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Transcript of TVBE July 2015 Digital Edition
www.tvbeurope.com
July 2015Business, insight and intelligence for the media and entertainment industry
2020: visions of the futureSpecial report: Eurovision
Forum: Channel in a Box
Bridging the gender divideEvaluating the landscape for women in broadcast
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TVBEurope 3July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
What a privilege it was to
be sat amongst such
industry experience,
intellect, and inspiration. Our rather
functional setting may have lacked
much ambience of its own, but this
was a roundtable debate of such
expression and candour that little
external stimulus was required to
encourage it along.
This was a room full of industry
experts; achievers; a gathering of
role models to the next generation
of talent that we as a business
must strive to encourage into our
fold. The very essence of bringing these people
together was so that somewhere on our horizon,
they will be acknowledged for their professional
acumen and achievements, and not because
they have overcome gender discrimination and
other forms of ‘political’ imbalance to get to
where they are.
Ultimately, this was a panel that could have
been offering informed perspectives on a legion
of industry topics. The fact they weren’t tells you
all you need to know about where we are in the
pursuit of gender equality in our sector.
Unfortunately, it appears that the only time
a signifi cant body of female executives are
seen together on a conference panel or closed
seminar of this ilk is when gender equality is the
discussion point. There must be a consensus
throughout the sector to change this, but talking
about the existing problems will only get us so
far. That’s why we created this roundtable event,
to not only acknowledge the status
quo, but to identify how all of the
momentum created by forums of this
nature will inspire action. There needs
to be a tangible result – something
that can be measured in the same
way a business measures ROI on its
activities.
Much of the discussion inside the
apologetically beige interior of our
Bloomsbury Hotel suite centred on
the grassroots, on education; on
informing the next generation of
talent that there is a future for them
in our industry – male or female. It
touched on the responsibility of senior female
fi gures in the sector to support the new wave
by becoming their champions, ambassadors,
and role models. There are many success stories
in this marketplace: the dignitaries sat at our
roundtable a great example of that fact. Those
successes need to be highlighted more often,
but in highlighting them, we need to ensure there
is an end product.
Forums, seminars, roundtables, and all their
associated editorial coverage will only get us so
far: it’s action that will bring about the change
we envisage. And I agree with our esteemed
panel that to pave the way for change, the best
place to start is at grassroots level.
And while gender imbalance remains a cause
for concern, TVBEurope will remain a committed
advocate of the movement for change.
James McKeownExecutive Editor
We must target the grassroots of our industry to bring the required balance
Welcome
Bridging the great divideEDITORIALExecutive Editor - James [email protected] - Melanie [email protected] Staff Writer - Holly [email protected] 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 [email protected]+44 207 354 6000Sales Manager - Ben [email protected]+44 207 354 6000Account Manager - Richard [email protected]+44 207 354 6000Managing Director - Mark BurtonUS Sales - Michael MitchellBroadcast Media International, PO Box 44, Greenlawn, New York, NY [email protected]+1 (631) 673 0072Japan and Korea Sales - Sho HariharaSales & Project, Yukari Media [email protected]+81 6 4790 2222 Fax: +81 6 4793 0800CirculationNewBay Media, Sovereign Park, Lathkill Street, Market Harborough, LE16 9EF, UK
Free [email protected] Tel +44 1580 883848
TVBEurope is published 12 times a year by NewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London, N1 8LN, England
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 July 2015
A host of leading female industry authorities gathered at the Bloomsbury Hotel in London for an exclusive TVBEurope roundtable to discuss the continuing gender imbalance in broadcast and technology
2020: visions of the future 24 2810 Opinion and Analysis
Why OTT is an opportunity and not a threat to TV operators, by Michael Lantz, CEO of Accedo
32 TVBEverywhere
12 Workfl ow
Three French broadcasters are using Avid technology in diverse ways. Melanie Dayasena-Lowe visited M6, TF1 and TV5Monde in and around Paris to fi nd out more
16 Workfl owSpecial report: Eurovision
36Angela Buenger was on the ground at the Wiener Stadthalle to report on ORF’s live production of the record-breaking 2015 Eurovision Song Contest
To follow on from the inaugural TVBEurope 2020 conference on 30 June, we invited Ericsson’s Simon Frost to off er a vision of the future of television within the Networked Society
38This month’s forum takes on a diff erent shape with Philip Stevens talking to a number of Channel in a Box vendors to discover how their solutions are being utilised to maximum eff ect
Channel in a Box forum
Bridging the gender divide
Russell Grute continues his focus on mergers and acquisitions by examining the ‘value of people’
Moving with the times: TVBEurope visits the new Modern Times Group transmission centre
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Opinion and Analysis6 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
The TV landscape has changed
dramatically in recent years, with
consumers growing accustomed to
receiving the content they want when and
where they want it. With this evolution is
increased pressure on video providers to know
what the customer wants and to provide
recommendations and compelling value added
services. Providers are tapping into metadata
to increase service value and generate new
revenue and business models.
Metadata has been present in video streams
since the middle of the 1970s. It is in the changing
environment of consumer-driven content
consumption that metadata is the way to
enhance the viewing experience.
The SCTE-35 standardWith the SCTE-35 standard becoming a
requirement, metadata must be handled
in a very specific way. There is some confusion
as to what adhering to the standard
actually involves.
The SCTE-35 standard provides more flexibility
than previous methods, making it possible to
fully describe a segment within a programme.
SCTE-35 messages not only define the start
and stop points of a segment, but also the
duration, and the content within the segment.
This flexibility makes it easier to provide
personalised content.
Required metadataTwo primary pieces of metadata are required
within the video stream: the first identifies
where in the stream a segment starts and ends;
the second identifies what content is present
in that segment.
In order to set those parameters, the video
provider must determine what constitutes a
segment for them; e.g. the main programme is
often one segment, with other segments
for national and local advertising spots.
SCTE-35 can be used to define more specific
segments than that. Individual scenes can
be defined, enabling the possibility of scene
substitution based on the age and preference
of the viewer.
The rules for content replacement are defined
outside of the video stream and should follow
the Event Signalling and Management (ESAM)
and Event Scheduling and Notification Interface
(ESNI) standards.
Being SCTE-35 compliant: determining the ‘where’SCTE-35 splice messages indicate where to
replace content in a video stream. Splice
points must be identified at the beginning and
end of the content segment. Every splice point
should begin with an encoder-created IDR
frame and the encoder should insert the
SCTE-35 splice message. The splice commands
are contained within a splice information
section SCTE-35 message.
Because duration is present, while it is good
practice to supply both the start and stop points,
it is only a requirement to provide one.
Determining the ‘what’SCTE-35 messages are used to define what
content is in each segment. Splice descriptors
identifying the content in each segment can
be added to a splice information section
message. The SCTE-35 standard predefines
three types of descriptors: the Avail descriptor
is added to the splice insert command, and
this descriptor functions like a cue tone. It is
interpreted by the receiving equipment as a
splice point for substituting local advertising into
the programme stream.
The DTMF descriptor instructs a receiver to
initiate the specified DTMF tone. The result of
this descriptor is the same as the Avail, but
it accomplishes this by signalling older
splicing equipment that still require the
audible DTMF tones.
The segmentation descriptor is used to define
the content of a programme segment. This
descriptor has fields that are used to turn web
distribution on or off, or mark whether a segment
should or should not be blacked out.
According to the specification, the
segmentation descriptor is added to a time
signal command or other splice commands,
and is used to identify the content of a
new upcoming segment. The segmentation
descriptor message should be delivered at
least four seconds before the beginning of
the segment, but is often delivered eight to 12
seconds before the segment.
Making the most of metadataWith the pace of change in the video
distribution industry, it is clear the future
for content distributors is in the value added
to the distributed content. It is a challenge
to implement new standards quickly,
especially when you need to leverage older
equipment and systems that are not fully
compliant. However, the companies that
plan today to manage content smartly will
reap the rewards, delivering compelling
content to viewers, and generating new
revenue streams.
MetadataMeeting the SCTE-35 requirements
By Roger Franklin, CEO, Crystal
With the pace of change in the video distribution industry, it is clear the future
for content distributors is in the value added to the content distributed
Providers are tapping into metadata to increase service value and generate new
revenue and business models
Opinion and Analysis8 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
Satellite interference is a big topic. Much of
this discussion and activity is sparked off by
broadcasters, who wanted to ensure the
seamless delivery of content. The satellite industry
responded by kicking off a host of activity aimed
at reducing interference over the last few years.
There have been a number of specifications,
resolutions, training and quality programmes, and
guidelines issued to ensure the various initiatives
can be as effective as possible, but there is still a
certain lack of clarity for some.
Carrier ID specificationsCarrier ID (CID) is perhaps the most talked about
initiative over the last couple of years, and is an
effective way of fighting interference once it
occurs. It takes the form of a unique embedded
code within the transmission, meaning that when
interference occurs, it can be quickly pinpointed.
After much commitment and effort from the
manufacturers, we now have a DVB specification
and ETSI standard for a new CID insertion
technology, based on an original development
by Comtech EF Data, with Newtec and others
supporting testing and the DVB procedure. The CID
info is now transported in a resilient spread-spectrum
carrier, ensuring the ID can be detected at all times.
Most manufacturers have already integrated
CID support into their products and most new
launches have the ETSI version. The original
Network Information Table (NIT) standard is still in
place and functioning, but as we will discuss in a
moment, it will eventually be phased out. So for
broadcasters, buying new products and ensuring
they adhere to the ETSI standard for CID will
guarantee being CID ready, but also future-proof.
The WBU-ISOG resolutionsThe World Broadcasting Union’s International
Satellite Operators Group (recently renamed
International Media Connectivity Group or
IMCG) issued a number of important resolutions
relating to CID implementation. Some of these
affect satellite operators, to begin the transition
to CID, and the broadcasters’ role to ensure
inclusion of CID in transmissions.
So, here is what you need to be doing already:
CID support should be specified in all requests for
proposal for any SCPC and MCPC video and data.
If you are buying new modulators or single
thread encoders for video uplinking, they should
have CID support that meets the ETSI standard.
The next major deadline for this set of
resolutions is 31 December, 2017, at which point
you will need to ensure:
CID is included for all SCPC and MCPC video
and data transmissions.
The phasing out of the NIT version of CID and
transition to the ETSI standard for CID.
The FCC guidelinesThe FCC is also doing its bit to ensure widespread
implementation of CID by making CID a
requirement for all SNG/flyaway broadcast
platforms by 1 June, 2016. Of course, this
specifically relates to US broadcasts, however,
I would really like to see other regulators and
major broadcasters follow suit.
Getting CID-readyThe broadcasters wanted something done.
Although progress is being made, it is slow.
The satellite industry has made great strides in
developing the technology and tools to combat
interference and there really is some incredible
technology worth looking at, but what is really
needed now is for the broadcasters to step up
and implement CID and training programmes.
There are two principle parts to a
broadcaster’s involvement:
1. Ensure your SNG operators are properly
trained. Better-trained operators are less likely
to cause interference in the first instance, and
better equipped to handle any errors that
may occur. Many operators in the broadcast
environment are simply not sufficiently
trained. Our End Users Initiative (EUI) Advisory
Committee has created a customised training
and certification programme, specifically
tailored to the broadcast SNG environment. The
certification ensures that uplink operators are
properly trained, leading to reduced transmission
errors and decreasing instances of interference.
2. Adopt the Carrier ID technology developed
by the industry to combat interference by
adhering to the guidelines. As a group we
are working continuously on innovations relating
to improving geolocation and tools for determining
VSAT interference. This technology is well
advanced, with the ability to use interference
cancellation technology to ensure you can
tackle this challenge.
Complying with interference guidelinesBy Martin Coleman, executive director, the Satellite Interference Reduction Group (IRG)
Th e wireless and most
of capturing
It’s the subject that comes up time and again
in discussions about M&A. With individual
behaviour often triggered by perceived threat
or opportunity, assessing the role and ongoing
value of key individuals and teams causes many
misunderstandings.
Regardless of company size or funding
type, it’s the people that innovate and deliver.
Working together they market, sell, and support a
company’s value proposition.
