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www.tvbeurope.com
March 2015Business, insight and intelligence for the broadcast media industry
Behind the scenes at BBC S&PP The latest trends from CES 2015 Systems integrators forum
BACK TO SCHOOLTraining and education in broadcast
Imagine where you could take your business...if technology didn’t stand in your way.
An all-new blueprint for managing, moving and monetizing video content is here.
an evolutionary path that aligns current investments with the network of the future.
Find out more. imaginecommunications.com© 2014 Imagine Communications
TVBEurope 3March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Ibegin this issue with a revision of my editor’s
welcome from our last edition. Due to a
number of elements outside of our control,
we’ve endured the misfortune of having to return
to the drawing board with regard to the name
of our new conference initiative: Broadcast 2020
(and all related terminology) seemingly under
the lock and key of a certain other organisation.
For this reason, we’ve rebranded both our
conference and events week. TVBEurope 2020
will now serve as the one-day conference at
BAFTA, on 30 June, while the week itself will be
known as TVBEurope Strategy Week. More details
regarding the day’s agenda and speakers, as
well as the other events during the week, will be
released shortly.
The main thrust of this month’s issue revolves
ar ound training and education; a topic that has
fascinated me for the duration of my time in the
industry. And as Philip Stevens aptly suggests
in the preamble to his feature, the concept of
‘education’ is not the sole preserve of those
graduating from universities and colleges
seeking an entrée into the world of broadcast
and media… or whatever the cool kids are
calling it these days. The concept of education
and training is just as applicable to the more
seasoned and capable members of our industry
as they learn new skills to adapt to the changing
environment that
surrounds them. It’s
a fascinating article
that calls on a number
of people active in
the space to elicit
their understanding
of where the industry
is in its association
with the tutelage of
the next generation
of engineers and ‘technologists’, as some have
been known to label themselves, and the skills
development of the industry’s incumbents. It
is a subject that we’ll continue to monitor and
report on as the year progresses. Elsewhere in this
edition, we continue our investigation of cloud-
based broadcasting, as we ask whether it’s
make or break time for Ultraviolet in France. Our
editor, Melanie Dayasena-Lowe, also gets the
guided tour of BBC S&PP’s facilities out in Elstree,
while we fi t in a pre-NAB trip to Las Vegas to fi nd
out the latest trends and technologies emerging
from this year’s CES.
Our April issue is our annual NAB edition, so if
you want to be involved, be sure to get in touch.
I hope you enjoy this issue.
James McKeownExecutive Editor
Education and training in the sector is increasingly under the microscope
Welcome
Inspiring the next generation
EDITORIALExecutive Editor - James McKeownjmckeown@nbmedia.comEditor - Melanie Dayasena-Lowemdayasena-lowe@nbmedia.comStaff Writer - Holly Ashfordhashford@nbmedia.comNewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, England +44 207 354 6002Contributors - Chris Forrester, David Fox, David Davies, Dick Hobbs, John Ive, George Jarrett, Adrian Pennington, Philip Stevens, Catherine WrightHead of Digital - Tim FrostHuman Resources & Offi ce Manager - Lianne DaveyHead of Design - Jat GarchaEditorial Production Manager - Dawn Boultwood
Senior Production Executive - Alistair TaylorPublisher - Steve Connollysconnolly@nbmedia.com+44 207 354 6000Sales Manager - Ben Ewlesbewles@nbmedia.com+44 207 354 6000Account Manager - Richard Carrrcarr@nbmedia.com+44 207 354 6000Managing Director - Mark BurtonUS Sales - Michael MitchellBroadcast Media International, PO Box 44, Greenlawn, New York, NY 11740mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv+1 (631) 673 0072Japan and Korea Sales - Sho HariharaSales & Project, Yukari Media Incorporatedsho@yukarimedia.com+81 6 4790 2222 Fax: +81 6 4793 0800CirculationNewBay Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough, LE16 9EF, UK
Free subscriptionstvbe.subscriptions@c-cms.comSubscriptions 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
NewBay Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Association
© NewBay Media 2015. 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 8 weeks for new subscriptions and change of address delivery. Send subscription inquiries to: Subscription Dept, NewBay Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 7BR, England. ISSN 1461-4197
Printing by Pensord Press, Tram Road, Pontllanfraith, Blackwood NP12 2YA
In this issue4 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
Instruction is not just for those entering the industry but also covers experienced personnel who need to improve skills. Philip Stevens looks at both aspects
Welcome to the Mediadome1218
8-10 Opinion and Analysis
41 TVBEverywhere
With a need to stay ahead of all the technological advances across the industry, Systems Integrators (SIs) are in a good position to keep a finger on the pulse of trends and developments. So, what challenges will 2015 bring forth for SIs? Philip Stevens finds out
44 Systems integrators forum
Research from SNL Kagan points to strong world-wide growth for OTT subscription video-on-de-mand services by the end of 2018. Norm Bogen, research director at SNL Kagan, offers a detailed insight into the company’s latest report
48 Data CentreFeature
26Melanie Dayasena-Lowe meets the executive team at BBC Studios and Post Production to take a behind the scenes tour of its facilities in Elstree and South Ruislip following its move from the iconic Television Centre
FeatureAdrian Pennington headed over to Las Vegas to check out the latest trends at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
Ericsson has expanded from its pay-TV core and onto the front line of global content delivery. George Jarrett pays a visit to the company’s new Paris Mediadome, a symbol of its intent in the area of mobile broadband and non-linear media
35
Back to school
Daniele Tricarico, senior analyst at Pyramid Research, explains how OTT providers are pushing paid services in emerging markets to futureproof their business models
Transmitter efficiency comes of age: it’s a new dawn for reducing costs at what’s long been considered among the more expensive stages in the air chain
Opinion and Analysis6 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
While Media Asset Management
(MAM) solutions have been serving
broadcasters and global media
companies for over a decade, two of the
biggest challenges remain: cost effectiveness
and practical deployment. In 2015 desktops,
departments and multiple sites can work with
third-party programme makers upstream and
many more delivery partners downstream.
Add to this the explosion in mobile media
consumption and audience interaction and
it’s easy to see why the dream of cost-scalable
interconnectivity and effective media staging via
cloud-based services is so popular.
To better meet future requirements and
to deliver an ROI from MAM and workflow
investment, both can now be fully integrated
across the entire media value chain. From
acquisition through to production and delivery,
MAM systems provide efficient and cost-effective
operations and users can expect increased
content management options. These include
integration of different areas for processing
automation; sophisticated workflow management
for content preparation; and web-based user
interface to simplify support and enable multi-site
workflows all supported by the cloud.
The cloud can also provide improved media
management and storage options. These range
from storage services with additional backup
in a separate locations and content storage with
the additional capability to transcode different
formats for delivery, to full MAM features for content
management providing complete search capability
and the ability for content to be managed by third-
party service providers if required.
This last scenario provides broadcasters
with a full multi-tenant MAM in the cloud with
independent virtual MAMs sharing the same IT
platform, providing an always-online multi-site
architecture. This is a sophisticated model that
allows broadcasters to search, select and share
content via the cloud with a very high Quality
of Service (QoS). Media files are delivered
automatically in the correct working format for
the recipient regardless of the original format.
Key drivers for managing workflow and content via the cloudDistributed access enables anyone within the
organisation to access content from any location.
This high level of flexibility means that it’s easier to
evolve and amend media services, and time to
market is also reduced if the cloud infrastructure is
already available. Broadcasters, for example, can
focus more on their core business of programme
making, brand care and audience engagement.
Speed of delivery is also key. To meet the
demands of the multiscreen world, broadcasters
require solutions that enable fast and secure
access over IP, providing automated workflows
that package and present content, which can
then be delivered to the cloud and other sites.
This removes the unnecessary complexity caused
when working between so many desktops and
departments using LAN or MPLS.
It’s also no longer enough to simply move
many thousands of media files over IP quickly
and securely without an improvement in
productivity. Broadcasters and increasingly
telcos are also now faced with the challenge
of how to automatically manage and monitor
the enormous volume of media and metadata
that’s being exchanged with multiple media
partners 24/7. This will only continue to increase.
Adapting typical broadcast processes or relying
on simple IP accelerators or transcoding is not
scalable or cost-effective.
To provide suitable security and efficiency it’s
important that systems are designed for cloud-
based infrastructure and application services
from the ground up. This enables the real-world
complexities of multimedia content exchange
and packaging to be streamlined, while still using
standard third-party IP managers and cloud-
based storage and distribution solutions.
Tedial has taken a whole new approach
to helping the many diverse players in global
media work together with its cloud enabled
Media Exchange Platform (MEP). MEP provides
automated workflows to deliver to multiple sites
and third-party systems. It maximises the re-use
and minimises the re-working of material and
allows large media assets to be moved and
transformed efficiently making use of Tedial’s
centralised management capability without the
need for extensive IT support.
Employing solutions like this, content producers,
broadcasters, pay-TV operators, service providers
and telcos can work collaboratively on their
media, securely and efficiently. Whether it’s
upstream during news, sports and co-production or
downstream during multi-platform packaging and
distribution, using cloud-based media transfers.
How does the cloud improve your MAM options?
By Julián Fernández-Campón, director, head of solution architecture, Tedial
‘From acquisition through to production and delivery, MAM systems provide
efficient and cost-effective operations’
‘It’s no longer enough to simply move many thousands of media files over IP quickly and securely without an improvement in productivity’ – Julián Fernández-Campón, Tedial
Opinion and Analysis8 TVBEurope VBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
The broadcast transmitter is shedding its
long-standing reputation as an energy-
hogging beast with a massive footprint,
and for very good reason. Manufacturers
have made exceptional strides in transmitter
efficiency in recent years, often through
proprietary design strategies that enhance
power density, amplification and other built-in
resources. These developments are lowering
long-term operating costs for the broadcaster
and network operator.
Several drivers have influenced manufacturers
to design more efficient transmitters. Europe
has been particularly aggressive with carbon
footprint taxes and fees, for example. As a result,
many of our customers across Europe have long
been focused on building more efficient over-
the-air networks. Globally, many broadcasters
are following corporate mandates to institute
‘greener’ facilities and operating procedures to
minimise environmental impact.
A third factor is the age-old concern of
reducing general operating costs. Whereas
many broadcasters and network operators
initially sought cost reduction at the studio or
headend, the focus has gradually shifted to the
transmitter room.
These three factors – government regulations,
socially conscious corporate mandates, and
general operating cost reduction – have all played
fundamental roles in transmitter design efficiency.
The ultimate goal for vendors is to deliver high-
efficiency, over-the-air systems that deliver low
total cost of ownership for their customers.
Design factorsMany design factors play a role in transmitter
efficiency, but most revolve around three pillars:
footprint, maintenance and energy management,
the final of which mainly constitutes power
consumption and effective cooling.
Gains in energy efficiency certainly have an
impact on the customer’s bottom line over time. In
a DVB-T or T2 system, GatesAir calculates a typical
total cost of ownership savings of 38 per cent over
previous-generation systems – nearly €195,000 over
ten years based on transmitter system, transmitter
cooling and building HVAC costs at an energy cost
of 0.14 kW/hour. However, for the purpose of this
article we’ll focus more on the operational value
afforded through modern design efficiencies.
On the footprint side, the transmitter continues
to shrink from a size and weight perspective. For
example, the typical high-power, high-efficiency
GatesAir UHF transmitter today is up to 75 per
cent smaller and significantly lighter than models
one decade ago. These reductions play a
significant role in cost savings from initial shipment
through its operating lifecycle:
Modular designs: shipping transmitters
modularly reduce cargo size from door to
door. Modular shipments also accelerate
installation once on site, simplifying the process of
connecting and bringing the transmitter to air.
Reduced transportation costs: significant
weight reductions make the transmitter far less
expensive to transport.
Personal safety: previous-generation designs
typically dictated that heavier power modules
and supplies inside the transmitter required
a two-man lift. This meant dispatching two
engineers to a site for maintenance. With these
components now much lighter in weight – often
under 10kg – a one-man lift is satisfactory.
Building space: the smaller overall footprint
not only opens up more room for maintenance,
auxiliary equipment and general comfort, it brings
the additional benefit of reducing rental costs.
This is especially significant in Europe, where many
network operators rent floor space in shared
facilities. Similarly, building owners open more rental
space to other broadcasters by freeing additional
floor space through more compact transmitters.
To expand on this last point of facility utilisation,
one of our European transmitter customers reports
that the smaller footprints eliminate the need to
expand buildings. In the past, this network operator,
which operates its own facilities, in some cases
added real estate to existing buildings upon
adding a new programme multiplex. The costs and
labour that went into these initiatives were massive,
to the point of easily rising into the hundreds of
thousands of Euros. Much of this size and weight
reduction has to do with improvements in power
density through modern LDMOS device-driven
Transmitter efficiency comes of age
It’s a new dawn for reducing costs at what’s been long considered among the more expensive stage in the air chain. By Rich Redmond, chief product officer, GatesAir
10 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
Opinion and Analysis
technology, which constitutes the transistors
used in transmitter power amplifiers. Specifically,
in higher power models, these advancements
achieve more power out of a single rack, often
eliminating the traditional second rack. On the
lower power side, that single rack consolidates
several transmitters versus taking up an entire
rack each. Many of these benefits correlate
directly to what we call broadband high-
efficiency amplification.
