SUPPLEMENT
INTELLIGENT MEDIA SERVICES: THE INTELLIGENT CHOICE Using Sony’s Intelligent Media Services, producers and distributors can make, manage and deliver content anytime, anywhere and to an unprecedented range of distribution platforms, adding value at every stage, writes head of of marketing and communications at Sony Professional, Europe, Stuart Almond
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he days of buying a single, standalone product to achieve a single end-result (and then get it to somehow talk to a load of other single, standalone products) are long gone. The media and entertainment industry has evolved. In today’s production and distribution market, neither the content creator nor the content distributor wants to work that way – because it no longer achieves their goals: to make, manage and deliver content anytime, anywhere and to an unprecedented range of distribution platforms. Yet, some vendors are still trying to flog those single, standalone products. Which is crazy, given the current market drivers. These drivers include a huge demand for more integration with best-of-breed solutions, the desire to avoid over investment in underutilised resources and the ability to move and change quickly, swapping services in and out as required. Rather than using standalone solutions, media organisations now require tools that give them the scale, flexibility and efficiency to be more agile; aligning cost to usage and revenue – improving value and reducing cost. At the same time, there remains the fundamental need to capture great content, at greater speed, and at the right cost. And more than ever, no customer wants to wait 10 years before they see tangible benefits or a return on their investment. To make this possible necessitates an ecosystem of technology that works together seamlessly. An ecosystem that allows media organisations to quickly react to, and often pre-
empt, audience demands. One that operates on a platform as a service (PaaS) or software as a service (SaaS) business model and makes use of micro services. That is where Sony’s Intelligent Media Services comes in. Intelligent Media Services is a portfolio of market-leading services that can transform traditional media supply chains and help to extract more value from video and audio content. Including cloud-native technologies, the use of artificial intelligence (AI), and the opportunity of subscription payment models, Intelligent Media Services consists of Media Backbone Hive, Media Backbone Navigator, XDCAM air, Ci, Virtual Production, VEN.UE, Optical Disc Archive, Hawk-Eye, Memnon, Crispin and Pulselive. In addition to a range of design, development and delivery and support capabilities on top. Intelligent Media Services can help the media and entertainment industry in a number of different ways, saving time and money, soothing a number of pain points and offering a host of benefits and advantages. It can streamline and automate workflows, improve multi-platform production and delivery, provide secure access to content digitally, migrate workflows to the cloud and much more besides. Over the pages that follow, we’ll illustrate how Intelligent Media Services does this, providing real world examples along the way. We’ll see how Red Bull Switzerland (see page IV) is relying on Sony’s cloud-based Virtual Production service to deliver remote, live events in challenging locations. And we’ll get a unique insight into how BBC Studios (see page VII)
is using Sony’s new Media Solutions process automation to reduce its workflow admin by 50 per cent and increase speed to market. But let me leave you with an example of how Intelligent Media Services has helped Turner Broadcasting. By enabling a file-based workflow for the compliance teams within its new state-of-the-art Turner Media Centre (TMC), Sony and Intelligent Media Services has reduced edit time at Turner by 70 per cent, saving money and allowing content to be aired earlier than ever before. That’s a real return on investment. Not just marketing hype. Whether your ambition is to automate management and production workflows, move production systems and content management to the cloud, digitise archives or incorporate artificial intelligence, Intelligent Media Services will add value to each and every stage. n
To find out how Intelligent Media Services can help your media business, visit pro.sony/eu-IMS
TVBEUROPE NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2018 | III