I spoke with Ben Davenport, director of
marketing at Dalet and an M&A veteran from
both AmberFin and Omneon. “As an investor or
shareholder, gauging the success of a merger
or acquisition could be fairly black and white:
largely deduced over a defined period of time
from the (merged) companies’ quarterly or annual
financial statements. For customers, the benefits of
one vendor acquiring another can be much less
obvious. It’s important to remember, especially in
such an innovative industry as ours, that companies
are actually about people. It’s people that have
the courage to collaborate, innovate and create.
Sure, you buy a product and might compare that
like-for-like with other products, but later on you
actually buy from a person or group. Personal
relationships are often your direct connection to a
brand and crucially where you have placed your
loyalty and trust.”
Once those key people start to move or are
moved around then trust has to move too. That’s
a difficult transition, impossible to predict. The long-
term, face-to-face dialogue which helps forge that
trust with customers is hard won. Ask any real sales
professional. And it’s great sales people that often
suffer most during a change of owner, if they judge
that their promises and customer commitments
might be affected by the new regime.
Keith Nicholas, head of operations for digital
media services at BBC Studios and Post Production,
adds, “Acquisitions can cause unintended
uncertainty for customers and while those in the
boardroom understand their rationale behind
bringing companies together, this is quite often
misunderstood by those that interface directly with
the clients; their concern is often more about their
future within the merged organisation. Whilst the
press releases may make all the right noises, the
discussion in the pub may be more confusing.
So it’s important that the new structure is made as
clear as possible as early as possible: time is
of the essence.”
So how do potential investors successfully
mitigate this – how do they get beyond the
spreadsheets and the roadmaps? It’s not
uncommon during an acquisition for there to be
a target list. Specific individuals, who are judged
to be of the highest value, may be obliged to
stay with the merged company for a prescribed
length of time post-acquisition. Their loyalty may be
incentivised; so called ‘golden handcuffs’. There
can also be a longer list of those who are protected
from ‘combined efficiency’ restructuring targets
later on too. Maybe they get boxing gloves?
Davenport again: “Smart integrations try to
understand the value of individuals and the
intangible values they bring. Acquisitions often
fail to achieve enough growth when there is
inaccurate perception of these intangible values or
inappropriate leadership.”
Timing is everythingHavard Myklebust, CTO at Norwegian commercial
broadcaster and media house TV 2, gives his
customer’s point of view when an acquisition
becomes public knowledge.
“For vendors of strategic technology, it can
affect their short-term business negatively. In many
cases it can be a double negative. It casts doubt
over any urgent choices. A vendor that you may
have been investigating successfully for many
months can suddenly look like a less clear choice.
Why are they being acquired? The local sales
team cannot usually offer the reassurance you
need. The next thing you know is that you receive a
delegation from the new management promising
everything will stay the same, or that everything
will change. Only one of those statements may
actually be helpful. Alternatively, the delegation
comes fishing for answers about your requirements
and the market potential; this can really set alarm
bells ringing. Customers have much less time and
resources to adapt to the consequences of an
acquisition than investors realise. Often, it causes a
loss of interest.”
Indeed, I have seen many occasions where in
addition to the unintended consequences of poor
customer communication, the competition takes
immediate clear strategic action to benefit from
an acquisition or rumour in the short term. Extra
stamina is required to get growth going again. Even
if that is present in the target sales team, it may
take longer for the people at resellers or systems
integrators to regain their impetus and direction.
Joachim Bergman, head of service area
playout and media management at Ericsson
Broadcast and Media Services, adds, “In recent
projects where vendors have been acquired,
the results have been mixed and comparatively
small issues have caused tangible performance
issues. Sometimes, problems arise in support and
in larger issues related to premature or rapid
decisions on product rationalisation without proper
communication, both internally and to customers.
“For us, there is a need for transparent and
rapid communication of roadmaps and changes
in order for us to mitigate any potential negative
consequences. Hiding or waiting to communicate
bad news is never a good option and that has
sometimes happened. It is better for us to have the
difficult conversations up front with a constructive
dialogue about transition and ‘sunset’ of products
and services.”
The customers’ buying cycle and expectations,
especially with longer-term technology investments
such as MAM, newsrooms systems and automation
that have lengthy implementations, often conflict
directly with the timescale of acquisition – and
the product strategy post-acquisition. People are
important here too, as many situations are better
dealt with face to face.
Where’s the edge?Investors often comment to me that the broadcast
and media technology industry is financially difficult
to size – appearing both too big and too small at
the same time. The edges are hard to find. So many
products appear unfinished, too.
For investors, and customers of course, it’s
sometimes challenging to ascertain exactly how
mature the target’s emerging new technologies
and products really are. Early adopter users are
looking for the same thing as more adventurous
M&A: the value of peopleOpinion and Analysis
10 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
I hope you enjoyed last month’s feature ‘Ghosts in the machine’; Broadcast Innovation’s soft-rock-defined M&A review. This month, part two focuses on the greatest intangible of all in successful M&A: the value of people. By Russell Grute
investors, something with suitable potential that
is currently undervalued. In other words, the right
marginal area for public or private investment as
explained by Josh Stinehour in last month’s issue.
Optimal success comes when products and
solutions are ready enough. Or ‘out of the box’, as
specified in many an RFP. This takes real discipline
in product management and in selling to control
commitments. And perhaps ‘the box’ might be a
strange shape; not square. Maybe the cardboard
is a bit soggy.
By way of example, in my experience smart
appliance vendors (for example Axon, Evertz,
Snell and Ross) are better at this. Telestream and
Elemental impress, too. However, many MAM,
automation and newsroom control vendors
have a more difficult time. Their products are
more complex solutions with multiple third-party
integrations, and they suffer where clients do not
effectively communicate all of their requirements.
I use these to illustrate where I have found investors
confused by the dynamics of the broadcast
industry. Please don’t write in.
Smaller, privately owned vendors often innovate
the fastest in any industry. Private ownership allows
them to optimise their own balance of innovation
and risk internally. This is usually via a succession of
early sales, where they try to mature their solution
(finish the product) whilst gaining feedback. This is
a tried and tested path for the vast majority of the
start-up and small (say around $5 million annual
revenue excluding support) vendors at NAB. This
inevitably leads to a highly challenging imbalance:
choosing between continued investment in
innovation and development versus the growing
pressure to deliver on their commitments in new
sales and projects.
With many customers actually much larger than
the suppliers their businesses rely on, in terms of
revenue, customers do exert inappropriate pressure
at times. When further growth is required beyond
what is possible organically in-house, or it looks like
the wheels are falling off due to customer success
and pressure, investment is sought.
Another potential cautionary indicator is when
a vendor’s key developers end up on the projects.
Late night tactical coding on the job accompanied
by too many fizzy drinks is fast, but often means
poor quality control and bad documentation. This
high wire act is usually managed instinctively by a
small core group of people. Often, the company
founders, led by a charismatic CTO, are performing
the front line communications face to face. Unless
this can be scaled-up, the acquired company,
however smart, may not add as much growth
as expected.
I’ll leave it to Keith Nicholas to bring us back down
to earth. “However long you have worked in
the industry, we all develop a network of trusted
colleagues and associates who we work with and
follow from supplier to supplier. These relationships
can be overlooked at the time of merger, but it
can make the difference between a sales call
being accepted or declined. I am a strong
believer that our industry’s greatest strength is still
the people and personalities.”
TVBEurope 11July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Opinion and Analysis
Until earlier this year, the UK operation
and administrative centres for MTG
(Modern Times Group) were located in
buildings some miles apart. With the lease on
the operations centre due to expire in 2015,
the group made a decision to locate all of its
UK operations under one roof. The result is an
impressive facility close to London’s Chiswick Park
that handles the playout for some 60 television
channels in both SD and HD serving various
parts of the world.
But what is a Swedish company doing with a
truly state-of-the-art broadcast facility in the UK?
And why does it also have another major
TX centre in Latvia?
“When MTG started broadcasting to
Scandinavia in 1987 there was no commercial
TV market there,” explains Magnus Lindholm,
CEO of MTG Broadcast Centre, Sweden, Latvia
and Africa, and project manager for the
Chiswick Park build. “Therefore, we obtained a
licence in London, and set up a broadcasting
facility that could offer entertainment channels
to viewers all over Scandinavia via satellite. As
our channel offering grew over time, it continued
to make sense to have a central broadcasting
hub in London.”
London is not, however, the only transmission
centre for this international broadcaster. Until
2010, MTG also operated three separate
broadcast centres in the Baltics, but all were in
need of extensive technological investments.
The most effective solution was to centralise
playout to Riga, Latvia, but keep the studio and
sports productions in the neighbouring regions.
Essentially, the live productions in those regions
are produced locally, and sent via fibre network
to Riga for inserts.
Today, both Riga and London provide
separate playout facilities across a number of
MTG’s outlets, but more importantly they provide
back-up for each other’s priority channels in
the case of an emergency or a breakdown.
Workflow12 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
Moving with the timesPhilip Stevens visits the new Modern Times Group transmission centre
The MCR at the MTG facility is located close to the playout room
Each day, the transmission playlists are
loaded in both locations so that a switch can
be made, if necessary.
“That essential duplicating of operations
played a major part in the technology
decisions when we moved into this new
facility,” says Lindholm.
SynergyHe continues, “[The Riga facility] was built
about five years ago and that was based on an
automation system from Pebble Beach Systems.
When we decided to build the new UK facility
it made sense to look at synergies and
efficiencies that could be made. So when we
looked at the options for an automation system
for the new facility, it was reasonable to go with
Pebble Beach Systems Marina, with which we
felt very comfortable.”
Alongside the main transmission facilities in
Riga and London, MTG also utilises Pebble Beach
Systems equipment in other centres in Sweden,
Ghana and Tanzania.
“By using the same brand across several sites,
we can share knowledge and components but,
most importantly, we are more effective,” states
Lindholm. “London and Riga playout centres
are interlinked with a fibre – so what we ingest in
London is available in Riga and vice versa. We
use Front Porch products mainly due to stability
and flexibility. We had an alternative supplier for
this application, but due to the required archive
synchronisation and robustness, Front Porch was
the choice.”
He says that the complexity of the London
operation makes considerable demands on
all the equipment. “For instance, with the TV3
Swedish channel and 19 regional opt-outs being
part of the mix, all the systems need to be totally
reliable and readily manageable.”
TVBEurope 13July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Workflow
“Our goal is to be the leading digital entertainment company in each of our
major markets” Magnus Lindholm, MTG
The new Transmission Centre has been planned to allow daylight to be seen in the room
Workflow14 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
Axon Cortex software is used for controlling the
switching of these 19 regions of TV3 Sweden.
All ingest is carried out in HD format, with
transmissions for the SD channels being down-
converted within the centre.
Automated ingestFrom the outset, the facility has been built
for tapeless operation. Although some of the
content still arrives on tape, MTG is looking to
transition to total digital file delivery by the
end of 2015.
Rachel Bernard, vice president of Broadcast
Operations in London, explains more. “Ingesting
directly to a central storage with instant
playback and editing was one of our key
requirements, mainly to minimise time for file
transfer. The Dalet iCRs were the only application
at the time that could meet these requirements.
The iCR in combination with the Aurora is the
perfect match to automate ingest and quality
check, which we see as an important element to
increase speed, while maintaining quality.”
One major change of supplier came with
the choice of media asset management
(MAM) system.
“We looked at around three MAM solutions
and TMD Mediaflex came out strongest,” states
Bernard. “At the time of the selection process,
TMD offered one of the few systems supporting
two of our key requirements: Quick Time
reference and multilingual audio and subtitling
which is used on our pay-TV channels.
The change of system involved considerable
re-training, but it was completed with few, if
any, problems.”
The transmission centre utilises two separate
Harmonic systems. Each system is fully redundant
providing four spectrums in total. To minimise
transfers and disturbances there is a cache of 36
hours of each spectrum.
“We need to store broadcast material for up
to six months, so the video archiving solution
from Ideas Unlimited was a good option. This is a
disc-based system that is attached to their server
giving the users access to the complete period via
the Ideas Unlimited software,” explains Bernard.
