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www.tvbeurope.com

March 2016

Interview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVS

Ericsson’s acquisition strategy

UHD insights and analysis

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CENTRALIZEDDECENTRALIZED

Business, insight and intelligence for the media and entertainment industry

A WINDOW TO THE

FUTUREThe broadcast technology

report from CES 2016

Interview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVSInterview: Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO, EVS

Ericsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategyEricsson’s acquisition strategy

UHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysisUHD insights and analysis

01 TVBE Mar16 FC_v1.indd 1 19/02/2016 17:09

Copyright © 2016 Grass Valley USA, LLC. All rights reserved.Specifications subject to change without notice. Belden, Belden Sending All The Right Signals and the Belden logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Belden Inc. or its affiliated companies in the United States and

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new tvbe template remade.indd 1 18/02/2016 17:34

TVBEurope 3March 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

I know I say it often, but it really

is a privilege being a journalistic-

type in this industry. The pace

of change undergone, and the

likely rate of advance on the

horizon fuels a writer’s thirst for

knowledge; and in the absence

of knowledge, some considered

opinion on the road that lies ahead.

In amongst the speculation

and informed commentary, there lie some

fundamental truths about what is happening

to this beloved marketplace of ours. Often,

the winds of change are most keenly felt

around the major trade shows, and that has

certainly been the tradition within broadcast.

What is now apparent is that developments

directly impacting our sector are increasingly

emanating from non-broadcast events, which

tells us plenty about the composition of the

new broadcast environment. A

recent example was the Consumer

Electronics Show (CES), which has

been on the radar of broadcast

and media companies for some

time, and this year saw the UHD

Alliance launch its Ultra HD Premium

standard. Las Vegas in January is fast

becoming the fi rst major event of

the year for broadcast technology

and to assess the lay of the land at this year’s

show, Adrian Pennington gets to grips with all of

the latest news and views.

We also feature an exclusive interview

with the Muriel De Lathouwer, CEO of EVS,

as Holly Ashford fi nds out about her fi rst year at

the helm, shaking up the company structure, and

her thoughts on the year ahead. n

James McKeown Editor-in-Chief

Welcome

Untitled-2 1 17/02/2016 17:13

The winds of changeEDITORIAL

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: Ben [email protected]+44 207 354 6000

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

Sales Executive: Nicola [email protected]+44 207 354 6000

Head of Digital: Tim Frost

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, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, 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

It’s not just NAB that’s turning our attention to Las Vegas

Philip StevensProduction editor

Michael BurnsPost production editor

George Jarrett Business editor

David DaviesAudio editor

SECTION EDITORS

03 TVBE Mar 16 Welcome_final.indd 1 19/02/2016 10:35

In this issue4 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2016

The Perennial Millenials: LEK Consulting’s � rst life-stage analysis of millennials highlights a threat to traditional TV companies

Bloomberg Television hauled 12 tons of equipment up a Swiss mountain for the meeting of the World Economic Forum. Philip Stevens looks into the project8

34 Business 40 FeatureInterview26

Muriel De Lathouwer spoke to Holly Ashford about her role as CEO at EVS, shaking up the management structure and her outlook for 2016

The Consumer Electronics Show returned to Las Vegas in January. Adrian Pennington reports on the technology, the trends and the future of TV

TVBEverywhere

Opinion

Production

Ericsson’s Thorsten Sauer shares details of the company’s latest acquisition, FYI Television

Industry authorities from Ericsson, V-Nova, and Om-nitek o� er their views on the UHD ecosystem, with a focus on compression and test and measurement

12

28

04 TVBE MAR 16 Contents_final.indd 1 19/02/2016 10:40

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Opinion and Analysis6 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2016

O ur current distribution systems are

still primarily via satellite; and right

now when we hear about playout

from the cloud, for the vast majority of cases,

broadcasters and playout solutions providers

aren’t really talking about true playout from the

cloud, but simply moving some non-real-time

operations into the cloud.

Uncertainty is fuelling virtualisationAs a long-serving officer and current secretary/

treasurer for SMPTE, I have it on good authority

that broadcasters no longer want to be in the

infrastructure building business.

Broadcasters want a software-based, process-

agnostic platform that can be readily adapted

to whatever signals and formats that need

to go out to their viewers. They want to leave

infrastructure to the Amazons and Microsofts of

the world in order to focus purely on content

creation and curation, and who can blame

them considering the overwhelming sense of

uncertainty that the industry is currently facing.

In fact, there has never been so much

uncertainty amongst broadcasters as there

is today: will I need to migrate to UHDTV/4K?

Will satellite and cable distributors carry the

UHD version of my signal? How should I build a

UHDTV/4K facility? Using SDI as quad-3G or 12G?

Over coax or fibre? Or over IP uncompressed

using 2022-6, Aspen, or TR-03? Or compressed

over IP using Tico, LVCC, etc? Will new

transmission platforms force me to redesign

my playout system? US broadcasters are also

Where do we really stand with virtualised playout?

BroadStream Solutions’ VP of Technology and Business Development, Peter Wharton, is convinced that virtualised playout will bring significant advantages to the business of TV network distribution, both technically and economically

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Opinion and Analysis

having to consider the impact of the spectrum

auction and whether it means their station will be

consolidated, become a hub, or indeed whether

they will stay in business at all. It’s this uncertainty

that is fuelling virtualisation.

The cloud isn’t quite ready for real-time playoutBeing fully virtualised sounds wonderful and

many claims have been made from playout

solutions providers that they can already move

playout to the cloud. In reality, almost every

‘cloud playout’ system we’ve seen to date puts

only the non-real-time components in the cloud

and still uses a player at the edge with SDI inputs

to take in and switch the live feed; they still

utilise a media cache for content pushed from

the cloud and they rely on a GPU engine for

graphics insertion and SDI outputs.

Recently, a major US network and its playout

solutions provider claimed they had moved their

network’s playout operations to the cloud, when

all they really did was move the main content

stores a few states away and tie the facilities

together with multiple 10G dedicated private

fibre connections so that the entire corporate

enterprise could share the same storage

architecture. But, the automation, cache and

playout still occurs in the same building it did

30 years ago.

Typically, only the non-real-time components

of a playout system are being ‘virtualised’ at

present: media management, storage, archiving,

traffic, scheduling, and logging. All of these are

prime candidates for virtualisation because they

are ‘bursty’, itinerant operations; actions that

use a lot of CPU cycles for a brief period of time

and then go dormant until needed again. The

playout engine works non-stop 24/7/365, so

it wouldn’t see much in the way of CPU

savings if virtualised. Virtualisation, as it stands

today, only makes sense for pop-up channels

and disaster recovery. Occasional use playout

applications, such as temporary election

channels or sports event channels will be the first

adopters of true cloud playout, and through their

experience and maturation, they will pave the

way for future primetime, live channels to play

completely from the cloud.

A gradual shift to virtualisationPlayout solution specialists today are working on

developing the same resiliency and redundancy

for cloud-based playout as the industry has

always demanded from its broadcast cores:

just as broadcast equipment manufacturers

adapted telecommunications networks and

satellites for broadcasting 60 years ago.

For the time being, moving full-time

playout to the cloud is a bridge too far

for most broadcasters. But, it won’t be

long before full playout from the cloud

becomes commonplace. n

’There has never been so much uncertainty amongst broadcasters as

there is today’

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06 07 TVBE Mar16 Opinion_FINAL2.indd 11 22/02/2016 10:02


D ebate is rife in the broadcast industry

about the media habits of millennials,

people aged 17 to 35 today, but until our

work, The Perennial Millennials, was published in

January this year, there had been no analysis in

the UK of the generation’s media consumption

by life stages. Our research reviewed the

media choices and preferences of six sub-groups

of millennials, from people living at home

with their parents, through to those having

children themselves, against the media habits

of older non-millennials.

Our findings will be a wake-up call to many in

the industry as they show that millennial habits

remain very different to non-millennials across

the six life stages of the generation, that their

take-up of over the top (OTT) services like

Amazon Prime and Netflix is already high and

likely to be a substitute, not a complement

to traditional pay and free TV, and that the

generation’s media decisions and preferences

are spreading virally to older groups.

Whilst millennials and non-millennials spend

about the same amount of time consuming

media, millennials are online for a far greater

proportion of their time. OTT viewing is

widespread across all life stages of the millennial

generation, including the older groups; 38 per

cent of millennials without kids and 32 per cent

who are parents have an OTT subscription,

versus just 15 per cent of non-millennials. Sixteen

per cent of millennials also reported that they

expect to spend more on subscription OTT

services in the next year (compared with only

six per cent of non-millennials).

What’s driving the mass migration of the

millennial generation to OTT is access to content

not available on traditional TV channels, either

pay-TV or Freeview, and the convenience of

being able to view this content on demand.

On-demand is particularly important for drama

with around 75 per cent of millennials stating a

preference for watching drama at the time they

choose rather than at the time of broadcast

and close to 50 per cent preferring to watch

more than one episode at a time.

The devices millennials use for watching is also

different from non-millennials. Less than half of

millennial video viewing is on the TV, as laptops,

PCs, tablets and smartphones are being used

instead. In contrast, three quarters of non-

millennial viewing is via the television.

The second standout finding of our work is

the impact of OTT subscriptions on traditional TV

use. Whereas OTT is largely complementary with

pay-TV (and Freeview) for non-millennials, it is not

for millennials, and this is the case across all life

stages of the generation. Of the non-millennials,

about three quarters of people with an OTT

service say that the amount of time they spend

viewing traditional TV hasn’t been affected

significantly as a result of their OTT subscription.

OTT has had a very different effect on millennials,

for nearly 60 per cent of people across the

generation with an OTT service say that their

consumption of traditional TV has declined

significantly as a result. The impact on the future

of pay-TV is yet to be seen but the research

shows that 45 per cent of millennials with pay-TV

now also have or plan to have a subscription

based OTT service in the next year. Critically, two

thirds of this cohort of millennials say they expect

to cancel or cut back their spend on pay-TV

after subscribing to OTT.

Millennials’ preference for internet-based

media is further evidenced by their view of

traditional versus new media brands. When

asked to score companies on a scale of one to

ten, where ten is love and one is hate, YouTube

and Amazon are rated nine or ten by nearly 40

per cent of millennials and Netflix by 30 per cent.

The big traditional brands all came in at less than

20 per cent. YouTube is especially important for

millennials of all life stages; 47 per cent of the

generation pre-family and 42 per cent of those

with children use YouTube every day, versus just

12 per cent of non-millennials.

Looking to the impact of OTT on non-

millennials’ future use of pay-TV, whilst Netflix

and Amazon Prime might not be substitutional

for non-millennial generations right now, our

research indicates that millennials’ preferences

are spreading virally to older groups of people,

through networks of family and friends. This would

suggest that a reduction in spend on pay-TV by

these older generations could become a reality

in the not too distant future. An early indicator

is that OTT uptake is significantly higher for non-

millennials with children at home compared to

other non-millennials; secondly, of those non-

millennials that already have or plan to subscribe

to an OTT service in the next year, like the

millennials, about two thirds expect to reduce

or cancel their pay-TV as a result.

Our research may outline a bleak scenario

for traditional broadcasters but it is too early to

say just how big the impact will be. Subscription

levels to OTT may be rising steadily, month by

month, but the trends identified by our survey

have yet to feed through to the traditional pay-

TV customer numbers: in the last quarter of 2015,

The Perennial Millennials

L.E.K. Consulting’s first life-stage analysis of millennials highlights a threat to traditional TV companies, writes Martin Pilkington, head of L.E.K.’s European media, entertainment and technology practice

Martin Pilkington

8 9 TVBE Mar16 LEK Opinion_final.indd 10 19/02/2016 12:35


Opinion and AnalysisBT added nearly 100,000 new TV customers,

and Sky acquired 146,000 new television

subscribers in the UK and Ireland.

The TV industry has always monitored

consumer patterns very closely, created

attractive and highly competitive products

and excelled at selling them. The pay-TV

companies have developed slim bundles and

low cost OTT to take on the likes of Amazon

Prime and Netflix. They are also seeking to

leverage triple and quad play convergence to

offer highly competitive packages to lock-in and

generate more income from existing customers,

as well as acquire new ones.

Our research identified several new products

that captured millennials’ interest, incorporating

features and content to match the generation

preferences and behaviours. These include a

combination of a small number of selective pay

channels with a large catalogue of on-demand

box-sets and movies, integration of online and

TV content, a single searchable interface,

access across all devices, and the ability to clip

and share content. The flip-side of such products

is the increased likelihood that millennials

will cancel their existing pay-TV bundles.

Undoubtedly, the next few years will be

increasingly competitive and challenging ones

for traditional broadcasters. Our work highlights

the two big questions of just how quickly

millennials will continue to move away from

traditional pay-TV packages to cheaper, slimmer

bundles, and the new pure play OTT brands;

and how soon afterwards older generations

will follow in their wake. The key takeaway is

that the traditional media companies will need

to innovate far further and faster to create

propositions that capture the interest and wallet

of the millennial generation. n

Effect of subscription OTT on traditional TV viewing (pay-TV and Freeview) in last 12 months: Percentage of respondents with subscription OTT

100

80

60

40

20

0Non Millenials All Millenials Millenials, no kids Millenials, with kids

Impact on viewing of similar content via traditional TV services (Pay or freeview)

No effect

Some decrease

Significant decrease

Completely replaced

Source: L.E.K. Perennnial Millennial Survey

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

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

8 9 TVBE Mar16 LEK Opinion_final.indd 11 19/02/2016 12:35


Two years ago, Sony decided to lease a

space at Pinewood Studios, turning it into

the Sony Digital Motion Picture Centre

(DMPC). The Centre is now home to continuous

workshops and tutorials on Sony systems and the

theory and skills needed to use them.