Broadband amplification demystifiedThough the notion of high transmitter efficiency
has only recently entered the broadcast lexicon,
it’s not necessary a late-breaking innovation. At
GatesAir, early high-efficiency transmitter designs
date several decades to our patented digital AM
Radio modulation techniques, balancing superior
audio performance with 90 per cent AC-to-RF
efficiency. This resulted in very limited energy and
heat waste. Many contemporary designs are only
beginning to catch up. Fast forwarding, major
strides were made in 2007 upon the introduction
of advanced LDMOS technology within our
PowerSmart transmitter architecture – the core
design responsible for reducing transmitter size,
weight and energy use; as well as simplifying
maintenance. The introduction of PowerSmart 3D
last year further extended transmitter efficiency
through what we call broadband amplification.
In layman’s terms, broadband amplification
represents a further simplification of interior
design. Additionally, the presence of a software-
defined modulator enables simple frequency
and modulation changes.
Fewer frequency-determined parts invite higher
efficiency from a maintenance standpoint. Instead
of labour-intensive component and sub-assembly
changes, relocation to a new frequency is software-
driven. By punching the new channel frequency into
a software-defined modulator, the single amplifier
– which is, by definition, broadband – readjusts for
the frequency change. That reduction of amplifiers
and other interior components also results in the
need for fewer spare parts. Consider how this is
useful for large network operators in Europe, who
may be operating several programme multiplexes
across many different frequencies. In addition
to simplifying frequency changes, the same set
of broadband spare parts can be shared across
the transmitter network. The software-defined
modulator also accelerates in-the-field transitions
from one standard to another. Through the same
single amplifier, moving from analogue to DVB-T
– or, DVB-T to DVB-T2 or even DAB Radio – is now
a software-driven procedure versus maintenance-
heavy, component-driven alterations. This protects
the investment for the customer who buys today
with plans to evolve moving forward.
There are many avenues to explore in
transmitter efficiency, and we have only
scratched the surface here. The takeaway here
is that multiple contributing factors have evolved
to the point where the broadcaster and network
operator can save a great deal of money over
the lifecycle of the transmitter. Perhaps those new
services are delivered through additional terrestrial
channels or emerging mobile opportunities
through advanced LTE networks. Overall,
improvements in transmitter efficiency offer a
clear win for today’s over-the-air broadcaster.
Workfl ow12 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
Training in the broadcast industry appears
to have taken on a renewed impetus in
recent times. The courses currently on
offer have become more varied and attract
not just newcomers but those who wish to
hone their expertise.
In 2013, the BBC, along with technology
partners including Arqiva, Red Bee Media,
ITV and Channel 4, launched a three-year
technology scheme for apprentices working
towards a BEng in Broadcasting Engineering
taught and accredited by the University of
Salford and Birmingham City University. The
training and development programme is
managed by the BBC Academy on behalf
of BBC Technology.
“The aim is to produce the broadcast
technologists of the future – not just for the BBC,
but for the industry as a whole,” head of entry
level talent, Claire Paul, explains. “There is an
ageing demographic working in this industry,
and this scheme forms part of addressing that
situation. The skills these young people will
acquire are going to be in huge demand.”
In September 2014, the initial intake of 11
apprentices completed their fi rst year on the
scheme, with over half achieving ‘fi rsts’ with their
early results. They have already worked with BBC
Technology Operations, ITV’s Coronation Street,
Channel 4, Red Bee Media Playout, ITV Regional
News and Arqiva (radio and TV transmitters).
The second intake, in September 2014, saw 28
join the scheme and these will be working in Salford,
Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton and London.
Huw Davies, programme manager, technology
apprentices and trainee schemes, reveals
more. “Basically, there are two main areas:
IT and technology delivery. The work ranges
from designing and installing technical and
production systems for a BBC building in Cardiff
to introducing a new meeting room booking
system in Birmingham.”
But he adds a note of reality. “While apprentices
and trainees won’t be dropped straight in the
deep end on their work placements, and at fi rst will
be more likely to fi nd themselves repairing broken
headphones than installing foreign bureaux,
they’ll also be spending a lot of time studying.
The graduates don’t get to work outside the BBC,
but will be employed across support areas that
manage BBC Radio and TV Studios, production
systems, outside broadcasting and major projects,
including new buildings or installing new facilities.”
Multi-discipline trainingIn Germany, the ARD.ZDF medienakademie
is the central training facility for broadcasters.
Alongside a wide range of video and audio
courses, the facility provides training in journalism
and courses for personality development. In
all, about 500 different topics and courses are
conducted in facilities in Nürnberg, Hannover or
in-house at clients’ premises.
The academy has comprehensive multi-
camera facilities, although single camera
production is also offered. Those facilities include
two studios equipped with SD as well as LDK 6000
HD cameras, DD35 vision switchers, Lawo and
Yamaha audio mixers, VizRT graphics, Riedel
communication units, Quantel and Omneon
servers, ENPS and Open Media.
In addition, the post production section
comprises more than 15 suites connected to
Avid Isis, Interplay and Avid playout, and a similar
number of Final Cut Pro suites.
Keeping track of trainingInstruction is not just for those entering the industry, it also covers experienced personnel who need to improve skills. Philip Stevens looks at both aspects
The BBC training course will produce the broadcast technologists of the future
“The aim is to produce the broadcast technologists of the future – not just for
the BBC, but for the industry as a whole”Claire Paul
Workflow
College coursesRavensbourne, a specialist higher education media
and design institution based in central London, has
an enrolment of around 2,400 students.
Jeremy Barr, who is visiting broadcasting
professor and associate dean for the production
cluster of courses, has been instrumental in
Ravensbourne’s Degree, Postgraduate and
also Higher National Diploma courses. “Our
philosophy is to give students a genuine sense of a
professional working environment, and a context in
which they learn to use the appropriate tools.”
That started with Ravensbourne taking a
different decision from many other specialist
institutions, installing equipment that is used by
most broadcasters in a professional setting. “This
meant what Ravensbourne was – and is – offering
is an understanding that we are not playing with
television. We are serious people and our students
need to understand the power of the medium,
as well as learning the techniques,” explains
Professor Barr.
Today, the studio within the campus is equipped
with Sony cameras and monitors, a Snell Kahuna
vision mixer, SSL and Avid audio consoles and Fork
servers. All the major editing systems can be found
in the post production section. Barr goes on, “If
we are training people to be useful in the work
environment, they need to be familiar with the
systems they will find outside of these walls.”
TVBEurope 13March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
“Our philosophy is to give students a genuine sense of a professional working environment, and a context in which they learn to use the appropriate tools”
Jeremy Barr
Workflow14 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
In addition, students can borrow
more than 4,000 different pieces
of the latest equipment, including
cameras, lighting, microphones,
laptops, IT accessories and more,
from the Central Loan Resource
within Ravensbourne.
Ravensbourne also offers a
digital cinema course for those
who would see their future in
single camera production. “But
I do not see these as separate
cultures,” reports Barr. “After all,
you need to be familiar with both
technologies in order to use them
in the most appropriate way.” He
adds, “I’m very careful not to say
that we train students to be, let’s
say, drama directors. We train
them to tell the story – and that
story could be news, sport or
any other genre.”
Alongside their coursework,
students have the opportunity once
a year to broadcast a range of
programmes on a Freeview channel
to allow their productions to be seen
by a wider audience.
Latest technologyThe Media School at Bournemouth
University offers courses that
serve both undergraduate and
post graduate students, including
Media Production, Journalism
& Communication, Computer
Animation, and Corporate &
Marketing Communications.
The school also provides Top-Up
courses and Foundation Degrees.
“Over the last couple of years
we have made some significant
improvements and equipment
purchases,” explains Keith
Heyward, technical support
group manager.
“We have changed from our
studio-based server editing system
to an Avid ISIS 5000. This enables
us to play in from the timeline, but
also allows students to work on
material from networked editing
suites. We have also built
a second studio.”
Another campus improvement
has centred on an extensive fibre
network. “This is an asset in many
Steve Warner
“As the broadcast industry slowly recovers, the need for training is becoming more important”
Steve Warner, IABM
ways, but it has particularly helped the journalism
students to bring together localised OB content
for the News Day programmes. That news
environment has also been boosted by
the installation of a TriCaster Studio and
Panasonic cameras.”
Swedish viewSweden’s Stockholm Academy of Dramatic
Art – a part of Uniarts – offers a three-year
BA course for TV producers and an MA
programme in film and media. The Diploma
programme centres on practical work such as
editing and interviewing, but also involves theory,
including the development of new formats.
“The courses are conducted by industry
professionals who have a good record in
the field, rather than those with just tuition
skills,” says Tinna Joné, head of the Film and
Media department.
In order to graduate, students are required
to make several productions in different genres
which are evaluated by teachers and external
producers. The Academy also has its own
channel, StDH-play, where students can show
the result of their work.
Accredited coursesBut it’s not just broadcasters and colleges that
offer training. Brian Cantwell, managing director
at Soho Editors Media Group, reveals that
demand for courses has been steady for several
years. “What has been noticeable is the transition
from one software manufacturer’s solution to
another. Also, the growth of the subscription
model operated by most NLE software
manufacturers has opened up customers to new
workflows and opportunities they might not have
previously accessed. Take the Creative Cloud,
for example. Customers may sign up because
they want Premiere Pro, and soon realise they
also have a wealth of professional software
packages included, for instance, After Effects
and Photoshop.”
Cantwell’s company, with classrooms in
London and Manchester, offers manufacturers
accredited training courses for Adobe, Apple,
Avid and Blackmagic Design. It will also provide
training at other locations, and will devise a
fully tailored course, designed specifically to a
customer’s requirements.
“Traditionally, most courses are designed
to teach delegates a new tool set,” explains
Cantwell. “This is very important, as a lack of
knowledge about the applications can severely
restrict the creative process. However, that is only
the beginning. Learning a new tool set empowers
users to explore and investigate deeper than any
course can do in the time available. All delegates
take home a course manual and the training
media, so they have everything they need to
continue learning at their own pace.”
After listening to customers’ feedback,
Soho Editors saw a lack of creative opportunities.
“Having left university or college and
perhaps taken a certified course, how are you
expected to learn how to be a better editor?
TVBEurope 15March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Workflow
Workflow16 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
In August 2014, we launched Inside The Edit, the
world’s first online creative editing course. This
software-agnostic course is unique, and focuses
purely on teaching the craft of editing. Skills that
will take someone a great deal of time to learn
are now available online and compress ten years
or more of experience into a few months study.”
MentorsBroadcast hire company, Procam, has also
embarked on a major initiative. “Training is key at
Procam,” asserts John Brennan, Group CEO. “We
already have an established in-house training
programme that, over a two-year period, see
trainees start as drivers before moving into
the kit room. Our partnership with the MAMA
Youth Project started in 2014 when we donated
£100,000 worth of HD equipment. We’ve now
extended our support by offering its graduates a
13-week place on our training programme.”
Trainees will get to know over 2,000 different
pieces of broadcast equipment before
developing their understanding of how best to
create quality video and audio. “Each trainee
will be provided with a hand-picked mentor from
Procam’s staff, who has had 20 years experience
in the broadcast industry. The mentors will be
with them every step of the way to answer
any question, provide sage advice and make
sure each trainee’s development is tailored
to a career path that matches their individual
strengths,” explains Brennan.
Upturn means trainingSteve Warner, training manager, IABM, agrees
there has been an increase in demand for
courses. “Historically, when budgets are tight or
there’s an economic downturn, one of the first
things to be cut is training. Now, as the broadcast
industry slowly recovers, the need for training is
becoming more important. This is also vital as the
number of engineers dwindles, due to retirement.”
Warner sees the increasing convergence of IT on
broadcast as an important area for training. “On
the one hand, there are broadcast engineers
with excellent skills and qualifications, but who
have little to no broader IT knowledge in terms of
software, networking, IP, and so on. Conversely,
there are highly qualified IT professionals well-
versed in all aspects of IT, but who lack a basic
understanding of broadcasting.”
To meet those needs, the IABM training courses,
which generally run for two days, are designed
to address both the needs of new entrants to
broadcast and the up-skilling of existing broadcast
engineers in the new technologies.
Cross expertiseDescribing online training features in Dalet’s
educational programme, Ben Davenport,
director of marketing for the company, points
out that a recent survey showed the average
broadcast engineer is 50 years old. “We know
from discussions with our customers, partners and
competitors that there is difficulty in recruiting
staff, whether broadcast, post, production or on
the vendor side. More importantly, when we try
to recruit staff and when we find engineers skilled
in video, or skilled in IT, or aware of the business
applications of the technology, it’s rare to find
resources that tie all of this together.”
To remedy that situation, the Dalet Academy was
launched in January to provide free and relevant
broadcast education. Davenport states that the
Dalet Academy will feature a broad range of
topics, from complex media manipulations to
advanced, end-to-end workflows, with input from
a substantial number of seasoned contributors
both from Dalet and the industry at large.
“Using the academy.dalet.com URL, our goal
is to create a one-stop-training centre where
our customers and partners can find a variety of
educational material to meet their needs.”
The tools will include Bruce’s Shorts, the highly
successful weekly video where Dalet’s chief media
scientist Bruce Devlin explains a complicated issue
in a short, two-minute presentation. In addition,
Dalet’s Blog gives non-product-specific insights
about trends in the industry, emerging technologies
and even some of the politics of standardisation
in the sector. Alongside these features will be
Dalet’s white papers, industry articles, case studies
and free webinars.
Sporting chancesIn January, The National Film and Television
School (NFTS) in the UK launched a unique Sports
Production diploma course in partnership with
independent sports producer, IMG. The 12-month
course, starting in January 2016, will equip students
with editorial skills required to produce live sports
and events coverage, highlights content and
other material. It includes a four-week internship
at the IMG Studios.
“In a rapidly-evolving media landscape,
IMG understands the strategic value of skills
development and nurturing the brightest
new entrant talent,” states Tim Ball, IMG’s
head of production. “Therefore, we are
very pleased to be collaborating with NFTS
to introduce this innovative diploma and
foster the next generation of television and
digital sports professionals.”
