2.0

were perceived as a “solid foundation”. On the

audio side, attention was inevitably given to

the question of which audio subsystem would

be included in ATSC 3.0, the end-result being

the world’s first digital broadcast standard to

support high spatial resolution in sound source

localisation, as well as personalisation, (including

enhancements to the control of dialogue, use

of alternate audio tracks and other-language

dialogue), and the normalisation of content

loudness and contouring of dynamic range. An

announcement about the proposed standard

was expected in advance of NAB 2016, but

it might not surprise anyone familiar with the

world of standards that it actually took a little

longer than that. On 2 May, members of the

ATSC’s TG3 Technology Group voted to elevate

both the AC-4 and MPEG-H AA audio systems

to Candidate Standard status. Voting for the

A/322 Physical Layer Candidate Standard to

be elevated to Proposed Standard was taking

place at the time of writing, with the next stage

set to involve the full ATSC membership approval

of A/322 as a Final ATSC 3.0 standard. The A/321

System Discovering and Signaling standard,

which is described as the ‘Bootstrap’ part of

the Physical Layer, reached final approval

back in March.

Meanwhile, the AES announced a significant

further development in its work around audio

networking standards. This had previously

entered a new phase in September 2013,

with the publication of AES67, which enables

interoperability between existing IP-based audio

networking systems. This was followed in January

this year when the organisation published AES70,

which defines a scalable control-protocol

architecture for professional media networks.

Perceived in some quarters as a

complementary standard to AES67, the new

standard makes it possible to control and monitor

all parameters of a network device, such as the

‘While the development of new standards can be said to have encouraged the growth of AoIP per se, individual networked audio

solutions have also continued to make significant progress’

As the broadcast audio community prepares for another busy summer of major sports and entertainment events, David Davies looks back on the first half of a year that has seen exciting activity around standards, networking solutions and more

Broadcast audio: a half-year report

36 37 TVBE July16 BroadcastAudio_final2.indd 54 17/06/2016 16:29

AudioAudio TVBEurope 37July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

creation and deletion of signal paths, access

control, control of processing and firmware

updates. With these two documents now in the

public domain, focus is expected to shift to the

creation of a discovery (or directory) standard.

Networking nirvanaWhile the development of new standards can be

said to have encouraged the growth of Audio

over IP (AoIP) per se, individual networked audio

solutions have also continued to make significant

progress. As the world’s fastest growing AoIP

solution, Dante’s evolution has been particularly

pronounced. The late 2015 availability of the

Dante Via software product added further to

Dante’s momentum, whilst in late May this year

Dante developer Audinate announced that 300

manufacturers had now adopted Dante. It also

confirmed that more than 750 Dante-enabled

products had been made available worldwide,

an increase of 145 per cent on the total at the

time of the ISE 2015 trade show.

Like Dante, ALC NetworX’s Ravenna, which

has specifically placed its greatest emphasis

on the broadcast market to date, also supports

AES67 and has made a number of major

announcements during the first half of the year.

These include the launch of Genelec’s 8430,

billed as the world’s first IP studio monitor and

using Ravenna technology for audio transport,

and the introduction of a Ravenna/AES67

interface from Calrec that can transport 256

channels of audio on a single connection.

Their AIMS are trueThe discussion around the implementation of IP

technology in broadcast environments is some

distance away from reaching a conclusion,

but the rapid rise of AIMS (Alliance for IP Media

Solutions) since its formation at the end of 2015

does appear to have given the debate a greater

focus. Established to foster the adoption of

existing standards, and encourage the creation

of new ones, AIMS’ initial focus is on VSF TR-03 and

TR-04, SMPTE 2022-6 and AES67, the last-named

standard described as being “written in stone in

our roadmap” by AIMS chairman Michael Cronk

in last month’s Audio feature.

In the wake of a high-profile showcase at

NAB 2016, new AIMS member announcements

have continued to arrive on a frequent basis,

with Broadcast Solutions, Euro Media Group and

Mediaproxy all confirming their participation

during May.

With this summer set to involve more remote,

IP-based production at major events than

ever before, this newfound sense of cohesion

to the IP debate is surely to be welcomed. But it

may not be until the summer of 2017 or 2018 that

the work of the Alliance and other organisations

in the field truly comes into fruition as IP-based

workflows start to become not just ‘a choice’, but

rather, a daily default. n

2016 will see an even greater commitment from TVBEurope to cover more of the pressing areas of concern, challenge, and opportunity within our burgeoning marketplace. The biggest change for this year will be the introduction of new sections to enable us to provide greater coverage to specific business areas. Our Workflow section will now be divided into two new sections: Production, and Post Production. We will also be introducing a new Business section to follow the increasing acquisition and investment activity permeating the sector, and are also introducing a dedicated Audio section to bring regular insights and updates from an often overlooked strand of our industry. These new sections will be manned by a team of section editors.