In January, the Sony DMPC was host to the

UK leg of Sony Technology Days, which featured

a half day of general training covering three

sessions, ‘4K and HDR production’, ‘New live

infrastructure over IP’, and ‘Workflow production

from capture to archive’. Sony Technology

Days is part of a European roadshow which has

travelled from Turkey to Poland over the past few

months, showing off kit and know-how.

Of all the equipment on display, the one

that garnered the most attention was the Sony

BVM-X300 Trimaster EL OLED critical reference

monitor, showing 4K HDR about as well as you’re

likely to see it on a grading monitor. Whenever

you show quality 4K high dynamic range images,

you inevitably attract a crowd.

HDR’s time has come (hasn’t it?)Peter Sykes, Sony Europe strategic technology

development manager, delivered Sony’s HDR

primer to the attendees and explained why

HDR’s time has come.

First of all, HDR movies and TV content are

shipping. Last year Amazon became the first

VoD provider to distribute HDR content. Netflix

followed with Marco Polo available in HDR. And

Disney released Tomorrowland in an HDR version

showing in a few select Dolby Vision cinemas.

Once the distribution workflow gets up to

speed, there will be plenty of market incentive

to regrade new HDR versions of any number

of feature films, high-end TV productions,

music videos, even ads. But delivering in HDR

is pointless unless you have displays that can

reproduce HDR. This is where the development

has slowed to the pace of the consumer’s

willingness to upgrade. Will people switch to HDR

TVs? Probably. The fact that a 4K HDR display

consumes notably more power than even a

standard 4K monitor is a potential issue, and the

uncertainties around standards have slowed

things down as well. But HDR TV’s are becoming

more available for those who want them.

HDR workflows are here (pretty much)The HDR post production workflow is also

becoming more robust and simplified. Cinema

cameras have been able to capture the image

information needed for High Dynamic Range

images for some time, but affordable HDR

grading monitors have only appeared recently.

There’s the Sony BVM-X300, of course. Also

Canon’s 24-inch DPV2410 and 30-inch DP-V3010,

Dolby’s Dolby Vision 32-inch monitor and Vizio’s

65-inch and 120-inch monitors, which run on the

Dolby Vision system.

A reference monitor doesn’t need to be

gigantic to be effective for HDR grading. A 30-

inch 4K monitor viewed at arm’s length provides

as much or more picture detail as a dubbing

theatre projector, a fact confirmed by Pablo

Garcia Soriano, the Sony Digital Motion Picture

Centre “colourist in residence”.

There is no monitor available that can

reproduce the entire BT.2020 colour space,

the colour gamut standard for UHD TV’s. The

Sony BVM-X300 monitor gets about 80 to 85 per

cent of the way there. And HDR standards for

mastering and delivery are finally here. SMPTE

developed its ST 2084 HDR standard and there’s

the Hybrid Log-Gamma standard too, jointly

developed by the BBC and NHK. It’s hoped that

the Hybrid standard will be recommended by

the ITU. Sony also has its own SLog3 system, which

it intends to hold onto until an industry standard is

universally accepted.

HDR live broadcasting is a reality (in theory)The first live HDR broadcast trials have been

done too. Last year Sky Deutschland held a trial

broadcast of live UHD in High Dynamic Range

of the German Supercup Final from Wolfsburg

Stadium with a fibre link to Munich. Sony

participated, supplying their HDC-4300 cameras

and the BVM-X300 monitor.

The aim of the trial was to evaluate how 4K

HDR characteristics worked in a live chain to

an HDR screen, and also, just as importantly, to

an SD screen. There was a single camera feed,

and different configurations were compared

by switching between them (manually), every

fifteen minutes.

The test compared the SMPTE ST 2084 and

the Hybrid Log-Gamma standard,. The latter

performed particularly well in outputting back

to a Standard Dynamic Range, suggesting

that Hybrid could be the best option for HDR

in live broadcast.

It would appear all the pieces are in place.

HDR has elbowed its way past 4K (and 8K and

stereoscopic) as an eye-grabbing, audience

and artist-pleasing advancement. It’s not just a

leap forward in quantity (of pixels or inches), but

a leap forward in quality, transforming video to a

literally brighter and more vibrant medium. n

Sony wants you to learn about HDR, writes Neal Romanek

HDR’s time has come

10 TVBE Mar16 Opinion_final.indd 10 19/02/2016 11:48

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TVBeuro_MonarchHDX_broadcast_ad_UK_1115.indd 1 2015-11-17 08:16:50new tvbe template remade.indd 1 18/02/2016 17:36

For several days each January, the great and

the good from the world of politics, finance

and entertainment appear at the Swiss ski

resort of Davos for the annual meeting of the

World Economic Forum. In fact, the highest town in

the world plays host to many who are the highest

in their profession. And with the eyes of much of

the world on this resort, it is obvious that the media

interest is intense. This year was no exception,

especially as the Forum took place at a time when

the financial markets are somewhat in turmoil.

One of the key players in that media coverage

was Bloomberg Television.

“We’ve been covering the World Economic

Forum in Davos for more than ten years,” reveals

Anastasia Ellis, managing editor, Bloomberg

Television, EMEA. The annual meeting not only

attracts leading politicians, business leaders,

academics and not-for-profit ambassadors to

discuss the state of the global economy, but also

plays host to the international media scrum, eager

to gauge reaction to the topics discussed and key

policy announcements.”

Widespread coverageBloomberg’s team on the ground publishes

stories across the web, connected and mobile

devices, television, radio and print magazines.

It specifically produces 11 hours of live television

coverage each day, while radio is on air for five

hours. Bloomberg’s suite of mobile products has

more than 33 million downloads and over 13

million unique monthly users, and includes the

Bloomberg TV+ and Bloomberg Radio+ apps.

Bloomberg TV and Radio also streams free on

Bloomberg.com Fronting the TV coverage were

some of Bloomberg’s veteran broadcast faces

including Tom Keene, Francine Lacqua, Erik

Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle.

Pre-planningEllis says that planning for such a huge logistical

challenge begins more than six months in

advance, when production and technical staff

look at designing and sourcing all the equipment

needed for the trip to Davos. “We pre-build the

set and wire it all up in the UK first and transport it

two to three weeks before it all kicks off. A team of

eight Bloomberg and five Global Link technicians

then descends on the Congress Centre to pull

it all together and test equipment to ensure the

potential for glitches is minimised.“

The broadcaster has more than 30 editorial staff

on the ground at Davos for Bloomberg Television

and Radio, which includes the on-air talent from

London and New York. In addition, there are

production staff and engineers to ensure the more

than 25 interviews and panels each day are aired

as quickly as possible. Alongside Bloomberg’s

Television and Radio personalities are around

ten print reporters and editors who are writing

original content for the Bloomberg Terminal

and Bloomberg.com

“We haul more than 12 tons of IT and broadcast

equipment up the mountain,” declares Ellis. “That

includes several kilometres of cable, over 100

screens, 50 PCs and four server racks. All packed

up in more than 50 flight cases, shipped from our

warehouses. This makes it Bloomberg’s largest

annual shipping exercise.”

Through Bloomberg’s Content Service, the

company licences its premium audio and video

content, photos and data to broadcasters and

content providers globally. “This enables us to bring

our award-winning financial, business, political and

technology reporting to a broader international

audience,” says Ellis.

Although Bloomberg Television and Radio

content is in English, the company has several

content localisation agreements with broadcasters

globally. Attending Davos alongside Bloomberg

this year are Bloomberg HT from Turkey, Mexico,

Mongolia, Canada and Bloomberg TV Bulgaria

who broadcast in their local languages.

Cold comfort“Our chief challenge is producing world-class

output in minus 13 degree conditions. One of

the biggest tests is lighting.

Production12 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2016

Peak financePhilip Stevens finds out how coverage of a mountain-top world summit is handled by one broadcaster

12 13 TVBE Production Bloomberg_v3 FINAL3.indd 54 22/02/2016 10:29

Production TVBEurope 13March 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Our rooftop studios face south in order to

take in the view of the Davos valley, which

also means we’re shooting directly into the

sun. In order to combat this we need to

light the studios with giant HMI lights. This

requires endurance from our anchors

having to look into glaring lights all day.”

The teamFor its multi-camera programmes, Bloomberg

Television works with its Swiss television

production partner, Global Link. Three camera

operators work across the two studios, while

four production staff man the control room. In

addition, Bloomberg uses an original digital

video team of two.

“Our studios pack a total of five Panasonic P2

AJ-PX800 and our digital video team uses C100

Mark 2 cameras. Content is stored, managed

and published across all media platforms using

MRC, Bloomberg’s own MAM platform. A team of

global editors based in Davos, London and New

York work across the day to ensure a seamless

operation throughout the conference.

Editing is carried out using Adobe Premiere CC,

Avid After Effects and Avid Media Composer.”

Making use of IPShe continues, “The most innovative and unique

technical aspect of our set-up is the way we

integrate the Davos newsroom with our corporate

and broadcast IT network. Usually a field operation

means satellite uplinks and internet connections

for video transport and communication. Instead

of that arrangement, we connect our pop-up

newsroom to Bloomberg’s corporate IP network.

“All video transport and IFB/ talkback

communication globally is done via IP over this

highly capable infrastructure. This allows journalists

to browse our central video servers, work with

minimal delays in live transmissions to New York,

and even use the same IP telephones that they

are used to from their home bureaux.”

Ellis concludes, “The eyes of the world

are on Davos, and we take great responsibility in

providing reliable information and insight

for those who can’t be in Switzerland for

these few days.” n

www.asperasoft.commoving the world’s data at maximum speed

”We pre-build the set and wire it all up in the UK first and transport it two to three weeks

before it all kicks off” Anastasia Ellis, Bloomberg

Television EMEA

12 13 TVBE Production Bloomberg_v3 FINAL3.indd 55 22/02/2016 10:29

Cost Innovation

We understand the constant pressure media organizations face to reduce cost from their operations. That understanding is reflected in the development of solutions that maximize efficiency and productivity across the media production chain; including collaborative editing, color and finishing, extensive MAM, workflow automation and resource planning, uniquely intelligent Media BiometricsTM monitoring and control and comprehensive automated playout solutions.

IP Innovation

SAM is at the forefront of developments in IP, we offer products that work today in the SDI domain and allow expansion into the IP world without excessive risk or substantial upgrades. Our switchers, routers, infrastructure and playout systems are all available with IP interfaces supporting both uncompressed (SMPTE 2022-6 and VSF TR-03) and a range of compression formats, including VC-2. Familiar control interfaces provide hybrid SDI/IP operation.

All-RoundInnovation.SAM’s unique mix of experience and energy is complemented by a true belief in innovation. It is fundamental to everything we do, and helps us deliver solutions that really make a difference to our customers.

Image Processing Innovation

Our image processing technology is renowned the world over. Offering a complete range of high quality format and framerate conversion that covers every need, from high-end drama to fast-action sports and corporate events. Developed and refined over many years, our patented conversion algorithms produce stunning results, even from the most challenging material.

4K/8K Innovation

For us, UHDTV is all about enabling you to create more compelling content and deliver more immersive viewing experiences for your audiences. So whether you are producing a live sporting event, posting a TV drama, or finishing a feature film for theatrical release, SAM can help you take advantage of all that UHDTV has to offer – without blowing your budget.

If you want to go IP immediately, next year

or 5 years from now, we have products and

systems you can invest in with confidence.

UHDTV is about enabling you to create more compelling content and deliver more immersive viewing experiences.

The SAM Difference.

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Routers & Multiviewers

Modular Infrastructure & Conversion

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TVBEurope 440x290 SAM Innovation.indd 1 15/12/2015 16:52new tvbe template remade.indd 2 16/12/2015 10:54

Cost Innovation

We understand the constant pressure media organizations face to reduce cost from their operations. That understanding is reflected in the development of solutions that maximize efficiency and productivity across the media production chain; including collaborative editing, color and finishing, extensive MAM, workflow automation and resource planning, uniquely intelligent Media BiometricsTM monitoring and control and comprehensive automated playout solutions.

IP Innovation

SAM is at the forefront of developments in IP, we offer products that work today in the SDI domain and allow expansion into the IP world without excessive risk or substantial upgrades. Our switchers, routers, infrastructure and playout systems are all available with IP interfaces supporting both uncompressed (SMPTE 2022-6 and VSF TR-03) and a range of compression formats, including VC-2. Familiar control interfaces provide hybrid SDI/IP operation.

All-RoundInnovation.SAM’s unique mix of experience and energy is complemented by a true belief in innovation. It is fundamental to everything we do, and helps us deliver solutions that really make a difference to our customers.

Image Processing Innovation

Our image processing technology is renowned the world over. Offering a complete range of high quality format and framerate conversion that covers every need, from high-end drama to fast-action sports and corporate events. Developed and refined over many years, our patented conversion algorithms produce stunning results, even from the most challenging material.

4K/8K Innovation

For us, UHDTV is all about enabling you to create more compelling content and deliver more immersive viewing experiences for your audiences. So whether you are producing a live sporting event, posting a TV drama, or finishing a feature film for theatrical release, SAM can help you take advantage of all that UHDTV has to offer – without blowing your budget.

If you want to go IP immediately, next year

or 5 years from now, we have products and

systems you can invest in with confidence.

UHDTV is about enabling you to create more compelling content and deliver more immersive viewing experiences.

The SAM Difference.

