TVBE JANUARY 2016

www.tvbeurope.com

Business, insight and intelligence for the media and entertainment industry

January 2016

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January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 3

Welcome

EDITORIAL Content Director and Editor-in-Chief: James McKeown jmckeown@nbmedia.com Deputy Editor: Holly Ashford hashford@nbmedia.com Staff Writer: James Groves jgroves@nbmedia.com Group Managing Editor: Joanne Ruddock jruddock@nbmedia.com Contributors: Michael Burns, David Davies, George Jarrett, Adrian Pennington, Philip Stevens, Catherine Wright Head of Digital: Tim Frost Human Resources and Office Manager: Lianne Davey Head of Design, Hertford: Kelly Sambridge Senior Production Executive: Alistair Taylor Sales Manager: Ben Ewles bewles@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000 Account Manager: Richard Carr rcarr@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000 Sales Executive: Nicola Pett npett@nbmedia.com +44 207 354 6000

Ushering in a new era We’ve added some new, but familiar, faces to the TVBEurope editorial team

F

irst things first: a very happy

lead our business analysis. Each

New Year to you all! We

of these respected and highly

begin 2016 by welcoming

talented journalists has made

some new names to our growing

sterling contributions to this and

editorial team… or rather, some

many other publications in our

familiar names who will be a

industry, and it is with great pride

more permanent fixture in these

that I welcome them aboard on a

pages henceforth.

more regular basis.

Not that we’ve treated this

Also joining us from this issue

Sales Director: Mark Rankine

period like a journalists’ version

is our new staff writer, James

Managing Director: Mark Burton US Sales: Michael Mitchell mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv +1 (631) 673 0072

of the January transfer window,

Groves. James is a familiar face

Japan and Korea Sales: Sho Harihara sho@yukarimedia.com +81 6 4790 2222 Circulation Free subscriptions tvbe.subscriptions@c-cms.com Subscriptions Tel +44 1580 883848

TVBEurope is published 12 times a year by NewBay Media, 1st Floor, Suncourt House, 18-26 Essex Road, London N1 8LN, England +44 207 354 6002

but it does feel like we’ve made

at NewBay Media having spent

some great signings that will add some real

some time on our sister publication, PSNEurope,

clout to our output and equip us to expand our

and he now moves across to TVBEurope on a

editorial fields of vision.

permanent basis.

I’m delighted to welcome Philip Stevens,

There’s a lot to get through in this first issue

who heads up our new production section;

of 2016, so I’ll leave you to enjoy what we

Michael Burns, who takes the reins on the post

have in store.

production section; David Davies, who comes in

James McKeown

as our audio editor; and George Jarrett, who will

Editor-in-Chief

SECTION EDITORS

NewBay Media is a member of the Periodical Publishers Association

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ISSN 1461-4197

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Philip Stevens Production editor

Michael Burns Post production editor

George Jarrett Business editor

David Davies Audio editor

4 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

In this issue

8

PRODUCTION Hollyoaks is now in its 20th year of production. Philip Stevens learns how the UK soap opera updated its production process

14

ROUNDTABLE

18 POST PRODUCTION

24 FEATURE

French broadcasters and media companies discuss cloud technology at the Huawei/TVBEurope roundtable, which took place during Satis

Are subscriptions a good deal for the post production industry? Michael Burns garners opinion from creatives in the field

It is still early days for cloud playout technology.

Adrian Pennington asks how and when broadcasters will make the move

BUSINESS Digital Production Partnership MD Mark Harrison discusses what the organisation has in the pipeline for 2016

33

TVBEVERYWHERE Neal Romanek reports on four days of panel discussions and keynote presentations at the OTT TV World Summit, London

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www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

6 TVBEurope

Opinion and Analysis

Defining Software-Defined Storage One of the major and most important capabilities

the rapidly growing uptake of software-defined

of SDS is that it brings you flexibility and agility.

solutions as a whole. With all of this in mind, there

It can empower a business to expand, shrink or

are three questions you should ask any sales rep

change their storage infrastructure on the fly to

preaching about the software-defined elements

keep up with rapidly evolving requirements. It

of their offering. First, can I run your software

t was a two-beer argument. You know the

can allow the purchaser to avoid lock-in by any

on the hardware of my choice? Second, will

sort - it’s the type of discussion that requires

one particular hardware vendor. It can provide

you actually support me if I do? Finally (and this

at least two beers before you can put away

the opportunity to make cost-conscious choices

is the really important one), can I actually do

the trivial worries of raising a family, running a

without sacrificing functionality or stability. And

this today? If the answer to any of the above is

business or making the mortgage payment

it can potentially do all of these things without

‘no’, advise them to swiftly move on to the next

in favour of matters of great and unequalled

creating unmanageable technology ‘islands’

section of the pitch.

importance. On this occasion, the two-beer

and access points. Simply put, SDS can save you

argument triggered a bitter war of words around

an enormous amount of money. Of course, this

about SDS. The foundations of our entire business

a table in a Soho pub with a few colleagues over

in itself does not imply a fixed definition of SDS,

model are firmly rooted in our ability to enable

the true meaning of the increasingly over-used

it is simply one of the achievable benefits that

a huge amount of flexibility and choice for our

phrase ‘software-defined storage’ (SDS). With

could potentially be realised from investing in a

customers and partners when making hardware

a glut of vendors (both new and old) releasing

software-defined solution.

purchasing decisions; we are able to do this

By Barry Evans, technical director, Pixit Media

I

At Pixit Media, we are absolutely fanatical

software-defined solutions on a near-daily basis, it

because PixStor is software-defined. Our license

is a debate I am seeing take place on a regular

costs are predictable, and because no single

basis at trade shows, meeting rooms, conference calls and, of course, the pub.

The most common definition generally outlines SDS as any solution that favours the use of software, rather than hardware, for the control

‘One of the major and most important capabilities of SDS is that it brings you flexibility and agility’

hardware vendor can ever claim to ‘own’ a PixStor installation, so too are the hardware costs when scaling out both the capacity and performance of PixStor. Of course, this does not make us any more or less software-defined than

and management of storage and data. On this

our competitors at a technical level. It simply

point, we were all agreed. However, we could

means we are actually leveraging SDS to

not find common ground on the finer points of

deliver real value both in the data centre

what this actually means. Can there be an ASIC

and at the bank.

anywhere in the stack? Is there any hardware-

Therein lies the problem with the current hype

based RAID involved? Furthermore, is there

surrounding SDS. It’s not the definition of SDS

that we had taken this semi-lubricated game

any RAID involved at all, hardware, software or

that matters, it’s the application of it. Listing SDS

of verbal tennis totally in the wrong direction.

otherwise? What if the software is only supported

as a feature of a particular product or solution

The fact is, spending time arguing the technical

on one type of hardware?

when you can only run the software

aspects of software-defined ‘anything’ when

in production on a prescribed hardware platform

attempting to crown one solution or the other

and no one participant could gain any

does not go very far in showcasing SDS as an

truly software-defined is about as useful as

discernible ground over the other, always

actual benefit of the given offering. If your

pouring boiling water into a chocolate teapot.

focusing on the technical elements. Each new

choices are limited, who cares if it’s software-

Without tangible business benefit, the SDS

rebuttal was delivered just a little bit geekier

defined or not?

component of any solution is as irrelevant as

We went in circles with this sort of drivel

than the last. But were we getting too bogged

In other words, being software-defined for

Back at the pub, we all eventually realised

the definition itself. So we stopped bickering,

down in the details, ignoring the actual point of

the sake of being software-defined is nothing

emptied our glasses, shook hands and went

SDS in the first place?

more than a feeble attempt at capitalising on

home to worry about our kids again.

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

8 TVBEurope

Opinion and Analysis

Cloud high on the agenda for French media companies have generated $48.5 billion revenue in 2015,

Huawei is reaching out to French companies keen to adopt different forms of cloud technology and which could fancy an alternative to the big US providers. Moderator Catherine Wright reports from the co-hosted Huawei/TVBEurope roundtable

of which a massive 54 per cent comes from services alone. In other words, service revenue is growing and product revenue is decreasing, a trend very much apparent in the different IBC surveys conducted by the IABM. The 2015 survey

uring a roundtable, organised by Huawei

the industry’s transformation, which is morphing

reveals, for instance, that 55 per cent of the end-

and TVBEurope in Paris last November

from “technology suppliers selling high price, high

users at IBC were likely or quite likely to deploy

D

during Satis, named ‘How to help the IT

some sort of cloud-based technology in the next

architecture revolution for broadcasters facing

two to three years.

the cloud era’, a number of French broadcasters and media companies voiced their interest for cloud technology and started a constructive dialogue with Huawei, which provides hardware

One of Huawei’s key partners in Europe, data

‘A number of the French broadcasters voiced their interest for cloud technology’

storage solutions provider Equinix then took to the floor to briefly present Cloud Exchange, its Ethernet switching service that enables private

and middleware solutions for cloud-based

virtual connections for direct cloud access with

systems, whether public, private or hybrid. Prior

automated provisioning. Alexandre Damien,

to the discussion, presentations were made to set

head of alliance and channel manager for

the scene, starting with director of technology

France, informed participants that “90 per cent

and strategic insight at IABM, John Ive, who gave

margin products to a commodity industry, led

of all internet traffic passes through Equinix Data

a global market overview of the broadcast and

by software and IT engineers, based on a very

Centre”, that the company made $2.4 billion in

media industry, with particular emphasis on cloud

different business model.” IABM estimates the

annual revenue and had invested $7 billion in

technology. He highlighted the rapid pace of

professional supply market size worldwide to

expanding its services across the world.

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.

TVBEurope 9

Opinion and Analysis He was followed by Huawei’s sales-president

company employs 76,000 people in that area

that also meant that 60 per cent of that revenue

for western Europe, Jiang Guang Hui, who

alone, spread across 16 R&D centres, one of

comes from the rest of the world, underlining the

introduced his company’s strategy towards the

which opened in 2009 in Cergy-Pontoise, in the

company’s international expansion. He summed

media and entertainment industry. He started by

Paris outskirts. He also highlighted Huawei’s very

up Huawei’s global strategy, focusing on three

strong global performance in terms of sales.

separate business groups: the carrier network

“In 2014, our sales revenue amounted to $46

business group; the enterprise business group,

billion and this year our target was $56 billion. But

which includes the broadcast and media sector;

according to the most recent figures released

and the consumer business group, which includes

by our financial team, our revenue has already

the company’s huge smartphone business. He

reached £60 billion, of which 15 per cent comes

explained Huawei’s interest in the broadcast

from western Europe,” he asserted.

and media business. “Why do we focus on the

‘IABM estimates the global supply market to have generated $48.5bn in revenue in 2015, of which 54 per cent comes from services’

The company made between 35 per cent and 40 per cent of its sales revenue in China, but making a global presentation of Huawei, which is beginning to make inroads into Europe, but is perhaps not as well known as rival Japanese, US or European suppliers, especially in France.

He told participants that Huawei employed 170,000 people worldwide, “of which half is in engineering”, he stated. Huawei is present in more than 140 countries and had 15 regional headquarters, the one for western Europe being in Germany. “For the last ten years, our focus has been mainly on R&D”, he described. The

media and entertainment industry? It is a small business compared to other sectors. My answer

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

10 TVBEurope

Opinion and Analysis

is because our customers are changing. If you

and rely on them to provide the right media

Another of his concerns is the domination of

take a big manufacturer like Volkswagen, it

management system. That’s why we work with

the public cloud market by big American

is interested in providing media and video to

big, established service providers like Sony that

players such as Amazon and Google. “It is a

entertain its customers when they are stuck in

can be relied upon and trusted. But you have

big challenge for us because, as you know,

traffic, for instance.” The customer base and

two choices: either you build your own system

the winner takes all when it comes to big data

potential for media is thus expanding very rapidly.

from scratch and employ 50 people to do so, or

storage. In western Europe, we are late to

“In the future, the media industry will not be a

you rely on what is already out there and buy

the fight with these companies and it is a big

small industry but a very big one extended to

a service from a service provider. Only the top

problem. But China is building a lot of data

most manufacturers and even the financial

five or ten media companies in France have the

centres, which could lead to an alternative.”

sector,” he concluded.

To conclude the discussion, two short

The discussion then kicked off in earnest focusing on the requirements for cloud technology in each company. For instance, Jacques Duval, who manages the IT infrastructure at French broadcaster Radio France, stated, “We are looking to deliver services faster to our

presentations were made to introduce some of

‘Huawei could be looking to partner with Orange in France to provide a public cloud solution for end users’

end-users.” For Henri Jabko, technical advisor

Huawei’s products. Quan Yi, one of Huawei’s technical directors, took to the floor to briefly touch upon some of the company’s solutions in a number of scenarios for hybrid, public and private cloud storage.