Bournemouth University’s media school has equipped a studio for its journalism students
“We know from discussions with our customers, partners and competitors that
when we try to recruit staff and find engineers skilled in video, IT, or aware of the business
applications of the technology, it’s rare to find resources that tie all of this together”
Ben Davenport, Dalet
Through a cunningly judged sequence of
acquisitions and a laudable willingness
to back its development plans with hefty
investment, Ericsson has expanded from its pay-TV
core onto the front line of global content delivery.
The consolidation moves involving Technicolor
Broadcast Services, Red Bee, and Mediaroom
triggered a complete change of corporate face,
and the launch of its Paris Mediadome is strong
verifi cation of its long-term intent in the area of mobile
broadband and non-linear media in general.
The Mediadome is not a Red Bee Media clone,
it has one huge sitting tenant (Canal+ Overseas),
and its HQ is in an old printing house, which offers
seven tons of fl oor strength per square metre.
Many of the 200 Ericsson personnel (Canal+
also has 200 people on site) were at a previous
facility in St Cloud, and Jérôme Monteil, head
of sales in France, explained how the move had
been planned.
“Over the last two years we took on fi ve
big systems integration jobs: at the BFM news
channel; France 24, where we put in fi ve studios
and automation for production; TV5, where it
did the production, post and playout elements;
and the Canal+ free to air channels, where
we built a technical room and re-built the
playout side,” he said.
“And then we did all the work at the
Mediadome for Canal+ Overseas and ourselves.
In a fi ve to ten-year period, technology changes
a lot, but the experience we accrued in the
systems integration work we could use here.
For example, the signals are above you and the
network is under the fl oor,” he added.
Technical room one, oozing good practice,
holds all the broadcast kit. The second one
holds all the IT stuff, the MAM, virtualisation
and storage, and all the software glue and the
interface to customers.
“This was built by Ericsson architects and
developers. The company stands at number
fi ve in the world for software development,”
said Monteil. “We wanted to keep control of the
Workfl ow18 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
Ericsson’s French Dome
“Giving good quality and good services for production and post production and non-linear playout is key” – Jérôme Monteil
George Jarrett reports from Ericsson’s new Mediadome facility in Paris
The studio has nine Sony robotic cameras and a seven-person gallery
TVBEurope 19March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Workflow
software glue and the customer interface. We
do a lot of pre-processing to minimise any
hardware necessities.”
The big difference from St Cloud is the
dominance of IT workflows, so much of the pre-
opening training centered on the architecture
and designing the media workflow. Linear
playout via satellite is the bread and butter,
but for how long?
“We created a global media centre.
Managing the media is also managing the
workflows in terms of non-linear and the
preparation for that,” said Monteil. “You can
trigger workflows to prepare for non-linear, but
it is difficult to be sure about what will happen.
Everybody is looking for the right business model
and at monetising their content. Netflix is really
building that. But with video, people are used
to not paying.”
Game changersWhile many companies seek that elusive business
model, Monteil believes Netflix and Amazon
will change the game radically. Meanwhile,
Ericsson’s customer base wants something else.
“More and more we see them searching
for a model for being domestic and more
international, both in the production and
distribution of content. In France it is not so
easy, and the English spoken countries are
far advanced,” said Monteil. “With Red Bee
and EBS (Ericsson Broadcast Services) we
can consider we have a presence in eight
countries, but Ericsson itself in Telcos and IT is in
180 countries. I would not say we will be present
in 180 countries, but the expansion into other
territories is key.”
A major factor in France has been outsourcing
some contracts, in both the Dome and in
customer locations.
“We have ten sites in Paris, and if we are in the
customer location, then we are in the customer
location. For locations that are pure ‘Ericsson’,
the idea is to build something that is scalable
enough to put workflows between the sites so
we can manage the load, the services, and skills
at each site,” said Monteil. “Today, we manage
the interface through our own architecture
and software development, but we have some
partners in terms of MAM.”
This will involve the other hubs. EBS had locations
in the UK, Sweden, France and Holland, and
now provides services in Australia, Germany
and Spain. All will be connected. Red Bee has
30 people in France working on access services.
Monteil identifies that area, plus creative
services and metadata management, as
three business strengths that Mediadome
needs to develop.
“Red Bee is recognised worldwide for content
discovery. We really have to think of more
services globally,” said Monteil. “As you saw,
the production and post production parts are
interesting. Production alone is not our field.
For current customers we can do any post
production, but there is not a specific reason
to develop it massively.”
“Five years ago, a playout room of this size could only handle six channels”
Jérôme Monteil, Ericsson
Monteil and Ericsson are eying the huge melt
between the distribution modes. The big issues
are time to market, and generating quality
content that is exclusive.
“The more you focus on live and quality,
the more you will have to produce some parts
yourself, and to promote them with trailers, which
means some post production,” he said. “If you
have that link to the editorial teams, then you
have an acceptable offer. We need to add on
top of that, for sure, the non-linear part.”
This leads to providing all the technical elements
so Mediadome can also develop services in
production and post that it has not cracked
or defined yet.
“To have a complete media brand, media
channel, is something we want to develop.
Giving good quality and good services for
production and post production and non-
linear playout is key, and it is fundamental for
the future. Clearly, we can feel that Ericsson is
there to invest: in 2020 there will be 50 million
connected devices, with 15 million of them
pushing video everywhere, and all the networks
will be obsessed with video. We will play in this
field,” said Monteil.
Asked what differences he detected between
the Telco and media markets, he said: “It was
the number of suppliers but that is changing now
with all the consolidation. If we recall the success
of GSM and wireless networks in the 1990s it
became the standardisation that was very clear
and straight between the different bricks. Here
in video and broadcast the standardisation is
probably not as mature as amongst the Telcos.”
Monteil points to huge amounts of technical
and editorial metadata strangling the
standardisation process.
“Very often things are customised across
the habits, culture and the way broadcasters
are working, so when will we have a complete
mature world standard in the video space
like we had in the 90s at the start of wireless
networks?” he said.
Where then can Ericsson use its brand muscle?
It already delivers 2.7 million hours of TV content
in 90-plus languages for 330 channels. This all
comes with 200,000 hours of captioning.
“We saw it with the systems integrations we
did. If you talk to a supplier as a global brand,
which wants to invest, it is always easier to
leverage and propose to the broadcaster that
it may be more difficult to get technology
alone,” said Monteil.
“We would like to act like that, talking to
suppliers, to get the best for broadcasters locally,
through our knowledge and global brand.”
Workflow20 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
In The IcebergMediadome, safely away from the Seine, offers
full back up to all the French broadcasters,
who have their HQs nearby. The building is an
office block on top of a much wider footprint
3,000sqm TV facility, locally called The Iceberg.
The studio has nine Sony robotic cameras
and a seven-person gallery. Canal+ uses
it almost constantly, for soccer, NBA and
magazine show purposes.
From Ericsson’s facility claims, the studio
gallery and studio are the production part,
but the Canal+ studio set is not currently
removable. For any client wanting production
time Ericsson would have to book to suit
Canal+ schedules and bring in special sets.
Mediadome has 11 editing rooms, two sound
mixing rooms with Pro Tools, and four speaker
booths. Any Ericsson customer could use the
post production facilities, but they are 80 per
cent used by Canal+ editorial teams at present.
The rooms are all based on Avid Media
Composer systems and supported by Avid
Interplay PAM (Production Asset Management)
and ISIS shared storage. Ericsson manages
its own dark fibre so time to market – global
delivery – is very fast, via either SDI or IP. A third
technical room exists to handle rack expansion
by another 30 channels.
The playout room is a beauty. Currently, it puts
out just under 30 channels, and has a capacity
of 60. The majority of signals are HD, file-based
working with incoming content stands at 80 per
cent, and tapes were evident. There are four
pods at each end to add live event channels.
Jérôme Monteil: “The more you focus
on live and quality, the more you will have to
produce some parts yourself”
TVBEurope 23March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Long gone are those days when live interviews
with politicians, business executives, charity
leaders, analysts and others had to be
conducted in television studios. Now, it is common
to conduct those ‘face-to-face’ discussions from
considerable distances – with the interviewee
seen in the environment of his or her own offi ce.
Of course, that means the installation of
professional broadcasting equipment in the
remote location and the booking of circuits
to meet transmission schedules, and one
company that provides such services is
London-based Globelynx.
“We offer a complete package that includes
everything needed to manage these activities
– such as high defi nition cameras, lighting and
the network infrastructure required to link the fi rm
to the broadcaster community,” explains chief
executive, David FitzGerald. “When a TV producer
calls an interviewee to request a live or recorded
discussion, it is then a simple matter to book the
airtime through our online booking system.”
The Globelynx booking system confi rms the
interview details instantly online and by email and
ensures that the interviewee’s camera is switched
to the right broadcaster at the agreed time.
Founded in 2001, the company became part of
the Press Association ten years later. Its stated mission
statement was – and remains – to consolidate its
position as a leader in the provision of in-house video
and broadcast solutions for enterprises and live
interviews to TV news broadcasters.
Last year, Globelynx laid out plans to expand
its business model by selling its services right
across Europe – and even further afi eld. At the
same time, it wanted to reach out to overseas
broadcasters directly.
“However, we found that we were being
held back by our existing technology, as we
were relying on a legacy SDI system for the
transmission of our services,” reports FitzGerald.
“There circuits have a high bandwidth baseband
capacity, typically priced on a per-kilometre
basis, so the further the data has to travel,
the more expensive it becomes. Obviously,
this is a particular problem when it comes to
international expansion.”
To fi nd a solution and provide the upgrades that
were needed to fulfi l its expansion plans, Globelynx
turned to Easynet, a global managed service
provider, to replace the existing baseband network
Down the line via IPWith IP increasingly being used by broadcasters, Philip Stevens investigates how one service provider is utilising the technology
The installation of professional broadcasting equipment in remote locations provides ready access for live interviews for news and other organisations Workfl ow
Workflow24 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
with a fully managed IP broadcasting service.
“We selected Easynet because of its track record
delivering HD quality IP broadcasting services to
well-known brand names, such as Sky News, Sky
Sports News, MTV and Comedy Central,” confirms
FitzGerald. “The company has also proved that it
can provide fully-managed international services
that can monitor pictures as well as data.”
Flexibility of IPJohn Cullane, head of media and broadcast at
Easynet, picks up the story. “As soon as you begin
to go international with SDI circuits, they start to
get incredibly expensive, as well as offering less
functionality than IP. The use of IP gives flexibility, and
offers symmetrical access to deliver high quality bi-
directional feeds at low bandwidths, with dynamic
formatting options and potential for simultaneous
delivery to multiple locations to aid the production
process. It also enables the use of networking
components familiar to non-specialist IT teams.”
The previous technology utilised by Globelynx
meant broadcast links had to be routed through
London, and then delivered back to the
broadcasters – a cumbersome and expensive
exercise. Using the Easynet IP domain, the
company is now able to deliver direct to national
broadcasters in countries around the world on a
24/7 basis, without having to link via London.
Better service, a lower costEasynet’s answer provides an end-to-end solution
that converts the baseband SDI signal at the
client’s end, transmits it across the IP network, and
then converts it back at the broadcaster’s end.
As part of the process, Easynet examined
Globelynx’s existing networks to identify the
hardware, providers and cost models that would
be best suited to the project. The result of this
survey was a final solution that offers savings of 50
per cent compared with other alternatives.
Cullane explains how the changes have
enabled Globelynx to transform how it does
business and reduce its costs. “The new IP
architecture reduces human intervention and
manual switching through the use of an automation
scheduler and Quality Checking via Easynet’s Video
Network Operations Centre (VNOC).”
Efficiency through automationAnother key element that Easynet provided was
an automation solution that enables Globelynx
to have greater control over how broadcasters
make their bookings, while reducing the amount
of human resources needed.
In order to arrange an interview, a broadcaster
would previously go to a web page and book
in a time, which would then require the paths
for the video transmission to be built manually.
Easynet was able to put in a complete platform
to automate this process, as well as improve how
broadcasters find the right people to contact.
According to FitzGerald, this arrangement
has been greatly appreciated by Globelynx’s
broadcast clients which include Sky News, CNBC
and Bloomberg Television. “This will make it much
easier for them to arrange interviews. There’ll
be an improved, searchable database where
broadcasters can search for experts in particular
topics. So if there’s a major news story on, say
Japan, they can insert ‘Japanese economy’ into
the database, and up will come the available
experts on that topic for them to book.”
TVBEurope 25March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Workflow
Cullane explained more. “Once the broadcaster
schedules the booking, from that point forward,
the actual creation of the video, and making
the path live is all done through an automated
service platform, under the careful monitoring of
the Easynet VNOC.” He adds that this also
makes the service much more scalable, so
Globelynx no longer needs to provision twice
the resources in order to double the number of
bookings it can handle.
He continues, “This new service enables
Globelynx to share real time HD content across a
secure IP network, fully integrated with cameras
at, currently, 80 sites. Moving to IP gives Globelynx
a strong competitive edge in next generation
content delivery through its built-in security and
vast capacity. Additionally, when compared to
legacy technology, a new IP-based network will
deliver significant cost savings, as well as offering
enhanced levels of reliability.”
FitzGerald concludes, “Digital media has
led us to expect instant, flawless multiplatform
delivery. More of us are watching news on our
tablets and PCs, and now if we read a story on
Twitter, we’ll frequently head across to a news
website to validate it with text or video, then to
another site to source a different perspective.