Our innovation can help you make a difference. Visit:

Color & Finishing Editing, Storage & Replay

Production Switchers

Routers & Multiviewers

Modular Infrastructure & Conversion

SAM product sectors

Media Processing Software

Asset & Workflow Management

Control & Monitoring

Playout 24/7 Worldwide

Support

TVBEurope 440x290 SAM Innovation.indd 1 15/12/2015 16:52new tvbe template remade.indd 3 16/12/2015 10:54

Production

With automation in the radio industry

as the trailblazing example, TV

broadcasters everywhere are

migrating away from proprietary, hardware-

based workfl ows and towards all-IT, software-

based production environments. Since these

solutions run on commodity hardware, they

open the door to new workfl ow effi ciencies,

reduced OPEX and CAPEX, less dependence on

specialised technical staff, and the fl exibility to

deliver more powerful and scalable production

environments. These benefi ts are especially

compelling in a TV newsroom, where every

second counts in the drive to deliver breaking

news to viewers before the competition.

With a software-based live production

workfl ow, broadcasters can build a ‘virtual

control room’ for managing switchers,

automation, graphics, and video playout from

any location and any time using a web browser.

The software enables a repeatable, reliable

environment for packaging and presenting

the content with fewer touch points. And by

automating all essential production functions,

the newsroom is able to deliver the news to air

quicker and with greater accuracy.

AcquisitionAt ChyronHego, we had these attributes in

mind when we acquired VidiGo earlier this

year. VidiGo Live, is a multi-camera production

environment that provides camera SDI inputs/

outputs, video playback, graphics, audio, and

automation capabilities. The technology extends

the BlueNet graphics creation and playout

workfl ow system and provides our joint customers

with an IT-based production solution. Euro Media

Group (EMG) deployed VidiGo Live software in

four live multi-camera production galleries, and

saw it as a way to reinvent live broadcasting

by separating equipment from the physical

location of the production. In this confi guration,

cameras and a production server are the only

equipment required at the remote galleries, with

production controlled over an IP network from

a centralised studio. n

16 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2016

Producing news programmes is expensive, and this genre, like all others, is looking to save money while still being creative. One solution is automating newsroom systems. TVBEurope asked several suppliers to offer their perspectives based on their systems

By Sören Kjellin, chief technology offi cer, ChyronHego; Reinout Lempers, commercial director, VidiGo

Going all-IT for speed and effi ciency

The automated newsroom

The TV2 Fyn newsroom

Sören Kjellin

16 17 18 TVBE Mar16 Automated NRoom_FINAL.indd 54 19/02/2016 12:40

Production TVBEurope 17March 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

By Knut Alfred Andersen, EVP automation worldwide sales, Vizrt

F or many years, large broadcasters and

content distributors have used automation

as a way to reduce operational costs and

launch new channels with minimal investment.

For smaller stations, the cost and workflow

efficiencies can be just as significant as they

battle for viewers against the bigger players. This

includes controlling robotic cameras, and using a

large number of graphics and live sources.

Vizrt was recently approached by Danish TV

station TV 2 Fyn, which was looking to upgrade

its facilities. The station mainly broadcasts news

and talk shows in SD, as well as syndicated

programming from its Odense HQ. It was,

however, keen to become more competitive by

delivering more content, of a higher quality.

To achieve this, its production team, headed

up by Michael Jensen, decided to fully automate

TV 2 Fyn’s control room and two studios.

More than financialThe move wasn’t about saving money; rather,

TV2 Fyn wanted to improve the on-air look

and free production staff from repetitive tasks

so they could be more creative. The channel

also wanted to produce programmes with

repurposed content and unique production

values, and to present viewers with more

content, both on linear television and online.

Vizrt installed a Viz Mosart studio control

system to operate within TV 2 Fyn’s two studios.

The system controls two robotically driven HD

cameras in one studio, and six in the other.

There’s also a Studer stereo mixing console to

handle audio feeds, and a broadcast graphics

system that will soon be replaced with a Vizrt

template-based production solution.

Prior to the automation of the control room

and two studios, TV 2 Fyn was producing four or

five news shows every day. Now the team is able

to create the same number of shows, plus a news

channel that’s live for six hours a day.

Producers can now edit video, create

graphics, and build an entire broadcast all from

within their (NRCS) or rundown creation tool. n

Improving productivity and channel output through control room automation

Knut Alfred Andersen

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Productionwww.tvbeurope.com March 201618 TVBEurope

Production

By Ben Davenport, director of marketing, Dalet

W hen considering automation in news

workflows and production, it’s easy

to focus on the resource ‘saving’,

with robotic cameras, automatically populated

rundowns and metadata-driven dynamic

graphics generation. Indeed, if they’re willing

to multi-task, it is almost possible to create a

production with only the on-screen talent.

However, like so many other areas of the

media industry, these developments can

fundamentally change the process of creating

news in an immensely positive way.

Diversity, speciality and creativityAutomated aggregation of sources and

simplified representation of feeds to journalists

and producers enable a far greater diversity of

information into the newsroom environment. In

turn, this enables news outlets to cover not only

the big stories, but also the specialist and niche

topics or to explore different angles. This enables

producers to differentiate themselves and their

product from other outlets and productions.

For many of us, it will not seem long ago when

there was little difference between the 6pm and

9pm bulletins on the premier television channels

or the hourly ‘updates’ on radio. Workflow

automation has massively reduced the time-to-

air for breaking news, meaning that developing

stories can be delivered in a progressive and

continuous manner that is captivating for

readers, listeners and viewers.

But perhaps most importantly, moving from a

process-driven to a story-centric methodology

in the production with back office and ‘heavy

lifting’ functions that are highly automated, has

levelled the technological playing field and

shifted the emphasis to creativity and talent

where outlets try to differentiate themselves.

In news more than any other discipline in the

media and entertainment industry, technology

has been adopted in a way that massively

increases the reach of news content and news

production. Automation means that the same

content used and produced in the studio is

simultaneously re-versioned and re-purposed

efficiently, responding to the requirements

of multi-platform publishing, eliminating task

repetition, reducing organisational silos and

increasing consumer reach and engagement. n

Change can be positive

‘Workflow automation has massively reduced the time-to-air for breaking

news, meaning that developing stories can be delivered in a progressive and

continuous manner’Ben Davenport, Dalet

The TV2 Fyn director is able to control the complete programme from a single position

Ben Davenport


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Production20 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2016

Blackmagic Design cameras are used throughout the Be Curious sets

Lofty idealsS

wiss television channel, Be Curious TV,

broadcasts a huge range of lifestyle

programming, all of which is united by

a single theme; curiosity. Launched in March

2015 by entrepreneur and former lawyer, Leila

Delarive, the channel produces more than 80

per cent of its own content, with magazine style

programming covering culture, entertainment,

discovery and cooking, as well as debate and

society matters. Distribution of the programmes is

via cable and the internet.

“Our content is accessible for everyone,”

explains Delarive. “However, there is a distinct

look, feel and attitude that runs through all of

our programming. As the channel name

suggests, the programmes have been

developed to inspire curiosity as well as show

and talk about what other media channels do

not. Through this approach we hope to express a

different point of view.”

Head of production Elie Wenger explains that

the Be Curious studios have been designed

to feel like a loft apartment. “We wanted our

presenters, guests and audiences to immediately

feel at home in their surroundings, to fit with our

inclusive and relaxed style of presenting. Also,

it gives us the ability to segment the content

into the most relevant part of the loft. For

example, we have cookery programmes in the

kitchen and debates in the living areas.”

The 270sqm studio facility is located in

Préverenges, a suburb of the city of Lausanne.

The design plan for the studio sets and

subsequent construction was completed in

just 75 days by local interior architecture

partnership, Adeli. “Be Curious is the first

architectural experience for Adeli studios in the

world of TV,” explains founder, Siavosh Adeli. “Our

client was especially interested in our vision of this

closed world in order to create a universe apart

and a totally different decor from all the other

stage set designs.”

Within the unique studio space, each element

of the channel’s bespoke Blackmagic Design

production workflow, built by systems integrator

PAD, has been designed with this informal

concept in mind.

“Our studio is equipped with five Blackmagic

Studio Cameras HD, which are used across all six

different set-ups in the loft, and all of which can

be controlled by camera operators on the studio

floor, as well as by the production team via ATEM

Control Software,” states Wenger. “All cameras

are manned, with one mounted on a slider, but

which can also be used with a crane.”

He says there were both aesthetic and

technical advantages for the team that the

Blackmagic Design solution brought to the

channel’s production design. “As we are not

a news channel, we wanted to create a look

and feel for our programming that is distinctive;

something that had welcoming, warm tones

to it. And that is exactly what the cameras allow

us to do, thanks to the access to colour

correction that the control software gives us.

We did consider other options, but felt this

was the right one for our particular feel.”

Philip Stevens looks into the production workflow of an unusual Swiss channel

“We wanted our presenters, guests and audiences to immediately feel at home

in their surroundings, to fit with our inclusive and relaxed style of presenting”

Elie Wenger, Be Curious

20 22 TVBE Mar16 Production Be curious_FINAL.indd 20 19/02/2016 12:43

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Productionwww.tvbeurope.com March 201622 TVBEurope

Efficient workflowWhile the camera operators take responsibility

for framing and focus, the iris control and primary

colour correction are carried out by the team in

the master control room through an ATEM 2 M/E

Production Studio 4K.

“Our directors carry out their own vision

mixing. As well as the high quality broadcast

mixing effects that the ATEM delivers, its colour

correction tools in the software are so powerful,

that this provides us with our final grade,

and there is often no need for further post

production,” continues Wenger. “This means our

production workflow from acquisition to deliver is

extremely efficient; perfect for the

huge amount of content we are producing in

house on a daily basis, and at the same time still

keeps the ‘Be Curious’ look running through all

of our programmes.”

While all camera signals are routed over

optical fibre into the ATEM 2 M/E switcher, the

actual programme mixing is executed with

an ATEM 1 M/E Broadcast Panel, and camera

control through a touchscreen tablet.

“This flexibility is perfect for us, as we can

segregate the controls easily, whilst the ATEM

switcher acts as the linchpin to our entire

production hub,” explains Wenger. “The CCU

camera control can either be situated in the

MCR or out on the studio floor, depending on

what’s appropriate for a particular programme,

and whereabouts in the studio we are shooting.

It gives us ultimate flexibility.”

On the audio side, Be Curious has opted for a

Roland M200i. This is a 32-channel digital mixer

that can be controlled with or without iPad. It

incorporates 17 motorised faders, dedicated

buttons and knobs for key functions, 24 onboard

inputs and 14 outputs with the capacity to be

expanded up to 64x54 and the ability for multi-

channel recording up to 40 channels.

All of Be Curious’ shows are recorded on to

three HyperDeck Studio Pro broadcast decks,

ready for later transmission, however the

channel already has plans to incorporate live

programming into its schedule.

“We are completely tapeless,” says Wenger.

“Editing is carried out on Adobe Premier Pro,

with the live graphics coming from Adobe

After Effect and Illustrator.”

Lighting for the studio is handled by Run The

Show DMX. This system is a DMX box controlled

by an iPad with a professional light application

specially designed to be really easy to use.

The box has its own WiFi router so the iPad can

broadcast DMX information in a safe and

private mode, while the dedicated network

is protected by WEP key.

Unique user“Be Curious has a very distinct identity as a

broadcaster, and this was clearly outlined from

the start of the technical planning,” explains

Philippe Baudet, a director of Systems Integrator,

PAD. “The Blackmagic Studio Cameras were

the perfect choice for the studio’s fresh,

modern take on lifestyle, and their seamless

integration with the ATEM production workflow

means that the team has much more time to

concentrate on producing high quality content,

wherever they are filming.” n

Production

“As the channel name suggests, the programmes have been developed to

inspire curiosity as well as show and talk about what other media channels do not”

Leila Delarive, Be Curious

Cookery programmes are just one feature of the Be Curious schedule

Local architecture partnership, Adeli designed its first TV sets for Be Curious The set design allows for musical items to be included in programmes

20 22 TVBE Mar16 Production Be curious_FINAL.indd 22 19/02/2016 12:43

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Some production companies, it seems, are

still not learning the cardinal rule of post

production: don’t leave it till the last minute.

The pace of workfl ow in many industries today

seems to be increasing faster than seems possible

and we’re constantly hearing that familiar refrain

‘we want it now’. This is particularly true of a

broadcast industry that is in the throes

of one of its perennial changes.

Commissioning deadlines are being truncated,

schedules and viewing habits shift and change.

With whole series appearing at once on the likes

of Netfl ix and Amazon Video, and with other

channels likely to follow suit, producers can be

working on multiple projects at one time. Last

minute revisions are very common.

But the demands that the industry has for quality

post production work have not diminished. In

fact, demand has increased while timeframes

have remained static or worse still, shrunk.

While this means that there is plenty of

work around, we’re still hearing some facilities

complain that producers are confi rming bookings

with sometimes just a week’s notice, or even later.

Clients rocking up to the facility at literally the

last minute are not unheard of.

Facilities are, by their very defi nition and

business model, there to facilitate, so they aim

to be fl exible and accommodate such requests

as much as possible, within the time and budget

constraints that production managers may have.

However, it’s clear from conversations and

comments we’ve been hearing that post

production practitioners would really rather they

were less of an eleventh-hour appointment.

They are also increasingly being called upon

to be resource managers as well as providers of

creative services. Indeed, with the rise in demand

for UHD and HDR, and even VR/AR in some cases,

the complexity and scale of the workfl ow and

the systems required has exploded.

Storage needs are expanding for the much

bigger fi les required for this type of output; if you

combine this with a series of anything from six to

thirteen episodes sitting on a server, a massive

resource problem soon becomes obvious.