These include the company’s WAN

at French archiving and DVD company Les

acceleration solutions as well as VM and

Documents Cinématographiques, speed is also

GPU virtualisation technology. He ended his

an issue. “We provide producers with stock shots

scope to build their own system, but the others

presentation with a few words on the company’s

from our legacy database of images and films.

have to rely on service providers.”

BDII (Business Driven ICT Infrastructure), a

We need to provide these very quickly. Cloud

Henri Jabko explained one of the dilemmas

programme for joint innovation with the

computing can provide us with a very fast way of

related to private cloud. “We could use our own

distributing images,” he explained. Olivier Nidal,

private cloud system but the problem is nobody

IT developer at Goom Radio, highlighted the

else will understand it. The ideal system would be

for instance in Germany, where we can test

problems related to file transfer, as many cloud

a public cloud where people could make their

solutions we have built with our partners. We

systems are proprietary. “Integration is not easy. It

requests for images, and all sorts of companies

have a thousand media customers across the

is also difficult to find files in some cloud systems. It

could answer; us, but also others.” The key issue

world and we hope we can build solutions

can take up a lot of time, which is totally counter-

for him, he went on to say, is “image distribution.

with companies in France.” He mentioned

productive,” he indicated.

Safety is important but it won’t bring us more

that Huawei could be looking to partner with

clients.”According to Laurent Durieux, who is an IT

Orange in France to provide a public cloud

important are workflow and media and

specialist at Arksens, a French software developer

solution for end users.

content management issues, according to

specialising in cloud security, “our clients mostly

several participants. “There are so many

request hybrid cloud solutions because these

Huawei technical director, Thierry Bucher,

different formats. Our customers are content

are early days, and they are starting to use this

who introduced the company’s Oceanstor

providers and they want to know where their

technology, but in the long term I think they will all

9000 storage system. “It has massive big data

content is,” said Wenping Jiang, senior product

move to public cloud solutions.”

storage capacity but can be adapted for

Security remains a concern, but even more

manager at Globecast.

This is an issue that was fully acknowledged

One of the issues, he continued, was the

company’s partners.

“We have a number of open labs worldwide,

A final presentation was made by another

the media world and 4K production, where

skillset. “We are trying to recruit people with cyber

performance is more of an issue. It can

by Huawei’s Guang Hui. “That is very true. But

security skills, but it is very difficult to find the right

include up to 75 disks with 6TB storage

we can only work with our customers in this area

profile,” he admitted.

capacity,” he explained.

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www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

12 TVBEurope

Production

Behind the scenes with the People of the Valley Philip Stevens investigates the production workflow of the long-running series, Pobol y Cwm

L

ocated in the fictional village of Cwmderi, Welsh language soap opera Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) has been on air since

October 1974. Originally shown on BBC Wales, the series continues to be produced by the Corporation although since 1982 it has been aired on Welsh language channel, S4C. It has since won the Royal Television Society Hall of Fame award for its contribution to television,

Since November 2011, the programme has been based at the BBC Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff Bay

and in November it won a prize at the Mind Media Awards 2015, beating Coronation Street,

Emmerdale, Holby City and Hollyoaks in the

Taking charge

The arrangement in which Morus and his two

Soaps and Continuing Series category.

Morus started out as a runner on Pobol y Cwm

colleagues take responsibility for the whole series

Pobol y Cwm was originally recorded in

22 years ago and after moves within the industry

represents a departure from an earlier model

Cardiff’s Broadway Studios, later moving to

returned to the series and was appointed to his

where block producers took charge of eight

Broadcasting House in Llandaff. Since November

present post in February 2015.

weeks of programming.

2011, the programme has been based at the

So, with responsibility for a major daily

BBC Roath Lock Studios in Cardiff Bay. There it

programme, what does Morus see as the

didn’t necessarily flow from previous incidents

occupies two of the nine studios, with eight

biggest challenge? “There are two: editorial and

or towards upcoming events. We have a very

sets constructed in studio five, and a further

management. On the editorial side you have to

perceptive audience and some could spot the

seven in studio six. Those studios measure

ensure there are enough stories and that each

eight-week cycle. The restructuring means there

38x19m wide inside the fire lanes, with a height

will appeal to – and engage – every viewer.

is a much better flow.”

to the underside of the lighting grid of just

That means creating a variety of believable

under seven metres. An area outside the studio

stories that don’t go on for too long.” Morus

been finalised, the show’s writers will receive a

building provides the scenes needed for

says the management challenge is to make

document outlining the events to be covered.

exteriors of Cwmderi. Here the street, shops

sure all the work is scheduled and completed to

“The writers are engaged for a 15-week period

and garage are regularly featured.

meet the very tight turnaround time between

– and that runs from receiving that document to

shooting, delivery and transmission. “If we have

the final delivery of scripts,” explains Morus.

The programme has seen various scheduling

“The weakness of that system was that stories

After the finer details of each story have

changes. In September 2014, due to changes

a cast member who becomes ill, or the weather

in the way viewers consume programmes

doesn’t suit our exterior shooting, we have to

draft a very detailed synopsis of each episode

these days a decision was made to remove

react very quickly and complete a rewrite. We

for scrutiny by the story producer and story editor.

the Sunday omnibus edition. From January

don’t have the luxury of a one-off show where

The writer will then incorporate their comments

2015, only four episodes a week were shown,

you can delay production.”

in a second draft synopsis.

Long-term planning

writer begins scripting and works closely

When it comes to the workflow from story

with the script editor.

but a number of factors meant a return to five was possible by the end of last year.

“I doubt if anyone realised the impact

Based on that initial document, the writers

Once that is signed off by Morus, the

on viewing figures of losing one episode

concepts to completion, significant forward

a week and the reaction from our viewers,”

planning is necessary. In October 2015, Morus

Morus says that not only are those writers very

states Llyr Morus, the programme’s series

and his senior team of story producer and script

good, but also they must be able to deal with

producer. “Now we are back with a daily

producer had a major meeting which decided

the logistics of working on a daily programme.

programme, but no conversations have

storylines up until September 2017. “We need to

“A writer may come up with a fantastic idea, but

been had about the omnibus edition.

plan that far in advance so that we know what

then reality may kick in. The timings for a location

Viewers use iPlayer and S4C Clic to catch

characters are needed and when. Planning

shoot, for example. Or because a child actor’s

up on episodes they may have missed

for two years also allows time for the stories to

time on set is restricted, that may mean a rethink.

and these figures have grown considerably

‘breath’ and permits them to be told in the most

So, logistics are a major factor in the way a writer

in the last year.”

appropriate manner.”

crafts his or her story.”

There are 32 writers engaged on the series.

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 13

Production Selecting the director

Output from the cameras is fed directly into the

Other activity

Once the script is signed off by Morus, a

Avid Media Composer 7.4. Within an hour of

With a considerable following in Wales, it is

director can be appointed for those episodes.

a scene being completed, an assistant editor

not surprising that second screen experiences

“Our directors get six weeks to complete five

starts assembling the material. “I’ll pop into the

are increasing among Pobol y Cwm viewers.

episodes,” says Morus. “There are three weeks

edit suite from time to time – especially if the

Apart from providing English subtitles on each

of preparation, two days of rehearsal, two

sequence involves a new character or a major

programme, there have been teasers on

days location shooting and five days in the

story line. We are fortunate to have the studio

social media – especially during the series’

studio. This is followed by three days editing

and post production in close proximity – so the

40th anniversary in 2014.

and two for dubbing.” The arrangement means

director can keep an eye on the editing during

that there are six directors on site at any one

breaks in shooting.” That studio shooting normally

webisodes with their own story lines,” reveals

time. “There are 15 directors that we regularly

takes place from Monday to Friday. “Everyone

Morus. “And there is considerable interaction

use and they tend to work in two blocks at a

is pleased to get the weekend off,” emphasises

on social media sites relating to characters

time – so are responsible for ten episodes. We

Morus. Once that shooting is completed, the

and story lines. And everyone likes the

select our directors carefully – some are better at

assistant passes the content to the editor who,

‘behind the scenes’ sequences we produce

emotional scenes, while others might have more

with the director, will start on the following

from time to time.”

experience of shooting action sequences.”

Monday morning to produce the final cut. Morus

“We have produced a special five

Morus goes on to say that the programme

will check on all five episodes on Wednesday

is providing valuable training experiences for

Moving from the gallery

afternoons. Once signed off, the programmes

industry personnel. “We are a big player for

When Pobol y Cwm moved to Roath Lock Studios

are dubbed and transferred to tape for delivery

Welsh speaking actors, but beyond that we are

it was decided to do away with a production

to S4C. “Although our production cycle is

developing production talent which is being

gallery and have the directors and production

completely tapeless, the broadcaster transmits

utilised by other programmes being made at

team work on the studio floor. Two cameras

from tape – although there are plans for a move

Roath Lock such as Doctor Who and Casualty.”

are used for the studio scenes, while just one is

to file transfer in the near future, with some trial

employed for the location sequences.

blocks currently under way.”

www.asperasoft.com moving the world’s data at maximum speed

“All in all, Pobol y Cwm is a significant programme from many different aspects.”

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

14 TVBEurope

Production

Sharing in the Limelight Philip Stevens learns how Hollyoaks updated its production process

espite being one of the UK’s longest

D

running soap operas, Hollyoaks is anything

but old fashioned. In fact, it’s without a

doubt one of the most progressive soaps in the UK: both in the issues it covers as well as in the technology the show uses to make its intersecting storylines come to life on screen.

Now in its 20th year of production, Hollyoaks is produced by Lime Pictures and airs each weekday on Channel 4 and E4, with an omnibus – the entire week’s worth of episodes edited into one long feature – being broadcast at the weekend.

HD enters the scene The team at Lime Pictures has been in the business of producing some of the UK’s most dramatic television since the 1980s. Whether the drama is real or scripted, they’ve found

leadership, Hollyoaks became the first soap to

The Geevs video servers capture all this content

several formulas to success on the small screen.

transition to an HD environment.

from a number of permanent sets into the 224TB

In addition to producing groundbreaking

“We use ES Connect, Geevs and Flow to

programmes that have changed the landscape

help integrate our material in our production

of television in the UK, Lime Pictures has

workflow,” states Alistair McMath, media manager

pioneered cutting edge technology, and

at Lime Pictures. “We have four key areas in our

was even one of the first drama production

workflow, starting with acquisition. We then have

companies to go completely tapeless in

the management side of preparing and making

2001. Seven years later, under Lime Pictures’

media available to view and edit, as well as creating back up, followed by the craft phase and finally archive.”

EditShare XStream shared storage.

“We use ES Connect, Geevs and Flow to help integrate our material in our production workflow” Alistair McMath, Lime Pictures

With up to 1TB of content ingested on a daily basis, Lime Pictures needed a solution that would not only store its media, but also help them keep

For added security the Geevs records directly to

it organised in a way that made retrieval easy.

its internal drives and to the EditShare in parallel,

“To manage this heavy-duty acquisition, we

so that in the event of a network power failure

have four galleries equipped with Geevs Studio

production does not have to stop on set. Once

MC,” explains McMath.

the recording is finished, a copy is moved to the

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 15

Production says McMath. “Production staff also use Flow Browse to check recordings against the scripts and to ensure continuity, as the actors can be in scenes from different episodes in a single day.”

“An important factor for us is the ability to make each recording with the metadata already entered at the front end. It’s then there for the duration of the media lifecycle” Alistair McMath

To produce the five episodes and an omnibus each week, Lime Pictures has a floor of Avid edit suites all running Media Composer. These are connected to the EditShare via 10Gb Ethernet for media access. Flowbrowse is used by the media assistants to link the ingested material to an Avid environment.

Great images and flawlessly assembled scenes are a crucial part of producing the type of soap opera that can occupy the airwaves for 20 years (and counting): but all this would be nothing without the sound. When it comes to audio dubbing Lime Pictures uses Pyramix workstations connected directly to the EditShare shared storage. Here they receive the AAF from the Avid suites in a folder on the storage space. And because the best visual shots don’t necessarily mean the best sound, the dubbing suites have access to every clip on the EditShare.