Onscreen optionsWhen it comes to graphics, MTG uses both
Pixel Power and Vizrt systems. The former is
used mainly for the group’s free-TV channels
dynamic branding, while Vizrt is employed on
the pay-TV outlets.
One of the shift supervisors checks for new schedules in order to chase any missing material for later in the day
MTG’s facility close to London’s Chiswick Park handles playout for some 60 TV
channels in both SD and HD serving various parts of the world
“We have also been using Screen
Subtitling products for many years,
not only in London, but also in
Riga,” says Lindholm. “Screen
offers rapid remote and onsite
support and we are happy with
their performance. MTG has been
using a mixture of other brands
over the years, but we keep
coming back to Screen’s products.
SDI Media, the owner of Screen
Subtitling, delivers MTG’s access
services and this system is well
integrated into our workflows in an
efficient way.”
As far as the physical operation
is concerned, the control room
consists of three ‘pods’ plus a
supervisor position running 24 hours
a day. There is also a schedule
checking operator position that is
manned seven days a week.
“It is a fairly small team, but
that is adequate because we
handle all our own ingest and
because we are really hot when
it comes to QC, especially the
metadata,” says Bernard. “So,
a great deal of the hard work
is done prior to material being
passed to transmission. We have a
really dedicated team that makes
certain everything is ‘good to go’
before it hits the robot.”
She says that with multiple sites it
is vital that a policy of ‘ingest once,
playout many, ingest anywhere,
playout anywhere’ is followed.
Although there are no studios
for live production in the London
centre, there are editing facilities.
Before the relocation, MTG
was using a mixture of editing
formats, but with the move a
decision was made to minimise the
number of brands and solutions
for compatibility, knowledge and
commercial reasons. “We use the
Adobe Premiere mainly for in-
house productions of commercial
material, trailers editing of ingested
material and compliance editing.
Currently, we have more than
100 stations which are connected
to large production storage
to increase efficiencies with
minimised file movements,”
states Lindholm.
Working environmentAlongside the new equipment
and state-of-the-art technology,
Bernard has worked hard to
establish an exceptional working
environment. The main control
room has windows that enable
operators to see the difference
in night and day. Wherever
practical, other rooms, such as
the ingest facility, have been built
with access to daylight. An area
has been set aside that will be
equipped with computers and
printers where technologists will be
able to experiment with new ideas
and concepts. Even the canteen
has been designed to look like an
outdoor leisure facility.
And with all the offices and
technical areas spread across five
floors, there is ample space for the
working environment.
Although the move has only
recently been completed, there is
still movement towards the future.
“Our goal is to be the leading
digital entertainment company
in each of our major markets,”
says Lindholm. “Geographical
expansion and content are our
other key priorities; therefore,
we’re actively looking for and
creating our own formats,
securing Hollywood studio deals
and long-term sports deals, such
as the UEFA Champions League,
Formula One, NHL and the English
Premier League.”
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TVBEurope 15July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Workflow
“MTG has been using a mixture of other brands over the years, but we keep coming back to Screen’s products”
Magnus Lindholm, MTG
By touring the offices of French TV networks
M6, TF1 and TV5Monde, it was clear that
the broadcasters all share the same vision
when it comes to technology. Collaboration
and sharing assets emerged as the common
requirements expected from their systems.
The first visit of the day was to M6 Group, one
of Avid’s longest standing customers, which is
very strong in digital offerings and innovation.
The media group operates ten channels,
which includes the flagship M6 generalist
channel, W9 aimed at a younger audience, and
6ter for families. The company also produces its
own original programming such as teleshopping.
On the digital side, Mathias Bejanin, CTO at M6
Group, said it is the number one group in terms of
visibility on the web with dedicated sites such as
Meteocity for weather reports. “We have digital
services for replay. Our main service is 6play. It
delivers catch-up TV for the main channels of the
group and also offers online channels for specific
thematics such as food or fashion,” he says.
In terms of technical infrastructure, Bejanin
outlines the group’s set-up: “We have a lot of
technical operations because we have studio
production, post production and internal
subsidiaries of the group focused on media
production. We have chosen Avid for both
newsroom and magazine production.
“Regarding magazines, we have about 45
to 50 Media Composer rooms and seven Pro
Tools rooms across the various buildings. In
the newsroom, the system can host up to 30
NewsCutters associated with ingest servers,
playout servers controlled by iNEWS Command,
Capture Manager and iNEWS. The full Avid
range in fact.
“The main addition to our technical infrastructure
recently is the asset management system,
Interplay | MAM.” The new Avid workflow
enables M6 to share purchased content
between 50 concurrent users and four
departments and maximise the value of its
massive archive of media assets.
“Avid Interplay | MAM enables us to save
valuable time and resources across our entire
organisation. Our old workflows and systems were
limited, and did not allow easy co-operation
between departments.
We are now able to easily share media between
all of our different departments.”
Bejanin explains what M6 was looking for from
a MAM system. “A few years ago, we had a lot
of technical infrastructure for post production
and different teams working on post production
infrastructure but quite independently, which
means every team would keep their own
archives and database. There was no exchange
with the newsroom. This was difficult to operate
and didn’t allow us to share images or save costs
as we could end up buying images several times.
“We started looking for a system that would unify
Workflow16 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
French broadcasters value collaboration and innovation
Three French broadcasters are using Avid technology in diverse ways. They are adapting their workflows to meet the changing needs of their networks as well as adapting to more digital and non-linear services. Melanie Dayasena-Lowe visited M6, TF1 and TV5Monde in and around Paris to find out more
“Now, 80 per cent of our archive is digitised and is directly accessible in the
Interplay | MAM system” Mathias Bejanin, M6
Mathias Bejanin: “It’s in our plans to plug more and more teams into Interplay | MAM.
all databases, allow us to share and give the
same tools to all the teams. We wanted to
have common rules for indexing, description
of assets, and archiving.”
Exchanging mediaTalking about the benefits, Bejanin adds:
“Interplay | MAM has opened up collaboration
between the internal teams and that was the
initial goal. We can now see each other’s assets.
It really facilitates the exchange of media
between different services and we reach a
much larger database than before.”
M6 has also built an interface for Interplay
| MAM. “We have an interface with our MAM
for the broadcast part. Interplay | MAM is used
for archive but there is a different MAM for
broadcast. The perimeter for this second MAM is
that all the files are ready to be broadcast and
are not archive files.”
Alongside the MAM project, M6 had already
started a programme to digitise all of its assets
because most of it was on tape. “Now, 80 per
cent of our archive is digitised and is directly
accessible in the Interplay | MAM system.”
The company also has plans to extend
accessibility to the MAM. “It’s in our plans to plug
more and more teams into Interplay | MAM. The
most recent addition is the promo department as
they need a lot of images to make their promos.”
One of M6’s other goals was to fully switch to
a file-based workflow and that has already been
achieved. There are no more tapes, everything
has been digitised,” he adds.
The next stop was to TV5Monde, a French-
speaking TV network created by French-
speaking countries such as France, Belgium,
TVBEurope 17July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Workflow
In the M6 newsroom, the system can host up to 30 NewsCutters associated with ingest servers, playout servers controlled by
iNEWS Command, Capture Manager and iNEWS
“It is impossible to just think linear. We have to think 360 degrees”
Alexis Renard, TV5Monde
Alexis Renard: “We wanted a product that was reliable and flexible in terms of IT integration”
Canada, and Switzerland. “We broadcast every
kind of content including entertainment, movies,
and news,” says Alexis Renard, deputy technical
director, TV5Monde.
The network’s content is French speaking
and attracts 250 million households worldwide.
According to Renard, its audience comprises
mainly French-loving people and those wanting
to learn French. “In order to attract non-French-
speaking people we subtitle content, so this is a
key differentiator for us. We’re subtitling about
12 different languages including English,
French, and Arabic.”
And what goes on behind the scenes with
TV5Monde’s technical set-up? “Technology is
everywhere because we have four main systems
for ingest, broadcasting, post production, news,
and archiving/storage,” he explains.
“In order to link everything together we have a
centralised service-oriented architecture (SOA).
It was mainly an IT integration project, which
started in 2012 and took two years.”
The project was progressive, “not an on-off
operation”, he remarks. “With the traditional
broadcast operation, we offer a lot of services
around that: internet, mobile platform, catch-up
and non-linear content services.”
TV5Monde has been an Avid customer since
2000 and Renard explains how Avid’s technology
plays a key part in enabling the staff to share
assets and collaborate.
“Everything that is focused around hot content
(news and live) goes through the Avid system. It is
ingested there, goes through a post production
step and is then sent to the production control
room. Cold content goes through the traditional
ingest and playout system.”
For archiving, Interplay | MAM is used for two
purposes. “We extract everything valuable from
the hot content, which can be reused later and
archived. There is a team of people in charge of
describing the content and filling in
metadata in Interplay | MAM. It is also used
for referencing and tracking the content that
is used for playout.”
Renard says the Avid system is crucial
for TV5Monde. It is used for traditional post
production plus there is a native Avid workflow
for news. iNEWS is used by the journalism team
to access footage and validate stories while
NewsCutters are used for editing and Interplay
Central for rough cutting, rushes and logging.
“Everywhere else, the workflows are managed
by our SOA SYGEPS where processes are
scripted. That’s where we can master and
control our operations. SYGEPS is also connected
to the supervision system.”
Flexible and openRenard praises the Avid system for its openness.
“We wanted a product that was reliable and
flexible in terms of IT integration. Now, there is
proof that we can integrate that system very
deeply in a modern TV organisation.
“We wanted to optimise the quality of the
content and storage we wanted to buy. We
decided to go for XDCAM HD, which the Avid
system supports. It’s also flexible so if we want
to extend the system and scale it, we can. The
post production system is separated from the
www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
Workflow18 TVBEurope
TV5Monde is French speaking and attracts 250 million households worldwide
“More and more we’re making graphics-only stories”
Hervé Pavard, TF1
Hervé Pavard: “TF1 is still working with a traditional MAM to edit stories”
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Workflow20 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
ingest system. This was a major step because in
the past it was the same and in terms of resource
allocation it was not perfect,” he comments.
When it comes to technology, the network has
also focused on sustainability and conserving
energy by building a green room three years
ago to house its technical equipment in an
environmentally friendly manner.
Going forward, TV5Monde will be tweaking
and customising its workflow. “The architecture
has been conceived for change, thanks to the
openness. We keep moving especially when we
talk about non-linear services.”
Renard elaborated on the importance for non-
linear services: “Now it’s impossible to promote
and develop the business if you don’t offer non-
linear content around the core offering. We work
with our digital team to provide content for these
non-linear platforms: catch-up, streaming, VoD,
mobile apps, web apps and websites. Everything
is managed from the same system. Workflows are
managed by SYGEPS for delivering content to
these non-linear channels. It is impossible to just
think linear. We have to think 360 degrees.”
The final leg of the tour was to see TF1, the
oldest French TV channel, which is considered to
be the leading broadcaster for news in France.
TF1’s news shows at 13:00 and 20:00 are the most
popular shows. The broadcaster also produces
the 24/7 LCI news channel.
Located in Boulogne, the TF1 building features
a main studio for TF1, one for LCI, and two for
production facilities. The broadcaster uses non-
TF1 facilities for shows such as The Voice.
The main studio used for TF1’s news shows –
built by TF1 with help from a set designer – was
refurbished back in 2010/2011. Hervé Pavard,
CTO for TF1, says it was a complex project to
ensure the equipment was kept cool through
sufficient airflow and circulation.
Pavard provided a guided tour of the
broadcaster’s facility with a detailed look at the
operations and workflows.
TF1 has a main incoming and recording facility.
“The main incoming desk is where we record all
the feeds and all the stories/rushes in our Avid
system using Interplay Capture. That is recording
on the ISIS system,” explains Pavard.
He describes the change in workflow in
terms of how files are received compared to
a few years ago.
“We now receive files that can
come from our own teams and news agencies
that we use from around the world through
FTP. We are managing files and these are then
pushed to the Avid system.”