Again, facilities are planning for this and invest

in new hardware and services to cope, but

such fl exibility costs. Clients don’t always realise

just how much; the relative ease of transferring

large fi les and the wide availability of cloud

services, cheap hard disks and fast commercial

broadband today can fool the unwary into

Post ProductionPost Production24 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2016

Fixing it for postEarly and continuous dialogue with facilities, whether they deal in picture post, VFX or audio, can prove invaluable, writes Michael Burns

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24 25 TVBE Mar16 Burns Post Production_FINAL.indd 54 19/02/2016 15:38

Post Production TVBEurope 25March 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Post Production

thinking programme data transfer and storage

is a cheap and instant process. There’s also

media asset management, use of dedicated

private IP networks, and various levels of storage

infrastructure to consider, as well as media

compliance and delivery to broadcasters,

all of which can cause an unprepared hike

in costs for a production when they require

dramatic changes or an increase in capacity

at the last minute.

It doesn’t have to be this way. Over years

of interviews and conversations with facility

managers and post professionals, I’ve heard

the same advice offered for producers and

line managers; get in touch with the post house

during your pre-production stage.

Just as there are a number of footage

acquisition workfl ows, there are many ways of

handling, editing and fi nishing footage and

programme material. The two are often linked

and a facility will be able to advise and plan

for the best and most economic workfl ow in

advance and prepare for any unexpected

changes later on. Every facility I’ve ever spoken

to seemed happy to assist with any queries

producers have about workfl ows or best

practice, as they will often be able to provide a

better and more creative service as a result.

That same suggestion has been echoed from

facilities across the sector: whether they deal in

picture post, VFX or audio; having a chat with

them before a project starts is invaluable.

As Greg Gettens, head of audio at Clear Cut

Pictures, once told me, this can make sure both

facility and producers have the same vision for a

project. “Sound is very subjective, so having this

discussion beforehand means you can use the

limited time in the dub to create a soundscape

that the clients want,” Gettens said. “In addition

to this I have found we can eliminate most

problems that crop up well before the producer

gets to the dub stage: in turn, this means your

dub can be fully focused on creative issues.”

And it should be an ongoing conversation. A

comment I’ve heard many times now is that the

term ‘post production’ is no longer a relevant

descriptor for the business, as these facilities

can be involved on projects from the creative

concept through to execution and delivery. So

it’s a bit mystifying to fi nd that some productions

are still to this day only thinking of post as they’re

approaching deadline.

If they need more proof of the benefi ts, BVE

in London last month hosted a panel session

on this very subject: ‘Fail to plan, plan to fail:

Establishing direct communication to succeed

in the post production-production relationship’.

Under discussion were proven methods from

post houses on how to ensure a more cost-time

effective workfl ow, and how documenting

workfl ows and consulting regularly can

ensure successful delivery.

So producers should try, if at all possible, to get

in touch with the facility fi rst, and keep talking

to them. There should be no need to have a

panicked post production, even with today’s

pressure-driven schedules. n

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24 25 TVBE Mar16 Burns Post Production_FINAL.indd 55 19/02/2016 15:38

Muriel De Lathouwer has spent almost

20 years in the telecoms, IT, high tech

and media industries, with senior roles

at Accenture and McKinsey, and IT telecoms

operator BASE. Her strong work history is coupled

with sound knowledge and understanding of

these fields; she holds an engineering degree

in nuclear physics from Université libre de

Bruxelles, and an MBA from renowned business

school Insead, near Paris.

“I’m an engineer by background,” says De

Lathouwer, who following stints at management

and IT consultancy firms, “decided to do

something more entrepreneurial” and joined EVS

in 2013. She served on the board of directors,

as chair of its strategy committee, and then as

interim president of the executive committee

following the departure of Joop Janssen in

October 2014, with an official appointment

announced in February last year.

One of her main achievements during her

short time as CEO was during the initial four or

five months as interim president, she explains.

Just two weeks after taking up the position, key

changes were made to the company structure,

“from an organisation that was organised along

with the four markets – sports, entertainment,

news, media – and to organise it more simply,

around commercial organisation, product and

market organisation, and R&D technology.” This

was the first step, says De Lathouwer, to building

a new management team. This involved a

change in the structure of the team, from

“a situation where we had a very large

committee of about 14 people, to a smaller

executive core team of five people, plus me.”

The group meets every week to “really, together,

as a team, make decisions.”

In parallel to overseeing this reshuffle of human

resources, De Lathouwer was also instrumental

in launching a strategy preview, examine

“the evolution of the market, the trends, how

they would impact on business, what are the

opportunities, and is there a need to make

adaptations to our strategy.” Hardly light work

for the early stages in a new role. The benefits of

this overhaul were soon in evidence, and “thanks

to this reorganisation we have already seen the

results.” Internal efficiencies mean that “it is much

easier to reallocate the resources to get internal

mobility and to better manage resources”. The

smaller team also allows for more effective

and comprehensive communication because

“decisions are taken with different stakeholders

around the table with the different axis or

dimensions of the company” and “it allows you

to cover 360 degrees of each challenge or

opportunity, to take that decision together

and afterwards to make sure that the decision

goes down the organisation.”

Chairing EVS’ strategy committee “really

allowed me to understand the broadcast

industry” and “the situation of the company” in

particular. 2015 was a year of highs for EVS: the

live broadcast of the 230th El Clásico football

match in Ultra HD in March; delivering the first

ever multicam second-screen experience for an

international multi-sport event at the SEA Games;

and providing fans with enriched media content

over 4G Broadcast for the FA Cup Final. In

addition to developments in technology, it is also

those related to workforce which have formed

De Lawouther’s standout moments as CEO:

“What I’m extremely happy about is being

able to build this management team”, she

says. To “bring this new decision-

making process”, and develop

a new the management style,

“from the CEO who decides,

to a team which is built

around the CEO, who

decide together.”

De Lathouwer’s

previous work

experience – in R&D at

Accenture, strategic

thinking at McKinsey,

and an operational

role at BASE – has

equipped her well

to oversee and

unite the leadership

team at EVS. “If you

look at those three

angles” she explains, “it’s really helpful, because

I understand the R&D, which is 50 per cent of

our FTE; I understand the marketing strategy

and business aspect; and I already have the

operational experience.”

Yet, a good CEO is never merely a sum of its

work experience parts. De Lathouwer clearly

has a strong vision for the brand and company,

which has retained its dominant position in the

market for some years. “To first maintain this

position and deserve this position all the time”

she says, it is imperative to keep on innovating,

“making sure we can always really understand

the needs of our customer and make sure that

we bring pragmatic solutions that address their

needs.” By devolving power and taking a more

diplomatic approach to decision making and

company development, De Lathouwer hopes

EVS can continue “to deserve [customers’]

loyalty and confidence.” Retaining this

confidence in a

broadcast

industry

Feature26 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2016

Inside the chief executive’s officeIt has been over a year since Muriel De Lathouwer was officially appointed CEO of live broadcast specialist EVS. She spoke to Holly Ashford about her time at the company, shaking up the management structure, and her outlook for 2016

26 27 TVBE Mar16 EVS CEO Feature_final.indd 54 19/02/2016 10:41


Feature

bombarded with “technology disruption” seems

far from straightforward. The likes of IP, the

cloud, and 4K have all created challenges and

opportunities; how will EVS harness and profit

from these in the year ahead? “You anticipate

them and take advantage of the benefits, to

make sure that you allow your customer to take

advantage of those changes, while preserving

their existing investment,” says De Lathouwer.

“One of the biggest challenges is related to IP

and the new business model that IP allows”, she

says, stressing that it is not a question of if IP will

happen, but when. “With every technological

change you have to make sure you invest at

the right time, in the right standard” because

“if you invest too early, you might not have

the best ROI for your investment, but too late

is not good either.”

EVS has developed a new strategy, IP4Live,

which supports manageable migration to IP

through open and interoperable solutions and

COTS-based equipment utilisation. IP transition

should happen “step by step at the rhythm

of the customer” explains De Lathouwer, and

IP4Live aims to bring the benefits of IP-based

workflows to live production while preserving

existing investments. The launch of the strategy

coincided with De Lathouwer’s inauguration

as CEO, but she maintains humbly that IP was

something which was “already part of the

thinking” before she took on the role. Instead,

she says, the initiaive was created collaboratively

with the executive committee to make it

“extremely clear” to customers that EVS

would “really help them and support them”

in the transition to IP, and develop a clear

message regarding this.

EVS will no doubt continue to announce

new strategies and innovations this year, not

least as the summer will see both the Rio 2016

Olympics and Paralympics, and UEFA Euro 2016

tournament beamed to the screens of millions.

It is at such big events and flagship projects,

says De Lathouwer, that “we bring all the

new innovation that’s afterwards going to be

projectised and offered to all of our customers.”

She also hints that events such as Rio are “a

push in trying new technologies, to launch new

technologies”, but unfortunately is unable to

elaborate on what this will involve.

In addition to her position as EVS CEO, De

Lathouwer is also a member of Women on Board,

a Belgian and European network of women

members of boards of directors. The aim of

this non-profit is to create a pool of talented

women ready to take up board positions, and

to facilitate access to this pool for Belgian

enterprises searching for female directors.

Working in the “very male-dominated” nuclear

engineering and technology fields, does De

Lathouwer feel enough is being done to address

the similar gender divide in the broadcast

industry? “It has never been an issue for me”,

she says, rebuffing any notion of sexism with the

assertion that “you have some stereotypes…

but then you have to behave like a leader. I’ve

always managed to evolve in my career” she

continues, because “when you have the same

competencies as your male colleagues and

you work in the right environment there is

nothing that should block women.”

De Lathouwer’s success is clearly down to her

“competencies” as well as her ambition and

leadership qualities, assets which are not inherent

to all. Overcoming the gender divide within the

industry is not about giving women a helping

hand, De Lathouwer implies, but about hard

work and earning and deserving your success.

However, she also acknowledges the problem of

fewer women entering “technology-type studies,

therefore less graduating, and less entering the

industry.” If you want to address this problem, she

says “you have to do it from the start.”

De Lathouwer says she finds it “very difficult” to

comment on the gender divide in the broadcast

industry, and instead highlights the need for “not

simply gender diversity, but all types of diversity”.

One of the most significant things she has learnt,

she says, is “how powerful a team can be when

you have different people from completely

different backgrounds, different cultures,

different ways of thinking, different references”.

A new type of collaborative thinking and

teamwork has been introduced to EVS by De

Lathouwer during her time as CEO, and benefits

have been reaped from the “different ways of

thinking” within her team. Coming from a non-

broadcast background, her knowledge of the

industry was only from the EVS board, “not

from the heart of broadcast”, and so “I had

to be more humble because I knew that

the knowledge of the industry resides within

my team.” Ideas are exchanged and

decisions are made as a team which creates

“a different kind of dynamic.”

The pace of change and acceleration in

the industry is “enormous”, and with two high-

profile events this year, EVS’ innovations will be

thrust into the spotlight. The development of

new strategies and products can no doubt be

credited to De Lathouwer, though the CEO is

keen to underline the importance of the unit she

has assembled around her; “I strongly believe in

the power of a team” she concludes. n

“When you have the same competencies as your male colleagues and you work in the

right environment there is nothing that should block women”

26 27 TVBE Mar16 EVS CEO Feature_final.indd 55 19/02/2016 10:41

It is traditional for press to wait in

line for up to three hours just to

get into jam packed Consumer

Electronics Show (CES) news

conferences, but this year along

with those of the major TV vendors,

the queues were snaking round the

block for YouTube. Samsung and LG

press events were still standing room

only, but they lacked the buzz of

keynotes from Netflix and YouTube.

This was symbolic of the show’s

key theme, which was of power

draining from old TV straight into

digital video.

“I believe digital video will

overtake TV to become the single

largest way people spend their

free time before the end of the

decade,” predicted YouTube chief

business officer Robert Kyncl, the

day after Netflix CEO Reed Hastings

announced the next steps in global

domination by lighting up 130

new territories for the OTT

subscription service.

Smartphones are emerging as

the TV screen’s biggest competitor,

and are increasingly being used

for long form viewing, not just

short clips. Kyncl said the average

viewer now watches one hour 15

minutes of digital video per day,

a number that will grow. Google

claims that YouTube on mobile

alone reaches more 18 to 34 and

18 to 49 year-olds than any cable

network and that 600,000 people in

the US cut their cable subscriptions

last quarter.

Added to that, TV shipments

are down, with IHS reporting the

biggest annual decline in five years

for Q2 2015. It expects no growth

in 2016 either.

The CTA (Consumer Technology

Association), which owns and

produces CES, was slightly more

optimistic. It projects revenues will

reach $19 billion for all TV sets and

displays in 2016, on par with 2015,

as volumes drop one per cent to

just under 40 million units. Well-

established technologies including

smartphones, televisions and

laptops will lead to a small growth

in the CE market this year. While

these categories account for 51

per cent of the industry’s revenue,

the catalysts for future growth

are newer innovations such as

wearables, virtual reality

(VR) and drones.

“The industry is at an inflection

point, because nascent categories

will continue to gain market share,”

explained Shawn DuBravac, chief

economist, CTA.

It’s doubtful that any of the

3,800 exhibiting companies truly

achieves the impact they want

at CES amid all the white noise

and the shouting matches which

constitute a stand interview.

So let’s boil it down. From a tech

point of view CES 2016 was about

High Dynamic Range (HDR) and

VR wrapped in an increasingly

omnipresent Internet of Things (IoT).