The soap looks at the lives and loves of people living in the north

Secure backups

west England village of Hollyoaks

After final viewing, the programme is rendered out of Avid and passed to the onsite QC, where

EditShare Ark Disk storage for nearline

they’re shooting, when they’re shooting, as well

any necessary file corrections are made. Then

backup. Providing multi-channel synchronised

as see everything that’s already been recorded.

the programme is delivered via digital file

ingest of up to 16 cameras, Studio MC also

It’s particularly helpful to the onscreen talent,

transfer to Channel 4. Once episodes have

manages automatic incremental metadata,

enabling them to review shots for continuity and

been transmitted, they are stored on the 500TB

including episode, scene, shot and take

pickups for dialogue.

EditShare Ark Disk nearline storage for up to a

information: a feature that has proved

month so that they can be quickly and easily

Media goes with the Flow

restored to the main XStream storage to edit

Location capture is on Sony SxS media, which

in flashbacks and other major events. Finally,

make each recording with the metadata

is logged and ingested using EditShare’s Flow

the finished programmes are archived using

already entered at the front end. It’s then there

Ingest to the shared storage by a team of

EditShare’s Ark Tape to a LTO6 data tapes for

for the duration of the media lifecycle, which is

operators in a central ingest area, the operators

long-term storage and security. “EditShare

roughly eight weeks.”

add metadata to each clip, and then the file

provides us with a single point of contact,

is ingested and rewrapped. Flow makes an H.264

with ingest, storage and archive being

organised, regardless of the volume and

proxy for every file as part of the ingest process.

managed by an EditShare solution,” comments

complexity of on-set acquisition. Project set

“With Flow Browse, we are able to track, from our

McMath. “This infrastructure also enables

up is crucial: designating folder structure and

desktop systems, every clip from the moment it

scalability at an affordable price, plus flexibility

naming conventions, with clips stored by episode

is captured on set through to post production,

when it comes to choosing our NLE and the

number. Production personnel can see what

nearline storage and finally onto the LTO archive,”

workflow we want to follow.”

invaluable for Lime Pictures.

“An important factor for us is the ability to

Studio MC allows productions to stay

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

16 TVBEurope

Production

The changing demands of vision mixers

install, especially in live production environments.

“Again, our introduction of 4K one-wire compressed video-over-IP offers the opportunity to streamline cabling and speed installations, while also reducing weight. While quad 4K carries inherent creativity constraints, the introduction of two-pixel interleave processing re-opens the full bag of a production’s look and feel.”

4K becoming king deliver all the core features and operational

The theme of 4K is picked up by Tim Felstead,

characteristics of higher end models, but at

head of product marketing at Snell Advanced

a new entry price point. They offer also a high

Media (SAM). “The last few years have seen

level of functional integration, with built-in

the introduction of higher raster sizes up to and

multi-viewers and graphics. “Along with budget

including 4K. Where in the past a programme

ne director described the modern

O

demands, there is also greater time pressure,”

created in HD was acceptable if down-scaled

production gallery as being like the

continues Huttie. “Shows are getting more

to SD with the same aspect ratio, now tools

flight deck of the Starship Enterprise. The

complex, and crews more mobile, which makes

are available to allow 4K, HD and SD outputs

huge array of multi-viewers light up the room –

set-up more challenging. Grass Valley has

from the same production desk with different

but the dazzling spectre of modern vision mixers

worked hard to improve ergonomics of both

technical and editorial demands.”

adds to the illusion. And vision mixer (or switcher

the hard panel and the GUI, with developments

to our American friends) configurations have

such as more direct, easy to navigate menus,

to manage all formats and editorial demands,

certainly changed in the past decade. So, just

simpler show recall, and faster previewing.”

while easing the operational requirements in live

Philip Stevens gathers the thoughts of three industry executives

how are manufacturers addressing production

SAM’s Kahuna product range is designed

environments. Felstead continues: “One further

gallery issues? We sought the views of three

Increasing IP

key aspect has been the realisation that control

vendors – and found some general agreements.

But perhaps the biggest issue facing switcher

panels from the past were not truly ‘modular’.

According to Greg Huttie, VP, switchers

manufacturers is the move to video-over-IP. “Grass

Given the change in output types, such as 4K,

product line, Grass Valley, one issue is tighter

Valley has responded by introducing a complete

HD interlaced or progressive, 3G modes A and

budgets – and this is being driven by a mix of

range of native Glass-to-Glass lP products,

B and so on, and editorial requirements, more

commercial pressures on both broadcasters

which spans the full breadth of broadcast

opportunities for changing the size and shape

and production facilities. “However, it’s perhaps

activities from cameras to production switchers

of the ‘conventional’ control panel came to

most evident with lower-tier sports productions,

to playout,” states Huttie. “These products

the fore.” He says that because of the flexible

such as second league games. Despite the cost

are standards based, using uncompressed

configuration of the Maverik control surface,

pressure, producers still have high expectations in

SMPTE-2022-6 and TICO compressed 4K one-wire.

operators can now choose panels best suited

terms of operational capabilities and functional

These production switchers, which have been

to the task at hand. For example, for music

integration, as well as key performance issues

tested in real broadcast conditions, offer an easy

programmes, the control panel layouts can

such as matrix size and mix effects. All this has

migration to video-over-IP.”

adopt main mix and sub-mix positions within

driven switcher manufacturers to come up with higher specifications for mid-range switchers.”

Grass Valley’s response is the introduction of the Karrera K-Frame S-series switchers, which

Alongside IP, 4K is gaining greater support in

the same control desk, or add to these very

the market, and while production switchers have

large numbers – 40 and above – of direct

offered this format for some time using quad-

source access busses. He goes on: “There has

link 3Gbps, it has been quite cumbersome to

also been a continuous demand for reductions in size and power consumption to better suit tough environments in OB vehicles for example, and the ongoing integration of production features such as multi-viewers and external or third party device control. It remains a very interesting, challenging and exciting time to be in the live production market!”

Game changer OBs are also exercising the mind of Andy Hotten, product marketing manager at Sony Professional Europe. “When it comes to live sports production, the advent of 4K has been a game changer for vision mixers. At the most straightforward level, higher data volumes require more powerful

The Maverik allows operators to choose panels best suited to the task at hand

processing capabilities, but manufacturers

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 17

Production also need to accommodate new technical standards, as well as anticipating the transition period between HD and 4K production. In fact, the requirement to produce both 4K and HD simultaneously is arguably the most pressing requirement for vision mixers at the moment.”

Multi-format switchers like Sony’s MVS-7000X and 8000X already have a proven record in a number of 4K productions. During the past 18 months these included the live broadcast of the UEFA Champions League Final from the

Andy Hotten, product marketing manager, Sony Professional Europe, Greg Hutti, VP, switchers product line, Grass Valley and Tim Felstead, head of product marketing, Snell Advanced Media (SAM)

Olympiastadion in Berlin. “While we aren’t seeing a widespread trend quite yet, the previously

Switcher, offering both IP and conventional

producers.” Hotten believes this flexibility

separate production set-ups for HD and 4K

connectivity, as well as simultaneous HD and 4K

extends to the design and user experience

broadcasts will increasingly harness the same

production,” claims Hotten. “Similar to these dual

of vision mixers, too.

equipment for both formats, and as they sit at the

production requirements, the evolution to IP must

heart of the live production set-up, mixers must

still allow for SDI interfaces during the industry

customise the operational surface and tailor

be able to facilitate this demand,” states Hotten.

transition. This dual capability will be crucial for

their equipment to their precise individual

Like other vendors, Sony believes that the biggest

vision mixer manufacturers over the next few

needs – a powerful purchasing incentive for

change in the live production environment in

years, as ‘interoperability’ is the name of the

users. This must be matched by a smooth default

recent times is the introduction of IP, and this will

game and flexibility will be even more critical. The

operational experience of course, with the mixer

be the key to achieving efficiency in productions

XVS-8000 will even offer the possibility of remote

geared towards ease-of-use, swift access to all

for all formats, including 4K. “The Sony XVS-8000

control via a tablet – so, more efficiency and

mixer functions, and simple feedback to show the

is set to be the world’s most powerful 4K/IP Live

flexibility, delivering a better user experience for

current operational status.”

“Modular panel designs allow users to

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www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

18 TVBEurope

Post Production

T

he usual howls of opprobrium completely failed to greet the news that Autodesk was to include a monthly desktop subscription

option for licensing Flame software. Indeed the news, part of Autodesk’s move to evolve its entire Flame family, seemed to be welcomed positively in the post production and VFX community.

Compare this to the vicious criticism that greeted the move to a subscription-only Creative Cloud

by Adobe, and continues to dog the company.

Like Avid with Media Composer, Autodesk is retaining the option of a perpetual licence for Flame, but has previously announced its intention to transition all new software purchases exclusively to desktop subscription by January 2016. Is the way companies like Autodesk now licence products of most benefit to the post industry? Or is there another way?

Marc Stevens, vice president, film and TV, Autodesk, said at the time of the Flame announcement: “With the new Flame business

Subscriptions: a good deal for the post industry?

model, it’s never been easier for artists and studios to access these powerful tools they need for the high-end finishing their customers demand. Community feedback is vital to the future of Flame, and these changes reflect what our customers want.”

One of those customers, Derek Moore, MD of Coffee and TV, was in agreement. “About time too!” Moore exclaims. “Flame is an amazing product, but has been cost-prohibitive for far too

Michal Burns examines the issue of subscription software licensing vs perpetual licensing, garnering opinion from creatives across the post production industry

long. Now the best artists will be able to choose the best tool for the job, which helps everyone get the best result.”

Moore’s studios in Soho and Bristol are already on a number of software rental plans, including Adobe After Effects and Creative Cloud, Maya, Arnold and Deadline. He’s obviously a fan of the model. “Rental allows us to scale up and down as projects dictate, plus we are always up to date and legal,” he says. “We can also protect our margins better because our costs of sale vary with turnover, rather than having to carry large fixed overheads whether we are busy or not.”

It’s a view shared by Dave Goodbourn, head of systems at Milk VFX, who says a mix of perpetual and rental models works well for the BAFTA awardwinning studio. “Perpetual licenses for our core artists, then rentals, as we expand, that only last the duration of the project,” explains Goodbourn.

“The rental costs can become part of the project costs so we only have what’s needed. We’ve also seen license rental periods reducing a lot so we can rent almost on a daily basis. This gives us greater flexibility to plan the budget of the project and expand and contract as and when needed.”

Some freelancers and solo artists seem to find

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 19

Post Production the benefits too. Filmmaker Hasraf ‘HaZ’ Dulull has

iterations, we came up with the rent-to-own

program anymore if you don’t pay every month.

had an Adobe subscription to Creative Cloud for

system, betting on the fact that Allegorithmic

As soon as you’re talking about well-established

just over two years and has in the past rented a

would be able to innovate enough to maintain a

software, it’s pretty tempting to stop developing

license of Maya from Autodesk for a month. “The

willingness to pay among the community. So far,

new features and focus on simple customer

subscription model has helped me immensely as

the response has been overwhelmingly positive.”

support. We’ll never stop though. We have too

a small business,” he says. “I can factor in the cost

While it’s only open to companies with less

many dreams for Substance.”

of the subscription as part of a project budget

than $100,000 revenue per year, and bigger

or as part of my business overhead costs, which

studios are offered a perpetual licensing system,

they don’t get that initial large payment for the

at the end of the year helps with taxes and

it’s a model that Khouri thinks would work across

software, we actually end up paying a lot more

accounts. But more importantly its scalable and

other creative industries. “It’s clearly a win-win,”

pro-rata for the software over a longer time. I

affordable while also always up to date with the

says Khouri. “Allegorithmic gets more sustainable

think a dual perpetual/rental model works best –

latest version of the tools without additional costs.”

revenues, similar to subscription, while the end

a rental-only model would only be a good idea

user gets a low price entry, the ability to stop and

if there’s a tiered rental model in place, so the

begs to differ. “The majority of people hate

resume anytime, and most importantly, gets the

longer you rent the cheaper it becomes.”

subscription,” says Khouri. “That was pretty obvious

product perpetually after completing the full

when we did a marketing survey and brought up

payment after 16 months.”

However, Alexis Khouri, VP of Allegorithmic

the idea in early 2015. People are simply coping

Goodbourn sees both sides. “While I agree

Some long term users might also fear that lowcost rental models might lead to undercutting

There’s been an accusation on some forums

due to the availability of relatively cheap, more

with it when they don’t have the choice, but they

that desktop subscriptions and rental models

accessible software. Goodbourn isn’t concerned,

actually hate it.”

don’t provide much of an incentive for software

“With budgets always on the decline this can

developers to evolve their product lines. “That is

help us to be more competitive with our costings.”