With video content expected to make up 79 per
cent of the world’s online traffic by 2018, there’s
more demand than ever for real time interview
content, and more places than ever to access
it. We’re confident that the switch to Easynet’s IP
Broadcasting will help us strengthen our foothold
in this dynamic industry.”
Globelynx customers include Sky News
BBC Studios and Post Production (BBC
S&PP) in Elstree was a hive of activity last
December with shows like Strictly Come
Dancing, BBC’s Sweat the Small Stuff and Sky’s
A League Of Their Own on site.
Taking a tour behind the scenes meant
walking down the corridors of Holby City,
past the glittery backdrop of Strictly Come
Dancing, and even catching a glimpse of
Simon Webbe and Kristina Rihanoff rehearsing
the American Smooth.
As Mark Lewis, operational compliance
manager, explains, BBC S&PP has been
inundated with shows since its move over from
Television Centre to the Elstree site in spring 2013.
At the BBC Elstree site, in Studio D, series 9 of A
League Of Their Own was in production and the
set really fills the space, explains Lewis. “Productions
such as this like to have an outside space that
they can do rehearsals in and filming so it’s good
that we’ve got that as an extra offering. We’re
refurbishing all of our dressing rooms. It’s important
to have that softer element of the studio as well.”
Once the Sky show had finished, the studio
was occupied by ITV’s Stars In Their Eyes. “Once a
production is in, they are in for the duration. They
can then really concentrate on the content rather
than on the mechanics,” he adds.
Other recent projects under its belt is post work
for Strictly Come Dancing, It Takes Two, Tumble
and Children in Need. John O’Callaghan, head of
studios and post production, explains: “We’ve built
our post rooms around projects. We did the Winter
Paralympics across the road. We did the studio bit
for Sunset + Vine for Channel 4 and built edits all
around it and then took the kit out afterwards.”
Highlighting the advantages of being able to
offer studio space and post services on the same
site, David Conway, managing director, says: “Not
many people are doing it and it differentiates us
from the Soho fixed model. It suits a lot of people
for efficiency reasons to be on the same site or
near to their studio.”
Feature26 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
Uncovering the magic of post and restoration
Melanie Dayasena-Lowe met the executive team at BBC Studios and Post Production to take a behind the scenes tour of its facilities in Elstree and South Ruislip since its move from the iconic Television Centre
BBC S&PP’s Digital Media Services business has been working on the restoration of Miss Marple
A diverse portfolioBBC S&PP has a 50/50 split between handling BBC
projects and those for other customers. “Year on
year, it depends on the mix of shows we win and it
depends if you measure it on volume (number of
shows) or value (revenue),” adds Conway.
So how do they make it clear to the industry
that they aren’t solely a BBC facility? “If you
go back four years or so, there was a bit more
uncertainty but now I think it is clear, particularly
that we do a lot for Channel 4, ITV and Sky and
people are much more aware. We would like to
get the message out more that we are offering
post production to a variety of customers,” explains
John O’Callaghan, head of communications.
When it comes to bidding for work on BBC
programmes, BBC S&PP bids the same as any
other company would. O’Callaghan adds: “Even
with the BBC work, we do generally have to pitch
and fight for every bit of work we get.”
The BBC Elstree site contains Elstree Studio D
while at Elstree Studios BBC S&PP takes up about
50 per cent of the site and manages Stages 8
and 9 with access to George Lucas Stages 1 and
2. It has also designed and installed permanent
HD galleries at the George Lucas Stages
(15,000sqft) to support large-scale entertainment
productions. It’s now the biggest studio space in
Europe with permanent HD galleries. “In addition
to the stages we look after here, we have an
ancillary block comprising dressing rooms, green
rooms, production offices and storage areas for
scenery and lighting,” explains Lewis.
Stages 8 and 9 were refurbished between
Autumn 2012 and February 2013 before BBC
S&PP moved into the new site. Having invested
heavily to update the Elstree site, Stage 8 and
Stage 9 (7,500sqft HD studios) were transformed
with new laser levelled floors and permanent HD
galleries and improved dressing room facilities
for talent. This was done to ensure all the areas
are well equipped to host any size or type of
television production.
“At the same time we were also operating
studios back at Television Centre (TVC) so
we had a lot of shows there coming in that
we were still supporting. We had almost a
mobile satellite team coming here, shifting and
lifting kit out of TVC. Wherever possible from an
efficiency point of view and because the kit in
TVC was really good (the latest HD equipment),
we tried to reuse and repurpose what we
had already. It was a really busy period,”
says O’Callaghan.
Stage 8 has been home to Pointless while
Stage 9 has played host to Sweat the Small Stuff,
Celebrity Juice and Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
The gallery for Stage 9 consists of permanent
portacabins containing kit from TVC. Lewis
believes this is a much better offering compared
to the space you would have in an OB truck.
There are three control room galleries for Stage
8 (production, lighting and sound), which have
been transformed and kitted out with ex-TVC kit
since BBC S&PP moved in. Conway says the work
that needed to be done before they moved in
for the galleries wasn’t about purchasing kit but
was more about systems integration, which was
carried out by Dega Broadcast Systems along
with BBC S&PP’s in-house technical team.
Close to George Lucas Stage 2, home to
Strictly Come Dancing last year, and alongside
the area occupied by the Big Brother house, is
TVBEurope 27March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Feature
“We’re formulating a strategy to go back to TVC to make it a success while thinking about what the commercial model is here at Elstree Studios”
David Conway, BBC S&PP
The DMS business moved to the new permanent facility in South Ruislip in early 2013
David Conway: “It’s now me having to come up with a lot of blue sky thinking rather than just implementation”
Feature28 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
a large expanse of land, which
Elstree Studios plans to expand
into. Supported by the Hertsmere
Borough Council, which owns the
Elstree Studios site, it is rumoured
that plans are afoot to build a
brand new set of stages as well
as ancillary spaces like additional
dressing rooms. “The local
authority are really behind it and
want to expand the site further
into a bigger production village,”
comments Lewis.
New leadershipWith so much activity for BBC
S&PP, it’s been a busy couple of
months for Conway since taking
over the helm at the commercial
subsidiary in October 2014.
With an investment banking
background, he had previously
served on the company board
as a non-executive director, while
working as the BBC’s head of
investment and major projects in
BBC Corporate Finance. Prior to
becoming MD he had been chief
operating officer for BBC S&PP.
“As COO I had a broad sense
of the whole business and
headed up the business support
side of things.”
When asked how his new role
differs, Conway remarks: “It’s not
radically different. Clearly I was
very familiar with the business.
When we were looking at
strategic and commercial issues
I was heavily involved. It’s now
me having to come up with a lot
of blue sky thinking rather than
just implementation. It’s been an
interesting couple of months and
it’s such a vibrant time of the year
because of the volume of studio
shows. It has been an exciting
time to take over.”
So, what are his ambitions for
the company moving forward?
“There’s some pretty ambitious
things we need to do over the next
couple of years. We’ve still got to
take the studios business back to
TVC or reopen TVC so we have to
make that a commercial success.
“We’ve got to think about
what we’re going to retain here
at Elstree Studios because we
will retain some level of presence
here. We’re formulating a strategy
to go back to TVC to make it a
success while thinking about what
the commercial model is here at
Elstree Studios.”
The redevelopment of TVC is
underway and it’s starting to look
like a building site, according to
Conway. The designs are fully
approved and the strip out work
has begun. “It’s really taking
shape. We, and the developers
Stanhope, are getting excited
about the plans for the wider site.
They’ve locked in some other
anchor tenants like Soho House.”
BBC S&PP designed and installed permanent HD galleries at the George Lucas Stages (15,000sqft) to support large-scale entertainment productions
Creative media hubO’Callaghan adds: “There’s a real aspiration for it
to be a creative media hub. I wouldn’t be surprised
if you see productions cluster around there too.
There’s a lot of affection for the building.”
The plan is for BBC S&PP to go back to TVC in
2017. BBC Worldwide is expected to be the first to
return there in spring 2015.
As well as looking at what’s already on the
agenda, Conway is conscious that he also needs to
look at other growth opportunities over and above
its existing capacity.
“It doesn’t just apply to what you’ve seen
here but also in our Digital Media Services (DMS)
business. While it’s easy to understand how you
grow a studios business, DMS is a constantly
evolving area because media types and
formats are constantly evolving. Because it’s
a technology business, DMS has to adapt
all the time.”
Dedicated facilitySo next stop: South Ruislip to see BBC Studios
and Post Production’s Digital Media Services
facility firsthand. The DMS business moved to
the new permanent facility in early 2013 and
it will remain there with no plans to move
back to TVC.
And how do the two parts of the business in
Elstree and South Ruislip interact? That was a
question for Charles Tugendhat, director of DMS.
“People who are making programmes in studios,
even if it’s the same companies [Endemol,
Freemantle] are not necessarily the same people
making decisions about archiving or tape
digitisation. We often end up talking to the same
company and it’s only at the David Conway
level that he might be talking to someone who
has a view across both.
“There are a number of opportunities where our
skills come together. In particular, that’s around
the edit village, managed services of a post
production type nature.”
Clive Hodge, the current head of operations
for DMS, adds: “Studio technology is very
different from film restoration technology. We
each have our own experts in those areas.
There’s a small area in the middle where we
have an interest in the same thing, for instance
with file-based delivery. We’re pooling our
knowledge with a set of people who are experts
at file-based delivery. We have complementary
technologies so we can compare and contrast
different tools for the same job.”
Tugendhat, who is new to the BBC and has
previously worked for EMI Music, stresses the
wealth of expertise and knowledge across the
Feature TVBEurope 29March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
“Even with the BBC work, we do generally have to pitch and fight for
every bit of work we get” John O’Callaghan,
BBC S&PP
www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
Feature30 TVBEurope
team. Hodge, one of their most experienced staff
members, is leaving at the end of March 2015 and
will be succeeded by Keith Nicholas who has over
20 years experience in broadcast having worked
for the BBC, Walt Disney and MTV. “I hope to bring
my perspective on different areas I’ve worked in
because I’ve worked for distributors, broadcasters,
the BBC and facilities companies,” explains Nicholas.
When asked how the new job is going, he quips:
“It’s like a wardrobe of shoes that you’ve previously
worn. Everything we do here are things that I’ve
worked on before.”
Another experienced member of the team is
Kevin Shaw who is lead technologist and has 20
years experience as a colourist and in restoration.
DMS operates at all levels across the value
chain for media assets with a particular
strength in film restoration and large scale
digitisation activities.
Tugendhat highlights some of the services
they provide. For instance, DMS provides a
tape duplication service for BBC Worldwide. “When
they sell programming abroad to customers that
can’t accept files, the content comes to us and
we produce a tape from it. We produce thousands
each month, it’s a large scale operation.”
In terms of optimisation, DMS can handle
content that requires some work to be done to it,
for example compliance (technical or editorial).
“It could be language, cutting to length or
removing ad breaks. Or it could be restoration.
As we go beyond HD, the quality may have
been acceptable 20 years ago but it’s no way
near acceptable now,” Tugendhat explains.
Secure storageOnce DMS has worked on the content, it is
returned to the customer or stored. The long term
security of the asset is an important aspect, he
adds. “I think there’s a general lack of awareness
on what the rate of loss is for formats that people
think are safe. A lot of people see drives and
DVDs as safe but in our experience that’s far
from being the case, probably even less safe
than tape. Tape also suffers from mould and
degradation. A proper storage service saves
you from that. You may have saved it on one file
format but there’s a change and a file format
goes out of favour. Suddenly you have these files
in an obsolete format and there may not even
be a way to read them anymore.”
Tugendhat continues: “With the move to
file-based delivery, if anybody requests a copy
of an asset which has been delivered to the
BBC as a file that sits on a database, we are the
mechanism that will reach that end customer.
They’ll request it from BBC Archives, they send
the file to us and we send it where it needs to
go. Our job is making sure it gets to customers
in the right way.”
The team at DMS are very proud of having
a dedicated facility that is designed for their
specific activity. “If you draw on the distinctions
between the TVC infrastructure compared to the
structure based around data flows that we’ve
got today, it is such a step forward,” he remarks.
Lift and shiftDMS is also an expert in restoring old machines
and keeping them running. “For a lot of them you
can no longer buy spare parts from manufacturers
so you’re having to cannabilise machines. We
have the expertise to bend working machines to
play tapes that were never recorded properly in
the first place,” he explains.
Ex-TVC kit was brought over to the new site and
Hodge describes the brief as “lift and shift”. “Two
years on we’ve added hosting and storage which
is new to us here. The main benefit was to leave
behind 20 years of infrastructure and cleanse the
operation of all the old technology, which was
unreliable or stopping us from doing what we want
to do. We were based on four different floors in
three different buildings and while technically that
was ok it was a challenge even for communication
between staff.”
The Rank-Cintel MK III machine brought over
from TVC, dating back to the late 1980s, was
retained for handling small formats such as
8mm and 9.5mm. The team says it can produce
better results and is more versatile than modern
equipment. It has also been modified over the
years to do things it was never intended to do. It
is even used to handle people’s home movies.
Walking around the South Ruislip facility, it is
clear that DMS’ portfolio is extremely varied.
Its work includes restoring footage of Winston
Churchill’s funeral for the BBC and the restoration
of Miss Marple for BBC Worldwide’s DVD and Blu-
ray release in North America.
In terms of growth plans for DMS, it has already
invested in the storage side of its business. “If we’re
digitising people’s assets, it makes sense we then
store it in the right way. Building that up as a service
in its own right is important,” says Tugendhat. “We
also want to expand our customer base.”
Nicholas agrees: “The growth part of our
business is doing work with third parties, not for
the BBC. It has been very good work but we
would like to offer more of those services to third
parties. There is a wealth of work to be done to
get content ready for broadcast and many
other platforms that customers want to distribute
their media on.”