Drone dataThe CTA expects US sales of

drones to reach one million units

in 2016, a 145 per cent increase

TVBEverywhere28 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2016

“UHD sets will be at 21 per cent of sales globally in 2016” Steve Koenig,

Consumer Technology Association

The TV is on its way to becoming just another appliance, writes Adrian Pennington, who was in Las Vegas to report on this year’s Consumer Electronics Show

CES 2016 attendees testing a VR headset in the Sands Expo CenterCES 2016 report

28 29 30 31 TVBE MAR16 TVBEverywhere_final.indd 32 19/02/2016 15:28

from 2015’s total. The US Federal

Aviation Authority has mandated

registration of all UAVs in response

to increased mid-air incidents

involving them, one reason why

leading developer DJI launched

a beta geofencing system called

Geospatial Environment Online

(GEO), designed to prevent drones

from operating in restricted areas.

GEO fitted, a DJI drone will

update maps and restrictions

based on unfolding events,

including sports competitions. It’s

expected to go live later this year.

Indeed, data gathered by drones

is thought to be an even more

compelling business case than pure

video. “If you shoot a 3D map and

print it with your 3D printer, you can

get a 3D model of your house, for

example,” suggested DJI executive

Brendan Schulman. “There are lots

of cool things you can do with the

data you collect.” No giant CE

company has yet made a move

into drones (Sony has development

plans and Intel just acquired drone

firm Ascending). “Companies

deciding to do drones learn

just how hard they are to

do,” reckoned 3D Robotics,

CRO, Colin Guinn.

“It’s arguably the most complicated

consumer electronics.”

2016 for VR lift offWith over 120 companies touting

VR or AR developments in Vegas,

VR was the hit of the show. When

Facebook’s $600 Oculus launches

at the end of March it will help VR

unit sales this year to top 1.2 million

in the US, marking a 500 per cent

increase from 2015 (source: CTA)

and accounting for $540 million

in revenues. The Diffusion Group

reckons global revenues related

to VR will top $18 billion (€16.6

billion) by 2025.

Among companies entering

the fray is Zeiss, which applied its

knowledge of optics to the VR One

GX, a phone-based head mounted

display costing $130. Unlike

Samsung’s Gear VR, a phone-tray

solution enables the Zeiss device

to work with any smartphone on

the market today.

NextVR hosted a private viewing

of a live streamed NBA game

between the Chicago Bulls and

Boston Celtics, produced with

NextVR investor Time Warner-

owned Turner Sports. The company

also reported that it worked with


TVBEverywhere

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings takes the stage for the popular CES keynote


TVBEverywhere30 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2016

Qualcomm to develop software

for the new Snapdragon 820

processor that enables delivery

of live 360-degree content to

mobile phones.

One area that promises to

give the VR market even more

traction will be the increasing

availability of 360-degree VR

cameras. Nikon’s unveiling of its first

action camera, the KeyMission 360,

which shoots 360-degree video in

4K from a 20.8-megapixel sensor,

was a surprise. Well-produced

content is “desperately needed”

to help VR take off, according to

Hollywood execs at a panel on the

topic. “A lot of good technology is

being developed but there’s also

a lot of bad content,” opined Cliff

Plumer, president of VR developer

Jaunt Studios.

Sony said it would start selling

$300 VR PlayStation goggles by Q2

2016 and Fox announced a

minority investment in VR firm

Osterhout Design Group. It

also unveiled The Martian VR

Experience, companion piece to

Ridley Scott’s feature.

David Greenbaum, one of the

directors of the Fox Innovation Lab

that co-produced The Martian

VR project, added; “We thought

we were just doing R&D, but now

people want to buy [VR content].”

However, Eric Shamlin, executive

producer at content studio Secret

Location, warned: “It’s probably

going to be 2017 before VR content

is something you can monetise.”

HDR to the rescueTV and DVD player makers are

pinning their hopes on HDR to

reinvigorate the living room big

screen as the place to experience

the best sound and image.

Helping smooth consumer sales

by streamlining the marketing

speak used to promote a screen’s

brightness, the UHD Alliance

announced ‘Ultra HD Premium’, a

top of the range specification for

distributing and displaying content.

To meet the specs, screens must

deliver 10-bit colour bit depth, and

they must reproduce at least 90 per

cent of the P3 colour gamut,

the same as digitally projected

theatrical exhibition. In terms of

HDR, the screen must meet SMPTE

ST2084 EOTF and deliver certain

peak brightness levels.

This should help 4K TV sales to

achieve the $10 billion revenue

predicted by the CTA in US retail

this year. Indeed, all 2016 OLED

models from LG feature the Ultra

HD Premium seal of approval.

Panasonic’s new flagship DX900

LED TV series, also has Premium

certification as do units from

Samsung and Sony.

“UHD sets will be at 21 per cent

of sales globally in 2016,” said Steve

Koenig, CTA, senior director of

market research. “The vast majority

of those will be 50 inches and

above. And, as set makers move

to 1080p for sets smaller than 50

inches and 4K for sets larger than

50 inches, the demise of 720p

seems inevitable.”

OTT delivery models can easily

accommodate the 20 per cent

extra data over ‘normal’ UHD,

hence Netflix and YouTube

announced plans to launch UHD

HDR content later this year. Hastings

claimed; “We have over 1,000

engineers focusing on better

global delivery, more intuitive

UIs, incredible picture and

audio quality.”

Yet this is a lot more complicated

for broadcasters who are still

struggling to deliver HD without

heavy compression. Frustration with

the broadcast HDR standardisation

process has forced Technicolor

and Philips to marry their respective

“A lot of good technology is being developed but there’s also a lot of bad content”

Cliff Plumer, Jaunt Studios

Nagra used CES to present its new all-in-one TV experience, intuiTV



TVBEverywhere

HDR technologies. The approach

will offer backwards compatibility

to standard dynamic range

displays, just like the BBC/NHK’s

HDR proposals and include an HDR

solution for live broadcast.

But since Technicolor

and Philips own a set-top

box business they are keen

to badge their consumer

boxes – and screens/STBs

of third parties – as offering

Technicolor HDR and to

compete with

rival Dolby Vision.

Dolby announced that

Warner Bros., Universal, MGM,

and Netflix will all support

Dolby Vision with new releases

and catalogue titles mastered

in the format. Owners of 2016

LG 4K OLEDs will be able to

stream HDR content from Netflix on

LG’s updated webOS 3.0 Smart TV

platform later this year.

And in cooperation with Amazon,

LG OLEDs will offer the newest

original HDR content via

Amazon Video.

Just another appliance“We believe the future of TV

is still TV,” declared Anthony

Smith-Chaigneau, senior director

of product marketing, Nagra,

presenting the company’s

new all-in-one TV experience

called intuiTV. Targeted at

pay-TV operators as a managed

cloud-based platform for

adding any mix of premium

content with live TV, VoD, SVoD,

PVR and social TV.

“The advanced TV market is

broken and heading toward a

cold computer dashboard of

coloured tiles,” added Smith-

Chaigneau.

“We believe in unifying

this fragmented market for

the consumer by having all

their entertainment in one

place and delivering a much

better experience.”

With Samsung’s flagship UHD

TV KS9500 users can adjust the

lighting, watch the baby monitor,

and even create “mood schemes”

with a group of smart devices.

They could even watch TV if

they wanted.

The CTA suggests IoT will drive the

consumer tech industry to $287

billion in revenues, an all time high.

“The exponential growth of the

IoT and the lightning-fast speed of

innovation are key reasons we’ll see

such strong growth across so many

tech categories,” said Shapiro.

Julie Brill of the US Federal Trade

Commission described what the

future of the IoT will look like.

“The internet will disappear

through it and devices will just

start to be connected, the way

we think about electricity now,”

she said. The TV is becoming just

another appliance. n

Nikon unveiled its first action camera, the KeyMission 360

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T F1 is France’s biggest broadcasting group,

its flagship channel drawing the country’s

largest audiences, with an average 22 per

cent share of the viewing market. In addition

to the main free to air channel TF1, the private

group also owns several free to air digital

terrestrial channels; TMC, NT1 and HD1, targeted

at slightly different demographics, in addition to

a news only channel, LCI. The group also boasts

one of the leading VoD services in the country,

MyTF1VOD, as well as a very popular catch-up

service and a number of internet sites.

Not surprising then, that when it comes to

adopting new broadcasting technology, it will

want to make sure that it is properly tried and

tested. The group has understandably taken

a cautious approach to 4K.

“Our main concern is whether our audience

is interested enough in this new technology to

justify the huge financial investment it requires,”

explains Hervé Pavard, director of technologies,

information systems, internal resources and

security for the TF1 Group.

The company has been testing the technology

for the last three years, in different live situations,

most notably on one of TF1’s most popular

programmes The Voice, both in 2013 and 2014,

as well as on BBC format Danse Avec Les Stars

(Strictly Come Dancing) and on a few football

matches before the World Cup in Brazil.

“We conducted trials with Sony F65 and F55

cameras, which we found are more appropriate

for film and TV drama production than for use in

live situations. One of the problems was adjusting

the cameras’ focus and depth of field, most

particularly during the football games because

you don’t know where the players are going to

go to next, you have to adjust all of that in

live conditions. It’s much easier when you can


“We found out fairly early on, by testing HD and UHD cameras next to each other, that the 4K images were not hugely compelling

compared to the HD ones”

Hervé Pavard, director of technologies, TF1 Group, shares his outlook on 4K, HDR and the cloud with Catherine Wright

TF1 remains cautious about

4K and HDR©

Yan

n D

eja

rdin

/TF1

32 33 TVBE Mar16 TF1 Feature_FINAL.indd 54 19/02/2016 14:38

control the situation for a TV drama. “You

know exactly what the actors will do and

when they will do it,” he describes.

But even more importantly, these trials also

enabled TF1 to assess whether 4K would bring

a big enough change compared with HD to

seduce the broadcasting group’s viewers.

“We found out fairly early on, by testing HD

and UHD cameras next to each other, that the 4K

images were not hugely compelling compared to

the HD ones. The audience has to be equipped

with at least 70-inch TV sets to start seeing a

difference. When it comes to pixel resolution,

there is no ‘wow factor’,” he indicates.

HDR does provide that wow factor, he agrees,

even though huge problems remain, one of

which being the actual standard itself. “There

are three different ones out there; Dolby’s,

the Technicolor/Philips one and the BBC/NHK

standard. We will be testing different options

during the year but we certainly have not

made our minds up yet. We want to understand

how it will all work in a real production

environment and in what I call a glass to

glass situation, from the camera to the TV set

in the viewer’s room,” he says.

Among the possible trials, some might take

place during the Euro next June, for which TF1

has some of the broadcasting rights. “UEFA has

already announced that four matches will

be broadcast in 4K, so it will be up to us to see

how we fit in with it. We might plan a demo of

some kind,” he admits.

One of the concerns is backward compatibility

from SDR images to HDR ones. “It remains unclear

whether you get a normal or a bad quality HDR

image when you convert from one to the other,”

he indicates. Another one is the licensing cost,

knowing that Dolby has in the past demanded a

high fee for licensing some of its technology.

For all these reasons, TF1 is still far away from

adopting 4K in the broadcasting and production

of its free-to-air channels.

“We’ve decided to go down that path slowly.

Quite a few 4K TV sets have been sold in France,

but very little 4K content is available at this stage

and I‘m not even sure that the first 4K sets are

really able to broadcast 4K images. But one

of the areas we‘re closely looking at is 4K for

our VoD service and also anything to do with

an OTT environment. Because the economic

model makes sense; you can ask you subscribers

to pay a premium for 4K content or a 4K

channel,” he says.

Having said that, he does believe that 4K will

succeed as a widespread technology and will

eventually become ubiquitous, contrary to

3D. “3D should be a lesson to us all, there was so

much enthusiasm for it but the audience didn’t

follow. So let’s take things slowly,” he cautions.

The group is however less cautious about

cloud technology. “We’ve been using cloud

systems for back office tasks such as personnel

management or administration for the last three

years and have learnt a lot about safety. We‘ve

also started using it for archiving purposes and

have adopted Microsoft Azure’s system. We’re

also using a private cloud system for production,

with our own data centre on site. Our aim is to

have a private cloud on an outside data centre

next,” he explains.

Cloud systems are not used when transmission

on time is a real issue. “The risk of not finding

the content on time and all the queuing up of

files makes it difficult to use for our main news

programme at 8pm, for instance,” he describes.

Unlike some other broadcasters, TF1 hasn’t had

trouble recruiting software engineers with the

right skills. “We started using the technology three

years ago, and we also trained our engineers at

the same time, so we have had time to adapt to

the new skillset,” he concludes. n


Feature

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32 33 TVBE Mar16 TF1 Feature_FINAL.indd 55 19/02/2016 14:38

Business

When it comes to the

adroit tactic of capability

extension through

acquisition, no corporation does

it better than Ericsson. The latest

intake will be the Texas-based

entertainment metadata and

rich media content specialist FYI

Television, which derives its success

from tracking 9,000 TV networks

and producing aggregated

content and scheduling data in

customised formats.

The logic of this tie-up screams

content discovery, and for the fuller

picture TVBEurope spoke to Thorsten

Sauer, the executive who drove

the acquisition and integration

of both Technicolor’s broadcast

service division and Red Bee

Media. Sauer is head of Ericsson’s

broadcast and media services

business worldwide, leading a team

of 2,500 industry specialists.

“Content discovery is broad

enough as a topic, and it touches a

lot of different pieces that Ericsson

does,” he said. “With the rise of

content and the multitude of ways

for us to access it, there is a level of

support needed to give users help

to find xthe right content.