Allegorithmic is a developer of 3D texture creation software Substance, which is available

a short-term view as under-developed products

under a rather unique licensing plan, popular

will lose market share to more successful

least this way, with the best software available to

with games developers. “We thought we needed

competitors,” says Moore.

almost everyone, the differential is the quality of

to provide something fair, that would also make our revenues more sustainable. After many

Khouri is not in agreement: “I would say it’s probably true, as you simply can’t use the

“Undercutting is rife anyway,” says Moore. “At

the artists using it. It should allow the best talent to rise to the top.”

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www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

20 TVBEurope

Post Production

A new approach to

quality Given the substantial variations in viewing

the issue of display quality might be to move

situations, and in many cases the lack of

that render one stage further, to the moment

control, does it make sense to create a single

of viewing. We don’t directly look at the colour

master and deliver it to every device? Or

information contained in the deliverable anyway.

should we find a new way of engaging with

Inside the display device, whether a projector, a

or many years, the standard response to

audiences, perhaps with a new language

TV set or a mobile phone, all sorts of processing is

improving image quality was more pixels.

about the quality of experience rather than

going on. Re-scaling, motion interpolation, frame

From SD to HD to UHD and possibly soon

about pixels and light levels?

rate conversion, colour processing through LUTs

to 8K Super Hi-Vision. It is only recently that we

The availability of ever-increasing processing

and matrices, sophisticated spatial filtering: all to

have seen a wider acknowledgement among

power may provide the solution.

get the best result for each display.

By Wolfgang Lempp, CEO, FilmLight

F

consumers of other quality drivers: extended dynamic range and colour gamut, as well as higher frame rate and better compression.

Content today is viewed on anything from a 50-foot movie screen to a four-inch phone; from the controlled, dark environment of a movie

So, instead of delivering a locked-down file to

‘We have to enable the consumers to make the most out of their viewing experience, whatever the time, place or screen’

theatre to outdoors in bright sunshine. Yet

the cinema, broadcaster, or content distribution network, why not deliver a full dynamic range distribution master, plus some grading metadata as look profiles? Then you can allow the consumer who wants to take control of the viewing experience to do just that. Who is to say

we still cling to the idea of a single master

that HDR is only for rendering specular highlights?

recording which we transcode but otherwise

The trend in production and post is towards a

In a bright room, you might just want to use it

leave unchanged for delivery to these

collaborative and, most importantly, render-free

for bright images.

wildly differing environments.

workflow. Cameras on set can apply LUTs, and

In a theatre, a 4K HDR movie should look

Of course, while many users will be keen to

perhaps even add an initial grade to give the

experiment with this, the vast majority will not

stunning. Exit signs apart, the viewing conditions

editor a good idea of the director’s intentions.

want to fiddle with the look every time they

are perfect, and the relatively large ratio of

The grading and editing then happen in parallel.

watch a video. But even then, the consumer

screen size to viewing distance makes the

During the edit, clips with the final grade replace

device has the ability to contain applications to

extended resolution worthwhile. The theatre

the initial grade as the colourist makes them

interpret the colour metadata in the way that

also benefits from a projector that will have

available. Visual effects artists, too, can see the

is most appropriate for that screen and viewing

been precisely aligned to ensure that every

latest version of the grade in background plates

environment. What we know for certain is that

screen and every screening looks the same. Plus,

and tune the computer-generated elements to

adjustments like ‘brightness’ and ‘contrast’ are

moviemakers spend a lot of time in the similar

match precisely.

historic leftovers from a bygone era. And adding

environment of the final grading suite, making

The way that FilmLight makes this possible is

sure that the images perfectly reflect the story

by creating a workflow where the grade is never

adjustment for all content is likely to move the

they are trying to tell. These conditions are just

burnt in. At every stage of the process the artists

images further from the artistic intent rather than

not possible to replicate when it comes to the

are working with the raw camera footage. The

bringing it closer.

expanding array of consumer devices.

colour information is carried as metadata, which

To start with, the environment in which the

a ‘live sports’ or a ‘film’ setting as a global

Given the advances in processing power and

is interpreted on-the-fly as it is required to be

bandwidth, the technical possibilities are all there.

screen is viewed is under the control of the user

displayed. As well as dedicated colour grading

It is time we drop the pretence that everybody

and not the producer of the content. Even the

systems, plug-ins are available for editors and

will see content in a consumer version of how it

main home television screen is usually in a room

VFX that read the metadata to give real-time

presents itself in the mastering suite. If we want to

with other light sources, so the full effect of high

presentation of the latest grade, wherever you

maintain some control over the look in the

dynamic range is masked. Increasingly, these

are, and negate the need to render graded

age of HDR and wide colour gamut, we have to

devices do have the capability of changing

deliverables for other departments.

enable the consumers to make the most out

the viewing experience, in colour saturation, brightness and more, but this is not universal.

Today, the grade is finally rendered at the point of creating the deliverables. But one answer to

of their viewing experience, whatever the time, place or screen.

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www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

24 TVBEurope

Feature

Broadcasters look to the cloud for playout According to some vendors, cloud playout is good to go today. Yet for the most part, broadcasters are holding off on investment.

Adrian Pennington reports t is still early days for cloud playout

The business benefits

technology, and Moore's law will send

Based on discussions with customers, Harmonic

performance up and costs down so that real-

finds that broadcasters have two or three reasons

I

time, highly reactive graphics, UHD streams and

for thinking about a move to cloud type playout.

live components can be played from virtualised

One is that they are looking to deploy pure

equipment running in datacentres.

software running on customer/service provider

MAM, scheduling, traffic and billing, and

furnished hardware. This, says Warman, may go

automation are already either in the cloud or

hand in hand with virtualisation. Broadcasters

cloud ready. Even playout and encoding have

save money because it is either part of the IT

been deployed in datacentre environments

budget or is built into the service contract that

as pure software systems. This implies private

runs their channels, leading to CAPEX and

cloud solutions rather than public cloud hosted

OPEX savings.

solutions. But, according to Andrew Warman,

Another reason broadcasters are considering

director, product and playout, strategy and

the cloud is IP connectivity. The expectation

market development, Harmonic, not all

is that lower cost Ethernet-based solutions

workflows have been replicated for cloud-type

equals savings. “Add to this the continuation

environments.

of function integration that really took off with

“Some will take a considerable amount of

CiaB (channel-in-a-box), and broadcasters need

time to fully transition,” he says. “An important

fewer connections as systems become more

question that broadcasters must ask is, ‘which of

integrated in software,” says Warman.

my workflows can readily be implemented in the

In addition, some broadcasters no longer want

cloud, and which are better serviced by a more

to be burdened with vendor-specific hardware

conventional environment?’”

and maintenance, or dealing with proprietary

Andy Warman, Harmonic, Igor Krol, Veset and Karl Mehring, SAM

“Where there is hardware which is not yet amortised it won’t be reasonable by economic means to move exisiting playout to cloud” Martin Schröder, PACE

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 25

Feature designs. Overall, IT equipment costs less to operate and manage.

Channel agility is a key benefit of moving to the cloud. Traditional broadcast workflows are expensive to build, take time to construct and can be complex to operate. A cloud-based approach enables agile channel deployment since the software, licensing models, available processing power and connectivity are flexible.

Technologies like Playbox's CloudAir were designed to include ad hoc services that may only be needed for an hour or even less. “New services or channels would therefore genuinely be up and running in little more time than it takes to exchange emails or make a phone call,” says company president Don Ash. “In terms of a 24/7 channel starting on the cloud playout model, an efficient telco should be able to get these live in a matter of hours or even in a few minutes,” he says. “The most significant costs of running any programme channel then become, as arguably they always have been, the overheads of originating, acquiring or refining content and employing

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

26 TVBEurope

Feature

whatever administrative and creative people the

of linear TV. “When it comes to linear playout

three-day’s worth of content over a long

organisation needs.”

broadcasters are still stuck in their old ways,

public holiday will your business be hit with

and struggle to think outside the existing ASI/

a huge bill? The considerations are huge,

The barriers to adoption

SDI, proprietary hardware and GPUs paradigm,”

both financially and technically,” cautions

Yet there are a number of barriers to adoption.

he contends. “At best, they try to squeeze new

Karl Mehring, director of playout and

“Where there is hardware which is not yet

technologies into old packaging. A glaring

delivery at SAM.

amortised it won't be reasonable by economic

example of such thinking is the constant request

means to move existing playout to cloud,” says

to provide SDI over the internet.”

Martin Schröder, MD and founder, PACE Media Development. “There will also be training costs to handle new technologies and some new equipment will be necessary on customer's site.”

On the technical side, Schröder says bandwidth from customer premises to the public internet can be a limiting option. Some new skills will be necessary, he says, and there will be a need for a new monitoring/QC infrastructure, “IP-

“It is also about understanding that the industry is in flux and that you have to be constantly re-evaluating and testing new

“The fact that you have tested a so-called cloud solution 12 months ago does not mean it ‘does not work’ for you. Actually, it may not have been a cloud solution at all” Karl Mehring, SAM

based instead of SDI”.

solutions coming to the market,” says Krol.

“The fact that you have tested a so-called cloud solution 12 months ago does not mean that it ‘does not work’ for you. Actually, it may not have been a cloud solution at all.”

Mehring says he knows of content owners who would “jump at the chance” to put all their playout solutions into the cloud today, if they could trust that the level of service would be

He also identifies a general fear of new

what they want. “The fact that these businesses

technologies; security concerns; concerns

The biggest barrier is a lack of knowledge at

have yet to find a solution they can commit to

regarding stability and of dependency on a

all levels. The list of new things to know about

today should indicate what they believe the

cloud service provider. Perhaps most importantly

touches every part of a playout business.

state of the industry is at today,” he advises.

there is a psychological barrier to overcome.

“Questions include; What resiliency models

“Not all vendors are equally capable is a

Broadcasters must tear themselves away

at the virtual machine level do you want to

nice way to put it,” suggests Jan Weigner,

from what Veset CEO Igor Krol calls the “very

deploy? What are the different cost models

MD and co-owner, Cinegy. “This may create

conservative paradigm of reliability and security”

in the different clouds? If you upload an extra

customer scepticism.”

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 27

Feature Cinegy and other vendors which have built

Al Rayaan and ITV have explored cloud playout

“The cost of the actual playout engine – physical

a business based on software running in data

DR proof of concept).

or virtual – is only one factor of the total cost

centres tend to take issue with competitors which

“Once the realisation sets in that you can

of playing out a channel. But by going virtual

have remodelled their hardware product into IP.

just launch another couple dozen channels in

and being IP-based I can ‘virtualise’ my staff

a matter of minutes to try, for example, to go

and my operations centre can be anywhere

“At the moment, the majority of hardware vendors have been marketing remotely

where I have an internet connection. Cloud-

accessed traditional playout hardware servers

based playout means that a broadcaster can

as 'cloud playout solutions', in some cases with additional layers of web-based consoles,” claims Krol. “The architecture suggests that you place the manufacturer’s hardware in a remote data centre and operate playout remotely via the internet. In reality, such an approach has little to do with cloud philosophy, and cannot be called

“When it comes to linear playout broadcasters are still stuck in their old ways and struggle to think outside the existing ASI/SDI proprietary hardware and GPUs paradigm” Igor Krol, Veset

a cloud solution,” he says. “Such solutions have

run operations from anywhere on the planet, wherever the staff is most affordable.”

It is hard to argue with such a forceful personality as Weigner, and when it comes to Cinegy technology his claims may be justified.

The fact remains, though, that few primetime channels are likely to be published from the cloud in the immediate term.

no elasticity because computing resources of

“As an industry we need to start being

such specialised playout hardware cannot be

hyper-local, people will do it,” says Weigner.

completely honest about what is achievable

dynamically managed. Ultimately, users have to

“The competition among service providers

today,” cautions Mehring. “Some vendors

bear the high cost of acquiring and operating

will heat up as theoretically anyone with a

appear to be raising expectations of what is

traditional hardware.”

credit card can be one at any moment. Is

possible today to unrealistic levels. Fortunately

that a realistic threat? Probably not. But in

many customers have now worked this out, but

Realistic expectations

reality customer relations, service quality,

it is a disruptive influence in the industry at a time

Disaster recovery is the logical, cautious

trust earned and ultimately price are the

of such change. The truth is we are at the early

approach for broadcasters (Qatari broadcaster

deciding factors.

stages of our industry's transformation.”