Issue Exhibitions present at Feature Editorial Close date Advertising close date

August • IBC thought leadership insight and 12th July 5th July

product preview

September • IBC • IBC 2016 Show issue: thought leadership 19th August 12th August insight and product showcase

October •TVBAwards • Audio for broadcast 23rd September 16th September • IBC Best of Show Winners • IP technology

November • Post-IBC acquisition focus 21st October 13th October • Remote production

December • Media Asset Management 11th November 4th December • M&A business review

EDITORIAL PLANNER 2016

Europe Peter McCarthy: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000 [email protected]

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‘In the wake of a high-profile showcase at NAB 2016, new AIMS member

announcements have continued to arrive on a frequent basis’

36 37 TVBE July16 BroadcastAudio_final.indd 55 17/06/2016 11:10

Had Alice Cooper sat through the DTG

Summit on ‘re-engineering for tomorrow’s

TV consumer’, he would surely have

spotted the potential for re-versioning his hit

Elected with the new chorus line, “I wanna

be connected”.

It may not be the only trade body working to

demystify and hone new enabling technologies

aimed at driving next generation consumer

media habits, but the DTG is one of the best, in

no small part down to its ability to bring so many

industry strands together.

Opening the session with a look at the ‘tipping

points’ of TV, DTG CEO Richard Lindsay-Davies

said, “It is not a big leap to imagine services

becoming must have or only have. The BBC

has led the way on this by moving BBC Three

to on-demand.

“The more on-demand we give them, the

more demanding consumers are getting,” he

added. “We have got to find a way to blend the

success of today into tomorrow. We have got to

find a way to blend the scale, the certainty, the

order, the well understood requirements, and the

democracy we have seen in DTV into this highly

innovative world. If we don’t do that with critical

mass and as an entire industry, we risk losing all

the benefits of the market we have today. We

now have the likes of Vodafone and Google as

DTG members and we know that, increasingly, it

is even more important for the widening group of

players to come together.”

To focus on the business aspects of an event

that mixed technology developments and

barriers with future content aspirations, two of

the sessions were chosen for the implications

of research findings, and for the power of

psychological principles when creating content

for platforms rather than channels.

Conversation the key to seamless discoveryCharles Dawes, senior director of international

marketing with Rovi, looked at consumer

behaviour as depicted by a research

programme his company conducted across

seven of the markets it operates in: the UK, US,

France, Germany, Japan, China and India. First

up, only three per cent of the 4,000 respondents

had cut the linear TV cord (US seven per cent

and UK five per cent). “Little things are changing.

In Q1 this year, Comcast reported its best

video quarter in nine years and Sky reported its

strongest consumer growth for ten years. Many

operators around the world are starting to see

that uptake in video subscribers again.”

This might be down to traditional providers

deploying the right countering strategies to new

entrants. His next stats identified that 68 per cent

of US broadband customers now subscribe to

an online streaming service, up 21 per cent in a

year. In the UK, SVoD penetration jumped 70 per

cent between Q1 14 and Q4 15.

On the subject of cord cutting, he said, “When

we dug deeper, there is a consistent theme:

people are frustrated because they cannot

get the content they want. The search is on.

People spend 19 minutes a day looking for

something to watch.” There is high search tool

awareness (79 per cent in the UK) and 18 per

cent say they search every time they watch

TV. However, 23 per cent in the UK felt that the

search function was too difficult to use. It would

seem, then, that improved functionality

is required.

“We saw that 67 per cent would be willing to

upgrade their contract with the pay-TV provider

if they could get better search functionality,”

said Dawes. “We asked about newer forms of

search like voice and conversation. Rovi takes

a step beyond the voice input and really allows

you to have that flow from one query to the next,

as you would in conversation. Forty three per

cent said they would frequently use this type of

service; over 50 per cent said they would pay

extra to have access to this functionality.” Over

20 per cent of smartphone users have used voice

search within the last month, and 50 per cent of

all searches will be voice-based by 2020.

How much time do people spend consuming

entertainment? Looking at ‘work, sleep, stream’

Dawes said, “The consumer relationship with

entertainment is almost as time consuming as

working and sleeping. On average, people

spend about four hours a day watching video

content (in the US seven hours, and in the UK

five). When we talked about how entertainment

choices affect their lives, 43 per cent said it has a

major effect on their overall mood.”

Stat attack: Some 50 per cent of consumers

plan their day around favourite content and 19

per cent make that content part of their day

George Jarrett reports from the DTG’s annual conference, now in its tenth year, which is dedicated to driving the TV and digital media industry forward

DTG remains at the SummitBusiness

www.tvbeurope.com July 201638 TVBEurope

“We need to focus on making our content discoverable in a simple, seamless fashion”

Charles Dawes, Rovi

38 39 41TVBE July16 DTG Business_final.indd 38 17/06/2016 16:37

Business TVBEurope 39July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

every single day. About 44 per cent admit to

staying up too late. Some 30 per cent prefer

to watch something friends or family have

recommended, whilst 70 per cent prefer other

sources. The social media buzz factor persuaded

71 per cent to say it had at least some influence

on what they watched.

Where do people consume their content?

“Around 80 per cent of respondents on all

markets said they frequently stream content at

home. About 60 per cent say they frequently

stream their content on the go, and 28 per cent

stream content at work,” said Dawes.