“We do quite a bit in that area,

therefore FYI obviously gives us the

opportunity to cover a very large

part of the content created in north

America,” he added. “We want to

go far beyond that, besides pure

metadata. Consumers appreciate

all the new ways of accessing

content, and they appreciate

that there’s much more content

available, but they increasingly

grow frustrated with how

difficult it is to find what they

are strongly interested in.”

Basically, content discovery

is the description of content in

a very deep way and linking

that data to other forms of data.

Ericsson’s Media First platform is

on the front line.

“The opportunity we have

with this new generation of

platforms is to present content in

a very immersive way and target

something based on preference,”

said Sauer. “Past preferences is

one opportunity to present

content, and the extrapolation

of past preferences to fauture

demand is another.”

This all starts with knowing

the content, describing scenes,

following the trail of an actor

perhaps, or opting for happy, sad

or action scenes. The consumer is

just as likely to buck the profile and

look for something very different.

“FYI plays a key and integral

role in that,” said Sauer. “We are

the leading provider of metadata

in Europe. We cover 27 countries,

dealing with all the languages

and different local content. We

approximate that 40 per cent of

this is American-produced content,

so we are now very close to the

source with the FYI acquisition.”

Going deeper in terms of

exposing content to the

consumer will match

with aggregating the data and

presenting it to content creators,

who can then use consumption

behaviour to inform their projects.

“We understand the big

challenge today to being

successful is to provide a great

experience and we feel we have a

lot of the assets and ability there,”

said Sauer. “Content discovery is

working hand in hand with the TV

platforms we provide to telecoms

companies because the UI is no

longer the old-school EPG type

experience. It is more pictorial

because consumers want the

information put together in a

more immersive way.’

Spotting trends earlyConsumers are both fickle

in terms of staying with a

content supplier, and

generally unhappy

about paying for

the content they

access. The paradox

is that they will pay

for better quality

pictures.

“We see two

things,” said

Sauer. “It there is a

convenient choice

at an affordable price

people will forego the

illegal ways of finding free

content. They will say

if there is a good

subscription

service and

a finite

sum of money to pay that they

are happy to pay for the

convenience of legally

scrolling through the options.

“And there is generational

change. There are snippets and

short form content available for

free on YouTube, and that provides

a certain fascination,” he added,

“We see in every market we

looked at (nearly 40) that YouTube

is always the stronger producer

of video, and consumers tend to

spend more time with it. Facebook

plays eight billion views a day

and volume wise it is probably

close to You Tube.”

Ericsson is a business-to-business

company servicing the likes of the

BBC,

ITV


An acquisition in content discovery

Thorsten Sauer, head of broadcast and media services at Ericsson, spoke to George Jarrett about the company’s latest acquisition

34 35 TVBE Mar16 Business Ericsson_FINAL.indd 54 19/02/2016 14:35

Business TVBEurope 35March 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

and Liberty Global, so in a sense

it is one step removed from the

consumers of content. But its huge

sample research projects have

given it a sharp edge.

“It is enormously important to be

very closely in touch and to spot

trends very early,” said Sauer. “That

informs our decisions on where

we want to invest in developing

new propositions. It is also highly

appreciated by our customers

because very few of them have the

opportunity to do something similar.

“It positions us with a very positive

image but more importantly it

informs us about trends at an

early stage and how consumer

behaviour changes,” he added.

The key struts of the network

society are mobility, broadband

and cloud services. The heart of

this is faultless connectivity, and

broadband does not reach

masses of consumers as yet.

“The foundation of our strategy

is the network society. Cloud,

broadband and mobility are

enabling factors, but the value

of being connected is rising,

connected to content wherever

we are. We do all of that today

and we feel the need for our

expertise is also reaching industries

where we have not played so

much,” said Sauer.

This relates to Ericsson’s industry

and society division, which focuses

on verticals like utilities and

transportation. Has Sauer detected

the fear amongst the traditional

broadcast vendors that their time

might be up? Ericsson predicts 26

billion connected devices in 2020,

so sustaining a USP is vital.

“This is an industry in

transformation and this requires

a new set of capabilities. We

are moving to something more

internet-like where you have fairly

standardised hardware. The logic,

the value sits in the software,

which requires new skills,”

said Sauer. “You will

see some companies

adapting to that,

and some not being

able to. “You have to continuously

change and adapt. The motto

of our network society is we have

to broaden to remain relevant,”

he added. “Across all industries

the importance of software is just

increasing rapidly, but broadcast

people still have time to adapt

and adjust because this industry

moves in cycles.”

You could be out-scaledFor the competence transition

FYI Television is the perfect fit for

generating high quality metadata.

“FYI is almost 100 per cent North

American, and we have some

American content plus a lot of

global content,” said Sauer. “What

we also see is an increasing number

of aggregators, and with Netflix

and Apple it has become a global

business. This global perspective

is one of the key changes to the

broadcast industry.

“A lot of the infrastructure and

the competences that you need

require skill and scale. There is an

increasing demand for having a

provider of services and solutions,

which can act globally, and

that is why it is so important for

us that we have that capability.

As a company we are morphing

and with colleagues from FYI

Television coming in we will get

new perspectives. The topic of

personalisation is going to be

huge,” he added.

What about the broadcasters?

Being medium sized in a big local

market is starting to look shriveled.

“One of the fundamental insights

that we have for our customers

to remain relevant is they have to

partner and make smart choices.

With increasing competition

and with so many companies

competing on a global basis, you

can be out-scaled,” said Sauer.

Sauer’s division provides that

scale through a logic that runs

from content discovery to access

services, to media management,

and to playout origination. This

is leveraging knowledge, but

he wants to expand back

up the chain.

“We are moving closer to the

people that are doing all the

exciting work, in both shooting

and post production. Some of

these things are extremely relevant

for our work on the metadata side,”

said Sauer. “The best place and

time to capture a lot of data about

the content is in production.”

The spare elementOne recent example of the value in

Ericsson’s consumer research is the

Sub Saharan service NuVu, which

uses spare Telco capacity to trickle

feed content to mobiles. Ericsson

runs the whole project including

licensing the content, so is it a

customer of its own expertise?

“Yes, sort of. What we saw in

the sub-Sahara area, and it goes

for other areas of the world, is the

people don’t have a legal and

affordable chance to access

content,” said Sauer. “A growing

middle class is getting into the

affordability range to spend

money on entertainment but they

don’t have TV sets. They do have

a smart phone though.

“We expect the number of smart

phones regionally to go up to 900

million by 2020. The broadband

connectivity in those markets is not

sufficient. We wanted to solve most

of the problems with a good quality

affordable service without surprises

(like broadband data bills).”

The key behind NuVu is the

intelligent client software

with network site components

that identifies when content

can be delivered.

“Smart phones cost £30-50 in

Africa, and they have a screen in

their hands. They are getting close

to where they can afford to pay

for entertainment, and there has

been no good proposition for them

so far,” said Sauer. n

“The best place and time to capture a lot of data about the content is in production”

Thorsten Sauer, Ericsson

www.mediagenix.tvwww.mediagenix.tv

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Business

Nevion, which was built on

the merging of Network

Electronics, Video

Production Group and T-VIPS

out of Tandberg, has come to

wider industry notice through its

VideoIPath and software designed

networking (SDN) technology and

its roles in both the VRT/EBU LiveIP

Sandbox project and The Alliance

for IP Media Solutions (AIMS).

At 19 years old it was not

embedded in traditional broadcast

and SD to HD thinking for too long,

and its expertise in SDN aligns it very

well for the coming IP era.

“This will be the next phase for

Nevion for sure, and it will be the

future for broadcast. It is migrating

for good reasons,” said CEO Geir

Bryn-Jensen. “Content consumption

has seen dramatic change over

several years, and what we see is a

triple effect of that. It is happening

upwards in the value chain. It

has changed the delivery and

distribution of content. And the

pressure is now on for the long

established media companies

to adapt to the competition from

new media players.

“They need to create more than

just slightly different content, much

more of it, and go multi-platform,

but the sources of revenue like

licensing monies are changing,”

he added. “And with advertising

revenue being distributed around

other platforms, what we see is that

the traditional broadcast customer

has to do more, and they often

have less resources, or at least no

more, to do it with. This drives the

need for increased efficiency.”

This has accelerated the

transition to new technologies and

the bringing of IT and IP disciplines

to production. “People did not

want to talk about it, but three

years ago it started to get some

interest. A year ago there was a

lot of interest, and at this point in

time we are sitting with ten projects

and they are much more than

proof of concept,” said Bryn-

Jensen. “People are building new

facilities and they want to create a

sustainable future environment.”

Nevion had focussed on

contribution networks but now

it is transferring its expertise and

core technologies into the facility

market to enable software defined

environments for production.

What advantages have come

from participation in the Sandbox


Virtualising media productionVirtualising media production, and virtualising functionality: George Jarrett talks to Nevion CEO Geir Bryn-Jensen

36 37 TVBE Mar16 Business_FINAL2.indd 54 22/02/2016 10:31

Business TVBEurope 37March 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

Project? “We have validated more

than what we have learnt. We had

a working hypothesis when we went

in and were pleased to see what

we believed has been proven.

The Sandbox project came at the

right time,” said Bryn-Jensen.

Armed with both a technology

and a strategy, come the last IBC

Nevion was both part of the IP

Live initiative and able to launch a

software-defined networking starter

kit with the requisite orchestration

platform. “The LiveIP project proved

that the vendors could collaborate,

which was good for everybody

involved. Our kit gives the user

a low-cost entry level and the

chance to trial the new technology

and see that it actually works,” said

Bryn-Jensen. “We saw that it was

not the time to take an incremental

step but take a bold step. It is not

just deploying IP technology for

media production, but enabling the

virtualisation of production. This is

the business benefit.”

Not locking the user into somethingJoining AIMS was also a no

brainer. “The background for all

the founding members has been

that the customer and vendor

communities have both now

embraced the fact that there will

be a future related to IP,” said Bryn-

Jensen. “But I think there is still a lot

of uncertainty in terms of standards,

and there is still an amount of fear

of the change among our users.

“The good of AIMS is to come

together as competitors and say,

‘Hey we are all supporting each

other in creating new services

that are interoperable’. We are

not going to lock anybody into

something,” he added. “We will not

be the standardisation organisation,

and the user community

understand that we have VSF and

SMPTE to do that work and the

Interoperability testing. The EBU and

AMWA are also important.”

A hybrid interim is a necessity

because of the massive investments

in infrastructure and technology.

“You can create a hybrid network

or solution by utilising all that

traditional broadcast equipment

and putting it into a virtualised

network that makes that asset

virtually accessible from anywhere.

Using legacy technology in

combination with new software

defined networking principles

gives you have a hybrid network,”

said Bryn-Jensen. “A lot of the skills

and competences are in place.

The core business of the typical

end user that we work with is

developing content. It is our belief

that there is a gap in network

technology competency, but

it depends where you are,” he

added. “The interesting question is,

will the broadcasters build their own

IP network as they owned their own

traditional networks, or outsource

to a service provider specialising in

running those networks?”

A lot of value disruptionVirtualisation has been a common

concept (starting off in playout) for

some time, but has the Nevion user

base bought the concept yet of it

reaching into production?

“Not everybody, but they are

starting to engage with it. The LiveIP

project is proof of concept, and

the ten projects we are engaged

in now are driven by the need to

build new green field production

environments,” said Bryn-Jensen.

“With virtualising assets you need

that software defined network to

make it happen. The other piece

of virtualisation, which is not fully

there yet, is virtualising functionality,

which today is sitting as purpose

built hardware.”

Generic media nodes and

software enablement are the

way forward, along with new

infrastructures. Where does

VideoIPath come in? “For the

complexity and the management

as you move into SDN, it becomes

for us absolutely critical. It will

orchestrate everything in the

infrastructure and ultimately also

the workflow,” said Bryn-Jensen.

The old conception of a

broadcast market is something he

sees as vanishing as 2020 looms.

“Within that time frame there will

be dramatic change driven by

the acceleration in consumer

consumption. Take a world player

like Akamai: will it define itself as

part of the broadcast market, or

is it part of a different market? The

screen in the hand and 5G will be

the big kickers forward, and the

giant aggregators will have an

impact on the business models

and the sources of revenue typified

by established broadcasters.” With

so many continuing acquisitions

happening under the umbrella

of consolidation, how vulnerable

will Nevion be in the immediate

future? “I think we are an object

out there; we would be a good and

complementary asset, but it would

not be in anyone’s interest to bring

us into something that is traditional.

With much of the consolidation

over recent years there has been

a lot of value disruption. We have

prepared Nevion for what’s to

come, spending five years to do

it. The philosophy behind this is to

combine core skills from traditional

broadcast, IT enterprise, wider

IT skills and competencies, and

telecoms data.”

Will we see much progress at

NAB and IBC in terms of the total

transition to IP from SDI?

“We are back to standards

again. I think you will have to

wait until NAB 2017 to see

significant progress. We will

see steady progress all of this

year through that momentum

for standardisation, and the

collaboration between players,

but NAB next year will be one of the

biggest milestone. The virtualisation

of media production is what we

are pushing for.” n


WORKFLOW

Optimize your

Optimize linear broadcasting and on-demand services in a single system and streamline your workfl ows company-wide.www.mediagenix.tv

Geir Bryn-Jensen

36 37 TVBE Mar16 Business_FINAL2.indd 55 22/02/2016 10:31

Audio

D eclaring the advent of

a new era in any area of

technology is a notoriously

tricky business. Broadcasting

certainly hasn’t escaped its

fair share of ill-advised forecasts;

in recent years, just think of

the bright future widely, yet

erroneously, predicted for 3D to

fi nd a case in point.