For TF1 news, there are 13 editing rooms with
Media Composer and two Pro Tools mixers. “TF1
is still working with a traditional MAM to edit
stories,” he explains.
Graphics-only storiesWith LCI, there are 15 to 20 editing booths, which
are journalist operated. Pavard explains how
there is now a shift towards more graphics-only
stories. “More and more we’re making graphics-
only stories. We used to use stock shots but now
we try and make it 100 per cent graphics. We tell
the story only with graphics.”
Overseeing the main technical operation is
the cockpit. “It looks more at IT supervision of
the complete infrastructure and at broadcast
supervision. It checks everything in real time.
There are messages about what needs to be
done and alarms if anything goes wrong in
the system. You can control the complete
facility from here.”
There is also a test and investigation room
where people can isolate themselves and take
control of the equipment to check everything is
functioning correctly.
iNEWS is used by the journalism team to access footage and validate stories
RTL News organisation’s Amsterdam
operation recently upgraded its studio and
gallery to high definition (HD) and, at the
same time, extensively transformed its existing
facilities by incorporating some innovative
virtual 3D solutions.
“Our previous set-up was somewhat basic,
and we need to develop a new look,” explains
director of news, Marc Schreuder. “What we
wanted to create was a studio with the option
of incorporating a group of very large virtual
images and graphics. These would enable us
to expand the scope of stories or to carry out
animations and on-screen explanations.”
Schreuder goes on to explain that he wanted to
use large virtual images in both the background
and foreground. “The look I wanted to create was
of an empty studio populated with some very big
green screens. The idea was to frame the news
pictures in such a way as to create urgency while
explaining stories for our viewers.”
Dynamic upgradingSo just how did RTL go about achieving the
effect it wanted to create?
Hank van de Loo, manager AV techniek,
RTL Engineering, explains more. “You have
to remember that we are talking about a
studio that was more than ten years old. It
was still operating in SD and so as well as the
need for the more dynamic look for our news
programmes, we needed to upgrade the output
to HD. Not only that, we thought this was a good
moment to see whether or not we were still on
track with our audiences. We wanted to know,
for example, if we were getting our messages
across in a way that fits with the current way
of perceiving news.”
Van de Loo says that because so many of
RTL’s viewers use devices such as iPhones and
tablets, television news output should offer
a similar look and feel, with the ability for presenters
themselves to ‘swipe’ to the next image in the story.
The first phase saw Belgian company Pièce
Montée create a new design for the studio. This
would include the ‘windows’ that would display
the virtual images that were essential in meeting
RTL’s objectives.
TVBEurope 21July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Workflow
Filling a window on the world
RTL developed a green screen concept that would provide images in different areas of the new studio
Philip Stevens learns how a dynamic virtual 3D solution breathes new life into Dutch news programmes
Because so many of RTL’s viewers use devices such as iPhones and tablets,
television news output should offer a similar look and feel, with the ability for presenters themselves to ‘swipe’ to the
next image in the story
www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
Workflow22 TVBEurope
“The Belgian developers came up with a
physical ‘window’ which included an in-built
virtual augmented frame,” describes van de
Loo. “This design centred on a virtual and
augmented environment in a studio that had
no cameramen, five robotic cameras on the
floor, and a production gallery with only three
people: the director, the assistant to the director
looking after robotics, and the editor-in-chief with
responsibility for the content of the broadcast.”
Close collaboration“With the concept in mind, we had the
additional challenge of a number of different
suppliers having to work together to achieve
our desired look,” states van de Loo. “But we
did get some significant help from other parts of
the RTL organisation. Although the Netherlands
operation of RTL had not previously used an
Orad product, I found that its virtual solutions had
been used with amazing results in other parts of
the broadcasting group. For example, M6 in Paris
employed Orad PowerWall, and later installed
the company’s solution for its dynamic graphics
across all 12 of its channels.”
The result was a period of intense collaboration
on the technical infrastructure and design from
Orad, Sony and Vinten as well as the RTL board,
technical management, editorial and news
teams. “This cooperation across multiple vendors
and groups was key in innovating the way we
ultimately designed the studio and now present
our news programmes,” emphasises van de Loo.
The outcome is a new RTL studio workflow,
which includes three virtual big green screens
and one large frame for augmented content
on the 11mx20m wide studio floor. Central to
the solution is Orad ProSet for keying content
over the virtual panels and creating augmented
reality elements.
Orad ProSet extracts camera, positional
and lens parameters from each of the robotic
cameras to enable the keyed graphics to be
accurately displayed on the three virtual panels
within the physical studio. ProSet’s authoring
software retrieves bitmap files in a format that
permits per-layer manipulation and animation. It
also has dynamic scene-blending architecture
that permits the triggering of multiple graphic
scenes at the same time using just one
system. This allows a virtual background to be
generated from one scene while foreground
objects are created from an alternative scene.
Both sources are then combined into a single
unified output channel to provide the overall
graphic solution.
The system’s internal chroma keyer is utilised
for controlling the sharpness of both the graphics
and video content. In addition, ProSet generates
the augmented reality elements to create the
distinctive look for each of the programmes that
are originated in the new studio.
Orad’s own HDVG4 rendering platform
renders intricate 3D graphics scenery in real time,
providing depth and perspectives as well as
realistic textures.
Full-screen graphics, tickers, lower thirds
and other graphic elements are under the
With ‘windows’ surrounding news presenters, dynamic images can be shown from various angles
“This cooperation across multiple vendors and groups was key in innovating the way
we ultimately designed the studio and now present our news programmes”
Hank van de Loo, RTL
TVBEurope 23July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Workflow
management of another Orad component:
Maestro control. This handles the workflow from
ingest, through authoring, managing, distribution,
playout, to archiving.
The playlist, including the virtual background
and the on-air graphics, are generated by the
Maestro News Producer plugin, embedded within
the Avid iNews newsroom computer system.
Rundowns are created by dragging and dropping
graphic elements into a playlist. These rundowns
are controlled by the Sony ELC studio automation
system, which triggers the Maestro-created playlist
to air. This automation also controls camera robotics
from Vinten with APS (Absolute Positioning System)
and Egripment track hanging in the ceiling.
Quick-change setsAccording to van de Loo, the solution provides
RTL with all the advantages of a video wall but
without having to install a ‘physical’ component.
“We produce 25 different shows each day from
that studio, so that’s a heavy workload. Although
the number of personnel in the studio and gallery
has been reduced, we have increased the size
of the graphics department to handle the new
demands. The screens are two metres high, and
eight metres wide, so that’s not a normal 16:9
picture. That means we have to be quite creative
when it comes to making images that are visually
good on the screen for the viewers at home.”
He concludes, “The new studio provides our
audience with a stunning visual set that is very
flexible in terms of graphics presentation. It has
enabled us to raise brand awareness that has
seen audiences more connected to the news
programmes, thanks to the hyper-reality richness
of the content. As far as the future is concerned,
we are already preparing with Orad for the next
generation studio which we anticipate will be
online later this year.”
“The new studio provides our audience with a stunning visual set that is very flexible in
terms of graphics presentation” Hank van de Loo, RTL
24 TVBEurope
in association with
www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
Bridging the gender divide
The gender imbalance in the broadcast industry is an on-going point of controversy. Much has been said and written about the obstacles that stand in the way of progress for females in broadcasting and technology roles, and the statistics make for uncomfortable reading, but what are the solutions? This TVBEurope roundtable
event sought to drill down into the fundamental issues that surround this imbalance by inviting a selection of prominent industry leaders to offer their experiences, and learned perspectives
Introduction
Michelle Munson, CEO and co-founder of Aspera, an IBM company
When I was honoured with the task of
moderating this debate, above all I wanted
it to be a frank and open discussion with a
group of women who individually represent
a broad spectrum of the broadcast industry,
from education through to heads of media
services companies. Second, we agreed
that we wanted the outcome to be the
start of a continuing conversation about
how we can encourage the next generation
of talent – male or female – into the
broadcast industry. So where do you start
a discussion on whether there’s a gender
gap in our industry, and if so, what can be
done to help to balance it out? Statistics
always help. Recently, I heard that in the
USA, just 25 per cent of women work
in technology. Of this 25 per cent, the
breakdown of those working in broadcast
technology hits single fi gures.
The discussion took on many routes to
analyse why this was, with education being
a big part of the debate. As well as what
the industry needs to do to encourage more
women into technical engineering.
At a higher education level, the consensus
was that there’s many respected educational
institutions providing excellent broadcast
engineering courses. Many of these universities
and colleges are even seeing their students
secure a job before they’ve fi nished the
course, which is very encouraging.
One prominent conclusion was that more
needs to be done at a grassroots level to
encourage children (of all genders) to pursue
an interest in maths and science. Through
education and getting children excited about
where their skills can lead, more generations
will want to pursue a career in broadcast
technology, ensuring that our industry
continues to innovate.
According to a Creative Skillset report,
representation of women in the
creative industries has increased from
53,750 in 2009 to 69,590 in 2012, yet this still
represents only 36 per cent of the total workforce.
A more recent survey conducted by the training
and skills agency, released in May, revealed that
women in TV earn on average £2,250 less than
men. These issues are not unique to the UK: the
Women’s Media Center published ‘The Status of
Women in US Media’ earlier this year and made
the disheartening conclusion that, “media on all
platforms are failing women”.
With the aim of examining the current landscape
for women in the industry, and the opportunities
for better representation across the board,
TVBEurope hosted the fi rst in a series of dedicated
roundtable events at The Bloomsbury Hotel in
London. Michelle Munson, CEO and co-founder of
Aspera, moderated the panel, which generated
impassioned insights and personal experiences
from fi gures across the broadcast environment:
Anne-Louise Buick, head of TV compression
portfolio marketing, Ericsson; Christine Corner,
partner, Grant Thornton; Sinead Greenaway,
director of operations and technology, UKTV; Sadie
Groom, managing director, Bubble and Squeak;
Lesley Marr, COO, Deluxe Media Europe; Meryl
McLaren, commercial manager, BBC S&PP; Emma
Riley, head of business development, dock10;
Sophie Wilson, director of sales and marketing, PHA
Media; and Carrie Wooten, head of commercial
development, Ravensbourne.
Despite gloomy employment stats, Greenaway
opened on a positive note, saying that she
“joyously walked into a business that’s 64 per
cent female”, and described UKTV as “bucking
the trend”. However, she admitted that in the
technology community there is a “ferocious
[gender] imbalance”.
Wooten agreed, saying that from a
creative point of view things are fairly
balanced, though women are still under-
represented in the broadcast technology
market. “I’m not feeling as positive,” she
admitted, using the example of being the only
woman on the bus leaving the
TVBEurope 25July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
in association with
Roundtable: Evaluating the landscape for women in broadcastBy Holly Ashford
The panel listens intently to Carrie Wooten (foreground)
in association with
Las Vegas Convention Center at NAB, as
being indicative of the state of the industry
on a wider scale.
Perhaps responsibility for ‘bucking the trend’
lies with individual businesses, then? Compression
is one of the oldest parts of the business,
opened Buick, and although traditionally male-
dominated, “we see this widening out”
at Ericsson. The company has a stated goal
that by 2020, women will make up 30 per cent
of leadership and executives; at present, the
fi gure is 22 per cent, and “there is a massive
push and real commitment from Ericsson,
top down, for diversity and gender equality,”
according to Buick.
At dock10, said Riley, outside of the tech
departments there is roughly a 50/50 gender
split, however, “we have 40 engineers, of which
two are women”. She is the only woman on the
ten-strong senior management team, and only
one of seven members of the company’s board
is female. Wilson seems to sum up all of the
roundtable attendees’ experiences – and those
of many women in the industry – admitting that
“the elephant in the room is discrimination”. At
a recent trade show in Dubai, she said, she had
“had enough”, having been pretty much the
only woman at the tradeshow and experiencing
“rampant misogyny”.
Not all areas of the media industry have such
meagre female representation, though: there
are “tons of women on the production side”
of sports broadcast, according to Greenaway;
McLaren has experienced an overwhelming
amount of strong women working for production
companies; and at Deluxe there are “a lot of
women around the accounts side – that’s a
skills-based thing, women tend to be better
at negotiating,” according to Marr. dock10’s
Riley added her own experience of working in
production and that aside from one male boss,
everyone else was female, concluding boldly
that “women make TV”.