In summary, he stated, “We need to focus

on making content discoverable in a simple

seamless fashion by using voice or conversation,

or recommendation.”

It is not that TV is deadWeb psychologist Nathalie Nahai focused on

what it is that consumers want from media

creators. “The way that we are consuming video,

TV and media is dramatically changing, and at

a very fast pace. The main reason for this is it

has become increasingly consumer controlled,”

she said. “As distributors and broadcasters, you

now gain a huge amount of feedback that you

weren’t able to get before, but it is not so good

when it comes to the way that people consume

your content,” she added. “For instance, fast

forwarding through commercials. Ad blocking

software is costing the advertising industry an

extraordinary amount of money.”

The binge watching trend and shared social

experiences are two elements behind consumers

becoming increasingly device agnostic.

“It is not that TV is dead, it’s just that we are

becoming much more fluid about how and

where we consume content, and on which

devices. There are various different platforms

that we use now – Premiere, Instagram, Vine,

Periscope and Meercat – and the point is that

these are now all TV platforms,” said Nahai.

“Young viewers are not discriminating between

one screen and what they see on the next.”

Moving away from specific platforms, she

looked at one of the truisms. “The kind of content

that we create might well have changed in the

way that we present it, but it is still all about the

way we tell the story. We are still telling them,

just in different ways in terms of delivery and

functionality,” she said. We are moving from an

old model with channel schedules and pre- and

post watershed to extra variables. Beyond the

‘what’ factor of the content come the why and

how. “This is where the psychology comes in. You

still have to think about the content you create,

but not just the channel. Which platform are you

going to use? If you are creating social content,

how are you going to distribute that across new

online platforms? You then have to give people

an incentive for why they should watch your

content and understand how they are going to

watch it, so you can optimise for that behaviour,”

said Nahai.

The very different ways that we behave

online to specific content introduces underlying

psychological reasoning. She looked at the

phenomenon of quirky viral stuff that has

little reason behind it, but sometimes records

millions of hits. “How does this work? We don’t

necessarily know, but for some reason it reaches

critical mass and then propagates,” said Nahai.

“The other reason we like to watch and consume

content is to have our patterns disrupted. This

is basically the idea that when you have an

expectation of the way that the story is going, if

there is a twist you are much more likely to find it

engaging and exciting. There is going to be more

of an emotional response.”

Pattern disruption worked effectively for an

advert that had 13 million hits, despite the fact

that consumers hate ads. Consuming so much

content online is all about a change in your

emotional state – much the same as reading a

novel or chatting around a campfire. This leads

to a sense of group participation. “One of the

things I see happening a lot, in terms of trends,

is this idea of people having their attention

fragmented, but there is still a deep-seated

desire to feel connected, to have a sense of

common cultural discourse,” said Nahai. The

desire to talk about events in a timely fashion

is exemplified by the site of Tom Hiddleston’s

naked bum in a scene from The Night Manager.

“The more on-demand we give them, the more demanding consumers are getting” Richard Lindsay-Davies, DTG


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Erik HuggersPresident and CEO,

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“When it happened there was a massive storm

online. TV is very alive, if you can make it into

a cultural social experience,” she said. Next

came the factor of emotional contagion, the

idea in psychology that we literally transmit or

infect other people with our emotional state. If

three people sit quietly facing each other in a

room, within two minutes the one who is the most

emotionally expressive will have transferred his/

her mood to the other two.

“There is something really innate that happens

here, so when you make that explicit through

video or TV content you get a good emotional

impact. The kind of stuff you watch, talk about

and share reflects not only who you are, but also

who your friends are,” said Nahai. “Our desire

and drive to consume and comment on cultural

and TV based media have not really changed,

but the way we expect this to be delivered has

seen fundamental change.

“People are also expecting equal access, and

if you don’t give it to them, they are going to

get really frustrated,” she added. “There is also

the question of a whole bunch of antiquated

copyright rules; how can you create a system

in which you can allow people to amplify

content to the extent that they feel they can

share without infringing on copyright? It is a

conversation that needs to be had.”

Creating a killer headlineProducers can also enable people to amplify

their content. They should use the breadcrumb

approach. How do we achieve creative success

in the post-traditional TV world? How do we use

social video precisely to amplify TV?

“There are several things you can do. First is to

work out where and when your target market is

active. That does not mean time, it also means

which culture, which city. Then you chose

the platforms to focus on,” explained Nahai.

“For instance, Twitter is very much a less feely

platform. If you want people to discuss certain

issues that are more newsworthy, that’s where

you will see that gravitate to most. Facebook is

now moving towards a publishing model, and

you are going to find people consuming much

more video there. You have to create content

for that platform; you can’t just copy and paste

what you created for TV and expect it to work

elsewhere.” It is impossible to ignore YouTube,

the highest ranking for both musical content and

video content. “When you are creating content

for these social channels, you need to get in

on the game, so (I created) a quick formula so

that you can apply some of the psychological

principles to the titles of the content you are

making,” said Nahai. “Take a number and/or

a trigger word. You then take an adjective, a

key word and a promise and you can create a

killer headline. For example, how to fry an egg:

using the formula you get ’13 unbelievable ways

you can fry a small egg with socks’. Even if you

hate eggs your brain goes off on tangents and

that is the power of curiosity and psychological

triggers,” she added.

