FEATURE
2018: TRENDSPOTTING TVBEurope asks a number of industry figures to gaze into their crystal balls and give us their predictions for some of the key topics the industry will be talking about in 2018
ASSET MANAGEMENT
BROADCASTING
Jay Batista, General manager, US operations, Tedial
Karin Heijink, VP, content and products, Viasat World
In 2018, the world of MAM products will continue to grow more diverse as new vendors find niche applications to add to the market. Leading software design companies will maintain their market position through continuing innovation. At Tedial, we have a number of road map initiatives that will result in product innovations. Constant improvements in our UI and ergonomics are important, as are the introduction of new tools to expand our applications. In 2018, we will focus on expanding our powerful workflow orchestration modules, addressing the market need for more and more complex workflows while providing more automated processes that are fundamental to continuous improvement in efficiency and cost reduction. Our end-to-end IMF solution is being upgraded with more features for archive preservation, and expanded versioning tools to continue our leadership in distribution solutions. To support our core product direction, Tedial will be expanding into deeper ingested media analysis and Speech-to-Text applications, especially when applied to deep archive annotation and monetisation. We plan to introduce tools for improved “storytelling,” and continue the expansion of our Evolution Version Factory into digital publishing and live streaming. Our unique approach to HSM innovation, our AST Augmented Storage that applies vertical tiers across horizontal nodes and full SMPTE AXF support, is gaining more traction in the market as prospects and clients understand the real value of multisite production and its applications in archive preservation. We will continue our cloud and hybrid cloud developments and most importantly, Tedial is preparing a continued emphasis on flexible business models: The market is requesting more flexibility in commercial solutions, more Opex options for cash flow management and pay as you go models. n
As 2017 closed, more top quality programming was being produced than ever before. With superior content now the battleground in the changing media landscape, as industry players fight it out to not just stay relevant but build a fan base with unwavering loyalty, it is true to say there has been an influx of incredible content across every genre. However, while today’s audience has come to expect unlimited choice at its fingertips, it is also increasingly time poor and reaching saturation point in a world which moves at lightening pace. We are once again reaching a significant crossroads in how people consume content, and I believe that 2018 will be the year that we start to come full circle. The role of expert content aggregators and curators will not only return to the fore, but it will be more critical than ever before, as overwhelmed consumers look to be guided through the myriad of options they are bombarded with every second of every minute of every day. We heard this loud and clear in research we recently conducted across our key markets and territories in Central and Eastern Europe, prompting the launch of our brand new flagship content brand, Epic Drama – home to our expert curation of the very best drama series from around the world. Answering the gap in the market in the drama space, Epic Drama’s channel and SVoD propositions, available through our trusted operator partners, take consumers by the hand and lead them to the very best drama content in the here and now. We have every confidence it will succeed because curation is where the real value can be added in making sense of a complex content and distribution environment. n
28 | TVBE JANUARY 2018
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