After sharing the challenges and setbacks
they’d faced, talk at the roundtable turned
to why there are not more women working
in the broadcast industry, particularly occupying
high-level positions.
“It comes back to confi dence,” said Marr. “I
do think that’s a massive problem especially
when it comes to women’s representation
at conferences and on panel discussions.”
Indeed, when Females in the Broadcast Industry
(FBI) hosted a panel discussion at IBC2014, it
was probably the fi rst time in the trade show’s
history that fi ve women in the industry (including
roundtable participant Sadie Groom) had
appeared on the same stage. “I was brought
up to be very confi dent,” said Groom, and
similarly Marr admits that confi dence is part of
her “personality type”. McLaren too says she
grounds her confi dence in “upbringing and
education”, as well as a love of sport, which
naturally drives and promotes competitiveness.
But is such confi dence the norm among women?
26 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
There was a healthy balance of serious and light hearted discussion around the table
Sophie Wilson expresses her thoughts
Corner believes that “women generally are less
confi dent about speaking out, telling stories”.
And what about women who have experienced
a very different upbringing? Can confi dence be
so easily learned?
Marr puts a degree of her confi dence down
to “education” and a deep knowledge and
understanding of her subject matter. Wooten,
of specialist digital media and design college
Ravensbourne, also stresses the importance
of education and “enabling students to feel
confi dent in themselves”. She relayed the story
of a female student studying in an environment
in which she experienced persistent “male
banter” and sexist remarks – which as the vast
majority of women will know, is behaviour which
unfortunately endures beyond college level
and into professional environments. Women
helping women to gain, and retain, confi dence is
invaluable, in education and beyond. McLaren,
for example, says that having had “really strong
bosses and women in the right parts of my
career” has given her a boost. “More of us
being great role models, more of us getting
into schools will inspire girls and women and
hopefully go some way to rectifying the ferocious
[gender] imbalance,” implored Greenaway
earlier in the discussion.
But will positive role models and confi dence
be enough to address this imbalance? Or will the
imposition of compulsory quotas be the only way
to increase the number of women in high-level
positions in the broadcast industry? In November
2013, the European Parliament voted in favour
of a draft law that would impose a 40 per cent
quota for female directors on company boards.
To become law, the plans needed the backing
of EU member states. The UK has been reluctant
to impose quotas; in 2011, a government report
recommended that FTSE 100 boards should aim for
a minimum of 25 per cent female representation
by 2015, with the expectation that many would
achieve a higher fi gure.
“There has to be some sort of fi lter, some sort
of equilibrium forced on people, because I don’t
think it’s going to happen just organically,” said
McLaren. Although Wilson sees it as a good thing
that the UK has “aspired towards a 25 per cent
fi gure”, she asked: “Why cap it at that? Why can’t
it just be limitless?” The more negative aspect of
imposed quotas is that they run the danger of
women only being hired or promoted to meet
targets, rather than on ability and merit.
Strong role models, education and
confi dence – both innate and learned –
contribute to careers success in any fi eld,
and will go some way to narrowing the
gender gap in the broadcast industry. “Support
in the collective and in the sisterhood and
helping one another,” summarised Wilson,
is “crucial and key”.
However, the roundtable participants
also stressed the importance of looking
after yourself and commanding respect, so,
as Wilson added, “you can then be that
inspiration to other people”.
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TVBEurope 27July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
in association with
T he Networked Society is changing all the
business rules; it’s an irreversible entity and
will continue to open up a whole range
of exciting and potentially ground-breaking
opportunities across all forms of video.
By 2020, we will see a fi rmly established
internet era of television. Over the next fi ve years,
operators, TV service providers, content owners,
broadcasters, investors and new innovators
will revolutionise the way content is produced,
delivered, discovered, and experienced.
The emergence of new technologies and
increased connectivity will enable greater
interplay between players across the entire
media spectrum. Market revenues will soar
to $750 billion.
This will be driven by the transforming elements of
mobility, broadband, and the cloud, overhauling
the traditional rules of engagement and redefi ning
how consumers demand and consume video. The
internet era of TV will not be mutually exclusive to
the traditional players in the existing value chain.
Vision, innovation, and a laser focus on the
consumer are the winning formula in the era
of the Networked Society and new players
on the market will have the same opportunity
to shape and drive this future TV landscape.
Widespread mobility, increased scalability and
unprecedented choice will enable disruption
and play a pivotal role in the way all forms of
video – premium, social, and informational – is
delivered to the consumer.
Redefi ning the TV experienceTV packages in 2020 will be both completely
different, and yet ironically similar. The concept
of bundling will be challenged where sell-through
of content will become more transparent and
selective, yet the service of aggregation will
be even more valuable in a highly fragmenting
distribution model.
Service providers are cognisant of consumer
demand for an integrated, accessible and tailored
television experience, which is personalised to
their interests, devices and personal situations.
Consumers ultimately want a continuous, seamless
and unifi ed viewing experience throughout the
day, with a content mix that is deeply tuned to
their specifi c needs at that moment. This does
not mean the end of an era of scheduled TV,
but the schedule becomes personal, suggestive,
and enables both lean-forward and lean-back
scenarios of consumer moods.
Although binge viewing has been a feature
for many years, thanks to the ubiquity of TV VHS
box sets and DVDs, OTT players are now offering
Feature28 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
2020: visions of the future Television in the Networked Society
Television has come an extremely long way since the fi rst public demonstration of televised silhouette images in motion 90 years ago, writes Simon Frost, head of media marketing and communications at Ericsson. But as we move closer to 2020, we are about to witness the greatest transformation our industry has ever seen
unprecedented convenience and access to entire
TV series, without the prohibitive high cost of acquiring
the content. This is rapidly increasing competition
across the value chain, particularly for content
owners, broadcasters, and TV service providers.
These consumer trends are already challenging
the value of traditional bundled packages and
offers of content as new service providers drive
viewing time to on-demand libraries of content,
and consumers increasingly question the value of
so much linearly distributed, scheduled content.
2014 research by the Diffusion Group states that
around 15 per cent of adult broadband users
who subscribe to a pay-TV service are considering
abandoning it within the next six months.
Nevertheless, Ericsson ConsumerLab research
highlights that over 40 per cent of OTT users still
regard linear TV as a very valuable service. This
helps to demonstrate the balance that needs to
be struck between the provision of live content,
alongside the rapid popularity and integration of
OTT services. Ericsson Media Vision 2020 research
predicts the consumption of linear and VoD
services will be 50:50 by 2020 in advanced markets.
Empowering businessThe consumer is going to witness the explosive
fragmentation of their television experience as
content owners and broadcasters rapidly drive
forward with their OTT strategies and build-out
their ‘digital app environments’, hoping to keep
the consumer’s attention for as long as possible.
While the depth of content on offer may be
compelling, the experience of so many apps, on
so many platforms without consistency, will be
deeply frustrating to most.
So while OTT is certainly going to be successful for
those that own the content, it will require the next
generation of advanced aggregation platforms
and services to truly evolve the TV experience as
we know it, and secure the next wave of mass-
market consumer loyalty. We will witness significant
innovation inside single brand content apps, as
well as single brand ultimate aggregation services.
The birth of the internet era of TV saw just how
quickly new innovators can re-establish consumer
expectation and perception of value in content
offerings and access. The panacea for today’s
industry players is to become an organisation
that not only influences consumer perception
but also consumer behaviour. It’s imperative that
the media industry focuses on the next emerging
consumer trends and where the consumer
will want to go next while entrenching its core
values. From the content owner and broadcaster
perspective, their core asset is in the curation and
creation of great content. They need to develop
better distribution opportunities and extend strong
brand trust in local markets into broader markets.
We already see the trend of content owners
and broadcasters re-entrenching their intellectual
property in great content through investments
and acquisitions of creative agencies, content
rights and production companies.
Equally, we see large-scale TV service
providers consolidating their leverage and
position by investing both for broader market
coverage to drive buying scale, as well as
complementary technologies, especially to drive
a fixed and mobile IP broadband capability.
Charter Communications’ recent announcement
of its intentions to takeover Time Warner Cable
is illustrative of the types of industries that will
soon quickly fuse together and adopt a more
collaborative approach. The overall theme is
scale, in both the content and delivery roles.
Whatever media strategy an organisation may
have adopted today doesn’t necessarily have
to remain their strategy going forward. Different
industry players will need to adopt different
strategies for success. Their place in the value
chain is fluid; indeed, we are starting to see
the arrival of brands as broadcasters, with their
own approach and strategy. The increasing
connectivity and availability of video content is
enabling brands to reach their audiences with
niche and resonating content that can build
loyalty and a wider global reach.
An explosion of cloud servicesThe cloud is one of the current hot terms in the
industry, and as a topic is essential for several
reasons; yet the overarching one is agility.
Everything about the future of television will be a
moving target, an adaptation, and will evolve.
Many organisations from the internet industry
have this technology and service philosophy at
their core, serving the continually shifting and
ever changing demands of the consumer.
So, the cloud will play a primary role in the future
TV experience and those who embrace it and
who deploy new innovative solutions the fastest will
delight the next generation of TV consumer. It’s an
industry imperative which will deliver a whole host
of cross selling opportunities, social interactions, and
change the way consumers discover, navigate
and experience content. Cloud-based services
will enable service providers to offer an enhanced
video delivery experience and the capacity to
power and deploy new platforms that deliver ultra
agile and flexible TV services at web speed.
Underpinning the infrastructure of the Networked
Society will be the growth of IP. It will become the
future of video delivery and a fundamental ‘given’,
which will enable all the various types of activities
consumers will want to experience in TV. The need
for ubiquitous and higher capacity broadband
connectivity is fuelling an ever increasing demand
in data traffic in mobile networks, thanks to the
growth and uptake of video services across an
abundance of user devices. Ericsson’s June 2015
Mobility Report suggests video is the key growth
factor in mature mobile broadband markets, with
60 per cent of all mobile data traffic forecast to be
from video by 2020.
Despite widespread agreement that the future
of video delivery is IP via the internet, the internet
itself is not ready for ‘TV scale’. Large investments in
broadband capacity will be required to feed the
demands of video consumption in the Networked
Society and right now, many are discussing who will
pay for the investments needed to replace current
distribution networks with IP-based networks in the
medium term.
TV beyond 2020Over the next few years, the definition of television
itself will evolve. To enable the ultra agile and flexible
model that consumers want, the industry will have
to experiment in order to set the consumer agenda.
Nevertheless, even as we move towards 2020, the
fundamentals of the service of television will remain
the same. Television remains an emotive, storytelling
medium with a purpose to educate, entertain,
inform, and offer a means of discovery.
The true value of television will never be eroded.
Technological innovations are there to enhance
the television experience; greater picture and
sound quality, immediacy on every connected
device with a screen, interactivity, social groups and
sharing, and perhaps most crucially: discoverability.
The rapid emergence of new social broadcast
platforms such as Periscope present a future
challenge for the industry business model around
content rights, enabling consumers to stream and
deliver instantaneous live footage to a huge
critical mass of users.
Industry players that understand the potential of
the Networked Society the deepest and who are
prepared to focus on how to innovate the quickest
in response to consumer demands, will grow the
fastest in the new internet era of TV.
TVBEurope 29July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Feature
The true value of television will never be eroded. Technological innovations
are there to enhance the television experience
30 TVBEurope
The BBC’s Andy Baker summed up the
industry challenges, saying: “Today, we
have 4K TVs on every retailer’s shelves but
there’s very little 4K content to display on them.
The 4K content is being made but it’s certainly
not being delivered except by one or two well
known OTT suppliers.”
The IABM’s John Ive expressed the view that
consumers had very little choice when buying
into 4K. “They can choose a size but, as we saw
with HDTV when after a while it was very diffi cult
to get a standard defi nition set, I think the same is
happening to 4K.”