“We have the expertise to bend working machines to play tapes that were never
recorded properly in the first place” Charles Tugendhat, DMS
BBC S&PP provided full studio and post production services for the ten year anniversary and 12th series of Strictly Come Dancing
Charles Tugendhat: “If we’re digitising
people’s assets, it makes sense we then store it in the
right way”
Feature32 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
As DVD sales plummet, film and TV
producers around the world are
increasingly shifting to various Electronic
Sell Through (EST) services in order to try and
limit their revenue loss. One of the most
promising propositions out there is the Ultraviolet
digital locker system for electronic sell-through.
A standard endorsed by most of the American
studios – with the exception of Disney, which
has launched its own proprietary system – the
UV service is meant to enable consumers to
buy digital content stocked on a central
cloud, which they can access from a variety
of devices using a redeem code. Customers
buy a digital version of any designated UV title
available on a physical disc, and at the same
time acquire rights to stream, download and
share the cloud-based content with up to five
family members.
Launched several years ago in the USA, the
service has also started up across Europe. It
launched towards the end of 2013 in France and
a little more than a year later, according to figures
released by the Digital Entertainment Ecosystem
(DECE), the consortium that supports the system,
it numbers 116,000 account holders, with an
average of 4.1 rights per account user, which
means that each user has either downloaded
or streamed an average of four films or TV series
during 2014. According to Yves Caillaud, Europe
region managing director for the DECE: “The
usage per account holder in France is high for
a service that started only a year ago. It took
two years to reach such levels in the USA and
in Germany, where the system was launched
around the same time as in France, the rate is of
an average of 3.3 rights per account holder.”
That said, the number of account holders in
France remains lower than elsewhere in Europe.
The UK is, by far, the fastest growing market in the
region, numbering 1.54 million active Ultraviolet
accounts and in Germany, Switzerland and
Austria, UV accounts have topped 223,000,
nearly double the gaul take-up.
For Caillaud, France’s slower adoption rate
is due, in part, to the lack of a widespread and
comprehensive number of UV titles. Unlike the UK,
where Talk Talk’s streaming service Blinkbox [then
owned by Tesco] launched its own Ultraviolet
offer alongside Sainsbury’s Entertainment and
Dixons’ Cinemanow, in the weeks leading up to
Christmas, France’s retail stores have been slower
on the uptake. But Caillaud has high hopes that
this will improve since Carrefour just announced
its own Ultraviolet video-on-demand (VoD)
service, Nolim films, which launched in
late January.
Ease of use remains an issue, and a number
of potential partners have voiced concerns over
the complexity of the system. But, according
to Caillaud, these concerns have now been
addressed and the service has greatly improved
since it first launched.
Make or break time for Ultraviolet in France
The EST cloud-based and non-proprietary service is making slow but steady headway in the French market and should gain momentum now that Carrefour has come onboard and launched Nolim Films. By Catherine Wright
Les Editions Montparnasse, an independent
DVD distributor, has launched its
own VoD service
“We have made it much easier for customers
to access their content library from their set-top
boxes. The service is much more fl exible than it
was when it fi rst launched. For instance, in the
beginning, users had to enter their redeem code
twice to access the content. Now all they have
to do is enter it once from a special page. We
have also relaxed the parental control features
that were virtually impossible to implement in a
set-top box environment.”
Another problem is the lack of French titles.
The system has yet to be endorsed by gaul content
owners. “They were waiting for a large retail store
to come onboard before committing to the
service,” Caillaud justifi es. With Carrefour’s own UV
store up and running, it is likely that a number of big
French players could now become involved.
For Les Editions Montparnasse, an independent
DVD distributor that has launched its own VoD
service, Les Manufactures, there are other reasons
for not signing up to the system. The company’s
founder and CEO Renaud Delourme, who also
heads l’UNEVI (Union de l’édition numérique
et vidéographique indépendante), a lobbying
organisation representing small independent
distributors, is rather scathing: “Most of the small to
medium independent companies like ours have
rejected UV as a viable alternative. The cost of
coming onboard is too high for us and we don’t
always own both VoD and DVD rights for all our
titles, which is a prerequisite for UV.”
Like other small French companies, Les Editions
Montparnasse has seen its revenue plummet as a
result of collapsing DVD and Blu-Ray sales. The high
defi nition format never took off in France and hardly
ever made up for the decline in DVD sales. Recent
fi gures released by the CNC – a sort of French BFI,
but much better fi nanced – show that global video
sales in France plunged by 14 per cent in 2014, with
DVD discs dropping by 14.2 per cent and Blu-Ray by
O.6 per cent. This is a collapse bound to gain speed
as new enticing streaming services hit the market.
Much awaited, Netfl ix started up in France
last September amid plenty of controversy.
Headquartered in Amsterdam, it avoids paying
taxes which go towards subsidising French fi lms
and TV series – a much-criticised strategy in the
country of the ‘Exception Culturelle’. Gaul rulers
have, since the end of the Second World War,
protected French culture and fi lms in particular
against English-speaking competitors, through
a series of complex tax and quota measures.
However, the American streaming service has
announced that it is producing a French drama
series called Marseilles in an attempt to woo gaul
politicians, producers and customers. The service
is available on telco Bouygue’s set-top box for a
price ranging from €8 to €12 per month. Crucially,
Netfl ix’s service does not include its fl agship series
House of Cards, which, in France, remains a Canal
Plus exclusive. But it is nevertheless bound to
seduce a wide number of customers. According to
recent press reports, it managed to attract 100,000
gaul customers in the fi rst couple of weeks after
the launch, mere estimates that the American
company will not confi rm. But even if it did, they
should be put into context: quite a few subscribers
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Feature34 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
were bound to be enticed by the free one-
month trial offer Netflix trumpeted with its massive
marketing clout. A more relevant figure would be
the service’s churn rate at least a couple of months
after launch which is, of course, totally confidential.
According to Caillaud, Netflix’s subscription-
based VoD service does not compete directly
with Ultraviolet and is therefore not a huge threat.
“French legislation has imposed a set of rules called
Chronologie des médias that every content retailer,
even Netflix, has to respect. For subscription-based
streaming services, there is a 36-month delay
between the theatrical release of films and what
they can sell. That means that unlike Ultraviolet, it
cannot show recent movies,” he explains.
As the Ultraviolet service is an electronic sell-
through proposition, coupled with the buying of a
physical disc, it can show films four months after their
theatrical release, according to French legislation.
The same 36-month rule applies to CanalPlay,
Canal Plus’ own streaming subscription-based
service. The French broadcaster launched it at least
four years before Netflix started its own, in fairly low-
key fashion. It numbers around 520,000 subscribers.
Arguably, the most serious competition comes
from iTunes, Apple’s own proprietary electronic
sell-through service.
The Store, which initially sold only music,
launched its video streaming and EST service
across the French market in 2006. Subscribers can
access content from Pixar, Disney or Lionsgate and,
more importantly, French content owners like TF1:
it boasts up to 85,000 films and 300,000 TV series,
including gems like True Detective.
But as Apple will not release any figures, the
number of subscribers is hard to estimate. Most
sources evaluate it to be well above the one
million mark.
When UV first launched, some concerns were
also raised over the sharing of data in the cloud,
as the service is non-proprietary, contrary to iTunes.
But according to Caillaud, such fears were quickly
abated. “Very little data is shared on the cloud and
none of it is of a sensitive nature. No credit card
numbers, for instance. Basically, all that is shared is
the customer’s name and his or her list of films.”
It is therefore make or break time for Ultraviolet
in France: either gaul content owners, encouraged
by the Carrefour launch, and the efforts made
by the DECE to simplify and reduce the costs of
the system, come onboard, or they remain on the
sidelines and lose out on a opportunity to move
from physical to digital without too much revenue
loss. But if they don’t make up their minds very
fast, UV will have little chance to establish itself in
France. In order to attract customers here, you
have to offer French content, a rule that even the
Netflix’s of this world can’t ignore.
Les Editions Montparnasse founder and CEO, Renaud Delourme
Yves Caillaud, Europe region managing director, DECE
TVBEurope 35March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Good news for consumer electronics (CE)
firms. Global spend is on the rise, up one
per cent on 2013 to just over $1 trillion,
estimates the Consumer Electronics Association
(CEA). Further good news is that UHD displays
are shifting ahead of expectations, comprising
11 per cent of global sales in 2015 (Futuresource
Consulting), so it was no surprise to see every
brand majoring on 4K sets at the CES show.
In recent years, manufacturers have struggled
to find margin on TV screens and the concern with
4K was whether consumers would actually see
the benefits of buying new screens. The dominant
argument since CES 2014 has been the call for
better looking pixels, not just more of them. This call
has been heeded by the formation of the UHD
Alliance, a global coalition of film studios (Warner
Bros, Fox, Walt Disney), TV brands (LG, Sony) and
tech companies (Dolby, Technicolor) plus Netflix to
create standards for premium UHD. Criteria includes
high dynamic range (HDR), wider colour gamut and
immersive 3D audio although the exact specifications
need thrashing out in the coming months.
“What the studios are realising is that now
there’s a way to deliver titles at a level of quality
representative of what people want to see,” Roland
Vlaicu, VP of consumer imaging, Dolby told the
panel session HDR: Hollywood’s New Creative Tool.
HDR comes to the foreDolby has been one of the leaders in this space
with HDR post process Dolby Vision, which has
been used to remaster a number of titles on
the FilmLight Baselight system including Edge of
Tomorrow and The Lego Movie. While these can
be streamed from services like M-Go or Netflix,
Panasonic’s prototype of the first 4K Blu-Ray
player was another brick in the wall of a 4K
home ecosystem.
There were warnings that wider adoption
of UHD Alliance specifications will face
challenges in implementation across the
production pipeline and at retail.
“Existing 4K cameras can capture HDR in
single exposures but what’s not in place is
colour grading and the whole post production
and distribution chain,” said Arris engineering
fellow, Sean McCarthy. “How do you insert
SDR (standard dynamic range) content like
advertising into a HDR programme? How does
a TV know the content has switched? If there is
a big difference in brightness how quickly does
the eye adapt?”
TVBEurope at CES 2015 Adrian Pennington headed over to Las Vegas to check out the latest trends at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
BK Yoon, co-CEO, Samsung
Feature
Feature36 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
He warned: “There will be confusion in the
market which could slow down purchases if the
communication isn’t thought through.”
Scott Mirer, VP, device partner ecosystem at
Netflix, agreed: “HDR is hard to communicate
to consumers and it has nothing to do with
the technology. We don’t have experience
with how to talk about HDR’s benefits to
consumers and we don’t have convergence
on how to implement it.”
Mark Turner, VP of partnership relations
and business development for Technicolor,
declared a need to establish UHD standards.
“When it comes to colour space, how
high is HDR and how wide is wide colour
gamut? How do we make sure it’s an
interoperable standard? There’s a lot of work
to be done.”
CES 2015 showed that UHD has definitively
arrived as a display format. Overall, screens
are getting thinner, larger (average screen
size worldwide is now 41-inches compared to
33-inches in 2008) and richer in contrast and
colour as well as resolution. Lacking last year,
but prevalent in 2015 ranges, are HDMI 2.0 and
HEVC, both technical requirements for delivering
richer on-screen pixels.
“Production is shifting over from 1080p and
2016 will be the inflection point,” noted Steve
Koenig, director of industry analysis, CEA. “It may
even be difficult to find a 1080p set as the price
premium for 1080p is small.”
It is to be hoped that the Alliance expands
to incorporate others – notably Chinese TV
makers who are a growing influence – although
as Futuresource Consulting’s senior market
analyst Jack Wetherill observed, the Alliance
can be seen as an attempt to counter the
Chinese by differentiating product from what
is seen as inferior quality, and certainly
cheaper, screens.
“Chinese brands are posing questions for
the industry, forcing Korean and Japanese
brands to rethink strategies,” said Wetherill.
Chinese brands including Skyworth, Hisense, TP
Vision grew more than 20 per cent in 2014. The
Chinese domestic market alone is worth over
20 per cent of the global flatscreen market.
2015 will see TVBEurope attend and cover
more of the key events on the broadcast
media industry calendar. Following the
successful redesign of TVBEurope, we
have developed a more comprehensive
list of features for each issue over the
coming year, and will be launching a
dedicated section covering the latest
developments in OTT, multiscreen, and
TV Everywhere: TVBEverywhere. Our
Opinion and Analysis and Features
sections will deliver the big stories
every month; Workflow will continue
our bedrock coverage of UHD, 4K, IT/
IP infrastructures, and pre and post
production insights; and our Business
section will provide a regualr analysis
of the marketplace, and all of the key
M&A activity. Our Audio for Broadcast
coverage will now be present in every
issue and major sports/live broadcast
events will be reported on throughout
the year.
For all advertising and sponsorship
opportunities, contact the sales team:
Europe
Ben Ewles: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000,
bewles@nbmedia.com, or
Richard Carr: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000,
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USA
Mike Mitchell +1 631 673 0072,
mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv
EDITORIAL PLANNER 2015
Issue Date Exhibitions/ Events Coverage FeatureAudio for
BroadcastSports/Live broadcast
April• BVE 2015
• NAB 2015 show issue
• Beyond HD: 4K and UHD challenges
• Virtual sets forum• UHD audio
May
• NAB review
• TVBE conference review
• Satellite TV focus
• Audio for broadcast special
• Sound mixers forum
• Sound
mixers forum• 2015 UK election
June• Angacom focus
• TV Connect insights
• OTT multiscreen
• Acquisition focus: lighting for TV
• Audio & out-
side broadcast• Summer of sport OB focus
July• Channel in a box forum
• Broadcast 2020: visions of the future
August • IBC preview
• Broadcast graphics forum
• IBC product preview• Mics/ mon-
itors/ consoles• Wimbledon 2015
September • IBC show issue• Quality control forum
• IBC show issue: product showcase
October• Audio for broadcast special
• IP technology forum
• Broadcast
audio feature
November • TVBAwards • Acquisition focus: all encompassing
• Transcoding forum• Rugby World Cup 2015
December• Media Asset Management forum
• Archiving and storage roundtable
Liquid Image’s Ego LS 800 wearable cam will record HD at 30fps, while simultaneously live broadcasting over Verizon’s LTE network
TVBEurope 37March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Feature
Japan’s Toshiba, absent of new UHD models,
could be a casualty.