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

28 TVBEurope

Business

The latest in live George Jarrett charts the rise of National Theatre Live, from its launch in 2009, to the ten-person unit today, running production, content around the broadcast and DCP creation, distribution and marketing ne of Europe’s finest creators of quality

well, and have done a couple of productions

content for event cinema audiences,

from the West End – Audience with Helen Mirren

O

National Theatre Live reached the

50 production mark in six and half years. Each project has cost £250,00-£350,000 to shoot, yet this

playing the Queen, and Skylight with Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan.”

David Sable, now executive producer, was

spin-off from a publicly funded arts scene giant

the sole employee when NT Live launched in

has long been profitable, feeding cash to actors,

June 2009. It is now a ten-person unit running

rights holders, and back into future NT projects.

production, content around the broadcast and

Its latest broadcast to cinemas was Jane Eyre,

DCP creation, distribution and marketing. Does it

and the next will be Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which opens at the end of January. As You Like It will be the February production.

The first two are co-productions, with the Bristol Old Vic and then Donmar Warehouse.

NT Live started its strong commitment to co-

“We have always been about being at the cutting edge of technology” Emma Keith, NT Live

production in 2011 when it worked with the production company Complicite to broadcast A

Disappearing Number to movie houses.

“We built up our expertise in capturing theatre

produce trailers, like the Hollywood studios do?

on film in an interesting way, and we have

“For most of our shows yes, but unlike Hollywood

established a network of hundreds of cinemas

we are often making those trailers before the

for our recent production of Hamlet starring

that are used to showing this content, and have

play exists,” says Keith. “Those are concept-

Benedict Cumberbatch. That trailer supported

built up an audience round it,” says NT Live

based but often once a show has opened we

international cinemas that had not shown it

producer Emma Keith. “We are able to

will shoot on stage and cut sections of it together.

yet, and serviced the huge demand for

showcase other people’s work through that as

We also do post broadcast trailers, as we did

encore screenings.”

The War Horse 4K experiment was a one-off, but NT Live has hardened its ambitions. “We have always been about being at the cutting edge of technology,” says Keith.

“The crazy idea that started around War Horse of, could we do something in 4K? carried over in momentum and spirit to the work we have been doing with Sony and Vue Cinemas. Could we do four shows, and deliver them to huge audiences in a meaningful way?

“War Horse was a fantastic stand alone.

We have now been able to build up skills, knowledge, expertise, and workflows around the capturing side, but also build up a relationship with Vue and its audiences about what 4K means,” she adds. “We have captured Behind

The Beautiful Forevers, The Beaux’ Stratagem and Hamlet, but have not confirmed what will be our final 4K project with Vue.”

Jnauary 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 29

Business the cost associated with the 4K capture. There are significantly increased budget costs when we produce in 4K, and that’s why we need the partnerships,” says Keith. “As soon as the price is close to HD capture I think we will transition very quickly.”

Having produced so many stage to cinema projects one of the big issues has to be efficient archiving.

“In September we launched NT On Demand in secondary schools. It is a three-year pilot started with our productions of Hamlet, Othello and

Frankenstein. We have 1,000 schools signed up and our ambitions are to keep adding titles and to reach primary schools,” says Keith. “We are also looking at what we can offer internationally.

There are potential opportunities, but we only actually secure theatrical rights for a limited window. We do not own the TV, DVD and VoD rights in our previous titles, but we are aware it is a valuable asset that we are now sat on. In the future we will look at how we can potentially widen access to the back catalogue.”

NT Live does plenty of encore screenings.

In archive terms the costumes, scripts and

Pic © Manuel Harlan

performance notes from dozens of theatre productions sit alongside the production media. Academics and students do have on-site physical access to these.

There are real ambitions to grow the digital access, but the rights hurdle absolutely has to be overcome.

The rights hurdle has to be overcome

work with all the partners,” says Keith. “We have been doing DCP production in 4K, and

Engaging with lapsed theatre goers

What has the NT Live team learnt from

that has been important because Vue is 4K

As part of its proactive campaigns, NT Live has

those three shoots in the areas of production

right across its network.”

been to New York to shoot a project.

and distribution?

Those 4K events prompt the question of,

“In 2014 we went to Broadway and captured

“It has been an absolutely huge learning

when does NT Live go fully 4K for all productions?

Of Mice and Men with Chris O’Dowd and

curve – interesting, valuable and challenging.

“We have been having conversations about this,

James Franco (released over Christmas). That

It has been exciting to be on that journey and

but the challenge for us at the moment is around

was a really interesting foray because of the

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

30 TVBEurope

Business

Pic © Manuel Harlan

complications of working in New York around

distribution income came in just two years. What

much more engagement, but people can be

the unions and rights agreements,” says Keith.

has Keith the producer learnt?

sceptical: they can be nervous about how their

“We have really seen the benefits across Europe

“I do not come from a television background

of engaging audiences who are lapsed theatre

so I came to it very naïve. I suppose the biggest

screen,” she adds. “Having Chris as part of our

goers. They are going to an NT Live show, and

thing that Chris Bretnall (NT Live’s technical

team allows me to maintain those creative

then back to local theatres.”

producer and director of Creative Broadcast

and artistic decisions.

NT Live has focused on working with other

Solutions) provides is that having someone

artistic vision is going to translate to the cinema

“We do two full camera rehearsals, and the

UK theatres, and taking its shows to all English-

key is that the creative and broadcast teams all

speaking territories. “The biggest challenge

go and watch it in the cinema before the live

to overcome is the language barriers and the way Europe is used to seeing things subtitled or dubbed,” says Keith. “But we do want to be trying different things. The new NT creative director

“The challenge for us at the moment is around the cost of 4K capture” Emma Keith

shoot happens. Shots feel different because you can linger on the big screen in a way you cannot do on a TV monitor. We cannot just assume what it will look like on the big screen,” she

Rufus Norris is engaged with NT Live and wants us

continues. “We could save costs by not

to look at different ways to capture. We always

shooting two full camera rehearsals, but we

take a bespoke approach – no fixed camera

want to ensure that artistically what we put

positions – and we do put cameras in places

specifically responsible for the technical things

that the audience sat in the theatre would not

gives that freedom to produce. I can have an

see, but what more can we do to deepen the

understanding of where our risk lies, where costs

tape-based. “We are now completely file-based.

engagement for cinema audiences?”

are problematical, and where the potential

It was the big shift for us: we are a theatre

opportunities are. His job is to ensure technical

not a broadcaster so the concept of having

People can be sceptical

robustness and technical delivery from camera

ten to12 shows a year for which we have

When NT Live launched it did so with seed money

lens to cinema screen, which gives us great

two camera rehearsals and the live

from the Arts Council and a science, technology

confidence,” says Keith.

broadcast with six or eight cameras on

and arts fund. After the pilot stage it had a global

“Having that overview is key because

out is of the highest possible quality.”

When NT Live started, its production was all

each show means the volume of digital

sponsor (Aviva) for three years. The tipping point

capturing a theatre broadcast is not a simple

files we get after each project is several

from when capture costs were bettered by

thing. There is much more acceptance of it and

terabytes,” says Keith.

The Official Newspaper

THEBVEDAILY BROADCAST & PRODUCTION: FROM CREATION TO CONSUMPTION

Due to popular demand the Daily is returning for BVE 2016. TVBEurope and TVTechnology are delighted to invite all BVE exhibitors to promote their presence while encouraging greater foot traffic to their booth.

Be sure to stand out from the crowd at the UK’s largest broadcast tradeshow.

• 2,000 copies distributed per day • Digital edition distributed via email to all pre-registered visitors and previous attendees to the show • Guaranteed editorial coverage for all advertisers in the form of a 300 word opinion piece • Ten sends of the BVE e-Daily newsletter (44,000 circulation) WWW.BVEXPO.COM

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e v i s r r D sito d vi ur stan

o y to

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF

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Tuesday 10 February 2015 SHOW HOURS:

Tuesday 10 February 09:00-18:00

Wednesday 11 February 09:00-18:00

Thursday 12 February 09:00-17:00

The future: Integrated System Europe?

BY MONICA HECK The Internet of Things is set to turn the ‘integrated systems’ that make up Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) into a single unified ‘integrated system’, according to futuristic business mastermind and consultant Lars Thomsen.

Speaking on the main stage during the ISE Opening Keynote speech, Thomsen predicted the future of the AV industry would depend on the IPv6 Internet standard, which would create a rapidly growing “digital nervous system” across the world not unlike the current energy grid everybody is used to.

“In 10 years, 1,000 devices per human will be connected to the internet and this digital nervous system will incorporate all aspects of things that are important to humanity,

Thomsen: “In 10 years, 1,000 devices per human will be connected to the internet” such as comfort, energy, security, education and so on,” he said.

“Right now there are different halls in this trade show representing different parts of the industry. We are now at a tipping point where we

don’t have to think about isolated systems, but rather about moving onto a system that incorporates the internet as its backbone.”

Tipping points are a key concern of Thomsen’s, who doesn’t use slides

during his keynotes but prefers to let the audience connect the dots and imagine the future he describes.

“Tipping points are points in time where a new technology, or business model is cheaper and better than the way we did it in the past,” added Thomsen, listing the victory of artificial intelligence and robotics over ‘dumb technology’ as tipping points to look out for.

“Within 520 weeks, we will get to a point where robots can work in households or in elderly care, they will reach a price point where they are cheaper than employing humans for the same task. The implications to our society are big.”

“We have to do more than just look for trends, instead of waiting for the future we have to find the next tipping point and actively create that future,” he concluded.

A minority report on the future of pixels

BY LINDSEY M. ADLER A vacuum in professional computing has resulted from the evolution from desktop to laptop to mobile device. John Underkoffler, CEO of Oblong Industries, views the world through pixels and sees them as the key to filling that hole, which he shared in his Smart Building Conference address: “The Future of Work – Workplace Collaboration Thrives in the Spatial Operating Environment”.

Digital Signage p10

As an advisor to the film Minority Report, Underkoffler shared a clip he musingly hoped was “the last time we have to look at this.” Instead of being wowed by the ahead-of-its-time gesture technology, something he derided as “not what’s important,” attendees were asked to look for what was missing.

“This sequence is as much about the collaboration and the room as it is the UI.” Applying that to today’s business technologies, he asked,

Residential solutions p27

“How does computation extend [the] room? It doesn’t. [Modern computing devices] don’t care about the room. You have a bizarre complication.” Because they are so personal in nature, “They are anti-collaboration devices and anti-architectural devices.”

Underkoffler and Oblong Industries are working to get out of this “trap.” His solutions include: the more pixels the better; pixel interoperability; a user interface capable of managing all the pixels all over the place; and plurality, the

Unified Communications p56

need for systems that think about more than one thing - enabling the physical and social space for more than one person to work in tandem.

By teaching a machine to speak pixels, multiple applications can run at the same time complementarily. “It’s a kind of quantum leap between what you can do with a machine,” Underkoffler declared.

“We’re turning serialism into parallelism, linear into nonlinear, and raw technology into a more human approach.”

Smart Building p62

A DIGITAL THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM

Don’t miss your opportunity to advertise in the show Daily and ISE newsletter

sitor e, i V l ia or Offic ter, bef how slet st s New and po the to ng duri d direct r 88,000 an f ove tors to o s xe si inbo ntial vi nd pote our sta y

al itori d e teed rtising n a r Gua adve the l l a with ages in or pack f a Q&A o e form ion piec opin

ISE’ managing director Mike Blackman introduces the event as Chiara Benedettini of organiser Connessioni looks on

BY KIRSTEN NELSON It was “laptop land” at AudioForum@ISE yesterday.

The fifth edition of the day-long educational event presented by Connessioni certainly featured digital in every way, as nary a professional audio discussion would be complete without talk of software or DSP. Topics relevant to audio design, integration and live events were discussed in the context of building knowledge and business for a rapidly evolving industry, with participants taking keen interest in sharpening skills in modeling, time alignment, networking and Class D amplification.

Attendees from the live sound and installation worlds convened at the event. The notion of convergence was very much on the mind of Jack Cornish, a project

Continued on page 4

Professional Development p68

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rs’ o t i b exhi nvert o t ness elps co venues i s u re nd h es b driv show a to solid n t the unities i a s d t stan s oppor nes busi

products, contact the sales team now:

International: Gurpreet Purewal T: +44 (0)20 7354 6000 E: gpurewal@nbmedia.com Peter McCarthy T: +44 (0)20 7354 6000 E: pmccarthy@nbmedia.com

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 33

Business

A Roadmap for the

future George Jarrett sits down with DPP MD Mark Harrison to find out what the organisation has in the pipeline for the coming year

T

he Digital Production (DPP) has committed to a huge set of front line technology projects for

2016 that should dovetail tellingly with work being done by SMPTE, AMWA and the EBU. Focussing on what he identified as, “the real world needs” of the broadcast world, MD Mark Harrison said: “What’s fascinating about

“There is an awful lot that just needs unpicking and clarifying, whilst everybody is charging forward at breakneck speed” Mark Harrison, MD, DPP

the moment we are in is that we have every end of the spectrum of change. To the same group of people at different moments it can seem as if we are still in the Stone Age, and in other moments it can feel incredibly modern: all virtualised software and concept-based.