The scale of the disappointment

felt about the commercial

performance of that technology

has – perhaps inevitably –

engendered a greater sense

of reservation about making

bold predictions. Look at the

conversation that has surrounded

the arrival of 4K, notably more

cautious in tone than that

around 3D, and signifi cantly more

preoccupied with the practicalities

of implementation.

If this more ‘sensible’ tone helps

to channel energies and investment

more effectively, then it’s hardly to

be discouraged. But the industry

would be a slightly greyer place if

predictions were to be dispensed

with entirely, so it’s with modest

trepidation that this month’s

Audio Feature outlines three key

forecasts for 2016 which suggest

that, collectively, we are now

embarking upon a new era of

broadcast audio.

1As recently as three or four

years ago the conversation

around audio networking –

and specifi cally Audio over IP (AoIP)

– was largely held in the realms of

the theoretical. In some quarters,

it was discussed as a technology

that was ‘many years off’ and,

even when it did arrive, was more

likely to be the preserve of a small

group of early adopters than

a mass-adoption tool.

Very few people are still taking

that tone in 2016. Numerous

broadcast centres and OB

providers are implementing AoIP

infrastructures, in the form of

both refi ts of existing facilities and

new-builds. The advantages of

moving towards a fully networked

infrastructure in terms of audio

workfl ow management and

fl exibility are no longer the subject

of debate, they have been proven.

It seems clear that the advent

of standards such as AES67,

which defi nes interoperability

between existing networking

transportation technologies, and

the newly-published AES70 control

standard (based on the work of

the OCA Alliance) have played

a fundamental role in bolstering

industry confi dence in AoIP; in

a nutshell, we are talking about

the basic security that ‘product

X will work with product Y’. But

it’s also helped that networking

vendors have continued to refi ne

the messaging surrounding their

solutions in order to convey the

benefi ts as clearly and explicitly

as possible to end-users. Audinate

with Dante, and ALC NetworX with

Ravenna, can be said to have

been particularly successful in this

regard, complementing their core

marketing activities with increasingly

far-reaching educational initiatives.

With new licensing and compliant

product announcements being

made on a weekly basis, it is also

evident that potential investors

in AoIP now have an extensive

ecosystem of products from which

to choose. Hence the suggestion

that the ‘if’ question no longer

applies; it is ‘when and how

best’ to apply IP audio that now

preoccupies broadcasters and

their service providers.

2We will see some signifi cant

developments around

immersive and interactive

audio technologies.

If AoIP is the defi nition of a

‘gamechanger’, then what does

that make NGA (Next Generation

Audio) technologies like immersive

or interactive audio? At their most

ambitiously applied they hold the

potential to completely transform

the way that we think about –

and execute – broadcast audio.

Numerous individual developments

suggest that we are on the verge

of something big. In this regard, CES

2016 may retrospectively come to

be regarded as a major milestone,

with Dolby Laboratories and the

MPEG-H Audio Alliance showcasing

their latest developments related

to the ATSC 3.0 next-generation

broadcasting standard.

Using only integrated television

speakers, Dolby’s demo highlighted

improved bit rate effi ciency,

intelligent loudness management,

dialogue enhancement, multi-

language support and hybrid

delivery, as well as immersive

and personalisation features

like stereo virtualisation and

loudness description.

Meanwhile, the MPEG-H

Audio Alliance of Fraunhofer IIS,

Technicolor and Qualcomm

drew attention to the ability of

MPEG-H Audio to allow viewers to

adjust the sound mix in line with

their own preferences.

The determination of which

audio system will be standardised

as part of ATSC 3.0, a process that

is expected to reach fruition within

the next few months, will obviously

be fundamental in helping to

kick things up a gear. But in the

meantime, expect broadcasters

and vendors to be spending an

increasing amount of time talking

up the potential benefi ts of these

new technologies, both as a

complement to the 4K picture

experience, and as a signifi cant

evolution in their own right.


‘These are arguably the most exciting times for broadcast

audio since the transition from analogue to digital got

underway’

Predicting a new phase ofbroadcast audio

Immersive production and IP-based workfl ows mean that broadcast audio is arguably on the threshold of its greatest period of change since the analogue/digital transition got underway. But is the industry ready for the shift in skills that will be required? David Davies explores

38 39 TVBE Mar16 Audio forecasts_FINAL.indd 54 19/02/2016 17:07

Audio TVBEurope 39March 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

3 There will be a renewed

emphasis on the importance

of broadcast audio engineer

education and ‘refresher training’.

The advent of 5.1 wasn’t without

its challenges for broadcast

audio engineers, but that could

be as nothing next to the step-

change that accompanies the

arrival of immersive and interactive

audio. And it won’t just be about

the new technology, but also

the creative decisions that will

be involved in optimising the use

of these new techniques.

More than ever, it seems

probable that broadcast audio –

especially for large sports events

or entertainment spectaculars,

where the scope for immersion

and interaction is most significant

– will necessitate a more artistic

approach to mixing in terms of

delivering light, shade and the

variable dynamics that will make

for a satisfying experience over the

course of a few hours. This will surely

require more intensive collaboration

between mixers, producers and

other key creatives involved in the

production of such programmes.

At undergraduate level, audio

engineer training is now highly

responsive to technological trends

throughout broadcast. But once

engineers have qualified and

moved out into the industry, it seems

inevitable that they will require more

frequent refresher training to ensure

their skill-sets remain up to par.

So there we have it: three

predictions that suggest audio will

rise even further up the broadcast

industry agenda during 2016. These

are arguably the most exciting

times for broadcast audio since the

transition from analogue to digital

got underway, and this year we are

likely to witness strong indications

of how these technologies

might ultimately translate to the

mainstream. And at the risk of

making a very bold final prediction,

one might reasonably expect

the process of explaining and

promoting NGA to the viewer to be

one of the major stories of 2017. n

Whilst the issue of loudness

has certainly not gone

away, it would be fair

to suggest that the EBU’s R128

Loudness Recommendation has

resulted in significant progress in

terms of audio normalisation across

the European broadcast sector.

Originally published in August 2010,

R128’s primary recommendation

is the normalisation of audio

at -23LUFS ±0.5LU (±1LU for live

programmes), measured with

a relative gate at -10LU. But it is

accompanied by a number of

guidances, several of which have

been updated as of late January.

In the previous version of the

supplement dealing with short-

form content, users could deploy

either a maximum momentary or

a maximum short-term loudness

measurement as a parameter to

characterise and control the level

of commercials, promos, etc. In

the new version only the short-term

measurement is specified in a move

that EBU expects will “help simplify

content exchange and reduce

costs in daily operations”.

In addition, the ‘EBU Mode’

Loudness Metering specification

(EBU Tech 3341) has been updated

with new minimum compliance

requirements and a number of

clarifications. Meanwhile, the

complementary EBU Loudness Test

Set has been extended with 15

new test signals, designed to help

implementers check if equipment

measures Short-Term and

Momentary Loudness, as well as True

Peak levels correctly.

A number of manufacturers have

already confirmed their support for

the new updates, including RTW,

which highlights compliance with

the Touchmonitor instruments, the

SurroundControl 31900 and 31960

series, and all software products that

perform loudness measurements. A

steady stream of announcements

by other vendors should be

expected as spring gets underway.

Of course, a heightening of trade

show activity is synonymous with

this particular change of season,

and as expected the previews

for NAB are now flowing through

at a rate of knots. At BVE, held in

London this February, Fairlight’s

EVO.Live converged console,

Riedel’s Tango TNG-200 networked

communications platform (with

support for AES67 and AVB

standards), and Roland’s M-5000C

digital mixing desk – which was

billed as being suitable all manner of

applications, including broadcast,

touring and theatre – were among

the primary audio-related highlights.

As for NAB…well, look out for

the April edition of TVBEurope for a

countdown of those new products

that audio professionals should

be looking out for when they step

onto the showfloors of the Las

Vegas Convention Centre.n

David Davies provides a round-up of recent developments in the audio industry

News update


VODStreamline your

from content acquisition over

scheduling to publishing and

package your content using

miniplaylists or render channels.

www.mediagenix.tv

38 39 TVBE Mar16 Audio forecasts_FINAL.indd 55 19/02/2016 17:07


The latest perspectives on UHD

Most of the necessary requirements for

large-scale 4K/UHD adoption are now in

place. The UHD Alliance has announced

its consumer standards, 4K TV sets are affordable

and widely available, and content is increasingly

being captured in 4K/UHD. Multiple providers of

OTT TV services have also announced new 4K

streaming channels. However, broadcast TV is still

resolutely in HD and SD, with economic barriers

acting as the primary obstacle to adoption of 4K

in broadcast.

The importance of next generation advanced video codecsMultiple announcements of next-generation

advanced video codecs in 2015 have

highlighted the need for the industry to provide

a technological solution to many of the barriers

to the wider adoption of 4K/UHD. Any viable

solution will have to provide better compression

performance and the ability to leverage the

existing infrastructure in the timescales that are

vital for broadcasters to launch compelling 4K/

UHD services. For content providers working

in this increasingly competitive landscape,

understanding the impact of these technologies

has never been more important.

The benefits of efficient compression

technologies in reducing video delivery costs and

improving quality are widely accepted. What is

less commonly understood is the

extent of savings that new compression

technologies can enable. By rewriting the

rules that previous codecs relied upon, the delivery

of 4K/UHD is now an economic reality, with

products and solutions available across

the media delivery ecosystem.

Live sport remains key for broadcasters to

compete with the OTT providers that have already

launched 4K/UHD services. A 2015 survey by Frank

N Magid found that nine out of ten sports fans

still watch sports through a TV set, demonstrating

that top quality live sport is one of the main

weapons that broadcasters use to gain and retain

customers against newer rivals.

The recent first UHD broadcast of the ‘El Clasico’

game between Real Madrid and Barcelona was

as an exciting demonstration of how 4K live sports

can be delivered to consumers using infrastructure

that is already laid out. New solutions using novel

compression technologies, such as V-Nova

PERSEUS in this instance, were used to contribute

visually lossless 4K/UHD content from the stadium to

the studio over existing 1Gbps telco circuits, which

are also used to deliver the multi-feed HD services.

The upgrade only required the deployment of

encoding and decoding products (P.Link 4K) that

leverage this technology. The availability of these

products off-the-shelf meant that the solution was

tested, trialled and deployed in weeks. 4K/UHD

delivery is an invaluable viewer proposition for live

sports broadcasters. Against the background of

substantial challenges in matching OTT 4K delivery,

this progression is a real boost for the industry.

Planning for the presentAs more and more consumers are exposed

to, and accept, 4K content delivered via

OTT, broadcasters will need to be able to deliver

UHD to keep their viewers engaged across all

screens. With mobile video viewing continuing

to grow, it is essential for providers to be

thinking about a mobile-optimised content

delivery strategy.

New compression technologies allow for

streaming 4K/UHD video even beyond

traditional broadcast networks and fixed

landlines. A recent trial by telecoms provider EE

demonstrated that live-streaming of

high-quality 4K/UHD and HD content over

4G networks is possible in both congested and

remote areas of the UK using next-generation

codecs. The trial also demonstrated that these

solutions are deployable today, on the current

population of consumer devices, through

software upgrades.

Keeping up with 4KThe mobile and IP revolutions no longer describe

an ecosystem of the future. Video consumption

is already booming; high-quality services

and convenience are crucial in maintaining

this generation of viewer’s engagement and

loyalty. New initiatives, such as the formation of

the Alliance for Open Media in 2015, founded by

Amazon, Google, Netflix and others, reflect the

industry requirement for increases in compression

efficiency beyond the roadmap of HEVC. It is

vital to translate these requirements into solutions

that support the deployment of new consumer

TV services. Solutions that can leverage next

generation codecs are now available and

already proving extremely important in enabling

providers to offer advanced video services

that win viewers and new revenues. This way,

providers big and small, are benefiting from the

economic advantages provided by advanced

compression technologies. n

By Fabio Murra, SVP product and marketing, V-Nova

Unleashing UHD with next-generation advanced codecs

“4K/UHD delivery is an invaluable viewer proposition for live sports broadcasters”

Fabio Murra

In a break from the usual roaming, conceptual discussions around UHD, this issue we invited a selection of industry authorities to offer more granular perspectives on specific parts of the UHD ecosystem, covering compression and test and measurement

40 42 TVBE Mar16 Feature_FINAL.indd 54 19/02/2016 17:20

www.tvbeurope.com March 2016

Feature42 TVBEurope

T oday’s television landscape is now defined

by the unique demands of a diverse

consumer audience. Content providers

are concentrating on seamlessly delivering

video content across a variety of different

platforms, with each offering providing a flexible,

dynamic and personalised user experience,

through a network optimised for video delivery.

Nevertheless, at the heart of all of this, is the

need to deliver content of the very highest

quality. Enhancing the level of detail, colour and

depth of image is a fundamental requirement

in the television viewing experience. As new

technologies emerge, consumers want the

physical experience of immersion that features

such as Ultra High Definition (UHD) content

and larger screens enable.

Although the vast majority of television viewers

have not experienced UHD content, mounting

consumer demand for high quality video

has helped generate huge investment in this

area. UHDTV represents an all-encompassing

immersive viewing experience that puts the

viewer at the heart of the action, enabling a

much more realistic experience akin to looking

through a window, rather than a scene on the

screen of a conventional television.

The importance of ‘HDR+’ for UHD-1 Phase 2 servicesFirst generation 4K or UHD TV (which the industry

refers to as UHD-1 Phase 1) sets have been in

the marketplace for the last one to two years.

They offer four times the pixel density of HD at

3840x2160 pixels, which has the potential to

greatly improve the picture quality. However,

they are unable to offer the immersive

enhancements that consumers are demanding.