Aside from remastered movies, 4K content
announcements were thin on the ground. DishTV’s
unveiled a service in the US; Netflix announced
support for HDR later this year; and Sony declared
that all its TV shows are either currently being shot in
4K or “will be shot in 4K soon.”
Sharp, Panasonic and LG were showing
8K screens, targeted more at the Japanese
domestic market where 8K broadcasts tests
are set to begin next year.
Quantum dots for contrastOther initiatives to deliver greater on-screen
contrast and colour included displays with
Quantum Dot technology. It seems manufacturers
have yet to crack the cost of producing OLEDs
and are placing their bets instead on QD LCD
displays which work by inserting a layer of
nanoparticles between a display’s backlight and
colour filters. The result is much improved contrasts
and a wider colour gamut at a fraction of the cost
of OLED. However, viewers won’t see the benefit
while content is still produced to match the old
Rec. 709 standard. Upscaling technology in QD
sets is a workaround although the results can look
unnatural and over saturated. One of the goals
of the UHD Alliance is to standardise around Rec.
2020 but until content is produced in that format,
a TV’s ability to display extra colour gamut will
be wasted.
Sharp had another solution. Its self-titled
Beyond 4K 80-inch set uses a pixel-splitting
technique that, when applied to 4K resolution,
is claimed to create 66 million subpixels,
which is 42 million more than a standard 4K
set. “It approaches 8K resolution,” claimed
Sharp’s US marketing chief, Jim Sanduski, while
cinematographer Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight)
talked about how the technology shows off his
work the way it is meant to be viewed.
OLED wasn’t entirely absent. Panasonic had
an impressive OLED prototype and LG is boldly
putting $600 million into OLED development
at the same time as releasing sets with QD. Its
65-inch Art Slim, a 4K OLED curved TV, was a
showstopper - it weighs only 35 pounds and is as
thin as a smartphone. “Unless OLED costs come
down dramatically, QD will suffice,” said Wetherill.
It’s worth noting the presence of
autostereoscopic TV. In particular, Stream TV
Networks has made deals with Izon and Cello
Electronics to add its glasses-free 3D tech to
their TV product lines. “We’ve been waiting for
4K panels as they have 8 million pixels and we
can use those extra pixels to create depth and
separation of images for glasses-free-3D viewing,”
explained CEO Mathu Rajan.
Smart TV remained a key theme albeit with less
of a fanfare than previously. Approaches vary. In
recent months some of the leading brands, like
Sony, Philips and Sharp have adopted Google’s
Android TV platform while LG and Panasonic
continue to use Mozilla’s Firefox.
“With Googlecast, you can throw content
from the mobile device to the TV and even have
an app for your smartwatch so you can
control the TV from your wrist,” explained
Sony COO Mike Fasulo.
Samsung UHD TVs are based on the Tizen
OS, which is also used in its smartphones and
would allow users to sync and share content
between Tizen devices via Wi-Fi. “This is a bold
‘Analyst IDC reckons the global Internet of Things market will exceed $7 trillion
by 2020’
Feature38 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
and potentially expensive investment, but they
could reap the rewards if they are able to align
these operating systems with that of their mobile
phones,” stated Wetherill.
VR camera techMuch in the way CE vendors attempted to seed
content into the 3D space by retailing affordable
3D video cameras, so VR hardware developers
need content to encourage sales.
Several consumer friendly 360-degree video
cameras have been released recently including
the Giroptic 360cam, Geonaute, Ricoh Theta,
VSN Mobil V.360 and Kodak Pixpro SP360. To the
mix add Samsung Project Beyond, a camera
designed to work with the Samsung Gear VR
headset, which captures 360-degree video in 3D.
IC Real Tech’s Allie camera can create a
720-degree view by stitching two 360-degree
camera feeds together. The Allie Play, Home
and Pro video duel lens cameras cost from
$500 to $3,000 and can stream live footage
or record two hours of video to an SD card,
or the cloud.
Sony went after GoPro with the FDR-X1000V
action camera, which shoots 4K (3,840 x 2,160) at
30fps from a fixed 170-degree Zeiss Tessar lens. It’s
on sale in March for £328 along with a cheaper
HD version, the HDR-AS200V.
Liquid Image’s Ego LS 800 wearable cam will
record HD at 30fps, while simultaneously live
broadcasting over Verizon’s LTE network. Other
action cams can live-stream video over Wi-Fi.
The camera plus LTE unit costs £200 and is only
available in the US.
Drones incidentally, continue to trend, with sales
approaching 425,000 and $130 million in revenue in
2015 and sales expected to top $1 billion by 2018.
A wearables mania“This time next year will be the beginning of
the wearables mania,” suggested CEA’s director
of business intelligence Jack Cutts.
In 2013, the wearable market was 0.5 per cent
of total CE market revenue, valued at $1 billion.
“By the end of 2015, we expect it to be 2.3 per cent
of the total market worth $5.1 billon,” he added.
Most of this business is in the fitness sector but
smartwatches (often with a fitness element) are
quickly catching up. Apple’s imminent release
of a smartwatch is highly anticipated.
Smart eyewear is predicted to show 10x
growth to 2018, outpacing fitness trackers.
“Smart eyewear will eventually rule CE
wearables,” predicted Cutts and by CES
2016 “we’ll just be getting to where virtual
reality takes off.”
Sony plans to mass produce its new OLED-based
SmartEyeglass. The prototype, developed by
Sony Mobile, is independent of the Sony group
developing the Morpheus VR head mounted
display. It uses two forward-facing projectors built
into see-through glasses to overlay augmented
reality video and data. It can only display eight
shades of green at 419 x 128 pixels but even
at that low resolution, text displays clearly. The
glasses have a forward-facing camera for
recording images as well as use by Android apps.
Epson’s Moverio BT-200 run Android 4.0 from a
wired smartphone-like controller and provide a
full-colour image in the centre of the user’s field
of view. While not yet commercially available,
Epson was inviting developers to build an AR
library for the product and demoed versions
equipped with video games and Netflix.
These types of AR glasses provide a solution
between Google Glass and the fully immersive VR
experience provided by devices like Oculus Rift.
Bizarrely, wearables worn inside the body
represent an untapped market. “Implantable
technologies is something we should keep an
eye on,” Cutts suggested.
“Another new frontier is smart fabrics. We’re
starting to see this pop up, but it’ll be more than
five years for this to be a mass market.”
Internet of Things needs a meaningThe wearables category is part of a much
larger fabric of sensorised objects loosely
called the Internet of Things (IoT). By some
accounts it’s a huge untapped opportunity.
Analyst IDC reckons the global IoT market
will exceed $7 trillion by 2020, up from
$1.9 trillion in 2013.
There were keynotes harping on the theme.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said: “The last time we
saw a wave of change this big was 20 years ago
today, in 1995, with a revolution in consumer
computing with the Pentium processor and first
commercial browsers.”
Characteristics of the current revolution
include computers that will interact in three-
dimensional space, see and hear using depth,
sound and facial recognition sensors, and
become wire-free.
Samsung plans to IoT-enable all of its hardware
by 2020. It is even developing a sensor that can
distinguish between 20 different scents.
“The TV in the house will work as a hub for IoT,”
said co-CEO BK Yoon. “It will emerge as a very
important device in the lives of consumers.”
There are a number of standards bodies
looking to join up the smart home. They include
Apple Homekit, Thread (Samsung and Nest)
and All Joyn (Qualcomm) but there is no
single standard covering all parts of the chain
from sensor to cloud. Inevitably, some of this
will consolidate.
Shawn Dubravac, CEA chief economist, said,
“the focus should be on what is technologically
meaningful. Should we digitise it? How should
we use it? The challenge is to make sure that the
information influences behaviour.”
Look out for a more in-depth look at the IoT
and what it means to the TV and service provider
industry in a future edition of TVBEurope.
Drones continue to trend with sales expected to top $1 billion by 2018
“Another new frontier is smart fabrics. We’re starting to see this pop up, but
it’ll be more than five years for this to be a mass market”
Jack Cutts, Consumer Electronics Association
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The commitment to become a global
provider was possibly the strongest message
from the recent Netfl ix investors’call, where
Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos highlighted the
company’s growth strategy. The interest of Netfl ix
for markets outside the US, not only Europe but
also emerging markets other than LATAM where
it is already available, shows that there is global
potential for paid OTT video, subscription-based
video on demand (SVoD) and transactional
video on demand (TVoD).
Our research into the potential of emerging
markets regions for paid OTT video suggests
that many of the hurdles to legal, paid OTT video
development – widespread piracy, low credit
card penetration and consumer familiarity with
online payments, and the poor performance of
broadband networks – have been overestimated.
For example, while credit card has been a
challenge for Netfl ix in LATAM, the company has
successfully introduced alternative payment
methods such as prepaid cards. In many markets,
fi xed broadband speeds have also become less of
an issue, thanks to the bandwidth-saving effi ciencies
generated by CDNs, caching and ABR. Furthermore,
in some emerging markets such as Russia and China,
but also in the major urban areas of Brazil, telcos
have been undergoing extensive fi bre deployments
for some time, pushing average connection speeds
to levels that are often higher than developed
economies in Southern Europe.
In a recent study, we have forecasted OTT SVoD
to grow from 19 million accounts in 2014 to 103
million accounts in 2019 across the emerging market
regions of LATAM, Africa and the Middle East,
Central and Eastern Europe and America APAC.
While advertising-funded OTT video will remain
prevalent across these territories, we are witnessing
the emergence of hybrid models whereby
advertising-funded content serves to increase
reach and penetration, and premium content is
delivered via SVoD and TVoD to boost monetisation
and futureproof the business models. In household
penetration terms, we believe that some kind of
OTT SVoD will be in use in 6.4 per cent of emerging
market households by 2019. We expect paid OTT
revenue (SVoD and TVoD) in emerging markets to
expand from $1.2 billion in 2014, or only 2.3 per cent
of pay-TV revenue, to $6 billion in 2019, or 9.2 per
cent of pay-TV revenue. Across emerging markets,
there is $18.8 billion up for grabs in 2015-2019 for local
and international providers.
China, Russia, Brazil and Mexico offer the most
scale and growth potential. These are the markets
that also offer the most promising environments for
the formation of sizeable online video audiences,
and offer the most potential to segment offers. In
addition, regions that are linguistically uniform, such
as LATAM and to a lesser extent the Middle East,
will provide signifi cant potential for OTT providers to
target multiple markets that are culturally close.
In regional terms, starting from a higher base,
LATAM markets will reach the highest household
penetration levels in 2019 (Mexico 17 per cent,
Brazil 14 per cent). Emerging APAC will also see
signifi cant traction, from one per cent of households
in 2014 to seven per cent in 2019. Growth in APAC
will be driven by China where the local OTTs will
increasingly introduce SVoD options for high quality
of experience and premium/HD content, with the
objective to drive monetisation and futureproof
business models. For China, we expect SVoD
penetration to increase from seven per cent in 2014
to 13 per cent of households in 2019. Given this
potential, it is not surprising that Netfl ix has expressed
an interest in entering China. In spite of high barriers
to entry, Netfl ix admitted that it would like to
operate a small service in the country centred on its
original and other globally-licensed content.
A more immediate opportunity for Netfl ix, and for
other cross-national providers operating in Europe
(i.e. Wuaki TV), may be Eastern Europe. Poland
and Russia offer a good environment with plenty
of fi bre in the ground. These markets are already
seeing good traction in the OTT space. In Poland,
the AVoD/TVoD Ipla passed four million users,
while Russia’s AVoD IVI, which has TVoD and SVoD
options for premium content, has one of the largest
customer bases among OTTs worldwide, with a
monthly audience of 12 million to 16 million unique
users. The Middle East has also been rumoured as a
target region for a Netfl ix entry for some time.
The high cost of content means that OTT
business models relying on advertising revenue
streams have become diffi cult to sustain globally.
As consumer demand for premium
content anytime and anywhere increases
in emerging markets, paid OTT services will
become more commonplace.
TVBEurope 41March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
TVBEverywhere
Daniele Tricarico, senior analyst at Pyramid Research, explains how OTT providers are pushing paid services in emerging markets to futureproof their business models
Providers going OTT to futureproof business models
Forecasted emerging market* OTT SVoD growth Source: Pyramid Research: *LATAM, Africa and the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe and America APAC
19 million accounts
103 million accounts
2014
2019
TVBEverywhere42 TVBEurope
Content distribution is taking on an
entirely different perspective as it moves
increasingly into the cloud, onto new
devices and firmly away from more traditional
broadcast channels and platforms. This presents a
challenge for all media organisations, broadcasters
and content delivery network operators who are
trying to meet customer needs, maintain their
competitiveness and commercial sustainability,
and scale their operational footprint to match the
requirements of a video-on-demand shaped future.