The other thing that producers have to

consider when using the big platforms is the

exploitation of thumbnails. “These will act as

trailers, because consumers are not necessarily

going to see the content in motion,” said Nahai.

A great example of this done really well is

Jamie Oliver’s food videos, for which he creates

bespoke thumbnails. The click and watch rate

with thumbnails has jumped up by 35 per cent.

“You have to think of them as film posters, not just

screenshots,” said Nahai. Having talked about

YouTube (and the massive amount of audio

streaming it is renowned for), Nahai returned

to Facebook. “These are dramatically different

viewing platforms when it comes to video. We

tend to use Facebook when we are in transit,

and people are now accessing it primarily

through their smartphones and not quite as

much via desktops,” she said.

“If you are thinking of designing video for

Facebook, you really have to think about mobile

video, and formatting for that. YouTube is the

biggest platform for video in the world, but when

it comes to Facebook it is much more visual, and

the reason for this is it has the auto play function

which grabs your peripheral vision,” she added.

“You are going to focus on the content.”

The other thing the industry has to think hard

about is the dreaded skip ad button. “There is

your advert and it is gone. That’s not much time

to create something that’s going to hook people

in. Content that is effective is often something

that serves as a starting point for conversation

and debate,” said Nahai. “In terms of the

younger viewers (25-35), 81 per cent of this group

are expecting companies to make a public

commitment to good corporate citizenship, and

it does not matter what industry you are in.

“If you want to create good content and you

want people to engage with your brand, you

have to figure out what you stand for and make

sure that comes across,” she concluded. n

Business TVBEurope 41July 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

“It is not that TV is dead, it’s just that we are becoming much more fluid about how

and where we consume content, and on which devices”

Nathalie Nahai


Data Centre42 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016

As the prevalence of online video

service subscribers continues to grow

at a strong double-digit pace, video

service operators (VSOs) around the world are

collectively shifting toward delivering more

content at higher resolutions online. In order

to succeed with online services, VSOs must

move away from simpler streaming encryption

solutions and adopt fully-fledged digital rights

management (DRM) protection, and their

profitability and growth are heavily dependent

on getting their monetisation components right.

New research from Frost & Sullivan reveals that

the perceived high cost of a commercial DRM

system and perceived low complexity of building

DRM in-house are compelling well over half of

VSOs today to attempt to build their own security

platforms. However, while this may seem like a

good short-term tactic to quickly roll out a new

service through an app or a web browser, it is

rarely an effective long-term strategy.

The unanticipated cost of ownershipAt present, there is a limited understanding of

the true levels of cost and complexity associated

with a do-it-yourself approach to DRM, but

globally, VSOs are finding that the modern

OTT ecosystem is a treacherous landscape

and is best navigated in partnership with an

experienced multi-DRM vendor.

A major issue associated with building a

security infrastructure in-house is that VSOs are

faced with having to create and permanently

fund dedicated product management,

development and testing teams with

competency in security. As a result, they are

committing themselves to a significant ongoing

R&D investment in maintaining and expanding

the secure playback and monetisation platform.

This complexity is further amplified by constant

disruptions in technology. 2016 will see the

shipment of nearly 2.5 billion connected devices

across nine device types, and keeping track of

new devices, platforms and technologies places

significant strain on player and server teams.

Delivering a service consistently, reliably and

securely to this vast plethora of endpoints is a

formidable undertaking, but one that must

be achieved if a service is to break out of the

noise to achieve significant growth and

retention of subscribers.

VSO engineering teams building secure players

in-house often under-appreciate the magnitude

of this fragmentation challenge when estimating

the total cost of ownership of their DRM solutions.

Frost & Sullivan research finds that the average

cost of porting a secure player to a new platform

is in the range of $100,000 to $250,000. Services

must support a minimum of ten to 12 devices

to be considered viable and ideally should be

supported via browsers or apps on more than 40

devices (with that number growing every year)

in order to be competitive. DRM core logics

must be chosen optimally for each device,

creating another layer of management

overhead and complexity.

Accordingly, the R&D investment

required simply for upfront

development itself can quickly

run into the millions of dollars.

Navigating the complexities of DRM developmentIn a new paper on the total cost

of ownership of DRM solutions,

Frost & Sullivan suggests that

undertaking in-house development

of a full-fledged DRM platform is

comparable to instituting a new product

line that is tangential to the VSO’s intended

product roadmap and outside of its core

competency. The paper warns that spending

scarce resources in an attempt to experiment in

reinventing the wheel is a risky business strategy

that can put a strain on a VSO’s bottom line.