The panel agreed that 4K in retail stores
was now near ubiquitous, and that the price
premium for (so-called) 4K sets was no longer
a disincentive. But there was considerable
discussion as to the capability of those
displays to handle ‘true’ 4K, let alone cope
with today’s fast-moving developments in
higher frame rates, higher dynamic range and
the ‘better pixel’ arguments likely from wider
colour gamut images.
BT’s Mark Wilson-Dunn said, in his view: “The
material I have seen in 4K from the likes of
Netfl ix is less than perfect. The danger for all of
us is that people will buy into Netfl ix and think
that’s as good as 4K can be, and it certainly is
not. It could really backfi re on all of us, given
that they are buying panels at a huge rate
and those panels really are not ready for what
we all know as Ultra HD. And this isn’t helped
by the fact that there’s no content out there.
The other question that we all recognise is to
ask how many of these buyers will be viewing
4K at the optimal viewing distance. There’s
also the problem of the current crop of highly
fashionable curved sets which, in my view,
don’t help matters at all.”
The EBU’s Simon Fell argued that people
were already making 4K ‘programming’
from their own smartphones. “The end results
are quite spectacular. It is the same with
still images. In other words, it’s very easy for
consumers to be impressed by 4K displays but I
think we are seeing something of an ‘emperor’s
new clothes’ in that the display will look good
to them, and their neighbours, no matter how
close or far they are sitting from the screen.
Start 4K now
in association with
Sitting down a group of VIP broadcasting experts and asking them to deliver their advice on Ultra HD guarantees plenty of passion and some controversy, and yet there was a strong sense of consensus by the end of the session. Chris Forrester moderated the roundtable discussion, hosted by Marquis
Media Partners in conjunction with TVBEurope, during which panellists shared their views on 4K/Ultra HD, when we might see transmissions, and whether over-the-top (OTT) will be the dominating driver for 4K availability
www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
PanellistsTim Bertioli VP, media technology, NBC-Universal
Mark Wilson-Dunn VP, BT Media & Broadcast
Enterprises
Francis Rolland CEO, Globecast
Mike Whittaker director, operations & technology, SIS
Simon Fell director, technology & innovation, EBU
John Ive director, technology & strategic insight,
IABM
Mark Smith CTO, ITV
Doug Clark cloud leader, IBM UK & Ireland
Rod Fairweather senior director, infrastructure,
Viacom
Martin Turner director, media business, Inmarsat
Andy Baker controller, major projects/
infrastructure, BBC
Chris Steele MD, Marquis Broadcast
The Groucho Club in London provided an exclusive setting for the debate
TVBEurope 31July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
We would argue, of course, that we want
improved frame rates and better resolution but
I can tell you the viewer is happy with what’s
out there already”.
ITV’s Mark Smith said that the complete
content delivery system needs to change.
“There’s storage for a start, then compression,
and I can see us ending up with bandwidth for 4K
not being that far off from today’s HD. However,
while we can all agree that three years from now
the technology will have improved, we still need
to make that transition.”
BT’s Wilson-Dunn reminded panellists that
while agonising over what might happen, there
were broadcasters who had already made the
switch. “There is a broadcaster who is running
4K today to a whole nation, and that’s Star TV
in India, who started their service on the back
of the ICC cricket earlier this year. BT carried
the signals from Australia, running for eleven
and a half hours a day in 4K and HD across two
continents through to their set-top boxes. It can
be done right now. We bolted four decoders
together and ran the signals over our existing
infrastructure. It coped. Add on HEVC and it
would have coped even better. We have done
football, rugby, golf, and now cricket. I have to
say they all require different fi lming techniques
to get the best out of 4K.
“The biggest issue we have, in my view, is that
everyone is talking about high dynamic range
and wider colour gamut, instead of talking
about how we can launch 4K and getting on
with it. I think we risk confusing the message.
The USA is having a problem getting over
the ‘fi nal mile’ of getting a signal into the
home because of the technical challenges.
Meanwhile, a couple of Indian operators have
just gotten on with it. We have to encourage the
industry to get on with it otherwise we will all be
waiting forever.”
NBC-Universal’s Tim Bertioli said there was little
interest from the USA’s main broadcast networks.
“It is the usual challenge: where is the money
coming from?”
His comments were echoed by Viacom’s
Rod Fairweather, and not helped by
his company’s focus on kids and music
programming. “And even with the high-quality
MTV Music Awards, I doubt whether you’ll see
much 4K action for some time. We’re not
going to lead this revolution.”
Globecast’s Francis Rolland said he expected
France’s Canal+ and Orange to be leading the
change to 4K, and as far as contribution and
distribution services were concerned, Globecast
was ready with extra bandwidth.
Asked to say when UK services would start,
the panel agreed that certainly as far as the UK
was concerned, within six months consumers
would see lots of 4K channels. They unanimously
expected Sky to lead the charge.
in association with
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.
EDITORIAL PLANNER 2015
For all advertising and sponsorship
opportunities, contact the sales team:
Europe
Ben Ewles:
+44 (0) 20 7354 6000,
or
Richard Carr:
+44 (0) 20 7354 6000,
USA
Mike Mitchell +1 631 673 0072,
Issue DateExhibitions/
Events CoverageFeature
Audio for
Broadcast
Sports/
Live broadcast
August • IBC preview• Broadcast graphics forum
• IBC product preview
• Mics/ monitors/
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
“We have to encourage the industry to get on with 4K otherwise we will all be
waiting forever”Mark Wilson-Dunn,
BT Media and Broadcast
Most TV operators were set up to control
the entire distribution chain. They built
and controlled the technical distribution
(cable, satellite, terrestrial, etc), licensed the
channels/content, and also established the
consumer brand name and the billing and
customer relationships. The only thing they did
not control was the content creation and the
channel creation. The TV operator and the
channel provider built up a very attractive
partnership where both providers managed to
generate more and more revenues and profits
from a content-hungry consumer market with
relatively weak competition.
The operator had a virtual monopoly
regarding their distribution networks, either
because of the very high investment barriers or
due to legal hurdles. Consumers had stronger
personal relationships with the channels, where
higher competition existed for consumers’ time
and money. The TV operators typically enjoy
a sheltered competitive environment, in the
form of either an actual monopoly (only one
operator available per household) or a practical
monopoly (very long subscription periods and
high barriers to churn).
This will all change with the emergence of OTT,
and TV operators who can adapt to this new
opportunity can succeed.
The operator’s weaknessesMost TV operators are fully aware of their
strengths. It’s clear that the consumer
relationships, established billing processes,
attractive content agreements, and possibilities
of bundling with other services are all great
strengths when moving into OTT services. It is
always more difficult to be objective about
one’s weaknesses.
First of all, operators are defensive. Their
existing business is valuable to them and they’re
worried about implementing any measures
which may risk destroying margins or causing loss
of subscribers, even if they know that such moves
may be vital for long-term success.
Secondly, operators have a long history
of implementing and controlling technology
internally, with huge departments responsible for
distribution of video to consumers. Clearly, with
OTT, these departments will gradually be smaller,
both in terms of budget and manpower.
Finally, TV operators maintain that they
understand content due to their long history
of packaging channels. I firmly believe that TV
operators understand consumers enough to
price and market a subscription offering, but
generally do not understand content once we
drill down one level below the channel structure.
In an OTT transformation of a TV operator,
they need to address these weaknesses. If
they do, they have a fantastic opportunity of
becoming formidable competitors to the pure
play OTT companies.
OTT as a standalone service Now, I’m sure that many TV operators are of the
opinion that they have already launched OTT
services on the market. They have done this in
the form of a mobile extension to their core TV
offering, a value-add for existing subscribers.
In all likelihood, this has been deployed as a
defensive move on the market, where access
to content outside of the home is a key value
for the modern consumer. This is a good move,
which may significantly reduce churn over the
next couple of years.
The standalone OTT service is another beast.
The move to launch the possibility to subscribe
to an operator-powered OTT TV service is still
considered aggressive, even more so if the service
includes linear channels. Operators need to build
up new subscriber bases, new technology stacks
and establish new business models, both with
consumers and suppliers. The challenge of going
head to head with pure play OTT companies like
Netflix and Amazon is daunting, but if operators
want to grow rather than protect their market
share, this is an inevitable move. Operators like
Sky and Viasat have launched standalone OTT
initiatives on their respective markets to stay
relevant and keep the initiative in a transformative
market, and both have succeeded with creating
strong local standalone OTT services.
OTT as an enabler for a service aggregatorClearly, some TV operators may not be interested
or structured in a way that they can succeed
with a standalone service. Are these companies
destined to disappear a few years from now,
or can they find an alternative strategy to stay
relevant in an OTT world?
I believe that the way forward for more
traditional companies will be to slowly transform
into a service aggregator. The strong customer
and billing relationships in local markets, as well
as an understanding for consumer packaging,
will remain attractive in an OTT world. A service
aggregator will establish distribution agreements
with broadcasters, VoD providers and other
relevant video distributors on a multiscreen basis
and provide attractive consumer business models,
user experiences and marketing. Many consumers
are not particularly interested in visiting different
services to find the content they like, and the
operator is probably the only credible player to
solve the aggregation challenge in a market.
Of course, inclusion of third-party services and
apps in your own offering will probably mean
that operators should stop or at least downplay
TVBEverywhere32 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
Why OTT is an opportunity and not a threat to TV operators
The media world has been evolving at a dramatic pace over recent years, writes Michael Lantz, CEO of Accedo. The improvement of devices and networks has made it possible to distribute high quality video directly over the internet to virtually any consumer device, and TV operators should embrace this new OTT technology
By embracing OTT technologies and relying on third-party vendors with
strong cloud infrastructure, it is possible to completely change the cost structure
their own video initiatives to be attractive as a
partner on the market. Similarly to what they did
when they started aggregating TV channels in
pay-TV packages, the operators should evolve to
be the best possible partner to the video services
on each market. This may mean relinquishing
some control to the third party, but also adding
value to them in a way where they can justify
getting a share of the relevant revenue streams.
OTT as a driver for cost transformationAn often forgotten opportunity with OTT is the
possibility to significantly lower the cost of setting
up and running a video service operation.
Historically, operators spend tens of millions of
dollars building networks, setting up headends,
creating and deploying a service, and licensing
proprietary technologies to distribute a premium
service. By embracing OTT technologies and
relying on third-party vendors with strong cloud
infrastructure, which can be shared between
many video providers, it is possible to completely
change the cost structure.
The pressure on TV operators to embrace OTT
technologies in order to lower costs will only
accelerate as OTT technologies mature and
become more reliable and faster to deploy.
The continued rapid innovation in the industry is
clearly indicating that this trend will continue for
the foreseeable future.
Short-term versus long-term changeWe at Accedo have been preaching the virtues
of OTT technologies for more than ten years. The
initial market change was slower than expected
while the change over the last three years has
been quicker than anticipated. Going forward,
we believe that the service fragmentation
will accelerate. Many well-funded media
companies are in the starting blocks of
providing their own standalone OTT service.
Business models of SVoD services of between
$5 and $10 per month and the abundance
of services lead us to believe that many
consumers will have two to three simultaneous
subscriptions. On top of this, operators will
increasingly use OTT technologies to drive
loyalty or new subscriptions. This will add to the
complexity and the market fragmentation in
the short-term future.
Long-term, it is likely that we’ll see some
consolidation. Consumers will converge around
the best services, and we will see merging
between several different companies to create
regional players and special interest companies.
We will still see healthy competition, but with a
reduced number of companies after the initial
burst of activity we will see over the coming two
to three years.
TVBEurope 33July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
TVBEverywhere
The pressure on TV operators to embrace OTT technologies in order to lower costs will only accelerate as OTT technologies mature and become more
reliable and faster to deploy
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TVBEverywhere34 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
The broadcasting value chain is facing an
era of convergence; one impacted by a
number of ‘disrupters’ both from outside
their organisations, to inside, as well as the
audiences themselves. We’re facing a time
of uncertainty as industry players adjust to
a confused technical landscape affecting
mainstream television. With OTT service subscribers
in particular predicted to increase from 92.1
million in 2014, to 333.2 million globally in 2019,
this uncertainty is only expected to increase.