“While we have those realities existing in parallel, it is very difficult for everyone to make the right assessments about what is important

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 35

Business

to them, and make the right

simply didn’t feel they had the time

an international mastering format

time and budget is paramount,”

decisions about change,” he

and the budget to think about. They

for broadcast, so it is not as if we

he said. “We will tend to rely upon

added. “With our new Roadmap

did not know what might be out

are up against opposition. The EBU

friends that we trust to do that for

the DPP is just trying to provide

there to help them, so there is an

has been doing a lot of work in that

us, and that makes us very sceptical

some clarity: what we always try

awful lot that just needs unpicking

area, so we just asked if we can

about anything derivative or new,

and do is bring a little bit of calm

and clarifying, whilst everybody

help to accelerate this progress.”

or indeed any person who is new.

amongst the noise.”

is charging forward at breakneck

In the pipeline DPP has

speed,” said Harrison.

Harrison ended by considering

“There are a lot of other forms

DPP work on the impact of IP Live,

of AV production going on in the

a mastering format for TV,

and vendor reports that engineers

world and if you look at the sum

publications on Live IP production,

are easy to train, but creative and

total produced, TV is quite possibly

connectivity, location workflows,

operational staffs are not: they

the minority of it,” he added.

the delivery standard for UHD content discussed at IBC, a delivery standard for HD commercials, common protocols for the exchange of news content, and a survey of policies, standards and protocols worth re-assessing.

On this initiative Harrison said: “It

“There are a lot of other forms of AV production going on in the world... if you look at the sum total, TV is quite possibly the minority of it” Mark Harrison

want to retain the same feel they enjoyed with SDI.

“We have an awful lot to learn from people producing

“I can absolutely accept that

in other contexts. Not having

because there is an inherent

grown up in an established TV

conservatism in being a creative

culture dictating how you make

person, particularly in an industry

programming might make them

like ours where delivery to a specific

think a bit differently.”

is always a debate: do we need to clear up the debris or do we just need to dump it and leap forward?

The huge breadth of what DPP is

There is an awful lot that’s out there,

seeking to achieve does not faze

and there is a lot of very good

him. “There are indeed some very

thinking going on currently about

big pieces there, but we are not

how we try and bring some of the

trying to do this alone, and we are

relationships of trust that we built

not trying to re-invent work that has

up in a pre-digital industry into

been done,” he said.

the digital one.

“We do not necessarily know

“We will be working very closely with the EBU, and with SMPTE and

what they are, because they

AMWA. What the DPP often can

are not human based. They

bring to the mix is clarity about

are standards or technical

business requirements, and that is

interventions, so they feel

often needed to move technical

complicated,” he added

work along,” he added. “Some of

At a recent DPP Home event

these pieces, like the mastering

this subject was raised with people

format, are quite a challenge, but

involved in the making and shaping

there are mastering formats that

of programming.

happily exist – like for the movies –

“It was extraordinary to find that things like security were issues they

so we are not starting from scratch.

There is a lot of interest globally in

Streamlin

e your

SCHEDU LING Model you r schedule s concept u p to broad from the c a sting and beyond ov er multiple media. www.med ia

gwewn.m w ixed.tiavgenix.t v

36 TVBEurope

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

Business

M&A: The story of 2015

By Martyn Whistler, lead analyst, media and entertainment, Ernst and Young LLP

like heresy but there are some good,

suggest further changes are

old fashioned deals with a genuine

imminent, with further evolution of

feel of sector consolidation.

in-home equipment.

The headline grabber must be

Arris, Technicolor and others

t is sometimes comforting to find

Vice Media precipitating the latter’s

Arris’ pending deal for Pace. If as

understand this shift. In different

an anchor of certainty in an

launch of its first TV channel.

expected the deal is approved, at

ways, their acquisitions will position

$2.1 billion it stands out among a

them to remain competitive. In

I

unpredictable world, but when it

All this activity reflects an industry

comes to M&A, 2015 was a year of

on a treadmill of innovation,

number of transactions in the set-

particular, Technicolor’s deal comes

few guarantees. Where and when

facing more intense competition

top box sector. The other notable

with organisational commitments

deals will take place and who is

and a more opaque vision of the

deal was Cisco’s divestment of the

from Cisco for collaboration on IoT

buying and selling are questions that

future. It in turn impacts directly on

former Scientific-Atlanta STB and

and the next generation of

constantly vexed. Unfortunately, this

broadcast technology. Much of

wider CPE business to Technicolor for

in-home, smart solutions.

year’s only cert was for the flurry of

the deal flow is intended to realign

€550 million. Both deals come with

recent deal-making to continue.

technology providers, in almost

familiar, consolidatory overtones

box sector that showed signs of

In 2015, it was not only the set-top

By way of context, the broadcast

every facet of the value chain.

about finding synergies and realising

consolidation. Some of the most

and wider media industry has been

Their goal is to remain relevant

cost savings but these deals also

acquisitive companies of recent

busy. Cable and pay-TV sectors

and competitive.

acknowledge a competitive shift.

years continued in 2015 where

The set-top box has long since

they left off the year before. For

continue to consolidate, illustrated in large part by Altice’s moves in

More of the same?

ceased to be the only kid in town.

some, acquisitions have become

Europe and the US. At the same

At first glance, it seems not much

Park Associates recently published

a cornerstone of their strategy to

time there were deals by acquisitive

has changed. In 2014 the mantra

a report showing the most popular

grow market share and achieve

channel owners led by Discovery,

of M&A activity was one of

devices in the US for streaming

economies of scale. For example

Scripps, Sony and others. The latest

consolidation and in many ways,

video remain Microsoft’s Xbox and

NEP continued on an acquisitive

and perhaps most intriguing is

the same mantra echoed through

Sony’s PlayStation. The proliferation

path to growth, building out

Disney’s $200 million investment in

the past 12 months. It might seem

of direct to TV and OTT delivery

and strengthening existing OB

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 37

Business capabilities through transactions

acquisition of Nativ. It is a deal

on a TV set. These generational

Elemental Technologies and

including Screen Scene, Outside

that enables Ooyala to broaden

shifts are becoming a little too

Telestream’s deal for Pandastream.

Broadcast and Mediatec, among

its service offering by assimilating

frequent and in consequence

others. In a similar vein RR Media,

Nativ’s talent and technology.

broadcasters crave flexibility. They

What’s next?

crave flexibility not just to reach

In a piece ostensibly reviewing

which is itself a consolidation play from SES, acquired Stalink and

Head in the clouds

audiences wherever they are today

the past year, just a moment to

Eastern Space Systems as “Part of

An area where we saw perhaps

but wherever they will be tomorrow.

cast a watchful eye forward. If

a continued strategy to increase

the hottest activity to buy into new

In many ways cloud, SaaS and

indeed the only certainty is that

scale [and] will broaden RR Media’s

business areas and acquire new

remote managed services will

the flurry of M&A activity is likely to

industry leadership”.

technology relates to the cloud.

be the minimum expectation for

continue, is it worth gazing into the

Indeed, in 2015 we saw barely

broadcasters looking to keep

crystal ball and trying to predict a

Timing is everything

a transaction that does not

options open. As one executive

little what the year ahead might

Scratch beneath the surface and

allude to the role, impact or

recently mentioned, it’s about

hold? Certainly some of the trends

a chunk of this year’s M&A was just

potential of cloud.

building packets. Discrete solutions

we have seen over the past year

that combine, can be adapted but

seem likely to prevail. Competition

which cumulatively provide what

will intensify, scale will remain

the most attractive path to growth.

In 2015 the equity markets have

The stand out deal would be Ericsson’s acquisition of Envivio

been at best awkward and in some cases downright unfriendly. Faced with the summer slump in media stocks and uncertainty in China, more than one IPO has pulled back at the eleventh hour.

important. Questions remain

‘23 per cent of acquisitions are driven by the need for new talent and 20 per cent to enter new business areas and acquire new technology and IP’

At the same time, access to debt

about wider industry impacts, not least the EU’s digital single market and the implications for technology providers.

One thing, which comes across from broadcasters and content

remains relatively cheap. In EY’s

owners, is the balance of process

annual survey of media executives,

for $125 million, which completed

broadcasters want, rather than

and strategy. Unquestionably

76 per cent stated optimism about

in October. It allows Ericsson

designing the next, end-to-end

embedding decision-making

the availability of credit/debt

Broadcast Services to expand its

legacy. It’s a slow burn but cloud

elements into many of the

contrasting with 52 per cent a year

video compression capabilities with

seems to offer a solution.

technology processes is already an

earlier. In an industry with many

an emphasis on doing so virtually.

smaller players, access to finance is

To some extent this move to

It is therefore no surprise that

evolving part of the tech industry’s

alongside Ericsson’s Envivio

tool kit. One such deal from 2015

currently one of the more attractive

cloud is about the money. A recent

acquisition, this autumn saw similar

was Net Insight’s acquisition of

options. At the start of the year,

joint study between Cisco and IDC

deals as others sought to build

Scheduall. Whether we see similar

start-up 1mainstream launched a

concluded that organisations are

their cloud capabilities, including

transactions in the year ahead

further funding round and

gaining an average of $1.6 million

Amazon Web Services’ deal for

remains to be seen.

secured $5 million from Sky. By

in extra revenue for applications

the end of the year it was sold to

deployed in the cloud. At the

Cisco where its OTT platform

same time, they also achieve

can be further scaled.

$1.2 million in cost savings. That is

The challenge for many smaller

hard to ignore no matter what the

companies in the sector is finding

scale, but it becomes increasingly

the right tipping point. From the

attractive as the broadcast

EY survey of media executives, we

ecosystem increases in complexity.

know that many companies are

Yet cloud is also a strategic

looking to pick off specific assets

question. It is about how

that add technology or talent to

technology companies such as

their existing mix. It was ever thus

Ericsson remain relevant to their

but in an industry that is increasingly

clients. As we all know, broadcast’s

fluid, it seems more important

ultimate end-customer, the

than ever as a way to accelerate

audience, is shifting behaviour. TV

competitive advantage. In the EY

remains the dominant medium but

survey, 23 per cent of acquisitions

its power is not absolute. Facebook

are driven by the need for new

recently announced eight billion

talent and 20 per cent to enter new

daily video views, doubling in less

business areas and acquire new

than six months. Generation Z is

technology and IP. One such deal,

coming of age, they are starting

of many over the past few months,

to graduate university and are not

was Telstra-backed Ooyala’s

troubled to spend their first salary

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www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

38 TVBEurope

Audio

Time for total immersion?

Recent developments, including progress on relevant standards efforts, indicate that 2016 will be the year in which the concept of ‘immersive audio’ begins to achieve mainstream recognition.

David Davies reports

of Next Generation Audio – referred to as the TS 101 154 specification and incorporating immersive and object-based capabilities – is also increasing. Commercial

ndustry buzz around projects

Laboratories and the MPEG-H

well as personalisation (including

requirements for NGA were

such as Dolby Atmos and

Audio Alliance to determine which

enhancements to the control

completed in July, and work on

Fairlight’s 3D audio workspace,

audio subsystem will be included

of dialogue, use of alternate

defining the technical standard

in ATSC 3.0 – the end-result being

audio tracks and other-language

is now underway. A ‘blue book’

I

3DAW, means that ‘immersive’ or enhanced audio techniques have been a hot topic of discussion for several years now. But it is perhaps only in the last six months that incorporation into broadcast workflows has started to seem like a

version of the standard is due

“It seems likely that by 2017 Next Generation Audio production will already have become a mainstream production option” Tim Sheppard, DVB

more imminent prospect.

by the end of 2016, while the ETSI is likely to issue a formal version six months after.