According to the piece, multi-DRM vendors

are much better equipped to handle the

underlying fragmentation of various devices,

core DRM systems and compression and

streaming standards, as compared to all but

the largest and most technologically savvy

operators. By tapping into this expertise, VSOs

gain agility, reduce costs, strengthen security,

and tighten protection of revenue, all while

at the same time broadening the reach of

their services and improving the overall

customer experience.

What is technologically revolutionary with

an in-house implementation can become

simply evolutionary with a reliable partner.

The revolution can then move to customer

attraction and revenue growth, allowing VSOs to

successfully ride the OTT opportunity wave. n

A smarter strategy for multi-DRM deployment

by Steve Christian, senior vice president of marketing, Verimatrix

‘There is a limited understanding of the true levels of cost and complexity

associated with a do-it-yourself approach to DRM’

Media streaming devices 2%

Video games systems 2%IP STBs 3%

Blu-ray players 4%

IDTVs8%

Tablets8%

PCs12%

Othersmart

phones5%

iOS smartphones

11%

Android smart phones

45%

Unit shipments of CE device by type, global 2015

42 TVBE June16 Data Centre_final2.indd 46 16/06/2016 13:47

A joint venture partnership of

See you again next year

in Amsterdam.

ISE2017_SeeYou_220x290_.indd 1 15.02.16 11:42new tvbe template remade.indd 1 17/06/2016 12:55

From assets to insights

Media operations todaymore than assets

more than systemsmore than people

www.tvbeurope.com

July 2016TVBEurope Supplements

In association with

Supplementii TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016

With the growing need for every

operation in our industry to deliver

more content, to more places, more of

the time, the equal need for managers to ensure

their operation works as effi ciently as possible

becomes priority. But to truly meet this demand,

we must acknowledge that the industry is

evolving still – and with this, highlight the benefi ts

of focusing more on managing our entire media

operation and not just our media assets.

If there is one thing that has been evident

in the last ten years of digital disruption in

broadcasting, it is that we need clarity in our

communications. That’s why much of our focus

in areas like IP is in standards because we have

to have a common understanding, and a

common way of interacting.

File-based workfl ows, however, are now

pervasive but in many respects we have not

moved much beyond deploying digital versions

of analogue processes. And this is where we

need to go further.

We can now go beyond simply storing and

managing our assets to really making our assets

work for us – that is, deliver real operational

benefi ts through automating processes, tracking

assets and workfl ows, and most importantly

fi nally gaining a true understanding of the cost

of our operations and thereby getting more

value out of them.

MAM has been a critical factor in bringing us

on this journey, and while MAM technology

remains important, and will be ubiquitous, we

need to go beyond it. MAM is about visibility

and movement of content – MOM (Media

Operations Management) is about tracking,

managing and optimising processes related to

content to deliver business benefi ts.

Sony takes a holistic view of this overall

process from the creation of the image to the

workfl ows for managing, delivering and storing

it. With this in mind, the ‘Media Backbone’

concept has been updated to enable greater

control and management in the rapidly

changing real world of modern broadcasting:

Media Backbone Conductor focuses on MOM

for programme traffi c, versioning and content

processing, Media Backbone Navigator provides

dynamic asset management

capable of scaling from

single users to enterprises, and

Media Backbone Hive is our

next generation production

platform, the fi rst in the market

to utilise internet technologies

to offer dynamic scaling that

can fl ex with business needs.

The common element

to all three is control, but

control based around business

and operational needs not

technical imperatives.

The shift to IT has brought

many benefi ts in terms of

lower cost, increased

competition and far greater

use of more fl exible defi ned

approaches to infrastructure.

But at the same time, this

has demanded a growing

technical focus and drive

for broadcasters.

Cloud and datacentre technologies are

enabling the business to take back control, by

allowing us to focus more on the end users in

both operations and business management.

Going forward, business agility and fl exibility

will be even more important, enhanced by

adopting the technical fl exibility brought by IT.

It’s already a cliché to talk about the impact

of the disruptive nature of OTT, especially with the

likes of Netfl ix and Amazon Prime on consumer,

broadcaster and content creators’ behaviour.

However, it is vital for survival, let alone success,

in a more competitive and diverse media market

that agile and more elastic operational models

are adopted. Ultimately, the only means of

delivering real operational benefi ts from these

lies in how you adaptably manage your entire

media operation. n

Delivering real operational benefi ts

In association with

The speed and dependability of Optical Disc Archive. Plus the fl exibility of Media Navigator. At an amazing price.

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• Organise, manage and share your valuable media content

• Fast, fl exible, e� cient workfl ow for wide range of applications

• Top-fl ight performance at a fraction the cost of enterprise-grade MAM solutions

• Scales easily from single users to small workgroups

Seamless integration with Optical Disc Archive for a complete long-term asset management solution.

Find out more at www.pro.sony.eu/TV/Navigator

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Maximise your assets.

www.pro.sony.eu/TV/Navigator

Navigator

By Michael Harritmarketing director, media solutionsSony Professional Solutions Europe

‘Sony takes a holistic view of this overall process from the creation of the image to the workfl ows for managing,

delivering and storing it’


A combined view of the wider potential

ROI from media technology investment.