IPTV is increasingly becoming the distribution
channel of choice. A report released earlier
this year stated that paying IPTV subscribers
in Western Europe are set to overtake paying
satellite TV customers in 2018, while forecasting
that IPTV subscriptions will climb by 7.5 million (38
per cent) between 2013 and 2020.
This is no surprise given IPTV’s flexibility which
enables consumers to watch what they want, when
they want, on a wide range of devices from iPads
and Android tablets through to Google Glass, if
the latest predictions are to be believed. Media
organisations are readjusting their strategies by
adapting the content they offer to new mediums
while still ensuring value for advertisers.
One of the most significant factors is the
sustained demand for premium, high quality
content. Some operators, and increasingly
content producers, are building their own content
delivery networks (CDNs) using a software defined
networking (SDN) approach to meet demands. This
is set to grow as customers increasingly expect the
delivery of exceptional quality broadcasting.
Waiting in the wings is 4K, the much-hyped answer
to broadcast programming in ultra-high quality, but
there is still little indication when it will reach the mass-
market, and we may have to wait for the next major
international sporting event, such as the Olympics in
2016, to see it launched in earnest.
What is crucial is that whilst we as consumers
constantly strive for higher quality video delivered
on demand, with content producers attempting to
meet those demands, the pressure on the already
over-burdened global network infrastructure will
reach near-unsustainable levels.
Meeting the challengesThe FIFA World Cup last year is a perfect example
of how the video and broadcast landscape has
changed. For most leading CDN operators, it was
the biggest sporting event ever in terms of total
video traffic volume. For the broadcasters who
depend on the network to deliver jitter-free, high
quality video to customers, there is a real concern
that internet connections will be unable to support
future events attracting worldwide attention.
Not only do network providers have to guarantee
that the network is free from latency issues, but also
that the live action starts instantly on the customer’s
device of choice. Any delay could result in the
customer abandoning the service and migrating
to a competitor.
But content, particularly across international
networks, has to travel long distances - from the
original source in the data centre via the CDN,
through the ISP network, and eventually to the
customer. And if it is being syndicated, the content
publisher has to publish and distribute the content
from various parties which adds an additional
layer of complexity.
A customer’s own internet access is beyond
the control of content providers or operators, but
they can exercise control over other points in the
process by implementing effective solutions. Google
and Netflix are good examples of well managed
content delivery, but fellow providers could look
for inspiration in other, time-sensitive sectors,
like financial services, to see low-latency, high
bandwidth options in action.
Supporting business aims with connectivityContent providers should look at their business
objectives and how they can be met with
connectivity. How does connectivity influence
them, and what are the requirements of global
regulation? Managing costs and reducing risk are
also essential to determine the connectivity needed
for each content category.
CDNs delivering video content in different
languages and formats should ensure they have
their own connectivity profiles. The average latency
of a standard trans-Atlantic connection is 60-80ms,
which is fine for enterprise applications, but too slow
for media distribution.
It is challenging to ensure the infrastructure
between consumer locations, data centres
and partners is of a high enough standard, in
particular across multiple international locations.
Implementation of ‘Five-9s’ (99.999 per cent)
availability is challenging and resource-heavy if
in more than one country.
Another option is content delivery from
outsourcing. Outsourcing through high
performing CDNs such as Akamai, Amazon,
CloudFlare or Google is usually cost effective
and delivers unrivalled operational reliability,
whilst shortening the time-to-market for new
services and content developments.
Content providers in the US are increasingly
turning to pay-per-use models, which allows them
to pay for the actual bandwidth used, rather than
the capacity, but here in Europe legacy carriers
have found it difficult to set up billing systems
that accommodate this idea. As a result a hybrid
model is more common: 50 per cent of the peak
load dimensioned bandwidth is bought and the
actual usage is invoiced.
Connectivity should be right at the top of
the agenda for all IPTV, VoD and other content
delivery strategies.
If it supports the objectives of the business,
reduces risks, and is cost efficient, it will keep you
ahead of the game.
Anthony Kingsnorth, COO at Custom Connect, follows the shifting track of content distribution
‘Paying IPTV subscribers in Western Europe are set to overtake paying satellite
TV customers in 2018’
Understanding connectivity is the key to IPTV and VoD delivery
www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
Baumanis: As always it could be better, but in
general, projects foreseen for year 2014 were
implemented. Comparing with 2013, this is a
good sign showing investments fl owing in to
broadcast technology.
Burgess: Last year started slowly with several
projects being delayed, but towards the end we
did pick up a number of signifi cant orders for the
UK and overseas market. 2015 has started with a
very healthy order book.
Hughes: We had a very busy year, active on
projects in the UK and overseas. Demand is strong
here in the UK where we have been active on a
range of projects for ABS Broadcast, Arqiva, the
BBC, Intervideo, Trinity Broadcast Networks and a
very high profi le central London system which we
are not at liberty to talk about yet. We have also
seen a high activity level in the Middle East with
strong demand from customers around the region.
Kampe: Absolutely! We enriched our portfolio
to six business areas – outside broadcasting,
satcom, broadcast facilities, mobile surveillance
solutions, sport arena multimedia infrastructure,
as well as engineering and innovation services.
Besides our traditional strong core business of
building OB vans and SNGs, our new business
areas, sport arena multimedia infrastructure and
engineering services, started successfully and we
expect them to prosper.
Moore: Yes, we did see some improvement in
the market, and the number of projects being
discussed for 2015 has increased, so hopefully
we’ll see a continuing recovery in our sector.
Robinson: As always business is an ever
moving concept, and we have successfully
44 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
All systems go for 2015?Philip Stevens moderates this month’s forum looking at issues facing Systems Integrators
With a need to stay ahead of all the technological advances across the industry, Systems Integrators (SIs) are in a good position to keep a fi nger on the pulse of trends and developments. So, what challenges will 2015 bring forth for SIs? Will IP take off in a big way? To discuss these and other issues, we’ve brought together (in alphabetical order) Kalvis Baumanis, managing director of Hannu Pro; Steve Burgess, CTO, Megahertz; Jonathan Hughes, ATG Danmon’s head of system Integration; Rainer Kampe, managing director/CTO, Broadcast Solutions; Kevin Moore, managing director, Eurotek; Malcolm Robinson, director of operations, Broadcast Networks; Alex Shrank, systems architect, VSC Design; Tomas Vesely, broadcast project director, Visual Unity.
Forum
In the 2014 forum, most participants expressed confi dence for the year ahead. Did the last 12 months see the progress you envisaged?
Kalvis Baumanis, Hannu
Stephen Burgess, Megahertz
TVBEurope 45March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Forum
delivered a number of key projects
from playout systems to OB vehicles.
I think a lot of people used the
year to gain some ideas for budget
setting, as we have provided a
large number of quotations that
have not developed into projects.
I believe the industry itself is moving
through an interesting time as
we settle into HD broadcasting,
while still pushing technology and
innovation to continue to drive the
market place forward. The term
‘good enough’ seems to have
become more commonplace!
Shrank: Yes it did. Having been
awarded a place on the BBC
systems integration framework we
have subsequently been awarded
some contracts within this and we
have also been busy completing
other projects in the UK and overseas
for new and existing customers.
2014 saw an increase in the number
of ongoing support contracts that
we provide to customers. This is
becoming an increasingly important
part of our business and something
that more and more customers
expect from Systems Integrators
rather than the traditional model of
‘sign-off and handover’.
Vesely: My expectation for
the availability of more IP-based
technology was not fulfi lled, as the
product launches announced at
the beginning of the year were
mostly postponed.
Burgess: Upgrading existing systems
to HD is still a signifi cant part of our
business. But, at the same time, we
did see a number of orders for new
systems, where customers took a
decision that the upgrade path was
not economical, or the project is to
fulfi l a new business requirement.
Many projects are driven by national
and international events. In the UK,
the next is the general election.
Moore: In our market, it is a mix
of both. Most clients are still working
through the effects of the downturn,
so are spending as little as they can
on new technology, and upgrading
where possible. But in some areas
we are seeing moves to new
technology, particularly in OTT and
on-demand services.
Shrank: This will depend upon a
number of factors, such as where
they are in the technology cycle,
how new the current investment is,
and what is driving their business. If
a company is considering a major
refurbishment, then it is always sensible
to look at what technology is on the
horizon, but some customers may
be driven to adapt new technology
by immediate business needs. Most
customers will initially look to upgrade
if that will satisfy their medium term
requirements, but some may adopt
new technology if they are at the
point of a major reinvestment.
Baumanis: IP is very thrilling, but
clients want to be sure and see
it really working with the same
robustness as existing traditional
baseband implementations. Last
year was promising for IP, but in
reality there were no solutions to
really work. Hopefully next year will
bring more real ‘fruits’.
Burgess: Within the DSNG
market, IP is now the standard
with smaller trucks. Larger DSNGs
and OB trucks are still based on
traditional technology, although
all have an increasing amount of
IP connectivity and infrastructure.
We have customers looking at IP,
particularly when they are also
considering 4K. The absence of
agreed standards is limiting the
deployment of this technology.
Hughes: Clients are still opting
to purchase and install proven
technology, but they are looking
at the available upgrade paths
on new products to allow IP
connectivity.
Kampe: In the future, more and
more conventional devices will
be replaced by software, routers
will be exchanged by network
switches and complete systems will
be connected via network cables
– so IP will become a major part of
system integration. The demand
for reliable and safe running
systems will increase in the future.
Kevin Moore, Eurotek
Alex Shrank, VSC Design
Where technology is changing rapidly, are clients generally opting for upgrades or new installs?
IP technology is discussed a great deal at the moment. What are your clients requesting with regards to this technology?
“IP is very thrilling, but clients want to be sure and see it really working with
the same robustness as existing traditional baseband
implementations” Kalvis Baumanis,
Hannu
Currently, there is an element of uncertainty
towards the direction of the IP-shift and on the
consequences for our customers’ business. But
once these questions are being answered,
the advantages on costs, maintenance
and fl exibility will promote the market
breakthrough of IP. To be ahead of the
development a dedicated team at Broadcast
Solutions works solely on IP-technology.
Moore: As mentioned earlier, OTT and
second screen is a big topic, as are IPTV
distribution systems for in-house viewing and
signal distribution. We are also seeing quite
a lot of interest in IP for contribution and
distribution links.
Robinson: IP is full of nonsense at the
moment. In its basic form, it’s a point to
point transportation method which has
been around for a number of years, as a
full blown infrastructure it’s full of unknown
complications, but this is steadily becoming
a little less hazy. Give it time and we will see
all of these innovations naturally fi nd their
place. At this stage, why be the fi rst, what
does it really bring to your day-to-day job at
the moment? Sure it may have commercial
and operational benefi ts in the future, but so
far I have not seen this in a viable working
scenario. This said we are working with the
key players to ensure that when the solutions
are deemed fi t for purpose we are ready to
offer a professional, unbiased and
knowledgeable viewpoint to our customers,
enabling them to make informed decisions.
Shrank: High bandwidth fi le-based
connections, such as those between storage
systems and edit clients or servers have been
standard using IT platform technology. But
10GbE and 40GbE routing alongside baseband
3Gbs SDI signals and hybrid multiviewer inputs
and display handling is of key interest today
and this is where the leading question is
‘how are these individual sources actually
generated?’. AVB, as an interoperability
standard, makes clients then consider if their
network is AVB-enabled or if they need a major
infrastructure upgrade to handle it. The client’s
business sector, be it broadcaster, production
house or link service provider, defi nes how each
will evaluate the deployment of IP and the
ROI it can bring.
Vesely: We can defi nitely see an increase
in IP-based installations rather than traditional
audio-video base band, but still there are
enough conservative customers not fully
convinced to transition to IP, plus there are areas
where the technology is not yet available.
Baumanis: Delivery to different platforms would
be one of them. Nowadays every broadcaster
or operator implements OTT. For broadcast –
more integrated, affordable and easy-to-use
live production systems are in demand. In
general customers are asking for feature-rich,
all in one solutions.
Hughes: Software skills have become an
increasingly important aspect of the systems
integration business, and that demands a strong
understanding of the whole technical spectrum
from baseband video and audio right through to
media fi le processing and IP bridging. We also fi nd
ourselves asked to work in partnership with customers
much earlier in the planning process than used to
be the case, explaining the relative operational and
technical merits of the various workfl ow options.
Kampe: High speed cameras are becoming
increasingly common in sports production. In
our portfolio we offer different solutions from the
traditional 3x up to systems allowing 10,000fps.
And, of course, we always ensure that these
technologies are integrated seamlessly into
the production fl ow.
Robinson: MAM and OTT services are currently
moving through some signifi cant innovations,
while cloud-based systems are pushing the
operational desires further and further and
making cost effective channels realistic.
Shrank: UHD baseband SDI handling,
46 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
Forum
Beyond IP, are there any particular technologies that are more in demand today than two years ago?
Malcolm Robinson, Broadcast Networks
Tomas Vesely, Visual Unity
Jonathan Hughes, ATG Danmon
Rainer Kampe, Broadcast Solutions
typically as Quad-link, is now a real
requirement. The cost of acquisition,
editing and local display of UHD is
not prohibitive, thus the adaption of
the more costly core infrastructure
to pass the required bandwith is a
real consideration.
Vesely: There is defi nitely a
boom of digital cameras used
for acquisition and as fi le-based
content is a reality it makes MAM
systems more demanding as well.
Baumanis: With 4K last year, it was
the same situation as IP – lots of
talk, but no real implementation.
Now, again, this has restarted and
we believe that this year a few
test channels replacing 3D will be
started. At the same time, these
customers will want to produce their
own 4K content.
Burgess: We have delivered a 4K
Links truck to a UK customer already
and expect orders for a couple
more 4K vehicles in the near future.