Now, by using very high performing compression

technology, combining 4K resolution with

High Dynamic Range (HDR), Wide Colour

Gamut (WCG), and deeper sample bit depths,

service providers can deliver a higher quality

picture as part of the next generation of 4K

UHDTV, known as UHD-1 Phase 2.

HDR provides higher contrast levels (the

combination of deeper blacks and higher peak

whites) than current TV systems, which viewers

realise as more realistic images. The human visual

system interprets contrast as greater sharpness or

higher resolution. This enables the viewer to see

the greater detail in dark areas simultaneously

with detail in brighter areas, delivering a far more

realistic and valuable enhancement for content

such as live sports. For instance, viewers can now

watch the flight of a ball during a football match

with greater clarity and detail in the picture,

even if half the stadium is in shadow and the

other half is exposed to bright sunshine.

There are a number of enhancements

in development within the UHD-1 Phase 2

services. The combination of HDR, WCG and

10-bit sampling, which the television industry is

increasingly referring to as ‘HDR+’, potentially

represents the most significant innovation in the

television viewing experience since colour was

introduced. The image can be so realistic that

it appears to pop out of the screen itself, and

significantly, its impact is not so dependent

on viewing distance, in contrast to viewing

4K higher picture resolution.

HDR+ can be adopted across multiple

platforms and offers ‘the best bang for the bit’

so to speak because the improvements can be

realised without much increase in the bandwidth

over conventional TV services (ie, standard

dynamic range with narrow colour gamut)

of the same picture resolution. Increasing

picture resolution from HD to 4K requires a

substantial increase in bandwidth. These

enhancements will deliver an exciting and

visually captivating experience to the consumer,

fulfilling the early promise of UHD-1 Phase 1.

Overcoming bandwidth constraintsThe new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC)

technology is a critical factor in overcoming a

number of economic and technical bandwidth

constraints of direct-to-consumer networks, a

crucial development in enabling UHD content

delivery to the home and to mobile devices.

Its place as the encoding standard of choice

for delivery to the home for all formats beyond

existing HD is obvious, as 4K UHD greatly

impacts the bitrate needed.

The HEVC codec itself combines a range of

advanced coding tools which deliver superior

compression efficiency over those of previous

video codecs, up to 50 per cent more efficient

or half the required bitrate of MPEG-4 AVC.

For 4K UHDTV, the bitrate reduction may

even exceed 50 per cent.

Ultimately, the decision maker will be the

consumer. By enhancing the realism of live TV,

the television industry can deliver a viewing

experience that will make TV viewers feel closer

to the content on screen than ever before. This

is the perpetual opportunity for content owners

and TV service providers; by delighting the TV

consumer every day with addictive, immersive

content, the television experience will be so

great, viewers will never want to leave. n

By Matthew Goldman, senior vice president technology, TV and media strategy, Ericsson

How compression technology is changing the delivery options for UHD content

“As new technologies emerge, consumers want the physical experience of immersion

that features such as UHD content and larger screens enable”

Matthew Goldman

40 42 TVBE Mar16 Feature_FINAL.indd 56 19/02/2016 17:20

A joint venture partnership of

See you again next year

in Amsterdam.

ISE2017_SeeYou_220x290_.indd 1 15.02.16 11:42Full Page Template.indd 1 2/15/2016 12:17:26 PMnew tvbe template remade.indd 1 18/02/2016 17:45

Although buying test and measurement

equipment isn’t on the top of most

people’s shopping lists, it can be

quite difficult to manufacture, test, integrate

or operate new technology if you don’t have

the right tools for the job with the appropriate

interfaces (SDI, HDMI or IP). The needs of

manufacturers, testers, integrators and operators

are different, but there is a set of well-established

tools of the trade that is needed by all.

Physical layer analysis toolsPhysical layer analysis of the actual analogue

signal is essential for manufacturers, installers and

infrastructure engineers to ensure that the SDI

signal quality, whether it be HD, 3G, 6G or 12G,

is a as good as possible and that jitter is within

specified limits. Tools include auto-measuring

Eye Pattern display, jitter meters, jitter histogram

and jitter frequency spectrum instruments.

Picture monitorPicture monitors can give confidence that

video is present and correct, however if

the resolution is not high enough and the

screen size is not big enough they can mask

underlying issues.

For UHD/4K material, the Picture monitor

can be the first place to spot things wrong with

square division (SQ) and sample interleave (2SI)

image construction. The native UHD resolution

is 3840x2160 (4096x2160 for 4K) and low

resolution displays (such as 1024×768, 6.5-inch;

or 1920x1080, 9-inch screens) may hide errors

and artefacts. Having the ability to view the

picture at native resolution on an external

HDMI or DisplayPort monitor also provides

a high level of confidence that all is well.

Audio metersAudio meters have always given confidence

that the audio is present, at the correct levels

and is on the correct channels. In the new

UHD/4K world there is the potential for a large

number of audio channels on each physical

link. Here audio meters allow you to check that

the audio channels are correctly assigned when

converting between physical interfaces.

Video, audio and ancillary status displaysVideo, audio and ancillary status displays give

confidence that the data structure is correct

as they can show the quality of the data


UHD 4K: The tools of the tradeWith UHD/4K now being adopted by a large number of organisations, there is an increasing need for the appropriate test equipment to support manufacturing, commissioning and the day to day running of any UHD/4K equipment installation. Alan Wheable FISTC, MITOL, senior technical author at Omnitek examines the tools of the trade

44 45 TVBE Mar16 Omnitek FeatureFINAL3.indd 54 22/02/2016 10:55


Feature

structure by reporting sync word errors and

metadata packet CRC errors. These are the

ultimate indicators of link quality as errors start

to occur immediately if signal jitter is too high

or cable lengths are too long.

Gamut metersChecking that colour component levels

are within legal limits is essential when any

image processing, grading or colour space

conversion has been performed and whenever

programme content comes from a range of

different non-professional devices such as

mobile phones, action or drone cameras.

Video timing displaysVideo timing displays are necessary to ensure

that the video at any point in the equipment

chain is correctly timed to the studio reference.

This is essential in installations using quad link

3G-SDI (both for SQ and 2SI) and in dual link

6G-SDI applications. The timing between studio

reference and IP interfaces is equally critical.

The interlink tolerances are quite small with

these types of interface and the correct interlink

timing makes the difference between a good

picture and a corrupt picture. Video timing

instruments show the relationship between each

input and the studio locking reference. Although

the video timing display cannot show temporal

image differences between the different links,

the use of a temporal test pattern sequence

can be used to immediately identify them.

Waveform monitorsThe waveform monitor has traditionally been one

of the essential tools for anyone working in the

video industry and is used for level alignment,

quality control and grading to touch on just a

few areas. With UHD/4K at frame rates above

60Hz the default colour space (BT 709) will

be replaced by BT 2020 which extends the

viewable palette of colours and improves

dynamic range. The correct conversion

between these two colour spaces will be an

area of concern and will need checking

wherever the conversion takes place.

The importance of waveform monitors in

UHD/4K content creation and distribution has

been increased by the need to ensure that

conversions between different physical interface

types, encoding methods (SQ and 2SI) and

colour space conversions (between BT 709

and BT 2020) are correct.

Waveform monitors need to be of appropriate

native size (or zoomed size) to see any digital

level issues (for example when converting

between eight, ten, and 12-bit video), image

construction issues (for example when converting

between interface types and encoding

methods) and colour space issues. Although

some T&M equipment may boast UHD/4K

waveforms, these are often low resolution

displays that give a level of comfort and

familiarity, but may hide underlying issues.

Vectorscope displaysThe Vectorscope display is the traditional tool

for checking primary colour alignment and

assessment of the actual image ‘colour’. A

significant limitation of the vectorscope is

that it can only display the YCbCr subset of

the full colour spectrum. Although this basic

tool provides a level of usefulness in UHD/4K

applications, other tools such as waveforms and

gamut charts are required to ensure that the

new BT 2020 colour space rendition is correct.

Data and cable viewsEven if you have a large enough full resolution

display and are using appropriate test patterns/

images, you may not be able to see if the

image is constructed correctly. This can be

especially difficult when checking conversions

between different physical interfaces and

between encoding methods. The only way

to ensure that the right source video data

sample is ending up in the right place in the

destination is to have data and cable views

that allow individual pixel values to be traced

to the destination image via whichever physical

interface is being used.

Test pattern and tone generationVideo test patterns and audio tones have

always been used to ensure that equipment

is set up and working correctly. Inserting known

test patterns and audio tones into the start

of the equipment chain and ensuring that you

get the same at the end of the chain. This

method has worked successfully for HD-SDI

and 3G-SDI but with UHD/4K, come a range of

new link types and a new colour space, that

require new test patterns and sequences.

Colour bars, multiburst and ramp may show

that the static image path is working correctly.

However, moving test patterns or sequences

are necessary to check for encoding,

compression and temporal artefacts in

each ink. This is important if existing

infrastructure is being adapted for quad

link 3G-SDI applications. A temporally

changing test pattern sequence will show

up artefacts in the image that would

otherwise go unnoticed.

With UHD/4K comes the potential for

far more audio channels and the greater

chance of channel configuration issues.

With codes of practice for conversion

between different link types not yet established,

a fully configurable audio test tone generator is

a requirement to check the correct levels

and channel assignments. n

44 45 TVBE Mar16 Omnitek FeatureFINAL3.indd 55 22/02/2016 10:55


C ord-cutting: it’s the phrase that strikes

fear into every pay-TV executive; a

net decline in pay-TV homes driven by

economic pressure or the migration of customers

to free or alternative entertainment platforms.

Whether this trend is the result of classic ‘cord-

cutters’: pay-TV customers choosing to leave;

or the so-called ‘cord-nevers’: customers

choosing to not engage from the start, is

open to debate. The net effect is the same

though; the number of pay-TV homes in

the affected market gets smaller.

Outside the USA, persistent decline in pay-TV

homes is a relatively new phenomenon. And

on the face of it, the performance of the

global pay-TV business in the third quarter of

2015 was strong. Overall pay-TV is still growing

globally. Further, the number of countries that

saw a net decline in pay-TV during the quarter

stood at 15, down from 23 in the second quarter

of the year and 21 in the same quarter a

year earlier. So does that mean pay-TV is back

on track? The answer is not straight-forward.

Picking the point at which a blip becomes a

directional trend is key to future strategy, and

the indicators for the spread of cord-cutting

seem to be pointing in the wrong direction.

There’s another cause for concern too. There

is a noticeable shift in growth markets towards

low-value emerging markets that bring with them

additional economic or political challenges.

Let’s look at the three key trends. Firstly, despite

the fall in the third quarter and a marked

seasonality, the number of countries hit with a

decline in cord-cutting is on a distinctly upward

trend. The markets impacted are diverse, ranging

from Turkey and Poland through to Israel, New

Zealand, Brazil and Canada. Some, like those

in the Middle East and central Europe are

economically driven. Others, like Spain, are being

impacted by pay-TV platform changes. The

reason for concern, though, is that the markets

being hit are showing some consistency. Of

the 15 markets that fell in the third quarter, 13

also declined in either the previous quarter

or the same quarter a year earlier.

The second trend going the wrong way is

an increase in the size of the fall in affected

markets. That means that where declines are

happening, they’re getting worse.

So now to the good news...kind of. On a

global basis, pay-TV still grew strongly in the third

quarter of 2015 adding more than 12 million

new homes. The problem is that growth is driven

disproportionally by one market: China. Indeed,

among the top ten growth markets, countries

that fall into the categories of ‘emerging’ and

‘challenging’ feature heavily. Alongside

China, India, Russia and Nigeria are seeing the

strongest number of net pay-TV additions and

look set to continue to drive growth. There are

a few surprising additions in the top ten. Thanks

to Sky, German was one of the top performers

in the third quarter of 2015.

So, if cord-cutting outside the US is a still small

but increasingly noticeable trend and if growth

continues to shift to low value markets, what

are the implications for the wider industry? First,

let’s be clear: we are not predicting the end

of pay-TV as we know it, far from it.

But with value beginning to be eaten

away, we do expect to see pay-TV operators

continuing to push back on rights costs and

channel carriage and fees, particularly of

second-tier channels. Conversely, this may in

turn lead to an increase in direct-to-consumer

launches in markets impacted by either cord-

cutting or a slow-down in pay-TV growth as

content owners look to make up short-falls.

The irony is that it may well be Netfl ix, the

company most often cited as a cause of

cord-cutting, that will show traditional players

where to look next. Its recent global launch

proves, even with limited global rights, it

is possible to push the button on a wide

geographic roll-out of an OTT channel

without local teams and costly negotiations. n

Is global cord-cutting here to stay?Data Centre

By Guy Bisson, research director, Ampere Analysis

‘Pay-TV grew strongly in the third quarter of 2015, adding more than 12 million new

homes’

Cord-cutting amplitude

Source: Ampere Analysis Source: Ampere Analysis

Cord-cutting volume (declining markets only)

# m

ark

ets

de

clin

ing

in q

ua

rte

r

# m

ark

ets

de

clin

ing

in q

ua

rte

r

25

20

15

10

5

0

0

-20

-400

-600

-800

-1,000

-1,200

-1,400

-1,600

01 2

013

02 2

013

03 2

013

04 2

013

01 2

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02 2

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03 2

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04 2

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01 2

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02 2

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01 2

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03 2

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04 2

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02 2

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Total loss in declining markets (000s) Total loss in declining markets (000s)

46 TVBE Mar16 Data Centre_FINAL2.indd 46 22/02/2016 10:38

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New and high growth markets for content consumption over connected devices

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