Moving beyond legacy technology

integration toward greater scalability

and the effi ciency in media planning

and operations to cost effectively provide

new on-screen services and revenue.

From SDI and BNC to UHD and HDR, the

TV industry is overfl owing with acronyms.

So you’d be forgiven for thinking that the

last thing we need right now, in a time of great

technology upheaval, is the introduction of Yet

Another Acronym (YAA).

The difference with this one is that it pertains

to a fundamental change in how broadcasters

manage their entire operation, not just their

assets. Let’s defi ne it.

Media Operations Management (MOM) is the

process of analysing and appraising a broadcast

operation – its assets, systems, people and

resources – and then optimising it to make it better.

Unlike Media Asset Management (MAM),

which gives users a visibility of their assets, and

in some cases, automates various processes,

MOM is designed to enable broadcasters and

other media businesses to continuously track

and then improve performance right across

their operation. It is the practice of capturing

information about the media production and

delivery chain and then delivering a clear picture

of exactly what’s going on, where and how.

Why do it? Simple. MOM makes it possible

for broadcasters to spot bottlenecks, reduce

redundancy and proactively deal with the

effi ciency challenges and issues they face.

MAM might track your assets but MOM tracks

everything else as well.

By providing accurate data and intelligence

MOM helps to increase the understanding of

exactly how a broadcast operation, well,

operates. Increased understanding allows for

improved workfl ows. Improved workfl ows

means more effi ciency. More effi ciency

makes everyone happy, from the

staff on the shop fl oor to the fi nancial

director. And the improvement

cycle continues. Knowledge truly is power. If

you’re not convinced, let’s take a temporary

step backwards.

Running a media business is more complex,

more challenging and more dynamic than it has

ever been. Across the TV industry, budgetary

pressures are intense. In fact, it’s never been more

important to do more with less (and to keep doing

even more with even less as the market changes).

With the explosion of possible distribution

channels, every operation is now faced with

delivering content across more platforms, in more

places, to ever-tighter deadlines. This makes

ensuring operations work as effi ciently as possible

is a key priority. But many media companies are

struggling to keep up.

Supplementiv TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016

Let MOM transform your businessMedia Operations Management (MOM) is more than just another acronym, it signifi es a fundamental change in how broadcasters manage their entire operation

TVBEurope vJuly 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Supplement

The question is: why aren’t media businesses doing

the same? It is possible to point to three reasons:

media products are predominantly focused

around highly changeable digital assets; each

‘product’ may have multiple versions existing at

the same time; and the business must be able

to react quickly to changing circumstances,

avoiding costly last minute changes.

These differences mean that, while the

approaches behind traditional ERP systems

still apply, the systems themselves are not

appropriate to today’s media operations.

In addition, media businesses tend to have

their own unique way of working which is often a

poor fi t for more generalist systems. Consequently,

operators need to be able to customise an

application, unlocking the best approach for their

specifi c needs. Which brings us neatly back to our

acronyms. MOM is the media industry’s ERP.

At its heart, MOM should have three core

building blocks:

1) A core integration platform that connects

disparate systems and processes

2) An orchestration engine that allows users

to model workfl ows and processes across

departments, resources and people, automating

them where appropriate

3) Graphical dashboards that offer confi gurable

real-time views of how resources are being used

by user, department or project

These are the foundations upon which

Sony built Media Backbone Conductor (MBC).

Admittedly, that’s another acronym. But MBC

is a MOM that enables broadcasters to create,

sustain and continuously improve the workfl ows

that underpin everything they produce.

MBC provides a detailed picture of resources

and assets, people and processes, and their

capacity, availability and downtime. Users can

orchestrate and unify all the disparate systems

they use on a daily basis: from transcoding,

ingest and planning through to editing, playout

and distribution.

It is also possible to automate manual,

repetitive tasks – such as creating, adapting,

approving and distributing content – making

them easier, faster and more cost effective.

To see how the operation is doing, users

can access customisable business intelligence

dashboards. These provide a real-time graphical

view of the complete broadcast operation,

tracking how individuals, departments and

projects use resources. With this knowledge,

it is then possible to identify areas for

improved workfl ows that can be embedded

into the system. A comprehensive workfl ow

design environment makes is possible to

test and model new processes, and

simulate what impact they will have,

before deploying them.

With live process monitoring it is possible to

quickly and easily view data fl ows and spot

bottlenecks, and other problems, and solve them.

Similarly, a prioritisation module makes it

possible to reassign tasks and resources to meet

changing requirements and allows a broadcaster

to focus on the assets or issues that really matter.

Importantly, adding MBC to a broadcast

operation doesn’t require a complete overhaul

of existing systems.

Applied as middleware, either on site or in the

cloud, it can be applied in an agile, rather than

‘big bang’ way, growing over time and integrating

with existing MAMs and other third-party systems.

Apologies for using another acronym but it also

adheres to standard SOA (Service Oriented

Architecture) integration principles.

By embedding core tools from SOA

platform provider Software AG, and by using

Open Standards and protocols for software

development, there is less of the risk normally

associated with having a single vendor providing

a technology solution.