TV is, and always has been, a world of many
acronyms. Those in the industry are constantly
playing catch-up with the next set of apparent
game changers. It’s perhaps a hassle to keep
on top of, but never have a group of acronyms
taken on such a menacing tone as those the
industry are dealing with today. From the modest
yet important move away from linear viewing to
‘VoD’, to the stellar rise of ‘OTT’, ‘SVoD’, ‘TVoD’
and ‘EST’, many of the services behind today’s
acronyms have been heralded as the beginning
of the end for broadcast TV as we know it.
Faced with new international market entrants
such as Netflix, whose content, subscribers and
revenue are fast making major waves, echoes of
the death knell abound: but in reality, how much
impact will such companies really have on the
traditional establishment? Are they game-victors
or merely new team players?
Recently, when Arqiva questioned leading
players in the industry, including free-to-air
broadcasters, pay broadcasters, rights holders
and platforms as part of our Connected
Broadcasting campaign, there was a general
sense of “powerlessness” with the imposition
of change being perceived to be brought by
“outsiders”. Broadcasters are anxious about the
“imposition” of a new reality by the newly arrived
international OTT players.
Broadcasters acknowledge the pace at which
the market is changing. One explained that
newer businesses, bringing new functionalities
and services into the market, have a greater
expertise in this area than themselves – a
challenge akin to trying to hit a moving target.
These newer businesses are evolving very quickly
while more “traditional” organisations are “just
learning how to walk”.
The chief concern among several
broadcasters is how to respond to the “massive
proliferation” of new TV services offering content
across “different price points, difference
operating systems and different vendors”. Whilst
most commentators agree that the quality and
experiences offered by these enhanced on-
demand services are exciting and valuable to
consumers, debate remains around how quickly
these new distributors will have a measureable
impact and how much of a ‘substitution’ they
are or will become.
An opposing view is that OTT services are set to
thrive best as value-add services used effectively
to complement traditional regional broadcast,
where brand, local investment and knowledge
are highly valued.
Those broadcasters dipping their toes into the
OTT water have said they will continue to have
a mix of distribution methods to match viewers’
consumption patterns, providing complementary
or video on-demand content on companion
devices. The industry acknowledges the fluidity
of the current environment, and that the
future outlook for consumption is unclear. One
broadcaster we spoke to recently said that the
big question in the short to medium-term was
to what extent activity and emphasis would
shift from its television channels to newer forms
of digital distribution, as live and on-demand
viewing finds a new equilibrium.
Those willing to take a bigger risk can benefit
from the alternative revenue streams generated
by the “outside” disrupters. The dynamism of
the current environment presents these new
opportunities. One broadcaster explained
that those broadcasters who are also content
creators or rights holders should benefit as
content moves online, providing new digital
avenues to exploit. If growth exists in this digital
world, they should “seek it”. Content owners
in the US have been using this model for years,
with recent hit shows such as Vikings, originally
produced for The History Channel, subsequently
being made available on Amazon Prime.
Whatever you believe, broadcasters and rights
holders can no longer ignore the advance of
the OTT companies, and are having to make
some serious decisions about their own direct-to-
consumer operations as a result.
Faced with new international market entrants such as Netflix, whose content, subscribers and revenue are fast making
major waves, echoes of the death knell abound
The future of broadcast, or part of broadcast’s future mix?
By Tom Cape, director of connected solutions, Arqiva
OTT service subscribers are predicted to increase from 92.1 million in 2014 to 333.2 million globally in 2019
White papers, webinars, opinions, blogs, case studies, tutorials and more.
Editor: Melanie Dayasena-Lowe [email protected] +44 (0)207 354 6001
Sales: Ben Ewles [email protected] +44 (0)207 354 6000
Campaign Manager: Warren [email protected] +44 (0)207 354 6000
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In its 60th anniversary year, the Eurovision Song
Contest (ESC), one of the most popular TV
entertainment programmes worldwide, was
about to beat its own record. In addition to the
spectators in the hall, the final shows were watched
by almost 200 million viewers from 80 countries
– which included China for the first time in the
event’s history – and topped its 2014 viewing figures
by around two million viewers, according to EBU
reports. The show was even awarded a Guinness
World Record in 2015 for being the longest running
annual music television competition.
However, the real revelation was not Sweden’s
Mans Zelmerlöw beating his adversaries from
Russia and Italy, but the complex file-based
workflows Austria’s national broadcaster and host
of the event in Vienna implemented behind the
scenes at the event venue, the Wiener Stadthalle.
The overall technical concept of the
host broadcaster included the routing of all
audio signals via a RAVENNA/AES67-based IP
infrastructure, a novelty in the broadcasting of
the ESC event. In this context, both the Lawo
Nova 73 audio matrix – and all connected DALLIS
I/O systems used by Belgium-based company
VideoHouse, ORF’s broadcast supplier – and the
video and audio distribution of the commentary
solution were based on IP networking technology.
To distribute all of the audio signals to the
different suppliers and OB vans while minimising
equipment and cabling required, as well as
increasing flexibility, the signals were collected
by a central audio router. The heart of the set-up
consisted of a Lawo Nova 73HD audio routing
core. Ten DALLIS I/O systems were connected to
the core via RAVENNA audio-over-IP technology.
The installation comprised a decentralised
collection and distribution of the signals at the
venue, including 96 Sennheiser Digital 9000
wireless microphone systems, 32 Sennheiser
in-ear systems for the artists, and an AVID Pro
Tools playback system. In addition, all sync and
timecode signals needed for the production
were also distributed via the infrastructure.
According to Lawo, over 6,600 audio signals
to six OB trucks and to the FOH and monitor
consoles inside the venue were routed by the
Nova infrastructure. All OB vans from both ORF
and VideoHouse were equipped with m²66 or
mc²56 digital mixing consoles. In addition, the
VideoHouse trucks were equipped with V__pro8
video processing systems for audio embedding,
de-embedding and format conversion. To
manage and control the whole set-up, a VSM
system (L–S–B) was in use.
In addition to the signal routing, the
commentary system was also resting upon IP
networking technology. A team of 14 engineers
equipped 45 commentator cabins with LCU
commentary units, which were networked
via RAVENNA/AES67 with the commentary
control room and the commentary equipment
room. Here, the signals were forwarded to the
Prodys ISDN and IP codecs that connected
all international broadcasters with the event
location. The video signals for the 90 video
screens in the Eurovision commentary boxes
were streamed via V__link4 video-over-IP systems.
The equipment was provided by Audio
Broadcast Services (ABS), a rental partner of
German-based manufacturer Lawo AG, and the
technical concept as well as its implementation
and on-site support was managed by Lawo as a
turnkey solution.
Special Report36 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
The 2015 ESC proved to be the most popular cross-media event in ORF’s history
All audio signals were routed via Lawo IP infrastructure
Eurovision Song Contest with record-breaking production
By Angela Buenger Austria’s national broadcaster ORF implemented complex file-based workflows for AV recording and distribution of the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest to 80 countries worldwide
All radio and intercom systems, as well as the
signal distribution system, were supported by
Riedel. In total, around 600 radio sets were used
to interconnect around 2,500 crew members on
site. For example, the intercom matrix comprised
nine Artist mainframes that were distributed
across the venue. In order to integrate the
OB trucks into the whole system, around 300
panels and 15 mainframes were implemented.
The signal distribution system included Riedel’s
MediorNet solution for video, data and audio
communication and comprised 45 MediorNet
mainframes and a total of 127 HD-SDI inputs as
well as 148 HD-SDI outputs.
For the video production workflow, ten EVS XT3
live production servers in an eight-channel SD/
HD configuration and eight IP Director suites
for ingest control, metadata management,
on-the-fly editing and playout scheduling were
operated. In addition, three workstations running
on XFile3-controlled file transfer, met archive
requirements of the workflow. The video codec
used in the production was Apple ProRes
422 HQ at 185Megabit.
All recordings and video clips were stored
on an Ardis DynamicDrivePool (DDP) with a
capacity of 70TB. Overall, the complete video
production workflow was file-based and the
XT3 production servers had an integrated
backup. However, to be on the safe side, all
recordings were additionally stored on tape
with two HDCAM, one HDCAM SR, and one
XDCAM in operation.
In total, four operators were in charge of the
whole production system and one supervisor
controlled the file transfer of the material
recorded to the various user groups in the
viewing room and the creation of specific
user profiles. A complex access control ensured
that each delegation only had access to
their own recordings.
Although the efforts that have to be made
in terms of production for TV and internet
broadcast as well as on-site security are
increasing every year, the event in Vienna again
set a landmark for the Eurovision Song Contest
and was considered to be the most popular
cross-media event in history for ORF. In a recent
statement, Alexander Wrabetz, director general
of the ORF, Michael Haeupel, mayor of Vienna,
and town councillor Christian Oxonitsch also
drew an upbeat conclusion: the costs for the
event were below the estimated budget and
the national and international reactions were
more than positive.
TVBEurope 37July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
Special Report
In addition to the spectators in the hall, the final shows were watched by almost 200
million viewers from 80 countries
38 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
CiaB Forum
Pixel Power’s French connection TV5MONDE is a worldwide network of channels
broadcast in French in more than 200 territories
across the world. It has nine different channel
feeds for various regions across the globe with
eight being broadcast from Paris, covering
all continents, and the ninth – TV5 Québec
transmitting from Montreal.
“TV5MONDE formalised plans to launch
new thematic channels, including a children’s
offering,” reports James Gilbert, Pixel Power’s
CEO. “It uses a third party for its playout, but
wanted to be able to launch these channels in-
house. This project needed to be as cost-effective
as possible, but also required sophisticated
automated channel graphics. In addition, it
needed a tightly integrated production and
playout solution, allowing a faster time-to-air. This
included the requirement for compatibility with its
main channel graphics playout technology, Pixel
Power’s dedicated LogoVision 3D unit.”
Content for the new channels is created
collaboratively and updated in-house, matching
the existing channel’s branding quality. Any
new technology also had to support material in
both 4:3 and 16:9. In short, TV5MONDE required
an economical yet rich playout and branding
solution to create, move and schedule video
and graphic assets across various channels.
Gilbert continues, “It was clear that a Channel
in a Box system would provide the cost effi ciencies
that TV5MONDE needed, but would it be able to
handle the more advanced playout requirements?”
To answer the question, TV5MONDE turned
to Pixel Power’s integrated playout solution,
ChannelMaster. “This is a highly scalable solution
that frees broadcasters from the compromises
of many existing Channel in a Box offerings,”
says Gilbert. “Alongside two dual redundant
ChannelMaster 3D systems, the broadcaster also
specifi ed Gallium, a highly integrated and scalable
scheduling, asset management and automation
technology, that provides the intelligence to build a
variety of playout solutions using Pixel Power output
devices. Already-installed versions of automated
The case for boxesThis month’s Forum takes on a different shape with Philip Stevens talking to a number of Channel in a Box vendors to discover how their solutions are being utilised to maximum effect
If anything has aroused comment among industry experts it has been the topic of Channel in a Box (CiaB). Defi nitions have varied as CiaB has come to mean different things to different people. But whatever designation is used, the technology has brought about changes in operational practices that have been far-reaching. However, there are still some doubts as to the appropriateness of the concept. How has your solution benefi tted the industry? Is CiaB the end of the story, or is there a better solution?
PARTICIPANTS:Don Ash, PlayBox TechnologyGoce Zdravkoski, StrymeJames Gilbert, Pixel PowerJan Weigner, CinegyJanis Krampans, VesetKarl Mehring, SnellTom Gittins, Pebble Beach Systems
James Gilbert, Pixel Power
TVBEurope 39July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
CiaB Forum
branding playout software Pixel Promo and DJ – for
automated dynamic junction creation – have been
further developed as part of the launch process.
Integration with Polistream from Screen to deliver
DVB subtitles was also completed.”
As a result, TV5MONDE was able to realise its
primary aim of introducing channels cost-effectively
while deploying technologies that also support a
quicker and far more efficient launch model for
thematic channels moving forwards. Gallium is
configured with the ChannelMaster 3D systems to
create a powerful, dual redundant branding and
playout solution. Pixel Promo automated branding
technology continues to be used to extract
schedule metadata to populate graphic templates,
running alongside Dynamic Junction building
interstitials, both using pre-defined rules. This also
allowed TV5 to re-use existing graphic designs and
templates, further reducing time-to-launch.