Invited to consider how long it might be before NGA is part of daily production workflows,

In no small part, this is due to

Ken McCann, chairman, DVB

the progress being achieved in

what is expected to be the world’s

dialogue), the normalisation of

technical module, AVC (Audio

the relevant standards efforts.

first digital broadcast standard

content loudness and contouring

Visual Content) and Tim Sheppard,

Spring and summer 2015 saw

to support high spatial resolution

of dynamic range. Momentum

chairman, DVB commercial

the ATSC test systems from Dolby

in sound source localisation, as

behind the DVB’s project in support

module, AVC, tell TVBEurope:

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 39

Audio “As with all new technologies it

Tools geared towards making

and guidelines to enable

will take time for NGA to become

immersive audio content

technology vendors to develop

the default; however, we do see

creation more straightforward for

“end-to-end NGA systems”.

an end-to-end ecosystem coming

broadcasters are also beginning

On a broadcast production level,

into place already, and therefore

to come onstream. Take the

“one potential obstacle for the

it seems likely that by 2017 NGA

Jünger Audio MPEG-H Authoring

adoption of immersive audio

production will already have

and Monitoring Unit, which was

is the limited knowledge of the

become a mainstream production

exhibited at the AES Convention

opportunities that immersive

option. Content producers that

in New York. Due to be made

audio offers, so more workshops,

invest early in NGA will be ‘future-

commercially available in 2016,

articles and white papers will

proofed’ while still being able to

the hardware unit will allow

help to spread the news.

achieve backwards compatibility

broadcasters to check the quality

by converting from this production

of immersive audio transmissions,

mooth, painless transition to

format into today’s (non-NGA)

regardless of format, and help

NGA in production, including

distribution formats.”

maintain compliance with existing

the utilisation of audio that

loudness regulations.

is captured by conventional

Vendor vision

“The aim is to enable a s

techniques.”

Adding such a product to

Meanwhile, individual vendors

an OB truck with four small

continue to make progress in

speakers will allow a broadcaster

implications of immersive

spreading the word about the

to contemplate undertaking

audio are still to be answered.

potential of immersive audio

immersive audio production.

Is it something that consumers

solutions. The recent move by

“They won’t need to go out and

will only wish to ‘bother with’ for

streaming service VUDU to offer

buy a whole new console,” says

tent-pole events, or will they

availability of Warner Brothers

Robert Bleidt, division general

become sufficiently enamoured

movies in 4K UHD with both Dolby

manager of Fraunhofer USA Digital

with the idea of ‘personalised’

Atmos and Dolby Vision HDR

Media Technologies, indicating

mixes to make use of them on

appears particularly notable.

that it will be possible for

a daily basis? The fact is that

broadcasters to enter this new

only time will tell.

Stephen Auld, senior manager, broadcast and licensing at Dolby

phase of audio delivery in a

Laboratories, says: “Consumers with

relatively inexpensive fashion.

Dolby Vision-enabled televisions,

Many questions about the

What is beyond doubt is that broadcasters will soon have

But if the standards and

the means at their disposal to

like the VIZIO Reference Series, and

equipment to support immersive

Top to bottom; Peter Poers,

deliver an audio experience to

with Dolby Atmos-enabled home

audio are slowly falling into

Stephen Auld and Tim Sheppard

complement the visual advances

theatre products will be able to

place, then that leaves one

enjoy a variety of entertainment

significant component to be

content through VUDU. Major

addressed: education.

of the 4K/UHD format.

studios including Warner Bros, Sony, Paramount, Lionsgate, Universal,

Skill sets

HBO and Red Bull Media House

While it is arguable that the `

have been strong supporters of

step-change from, say, 5.1 to

bringing content with Dolby Atmos

immersive won’t be as profound `

soundtracks to the home, and

as that from stereo to surround,

we will continue to explore new

further training for sound mixers `

opportunities.”

and recordists will be essential if

More generally, Auld observes that Dolby is registering “increased demand for more immersive,

these new techniques are to reach their full potential.

“There will need to be more

lifelike entertainment experiences

education, and it won’t be

anytime, anyplace. As adoption

something that can be handled

of Dolby Atmos increases in

during a [single-day course] for

environments outside the cinema,

example,” says Jünger Audio

such as at home and on the

managing director Peter Poers.

move, we expect to see it applied

Standards bodies will

to different types of content –

inevitably have a fundamental role

including Blu-ray movies, TV shows

to play here. McCann and

and music, and scheduled and

Sheppard confirm that the DVB

on-demand broadcast.”

will provide the specification

e your

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www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

40 TVBEurope

Audio

Knowing the RF worlds you live in

By Bob Boster, president of Clear-Com

complexity that many people in broadcasting are working across national borders where different regulations may come into play, and/or are working in sports or performing arts venues that have their own operational RF

ere at Clear-Com, we spend a substantial

systems, and you have a whole host of

amount of time talking to people about

potential issues to consider.

H

their challenges with the broad array of

For some high profile events, the role of a

wireless equipment they use for broadcasting

wireless frequency co-ordinator has become

and broadcast production: largely in the context

a strategy to ensure that the event and its

of helping them find the right wireless intercom

broadcast coverage happen without a flaw.

solution from our extensive set of choices.

This critical role, which was introduced years

industry approached us about his intention to

From our engagement with broadcasters,

ago by the late Larry Estrin, Clear-Com’s director

mirror a successful event across a number of

resellers, system integration partners and audio

for the Global Rental Group until his untimely

different countries and use the same wireless

consultants over recent years, the consensus

death earlier this autumn, helped prevent RF

intercom solution for each job. Fortunately,

is that the wireless ecosystem, as we know it, is

conflicts across all the relevant and required

given his knowledge of wireless communications

becoming increasingly more complex while the general level of knowledge and applied radio frequency management (RF) expertise within the broadcast industry has not kept pace.

As the gap in RF knowledge continues to widen, the industry will witness a greater divide between the knowledgeable and uninformed, and a commensurate differential in outcomes.

and his most recent experience with our

‘As the gap in RF knowledge continues to widen, the industry will witness a greater divide between the knowledgeable and uninformed, and a commensurate differential in outcomes’

The urgency that I dare raise in this article is our

of how the system would work properly in his grand plan. Our technical staff reminded him that he must operate the comms within local wireless regulations and what the operational implications of that were. We kept him out of trouble.

We continue to work hard to stay ahead of the

collective acknowledgement for renewed RF

technology and regulatory curve. In designing

training and reinvestment in our own people in the wireless technology category overall.

product, he had enough expertise to conceive

and developing our own wireless intercom wireless systems. While managing this activity

products, our R&D team devote a significant

centrally made sense for large events like the

amount of time and effort to researching and

frequency reallocation – and the associated

NFL Super Bowl or the Olympics, I think purely for

understanding how wireless communications can

governmental regulations – has driven repeated

self-preservation broadcasters should be current

intelligently and effectively mitigate common

and frequent changes of what frequency

on these issues as general areas of concern and,

interference issues that inherently exist in RF

spaces are available for our wireless systems.

critically, should make sure to keep members of

crowded environments. Even with our extensive

Not only do these changes affect microphones,

their technical staff trained on this whole subject.

experience and RF knowledge, the continuous

If you are not convinced, consider this: radio

in-ear monitoring/IFB and intercom, but they

Especially with questions of appropriate

feedback and input from the technical users

also impact camera systems, lighting and

operation of legal systems in adjacent

of our products is a highly crucial process to

camera controls, remote control systems for

frequencies to broadcast equipment, so often

improving wireless solutions for the industry. And

other broadcast related equipment, plus an

we see problematic interference from what

who better to represent your interests than one of

explosion in voice and data systems for personal

are legal and licensed systems being operated

your own technicians or engineers?

use (3G/4G), wireless handheld telephones and

illegally, because the (usually non-broadcast)

localised wireless networks.

entity in question doesn’t understand the limits

and on-going training and education in this

Then we have the factor of which RF schemes

Please make the investment in continued

of their operation. We can only exert our rights

area among your own staff, as well as availing

support in-band co-existence elegantly and

to utilise the few remaining frequencies that

yourselves of industry-led opportunities to

which ones do not, not to mention which

we have access to if both parties know the

educate your local authorities about your

platforms are more likely to bleed interference

technologies in question as well as the law.

RF-based systems and the importance of their

over into adjacent bands. Add in the further

Recently a key intercom consultant from the

contribution to your final broadcast product.

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

EDITORIAL PLANNER 2016 Issue

Exhibitions present at

Feature

Editorial Close date

Advertising close date

February

• BVE • ISE

• BVE Show issue • Virtualisation

15th January

8th January

March

• CABSAT

• NAB Show Preview • UHD feature

12th February

5th February

April

• NAB • TV Connect

• BVE Review • NAB Show issue

11th March

4th March

• TVBEurope 2020 preview • Euro 2016 live production • Satellite round-up

8th April

1st April

• TVBEurope 2020 preview • RIO 2016 Olympic feature: live production • Visions of the future: the connected world

12th May

5th May

July

• OTT feature • Automation and playout • RIO 2016 Olympic production feature:

10th June

3rd June

August

• IBC thought leadership insight and product preview

12th July

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May

June

• TVBEurope Strategy Week • TVBEurope 2020 Conference • Broadcast Asia

September

• IBC

• IBC 2016 Show issue: thought leadership insight and product showcase

19th August

12th August

October

•TVBAwards

• Audio for broadcast • IBC Best of Show Winners • IP technology

23rd September

16th September

November

• Post-IBC acquisition focus • Remote production

21st October

13th October

December

• Media Asset Management • M&A business review

11th November

4th December

For all advertising and sponsorship opportunities, contact the sales team: Europe Ben Ewles: +44 (0) 20 7354 6000 bewles@nbmedia.com

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USA Mike Mitchell +1 631 673 0072 mjmitchell@broadcast-media.tv

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

42 TVBEurope

TVBEverywhere

Beating Amazon and Netflix at their own game Neal Romanek reports from the recent OTT TV World Summit in London

Is there a TV industry anymore? Are broadcasters

“You have to set subscriber expectations

just taxi drivers in an age of Uber?

about how you’ll grow content over time.

Those who doubt that streaming will be the

You’re creating a long-term relationship,”

dominant distribution model of the future tend to

said Hoffmann, who was a co-founder of

be as rare as climate change deniers these days.

eMusic, one of the early downloadable

n November, London’s Millennium Gloucester

Even die-hards have had to finally admit there

music start-ups.

Hotel was packed for the annual OTT TV World

may be a paradigm shift coming as the IP sea

Summit. The event is growing year on year

level rises above their ears. But how to adapt

enough people are thinking about the user

as broadcasters, telcos and content owners

to the change – or better, be part of the

experience – not just the interface, but the whole

come to terms with the new paradigm of

change – is still elusive.

experience. A lot of people get hung up on

I

internet distribution and an on-demand, fully streaming marketplace.

Four days of panel discussions and keynote presentations covered a variety of topics on how

The difficulty content owners are now facing is how to transform their business models into

Hoffmann went on to say: “I don’t believe

giving access to content without thinking about the ease of use of accessing that content.”

something that Netflix and Amazon (and Hulu

Hoffmann pointed to content providers

and Vice) are still in the process of inventing.

deliberately making it difficult for customers

both start-ups and established providers should

to unsubscribe as just one way customer

Collaboration with consumers

relationships are eroded. “One of the big

Gene Hoffmann, CEO of Vindicia, emphasised

mistakes made by subscription services – out of

avoid mentioning Amazon and Netflix. The tech

in a summit presentation called ‘Creating a

fear – is making it difficult to cancel. Instead, let

giants were consistently brought up as the

viable subscription supported business model for

those people opt out. But then ask them why,

companies to beat, emulate, or fear. The question

OTT’, that collaboration with consumers is a key

and do your best to address that problem so

that seemed to lurk beneath each panel

survival strategy for OTT content businesses. Gone

they have a reason to come back. If you make

discussion and presentation was what exactly

are the days of a passive audience, waiting to

it difficult for a subscriber to leave, you’ve raised

comprises the TV industry in 2015?

be fed programming.

the stakes for them for resubscribing.”

be improving their OTT offerings.

Of course, not a single presentation could

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 43

TVBEverywhere A delegate in the following discussion agreed:

Summit. And that perhaps points out a challenge

decade, fine-tuning your Netflix queue was an

“When a customer leaves us, we don’t think

the entire TV industry is having with the transition

end in itself. You knew you weren’t really going to

of them as leaving us, we think of them as a

to an online world.

customer not paying us right now.”

The big online providers don’t appear to see

watch every episode of Space: 1999, but it was still exciting to know you could if you wanted to:

themselves as being in the TV business, per se.

after you finished Tarkovsky’s The Sacrifice and

Hearts and minds

They are in the business of delivering content,

series six of Ground Force: Garden Rescues.