Applying MOM principals to a broadcast

operation can take users far beyond the

limitations of MAM. And, by adopting MBC

in particular, users get an open orchestration

platform, in-depth workfl ow engine and

actionable business intelligence that can

transform the way they work. And no amount of

acronyms can defl ect from that. n

‘Why do it? Simple. MOM makes is possible for broadcasters to spot bottlenecks, reduce

redundancy and proactively deal with the effi ciency challenges and issues they face. MAM might track your assets but MOM

tracks everything else as well’

In association with

Benefi ts of using Media Backbone Conductor• Save time: Increasing effi ciency and

cutting production time as you automate processes and workfl ows

• Reduce and focus: Making better use of existing resources – from people to facilities

• Gain control: Managing technology integrations more effectively, realising a greater return on your investment

• Save money: Avoiding costly capital expenditure and making the most of the

systems you already have• Increase fl exibility: Enabling you to adapt

to ongoing changes in the industry• Catch errors early so you can schedule

fi xes in good time and avoid using emergency cash

• Plan ahead: Gaining a way to plan more effectively for the future while minimising risks

www.pro.sony.eu/MBC

“Over the last few years, digital tools have created new possibilities for our teams in terms of creative production, swift acquisition and multi-platform distribution of content; we

wanted to harness digital technology to benefi t our asset management in the same way… By selecting Media Backbone Conductor we’ve been able to modernise our existing

workfl ow while retaining the necessary fl exibility to adapt and extend our approach as our business requirements change in the future”

Steve Fish, department head of technology and operations, Turner Broadcasting System Europe

6 interactive Target Areas to monitor to achieve improved ROI

ROI

leg

acy

scal

abilit

y

e�ciency reduction

cost

onscreenm

orereven

ue +

The largest media organisations are often

inherently siloed, with different teams rarely

aware of what another is doing. This makes

gaining the perspective needed to affect long-

lasting, meaningful change almost impossible.

Fortunately, there is a solution.

As much as people hate to admit it, while

broadcasting is, in many ways, at the cutting

edge when it comes to innovation, in some

ways, it still lags behind other industries. Enterprise

Resource Planning (ERP) is one example.

There are, of course, many unique aspects to

running a media operation. No one can pretend

it’s the same as manufacturing a car, or running

a retail business, or being a consultancy. But

broadcasters still need to gain true visibility across

their operations, have a requirement to manage

both fi xed and variable costs, and absolutely

must get stuff done on time and on budget.

In a manufacturing plant, ERP integrates all the

individual processes that organisations use in order

to operate effectively. It prevents separate silos

obscuring a true picture of the business. And by

offering a ‘single version of the truth’ it can uncover

ineffi ciencies within operations. It provides key

metrics such as utilisation rates, on-time delivery

fi gures and profi tability analysis: the kind of data

that is often impossible to fi nd in media operations,

but would be very helpful indeed.

Broadcast Innovation Ltd is a specialist independent

broadcast and media solutions consultant. The

illustration snapshots part of fast track process used

with broadcasters, pay-TV operators and service

providers to successfully plan new technology

investment and solutions architecture for next

generation tv and media services.


So, you’ve got a news story to tell. How do

you go about telling it to the world?

In the Middle Ages, news would have

been passed to the masses via word-of-mouth, a

church service, or the King’s offi cial messenger. It

was rudimental but it worked.

In 2016, of course, we have the relative luxury

of television, radio and, increasingly, the internet.

But while news dissemination is undoubtedly

quicker now than it was 500 years ago, it is also

infi nitely more complex. In fact, it’s infi nitely

more complex than it was fi ve or ten years ago

because the way that people consume their

news continues to change.

Television news is still highly relevant,

especially to people of a certain age, and

particularly in countries where it is reported

without censor, such as the UK.

According to industry regulator Ofcom, 75

per cent of British people still get their news

through TV. For people aged 55 and over

that fi gure reaches 90 per cent. The millennial

generation, however, sees and hears things

rather differently. The majority of 16 to 24-year-

olds use the internet or apps. In 2014, 60 per cent

of that age group got their daily news fi x that

way. That fi gure will have grown signifi cantly

in the two years since the research was carried

out. At the same time, evidence suggests that

the more devices a person owns, the more news

they are likely to consume.

The upshot of all this is that there is now a

huge demand for online news: and people

want it on different devices, via their preferred

purveyor, and they don’t want to wait for it.

They want it now.

Sadly, that means that the King’s messenger is

probably out of a job. But then, so it seems, are

some traditional broadcasters.

The reality today is that news often breaks

initially on social media with the earliest

exposure to a story coming from whoever is

fi rst on the scene, armed with their Twitter app

and their smartphone. Sometimes this is a news

journalist but more often than not it is a member

of the public.

As a result, the “internet of news” is now the

fi rst place that people turn to. They might move

on to a rolling news channel or wait for the 10pm

bulletin to get the full picture, but the web is their

fi rst port of call.