PlayBox Technology in the Baltics Eesti Telekom, part of the TeliaSonera group,
purchased a PlayBox Technology system for the
broadcast playout facility at its headquarters in the
Estonian capital, Tallinn. It is being used to control
the branding, scheduling and delivery of four new
broadcast channels in three separate countries.
“Eesti Telekom chose this solution for several
reasons,” comments Don Ash, PlayBox
Technology’s managing partner and director,
sales. “Firstly, we are able to perform encoding
and redundancy routing within the system
which keeps the infrastructure size down and
allows easy future expansion to accommodate
extra channels. Secondly, management of
files in several languages is easy because we
can multiplex several audio channels into
one container using ISO-639 language codes.
Each of the four channels consists of an AirBox
playout server preloaded with TitleBox and
CaptureBox, plus a multi-language subtitling
server with a direct DVB output. They are located
in the company’s central apparatus area and
controlled from a master playout suite.”
According to Ash, the AirBox content playout
and streaming system can operate both in
SD and HD. “Designed for 24/7 unattended
operation, it can be connected easily to third-
party devices. AirBox supports MPEG1/2/H.264,
HDV and DV streams from practically any
production platform capable of providing AVI,
MPEG, MXF, QuickTime or WMV content. Files
from third-party broadcast content servers are
natively supported.”
TitleBox delivers on-air graphics that can
be controlled interactively. Multi-layered
simultaneous crawls, rolls, animated logos, clocks
and text templates can be activated by a
mouse click. TitleBox provides total control during
on-air sessions, including text selection, running
speed and transitions.
CaptureBox allows high-definition or standard-
definition content to be captured from SDI digital
feeds, analogue sources and MPEG transport
streams. Four video sources can be monitored
on a single screen and controlled via a new
streamlined user interface. Audio levels can be
monitored as loudness/true-peak displays and
adjusted when required.
Cinegy puts local station to Air Glimt Television, a Swedish TV station located in
Karlstad, the regional capital for Värmland, started
broadcasting last year using Cinegy Air PRO.
Live shows are sent to the playout as RTP feeds
over the city fibre network and played out live in
HD to a number of different distributors. Cinegy
Air also acts as a client to control the playout
engine from remote locations. “The brief from
Magnus Westlund, the managing director of
Glimt TV, was to provide a robust, cost-effective
and flexible CiaB solution for file playout, live
programmes and advanced real-time graphics,”
explains Jan Weigner, managing director, Cinegy
GmbH. “Magnus’ aim is to produce quality TV
with a local touch.”
Cinegy Air PRO technology removes the
monolithic black boxes, which are replaced
by TCP/IP network-attached real-time software
appliances. The system provides a broadcast
automation front-end and a real-time video
server for SD, HD and/or Ultra HD (4K) playout
in an integrated software suite. It offers a high
degree of flexibility by playing mixed format and
mixed resolution content, as well as un-rendered
Don Ash, PlayBox Technology
Jan Weigner, Cinegy
PlayBox server
BCC racing cars
www.ibc.org
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edit sequences straight to air.
Vericom AB, a Cinegy gold partner in
Scandinavia, worked closely with Glimt Television
throughout the entire installation process.
Weigner adds, “This is a prime example of
Cinegy’s broadcast, automation and branding
solutions providing broadcasters around the
world with flexible, scalable and cost-effective
solutions, which are designed to meet the
most demanding real-time requirements
of busy control rooms.”
CNBC swims with the Dolphins Business and finance news specialists CNBC
International has a long history of working with
Pebble Beach Systems, having deployed its first
generation Neptune automation system at the
broadcaster’s London facility over a decade
ago. So when the opportunity arose to streamline
the technical operations across CNBC Europe
and CNBC Asia, Pebble Beach Systems was
approached to offer a solution.
“The goal was to implement a single
operational structure across sites in London
and Singapore, enabling CNBC International to
benefit from efficiencies,” revealed Tom Gittins,
sales director of Pebble Beach Systems. “The
designed solution had to enable them to operate
both the London and Singapore sites using the
same operators, but without compromising
the on-air appearance or presentation style
of either region.”
Following an evaluation, Pebble Beach Systems
Dolphin integrated channel devices were
selected, under the control of the company’s
flagship Marina automation solution. In Singapore,
the Marina system replaced the legacy Louth
automation system. This transition was made
easier because of Marina’s ability to import the
database and playlists, and export As Run logs,
from this legacy system.
“The Dolphin devices deliver highly
automated integrated audio, video and graphics
functionality for ingest, channel branding and
frame-accurate multichannel playout,” says
Gittins. “The flexible pipeline design gives the user
the ability to customise the virtual output chain
for each channel, specifying the order in which
functions including graphics, effects, and aspect
ratio conversion are handled within the system.”
The channels carry a mix of live and clip-based
content and various graphics elements, including
a ticker generated from CNBC International’s
in-house system. Dolphin provides flexible keying
of the multiple elements that make up the CNBC
International channel style including a 2D DVE,
channel branding with static and animated
logos, and 2D graphics.
Racing ahead with Stryme AMUsys is an Austrian sports betting terminal
manufacturer that also owns the licenses for
two television channels, BCC TV 1 and BCC
TV 2. These channels broadcast 900 live races
each day live via satellite and internet streaming
from its own studio. The transmissions include
automatic timing to one ten thousandth of a
second, super-slow motion replays, referees,
sophisticated rules and perfect result processing.
A subsidiary in Poland owned 100 per cent by
AMUsys is responsible for the operation of the
BCC TV studio in Krakow.
Using a Genesix VideoServer supplied by
Stryme, the 24/7 playout automation of the mostly
live production content runs independently on
one machine and enables the station to reduce
the number of technical personnel need for
transmissions. In fact, the multichannel ingest,
playout and graphics solution is responsible for the
total operation of the Krakow studio.
The production schedule allows for races to
start alternately on each channel. Eight cameras
are employed on every racetrack, alongside one
slow motion camera for high-speed recordings
on the finish line.
Goce Zdravkoski, Stryme CEO, explains more.
“In this case, the high-end automation of the
VideoServer LPS (Live Production Studio) removes
the need for a traditional master control room. This
results in an enormous reduction of infrastructure
and personnel costs in BCC’s daily broadcast
business. The flexible out-of-the box configuration
of the Genesix VideoServer easily enables the
integration of various workflows, in this case the
automatic live production.”
The playlist for the server incorporates a
traffic lights system, with red and green
phases which indicate whether a studio is on
air, or ready for live transmission. In each studio,
there is a team that prepares the track for the
next race. When the team is ready, the referee
triggers the green light to indicate the server
can be switched to that studio. If neither studio
is ready to send live content, the Genesix LPS
automatically starts the predefined playlist that
is fed by background information on the races,
flashbacks and forecasts on new events.
“The whole system is designed to enable
BCC TV to react rapidly to any kind of
eventuality in live production and automation,”
explains Zdravkoski. “The use of the built in
signal detection means the LPS manages
the handover from the playlist model to the
live production and vice versa without any
human intervention.”
CNBC has a long history of working with Pebble Beach Systems
TVBEurope 41July 2015 www.tvbeurope.com
CiaB Forum
Tom Gittins, Pebble Beach Systems
Goce Zdravkoski, Stryme
Cinegy equipment
42 TVBEurope www.tvbeurope.com July 2015
Snell goes for the soft(ware) optionTo state the obvious, an increasing number of
CiaB systems are being implemented for premium
channels, playout than with traditional devices.
“With new lower cost CiaB systems being available,
such as Snell’s ICE LE, the argument for using CiaB
for low revenue channels and/or backup channels
is more compelling than ever,” states Karl Mehring,
head of product architecture, Snell. “To satisfy
the demands of premium channels, features like
rich 2D and 3D graphics, Dolby E, ancillary data
insertion and extras, such as Nielsen ratings, are
indispensable offerings for a CiaB product.”
He goes on to say that selecting the right
partners to provide key software technology
plug-ins is essential in order to fast-track product
development, and that greater fl exibility can be
achieved from keeping the overall solution in a
single platform.
Mehring reports that Snell has beta trials in
progress with its ICE On Demand solution, with the
fi rst product scheduled for release in mid-2015. “With
ICE OD being fully software-based and virtualised,
Snell is able to offer cost models of OPEX-only which
allow the deployment of new services by simply
enabling a new software licence.”
Being a software product with IP inputs and
outputs, ICE OD offers signifi cant reductions in
infrastructure costs and integration times. That’s
because there is no requirement for SDI cables,–
it’s just a case of utilising existing network fabric
to the distribution platform.
“Despite the fact that we have reached a
point where CiaB products are feature rich, there
is now a strong movement towards software-
based solutions. However, such solutions with the
same level of functionality demand a great deal
of processing. That means the most feature rich
channels are still utilising CiaB products, while
low cost and DR systems are moving to using a
software only solution.”
Snell has introduced a strategy to migrate
broadcast technologies to a software and IP
domain across the board. A number of fi le-based
and live conversion software products are already
available, and ICE On Demand is to be released
this year. The company is also developing a wider
portfolio for signal processing, live routing, and
production switchers in the IP domain.
Veset moves the box to the cloud
According to Janis Krampans, chief technology
offi cer at Veset, it was not long ago that
broadcast engineers were slow to take to
integrated channel solutions that collapsed
traditional functionality of disparate playout
devices into as few boxes as possible. “While
these integrated channel technologies cleverly
marketed themselves as one-stop-shop Channel
in a Box solutions, they eventually displaced
legacy automation systems by delivering easy
installation, easy operation, high reliability, easy
maintenance, and easy scalability. Although
they have become the mainstay of playout
capabilities today, they still require more than one,
and often several, component bits of hardware
and software that necessitate a tremendous
amount of confi guration, supervision and support.
The Channel in a Box solutions have effectively
shrunk the size of huge automated processors into
sleek small boxes, but not much more.”
It is the newly emerging cloud playout and
IP capabilities that truly eliminate the need for
component boxes, other hardware, and cabling,
yet simultaneously offer a full playout capability
complete with security, reliability and scale.
And while broadcasters may be somewhat slow
to adopt this new technology, there are those
who clearly see the operational cost savings of
moving playout from hardware to the cloud.
UK-based broadcaster Limeclip is one such
channel. Based in London, and with plans to
expand within Europe, it launched The Medical
Channel to deliver trusted, evidence-based and
unbiased health-related content to audiences
in eastern Europe.
In November 2014, Limeclip decided to migrate
its playout from traditional hardware to the cloud.
It contacted Veset and within a few months
completed planning, testing and implementation
of its new Nimbus cloud playout. “The Veset Nimbus
solution allowed the channel complete playout
functionality from playlist management, media
aggregation and graphics overlays to transport
and monitoring,” explains Krampans. “Limeclip’s
media assets are stored with one of the leading
cloud resource providers in the UK. The channels
are played out in 1+1 mode, the primary from the
UK and secondary based in continental Europe.
The video stream is then transported via two
separate paths over the internet to the headends
in Croatia and Slovenia. There, the video stream is
re-encapsulated back to DVB compliant UDP.”
As a result of migrating playout to the cloud,
Veset has enabled Limeclip to streamline its playout
workfl ow processes. Limeclip has now only to
provide video content and playlist timetables to
Veset and the rest is handled by the Nimbus solution.
Limeclip also gets a centralised and secure cloud-
based media archive, enhanced video quality and
lower broadcasting expenses.
“Limeclip can now quickly launch new channels
in other countries. This level of fl exibility would have
been unthinkable using traditional broadcast
methods, as it would require the deployment of
hardware across multiple headends and channels.”
In the coming months, The Medical Channel
is expanding to other platforms in Bosnia, Serbia,
Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania and Poland and
later has plans for the UK, Baltics, and the rest
of the EMEA region.
CiaB Forum
Karl Mehring, Snell Janis Krampans, Veset
Genesix video server
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