As mentioned earlier, the lack of
agreed standards is dampening
customers’ take up of 4K.
Hughes: 4K looks an attractive
investment option for new-start-
up camera crews or production
companies, but we have yet to
see any signifi cant interest from
mainstream broadcasters.
Kampe: Of course, everybody
talks about 4K these days, which
is being pushed by the industry in
the same way as 3D a couple of
years ago. But, in our view, 4K is
different and we expect that there
will be a real breakthrough soon.
That’s because 4K really brings
some added value into the living
room. In our opinion, the main
obstacle currently is the lack of
standardisation – especially for
the interfaces and connectors.
Right now there are too many
different concepts on the market.
It is much to be hoped that all
relevant industry partners will sit
together to negotiate over a widely
accepted standard.
Moore: No real demand for 4K as
yet, other than some small islands
in graphics and post, although the
newest crop of 4K capable cameras
is fuelling some demand.
Robinson: 2014 saw limited
enquiries about 4K, but we are seeing
some increase already in 2015.
Shrank: 4K DCI (4096x2160) is a
specialist arena, but the interest
in UHD (3840x2160) is high. Some
manufacturers’ early adoption
of 6G and 12G SDI link handling
provides a guideline for other
manufacturers to reach in advance
of any offi cial standards body
publishing guidance.
Vesely: We can see the
relevance of 4K currently only
for acquisition – fi lm or TV drama
production and subsequently in post
production. We don’t see other 4K
installations in our territory, apart
from Digital Cinema and preliminary
DVB-T2/S2 transmission tests.
Baumanis: Becoming more
knowledgeable in networking and
software solutions to be able to provide
the best possible services to our clients.
Burgess: Timescales are always
a challenge. Event deadlines
are usually fi xed and any delays
in the customer’s budget approval
process always squeezes the
SIs timescale.
Hughes: With technology
advancing rapidly we need to keep
up with these changes so that we
can provide our clients with the
technical expertise to evaluate the
options placed before them and
help determine the right technology
to fi t their needs.
Kampe: Besides our traditional
existing clients – where we are
very strong – we are constantly
developing new markets. Therefore,
one of the challenges we are facing
is the need for highly professional
colleagues in all departments and in
all our international subsidiaries. Some
of these new markets need different
solutions, tailored to their climatic
conditions, workfl ows, educations or
budgets. We face two tendencies
within our business - standardisation,
wherever possible, and customisation,
wherever needed. In both areas
we follow the company’s goal,
that is to deliver turnkey solutions
that fi t perfectly to the needs of our
customers – worldwide.
Moore: We are seeing increased
competition from international
organisations, with pressure on
margins and labour rates. We also
see that many manufacturers are
reducing their in-house expertise,
and it is being left to Systems
Integrators to fi gure out the details
on the technology. There has been
a considerable brain-drain in the
manufacturing end of the business,
and it’s getting more diffi cult to
fi nd product managers with
detailed knowledge of their range
in many organisations.
Robinson: An SI’s role is to give
a balanced innovative design
service to its customers. This has
never changed, and the roles
and knowledge to attain this is the
challenge. The industry still has an
appetite to do things correctly and
that’s where a good SI can make
a difference. If you are building a
house you make a decision on a
commercial basis on whether you
use an architect, surveyor, structural
engineer or design yourself. They
all have pros and cons. Our industry
is similar. If customers have the
correct knowledge base and
resources then they will adopt the
build to their own principle. If they
are looking for something different,
then that is where we come in. We
can offer design services through to
full turnkey solutions and everything
in between.
Shrank: The challenge will be to
keep pace with technology and
standards to ensure we maintain
the same high level of knowledge
across product ranges to give our
clients the best advice at all stages
of their requirements.
Vesely: Our continuous
challenge, with the vast number of
technology possibilities and merging
of commercial and professional
technologies, is to choose the right
solution for the right purpose and
not to follow only the price tag
when you make your choice.
TVBEurope 47March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Forum
Have you seen signifi cant interest in 4K installations?
Apart from budgets, what challenges are you facing in 2015?
48 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
Before the turn of the year, SNL Kagan
projected the worldwide over-the-top
(OTT) subscription video-on-demand
(SVoD) market should reach 124.6 million paid
subscribers and $8.4 billion in revenue by the
end of 2014. From there it should grow to 249.3
million subscribers and $18.7 billion in revenue in
2018. According to our estimates, North America
leads the market with 59.8 per cent of total
worldwide subscribers in 2014, with the region’s
share projected to drop to 37.7 per cent in 2018
as other regions grow faster but continue to lag
behind North America’s number of subscribers.
Future OTT SVoD growth is expected from
current market leaders such as Netflix Inc and
Time Warner Inc’s HBO as they go expanding
into new markets, plus new market entrants
such as CBS Corp’s CBS and Showtime, and
Starz. We believe that many content owners
could follow HBO’s lead and deliver their own
OTT SVoD services. This is part of the land grab
for pay-TV cord-cutters and ‘cord-nevers’. HBO
has first-mover advantage here with experience
in Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland and
Denmark), but others are joining the ranks.
Networks are evaluating OTT opportunities
cautiously as they do not want to alienate their
pay-TV operator partners. Still unknown is the
impact these standalone OTT services will have
on the pay-TV multichannel bundle. Some
pay-TV operators are already trying to add Netflix
content to their pay-TV bundles.
North America North America is the largest OTT SVoD market
today in terms of subscribers and revenue and
should remain so throughout the forecast period.
However, as mentioned, we project North
America’s share of the total market to decline
as other regions grow faster. Two major players
in North America (Netflix and Amazon.com Inc)
announced price increases earlier this year.
Amazon increased its Prime subscription price
from $79 to $99 per year, but that includes other
benefits beside the online video subscription
service (ie, free shipping and e-books). Netflix
announced a price increase from $7.99 to $8.99
per month, but delayed the increase to current
subscribers for two years.
Western EuropeAccording to our estimates, Western Europe
is the second-largest (after North America)
region today for online video subscribers and
revenues. Netflix, already in the United Kingdom,
the Nordics and the Netherlands, launched in
several European countries in 2014, including
France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium
and Luxembourg. Netflix is expected to launch in
additional Western European countries in 2015.
Netflix competitors are also expanding into more
countries, driving growth across Western Europe.
Wuaki, a strong OTT provider in Spain and the
Worldwide OTT subscriptions on the rise
Data Centre
2014 124.6 million
2015 154.7 million
2016 184.5 million
2017 216.9 million
2018 249.3million
Worldwide OTT SVoD paid subscriber forecast Source: SNL Kagan
Research from SNL Kagan points to strong worldwide growth for OTT subscription video-on-demand services by the end of 2018. Norm Bogen, research director at SNL Kagan, offers a detailed insight into the company’s latest report
TVBEurope 49March 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Data Centre
UK, recently launched in France
and plans further expansion in Italy
and Germany in 2015. A plethora
of other OTT SVoD providers, led by
major media backers, are vying for
a share of the market. Commercial
TV network ProSieben’s Maxdome
is a significant OTT SVoD provider
in Germany, while other OTT SVoD
players are more commonly owned
by existing pay-TV operators —
notably Sky plc’s Now TV in the UK;
Modern Times Group MTG AB’s
Viaplay in the Nordics; Vivendi SA’s
CanalPlay Infinity in France; and
Prisa’s Canal+ Yomvi in Spain.
Eastern EuropeEastern Europe today constitutes a
relatively small share of the global
OTT SVoD market, with shares of
subscribers and revenue at 1.3 per
cent and 1.1 per cent of worldwide
volume respectively, according to
our estimates. Russia and Poland
are the two leading markets in
terms of number of OTT initiatives.
Most of the initiatives are backed
by TV networks with established
positions (ie, Cyfrowy Polsat SA’s
Polsat, Central European Media
Enterprises Ltd, HBO, TVN S.A.,
Viasat). SNL Kagan expects the
market to see significant near-
to medium-term growth given
the various OTT initiatives being
implemented by online video
providers. Ipla (Poland), Voyo
(Czech Republic and Romania)
and Viaplay (Russia) are some
of the early market entrants. The
region is expected to experience
dynamic growth in subscribers over
the next five years, at a compound
annual growth rate of 45.9 per cent
through 2018.
Asia-PacificAsia-Pacific, the world’s most
populous region, also has the
most TV households. We project
subscriptions to the region’s OTT
subscription video services to grow
at a compound annual growth
rate of 44.4 per cent through 2018
to 91.8 million subscribers. Youku
Todou is a major OTT player in
China, as is Hulu in Japan and Zee
Entertainment Enterprises Ltd’s Ditto
TV in India. Due to price sensitivity,
ad-supported OTT video is much
more popular than OTT subscription
services in China, India and other
less developed countries. However,
as the middle class in these
countries grows, SNL Kagan expects
Asia-Pacific to become the world’s
second-largest region for OTT SVoD
services by 2018.
Latin AmericaOTT SVoD services entered Latin
America earlier than some of
the other regions, with Netflix
and TotalMovie ranking as the
major providers. However, late in
2013, TotalMovie exited the Latin
American market to focus on selling
its online video platform to other
companies. That severely restricted
the growth of OTT SVoD services
in the region in 2014. However,
other players including América
Móvil’s Claro Video, Telefónica SA’s
On Video and VIVO’s Vivo Play
have stepped in to pick up the
slack. Credit card penetration in
Latin America is very low, creating
challenges in online payments for
OTT video services.
Middle East and AfricaThe Middle East and Africa
region represents a fraction of
the global SVoD market, with
estimated shares of subscribers
and revenue both at just 0.1 per
cent of worldwide volume. A lack
of premium OTT content, limited
consumer purchasing power and
insufficient broadband access
in many parts of the region keep
OTT services out of reach for
most households, particularly in
Sub-Saharan Africa. As a result,
several of the region’s main OTT
start-ups, including Nigeria-based
iROKOtv and United Arab
Emirates-based ICflix, have seen
most of their paid subscribers
using the services from outside
the region, as local households
either do not have the broadband
facility needed to stream
premium content, or cannot afford
a monthly subscription due to
low income.
2014 $8.4 billion
2018 $18.7 billion
Worldwide OTT SVoD revenue forecast Source: SNL Kagan
‘Asia-Pacific, the world’s most populous region, also has the most TV households. We project subscriptions to the region’s OTT
subscription video services to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 44.4 per cent through 2018 to 91.8 million subscribers’
50 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com March 2015
Mobile and tablet viewing leads the way
Data Centre
Mobile and tablet viewing is expected
to reach 50 per cent of all online views
by late 2015, according to Ooyala’s Q3
2014 Global Video Index Report. The report also
shows that mobile and tablet devices reached
30 per cent of all online video views during the
quarter, representing a 114 per cent year-over-
year increase.
Viewers increasingly are turning to the internet
for their daily content, driven in large part by
increased access to premium and live video
content, especially international sporting events
and news of all sorts. The result is unprecedented
growth rates in mobile and tablet video
consumption. Broadcasters and publishers who
have access to this kind of consumption data
for their own content have a unique opportunity
to capitalise on this trend, particularly in mature
markets where video-capable devices and
wireless broadband are ubiquitous.
Ooyala’s Q3 2014 Global Video Index Report
also shows substantial growth of long-form video
consumption across devices. Connected TVs –
whether connected directly to the internet or via
game consoles and other devices – were central
to long-form content consumption during the
quarter. Viewers watched long form content,
videos longer than ten minutes, four times more
than on tablets and almost ten times more than
on mobile phones.
More surprisingly, the report shows that all
screens are becoming popular for watching
longer video. Tablet viewers spent 68 per cent
of their time watching video exceeding ten
minutes, indicating that tablets are becoming
nearly interchangeable with TVs for long form
video. Even mobile phone users spent 48 per
cent of their total viewing time with long-form
content, which tends to be premium content
such as TV shows, movies, news and sporting
events. This trend points to new monetisation
opportunities for premium video publishers as
mobile devices are no longer solely for ‘snack-
sized’ content.
“Cloud-based TV has arrived. Broadcasters
and content providers realise that, with the right
approach, IP-delivered content can be more
economical with higher return in terms of building
and monetising audiences, compared to linear
TV,” said Ooyala CEO Jay Fulcher. “What’s
really exciting is the pace at which many of the
most prominent players in the industry are now
innovating and meeting their audiences where
they are; with the content they want most,
on the right screen, at the right time, with an
incredibly rich experience.”
Other new statistics show consistent
patterns emerging in the way people shift their
video consumption across various devices
throughout the day, and also in how weekdays
differ from weekends when it comes to
device preferences.
Mobile devices in particular see steady views
throughout the course of a day. Globally,
smartphone and tablet views ramp up in the
morning and during commute hours; they dip
as the work day begins and people turn to their
PCs, rising again during the commute home and
peaking at night. Generally, this is a universal
pattern, except in Latin America where video
gets very little play on phones and tablets during
the day. Tablets remain the clear screen of
choice for web-delivered video in the evening
in every region, although on weekends when
they tend to be used only slightly more than
computers and mobile phones. The report also
shows nuances in daily device patterns that vary
across continents.
Ooyala’s Q3 2014 Global Video Index highlights monetisation opportunities for broadcasters across the globe, with share of mobile and tablet viewing having increased 400 per cent in two years
Viewing content Year-over-year, smartphone and tablet
views more than doubled, showing a
114 per cent increase
Smartphone and tablet video views
made up just six per cent of all online
video views in Q3 2012. In eight subsequent
quarters, growth has exceeded 400 per cent
Tablet viewers spent 23 per cent of their
time watching videos between 30 minutes
and 60 minutes long, the most of any device
Connected-TV viewers spent 80 per cent
of their time watching video longer than
ten minutes