This is having a signifi cant impact on how

news organisations create, develop and

distribute their stories and many are now taking

an internet-fi rst approach, creating stories for

digital media and then developing them for

broadcast later.

Wireless cameras, video streaming, and

social networks can help the journalist in the fi eld

get their stories to air (or the web) quicker, but

what can help the newsroom when, in a world

of instant updates, “now” is the new deadline?

At the same time, for the man or woman on

the street with his or her smartphone, there is little

consideration for integrity or balance. Speed

is the only concern. For news broadcasters,

editorial control remains critical. As they have

always done, editors must add insight and

context if the news is to be relevant and must

ensure accuracy and fairness if they’re to

maintain their status and reputation. They just

have to do it much quicker.

And here’s the real quandary. If traditional,

newscast-driven processes get in the way of

internet-fi rst publishing, the organisation can

disappear from its potential viewers’ mindshare

and, perhaps more importantly, their newsfeeds.

But, if rushing to get out multiple versions of

a story compromises the quality of that story,

the organisation loses the audience’s trust, its

brand reputation diminishes and viewers leave

anyway. Can a newsroom have it both ways?

Is it possible to have a news production process

that incorporates the central story across

multiple media, without hindering the journalist’s

ability to fact-check, double-source and polish

a story? The short answer is yes. And it comes

down to improved operations management.

The NRCS (News Room Computer System)

is still the beating heart of a news organisation,

connecting all the vital equipment that is used

to put a news bulletin on air. But while it is crucial

to success, the NRCS is mainly focusing on

the editorial side of news production leaving

the actual content creation to dedicated

production systems.

In a modern newsroom, the NRCS needs

to be able to go beyond broadcast news to

allow one story to be told in different ways, via

different platforms. One option is to buy a better

Supplementvi TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2016

The end of broadcast news?By focussing on operations management, broadcasters can regain control of the increasingly complicated news production process and still be fi rst with the story

TVBEurope viiJuly 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Supplement

NRCS. But no broadcaster wants to throw away

a system that is familiar to their news team and,

very probably, required signifi cant investment.

One solution, therefore, is not to replace the

NCRS but to bolster it with a network production

system that helps to improve how the whole

operation is managed. That is why Sony

launched Media Backbone Hive.

The successor to the SONAPS news

production system, Hive is a scalable journalist-

centric software layer that can be deployed

in-house or off premises in a data centre.

Making use of Hyper Convergent Node

technology in the back-end, and providing

operations analysis via customisable dashboards

at the front, Hive streamlines, and provides

control of, the news production operation,

integrating third-party tools, providing fl exible fi le

management capabilities and offering built-in

applications of its own.

Hive oversees all the different elements that

connect to an NRCS, across import, production,

publishing, planning, archive and playout (see

benefi ts list). And, by combining NRCS control

with networked news production capabilities,

it simplifi es the task of getting news out quickly

and accurately to multiple people, on multiple

devices, from anywhere in the world.

Journalists can read the wires, pull video,

edit it, collaborate with remote correspondents

and other journalists – just like a traditional

NRCS operation – but now they can take

it much further. They can also do all the

additional production work that’s increasingly

the norm: creating different versions for

different media, publishing fast, and allowing

partners to brand their own versions. And

they can do it without the need to waste time

jumping from old system to new system.

Ultimately, it means broadcasters can tackle

the challenge of adopting an internet-fi rst

news production approach without completely

changing the broadcast production process.

News consumption in the 21st century is a

complicated business but news production

doesn’t have to be. And we certainly don’t

have to go back to the Middle Ages to make

it simple again. n

‘If traditional, newscast-driven processes get in the way of internet-fi rst publishing,

the organisation can disappear from its potential viewers’ mindshare and, perhaps

more importantly, their newsfeeds’

‘It simplifi es the task of getting news out quickly and accurately to multiple

people, on multiple devices, from anywhere in the world’

In association with

Benefi ts of Media Backbone Hive• Integrated assignment and planning

automatically gets journalists up to speed, sending assignments direct to their cameras, linking and structuring key assets.

• Multiple ingest capabilities intelligently route video inputs to the right places, making a proxy available to all users instantly.

• Key metadata is linked to news content – Hive automatically updates newsroom systems with new content.

• Full integration with wireless cameras enables journalists to begin editing with proxy footage as soon as it’s shot and then effortlessly switch to high res fi les when they’re available.

• Hive is fi le agnostic working with any fi le type, format or resolution, whether video, audio or non-media.

• Simple and advanced logging can add markers in real time, building metadata that’s immediately usable.

• Journalists can quickly and easily search the entire newsroom system to fi nd what they need – whether current or archived content, or material arriving in the moment.

• The system enables story creation wherever it’s needed on the system, in a web-based environment, or remotely in the fi eld.

• Hive publishing serves both traditional TV playout as well as social media, web and mobile ensuring the story is delivered on time every time – plus the server houses all content ready for air, keeping it secure and separate from source fi les.

www.pro.sony.eu/hive


www.pro.sony.eu/hivewww.pro.sony.eu/MBC

tvbe july 2016

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