Hoffman also warned against the dangers of

but delivering it through the means most readily

guarding content too jealously: “The moment

available: in the current case, that happens

older e-commerce brother Amazon. Amazon

you say ‘This content is not going to be

to be IP networks. Getting a product to the

began as an online bookstore, in 1995, like Netflix,

available’, you’re saying ‘We’re fine that it’s

customer in the most reliable and efficient

distributing content using the means available

going to be pirated.’ The dominant subscription

way has been the modus operandi of both

to it: the internet and the post. The company

services will help people find exactly what they

companies since their inception.

didn’t make a profit – and didn’t expect to –

want to watch, and they’ll do it instantly.”

The battle to capture new audiences is, like any war, primarily a battle for hearts and minds: an arena Netflix and Amazon have clearly dominated.

David Leporini of Viaccess-Orca addressed the OTT Summit on the power of analytics in his presentation, ‘Understanding the mobile consumer’. He underlined how diligently Netflix and Amazon work to reinforce patterns of behaviour, getting users to develop habits. Netflix spends almost half a billion dollars on R&D alone:

Netflix no doubt learnt a lot from watching its

until it was nearly seven years old. The easy user

‘What looks at first like chaotic breakdown, will actually mean freedom and opportunity. If broadcasters can abandon themselves to the brave new world in time, Netflix and Amazon may have to start looking over their shoulders’

interface was key to the Amazon experience, too. Mail order catalogues have been in use since the dawn of retail, but Amazon enabled easy payment and easy delivery. The company wanted to provide consumers with effortless service. The current VoD success of the two companies, and the trail that they’ve blazed, is not a feat of technical superiority, but a natural progression of their focus on customer service, a dogged insistence on deploying content – and a huge amount of it – to consumers as simply and

that’s money spent on learning how to keep

rapidly as possible, while continuously upgrading

viewers signing up and logging on and, once

and refining the service.

they’re signed on, to stay watching.

“Netflix tries to get you to automatically

Though some content providers are still passing Reviewing Netflix’s history as a content delivery

through the Kübler-Ross stages of denial, anger,

switch on and launch Netflix and tries to

specialist is instructive. We all know Netflix as a

bargaining, etc, once the ubiquity of a fully

make it as easy as possible to do that.” Leporini

stunning VoD juggernaut, but we often forget the

IP-based content distribution is accepted, the

challenged delegates to rethink how they

first half of its story. Before Netflix took on the TV

possibilities for expanding service, reaching

were building engagement with audiences.

industry, it was busy destroying the home video

new audiences, innovating content and finding

“We need to continuously deploy, and learn.

rental industry. Netflix’s original business plan was

new revenue streams could become quite

How are you creating habits to get people

rent-by-mail DVDs, and without the DVD cases,

exhilarating. What looks at first like chaotic

to use your service?”

making them absurdly easy to move through

breakdown, will actually mean freedom and

the post. The service was speedy. The selection

opportunity.

The e-lephants not in the room

of movies was vast (far more voluminous than its

Though it was impossible to turn around without

current online offerings, which seem meagre in

creation experience under their belts, can

someone citing the strategies of Amazon or

comparison). And the user interface was a treat

abandon themselves to the brave new world

Netflix, in either glowing or disparaging terms, the

to use; a feature Netflix still continuously refines

in time, Netflix and Amazon may have to start

companies themselves were absent from the OTT

to this day. For obsessed movie watchers of last

looking over their shoulders.

If broadcasters, with decades of content

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

44 TVBEurope

TVBEverywhere

Netgem fights for a bigger market share in France The French start-up is adopting new strategies to increase its share of the French market, writes Catherine Wright, while the arrival of Netflix generates greater competition as well as new opportunities

CanalPlay boasts 10,000 and so does Netgem’s Vidéofutur. “We are a niche player but the business is profitable and sustains itself. We decided to launch our own VoD service in France because as a set-top box provider

he launch of Netflix’s SVoD service in

T

did with Bouygues, and typically stays with that

it helped us to understand the technology

France last autumn has forced most of the

challenger for at least a year, then moves on to a

requirements such services require. That was

existing players in the market to redefine

bigger player like Free or Orange for around the

our founders’ vision when they launched

their strategies. Not least Netgem, which is in the

same amount of time and after that opens up to

Netgem as a startup: if you want to find the best

peculiar position of being a competitor of the US

smaller players like us,” he describes.

solutions for a B2B business, you need to be in

giant with its Vidéofutur VoD service but also a

As it stands today, the company’s VoD service

your client’s consumer business yourself. It helps

potential partner, with its set-top box, which it has

in France struggles to compete with the bigger

us to stay innovative when it comes to back-

named la box Vidéofutur. The company already

players in the market, which include, in addition

office technology requirements and software

signed a deal in July with Netflix in Finland,

to newcomer Netflix, more established French

enhancements,” Thévenot explains.

bringing the US SVoD service to Finnish telco

offerings, such as Canal+’s CanalPlay or TF1’s

Helisa’s subscribers through its set-top, as well as

MyTF1VOD. According to the most recent figures

supply one of the better designed and easy to

in Mexico, through telco Totalplay. The company

released by the company, only 75,000 clients in

use set-tops on the market which has helped

claims that a total of 400,000 subscribers in

France have subscribed to its service. A mere

it expand into new territories such as the UK,

Finland and in Mexico can now access Netflix

drop in the ocean compared to Canalplay’s

where it is one of the leaders with its EETV Telco

through its box. The question is whether a similar

700,000 and Netflix’s, which the New York Times

TV box. “We view the French market as a kind

deal is on the cards in France: Netgem has

estimated to be around 510,000 in February and

of laboratory: it is a not a huge business but

made overtures towards the US giant in the

which could amount to 900,000 subscribers by

it helps us to understand what the customer

past, declaring that it was willing and ready to

the end of the year, according to market experts

requirements might be in other countries, as

distribute its service on its box.

Futuresource Consulting. Netflix has until now

well,” Thévenot explains. On a global level,

refused to release any official subscriber figures,

Netgem has recently posted earnings up by

discussions are ongoing but it is unlikely that any

and has merely aknowledged that it was satisfied

four per cent on last year at €60.6 million for the

deal will be brokered in the next few months.

with its French launch. It started off with a low

first nine months of 2015, a growth driven in part

“Netflix has a very clear strategy which it has

content offering of 3,500 videos, but quickly

by the good UK results.

adopted in most of the countries it has entered:

ramped it up to 11,000, one of the largest

it launches its service with a challenger, as it

on the French market.

According to Netgem CEO, Sylvain Thévenot,

The strategy did enable the company to

Having said that, the start-up has not given up the fight to gain more market share for

January 2016 www.tvbeurope.com

TVBEurope 45

TVBEverywhere Vidéofutur in the gaul market. During the spring,

fibre offering over the public cable network,

recently added France 24 and Viacom’s

it launched an EST offering, enabling French

in areas where it has been financed by a mix

BET (Black Entertainment Network) and we

users to download to own 7,000 titles, whether

of private and public money. A real strategic

will add specialist content for kids as well

film or TV series, which are stored on a cloud and

shift, making it more than a set-top box maker

as good cooking channels. We also give

which will remain available for a period of five

and VoD service provider : the company now

access to premium content such as the

years. The user can buy recently released films

provides access to its service as well, competing

Paramount Channel and the Disney

for €12.99, a fairly competitive price on the

with French telcos and cable companies. Priced

Channel,” Thévenot argues.

French market. Consumers can also access

at €40 per month, the service supplies 200Mbitps

that service on their mobile or tablets whether

high-bandwidth access to the internet. The

like Netflix, provides premium content and most

Android or iOS. The EST service complements

subscriber can choose content from a catalogue

importantly sport channels, and would therefore

the existing rental and SVoD service, which is

of 1,000 films, 60 TV channels (mostly digital

attract new subscribers to the Vidéofutur offering,

available for €10 per month.

terrestrial) and can make free phone calls in

are tough. “They see us as a competitor and the

France (mobile and fixed terminals), in addition

price they ask for including their channels in our

France, a very low churn rate and EST is a way to

to having access to the Vidéofutur VoD service.

service is too high,” Thévenot regrets.

increase the value of our service while offering

“The idea is to provide a high-bandwidth service

these loyal customers an additional way to

in areas where the other providers like Orange

months to come. “The arrival of Netflix has

access our content,” Thévenot aknowledges.

and Free don’t yet. It is an opportunity and a

changed the game: Canal + and TF1 seem now

new niche for us,” he states.

a little more open to discussion than they were

“We have a loyal base of subscribers in

Vidéofutur is now also available on Californiabased Roku’s set-top boxes, which have just

He admits that discussions with Canal + which,

But that situation could well be shifting in

The drawback remains the lack of content :

in the past,” he says. But he also points to the

been commercialised in France. “The point is to

compared to Orange’s package which includes

recent launch of Canal +’s Cube OTT set-top.

show that our service can be accessed on any

premium TV channels Bein Sport or Canal +,

“Cube is clearly new competition for us but we

set-top box and therefore widen our customer

Vidéofutur’s 60, mainly terrestrial, TV channels

think our hybrid box which supplies replay, on-

base,” Thévenot indicates. In October 2015 the

could seem a little shabby. “We are in constant

demand , SVoD and EST services is better value

company also launched a very high-bandwidth

discussions to increase that offering. We have

for money,” he concludes.

www.tvbeurope.com January 2016

46 TVBEurope

Data Centre

Half of viewers planned to go OTT for Christmas Paywizard has published the results from its ‘OTT isn’t just for Christmas’ report

owners, although a smaller group, are the most

are most interested in OTT services, and are

likely consumers to watch OTT content and also

almost twice as likely to sign up to an OTT service

the most likely to consider signing up to a new

than older generations. In contrast, only 10 per

OTT service prior to Christmas.

cent of over 55s were planning to subscribe to an

However, traditional TV viewing over Christmas alf of viewers planned to use OTT TV

is not a thing of the past; 80 per cent of people

H

OTT service prior to Christmas.

Content seems to be the major draw for

services over the Christmas period,

consumers moving to OTT; 37 per cent of

according to research conducted before

consumers say that they are choosing an OTT

the festive season by Paywizard. Twenty-five per

service because ‘there is a lot of stuff on here

’Games console owners, although a smaller group, are the most likely customers to watch OTT content’

cent of those surveyed were already subscribing to a paid OTT TV service, an additional 27 per cent planned to start a subscription in the run up to Christmas. This rises to 40 per cent of those

that I want to watch!’ and a quarter are planning to sign up because they want to watch a specific series or film.

However, signing up before Christmas does

aged 25-34, the age range which also formed

not necessarily mean consumers will stay loyal

the largest group of existing subscribers.

into the new year. Forty per cent of planned

Paywizard also examined geographical

subscribers intend to cancel their subscription

differences; almost a quarter of those surveyed in

said they were planning on using a traditional TV

within three months, perhaps having taken

the US said they were planning on subscribing to

set as their main screen for consuming content.

advantage of discounted initial subscriptions and

Netflix prior to Christmas, and in Brazil this number

This is likely due to more family-orientated

Black Friday offers. A quarter of both existing and

was even higher, with 44 per cent planning on

content broadcast over the period, and the

planned subscribers cancel their subscription

signing up.

increased amount of leisure time family and

because ‘it’s too expensive’, and 21 per cent

friends share during this time.

of planned subscribers are essentially acting as

When it comes to how consumers will watch paid OTT services over Christmas, mobile devices

Christmas is a huge opportunity for operators

service testers, saying they either only want to

were the most popular choice, with laptops,

to grow their subscriber base; according to

subscribe over Christmas, will leave when they

tablets and smartphones accounting for 66 per

Paywizard, more than half of the Christmas OTT

finish watching specific content, or will start an

cent of Christmas TV viewing. Games console

viewers will be new subscribers. Younger viewers

OTT subscription as a gift.

84%

84%

Consumers in Australia, Germany, US and the UK plan to watch the most TV during Christmas

69%

77%

78%

87%

The traditional TV still stands strong as the device of choice for watching TV over Christmas

6-20+

6-20+

hours

6-20+

hours

hours

20%

8%

19% 9%

12%

30%

33%

3-15

11%

11%

25% 30% 25%

24% 5%

2%

24%

35% 38% 5% 14% 10%

25% 21% 22%

22% 15%

12%

8%

7%

15%

23% 24%

30% 32% 24%

39%

hours

3-10 hours

USA

Australia

Singapore

E

PR OG

RE

S

S O

UK

ORDE M

Brazil

ORDE M

E

PR OG

RE

S

S O

TV/Smart TV

Set Top Box

Laptop

Tablet

Games Console

Mobile

Streaming Box

6-20+ hours

Germany

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