digital broadcast - may 2010

VOLUME 3 ISSUE 5 MAY 2010

An ITP Business Publication

JOINED UP TVThe interactive TV tech you

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ACCESS ALL AREAS Middle East IT giant set to

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THE BUSINESS OF DIGITAL CONTENT DELIVERY

Licensed by Dubai Media City

EXCLUSIVE: ADMC reveals its EPL distribution secrets

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01www.digitalproductionme.com

CONTENTS

MAY 2010

34SERVER STRAINThe broadcast servers ready to deal with the

increasing demands placed on them.

28JOINED UP TVThe interactive TV applications that offer

real revenue opportunities.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE...

WEB HIGHLIGHTSSpot poll: How confident has NAB

left you?; top web stories; editor’s

choice: the iPad launch.

THE BRIEFINGtwofour54 unveils new home;

Dubai media zones merge;

France Telecom eyes Middle East.

MBC ACTIONDigital Broadcast gets some

MBC action with a tour of the

network’s headquarters.

COVER STORY: ON THE BALLAbu Dhabi Media Company

execs reveal the firm’s ambitious

EPL distribution strategy.

MARKET ANALYSISConsumer consumtpion habits

are changing with digital media

the big winner.

2

6

14

20

40

20 THE MOSTCOMPREHENSIVEFAMILY OFDIGITAL TVMONITORING,MEASUREMENTAND ANALYSISPRODUCTSIN THE WORLD

www.digitalproductionme.comMAY 2010

DPME.COM ROUND-UP

02

EDITOR’S CHOICE

MOST POPULAR STORIES

1 TECOM Investments merges Dubai Media zones

2 MEIFF rebranded as Abu Dhabi Film Festival

3 EPL UPDATE 1: ‘We will pursue 3D’, says ADMC

4 OSN expands HD bouquet

5 Al Arabiya launches live HD streaming service

The Cartoon Network announced that it was

to open an academy in Abu Dhabi’s twofour54

media precinct. The animation training centre

will open in September 2010.

digitalproductionme.com/news

CARTOON NETWORK TO LAUNCH UAE ACADEMY

The online home of:

DA

TE: A

pril 2

8

ALSO ON THE DPME SLATE THIS MONTH...

Leading global industry figures debate the future of Arab Media in Abu Dhabi.

ANALYSIS

POWER PLAYERS Mike Whittaker talks tech rationalisation at pay TV operator OSN.

INTERVIEWS

THE SHOW GOES ON AT OSN

Ten products not to miss from Europe’s leading AV technology trade event.

TECHNOLOGY

PROLIGHT + SOUND 2010New technologies and trends are frequently on show in Vegas before anywhere else.

COMMENT

WHY THE PROS LOVE NAB

IN PICTURES

THE IPAD LAUNCH

digitalproductionme.com/analysis

digitalproductionme.com/technology

digitalproductionme.com/interviews

digitalproductionme.com/comment

Apple fan-boys (and girls) queue round the block to get their hands on the iPad.

READER COMMENT: “Cartoon Network never produced cartoons and never did training. It is just a platform that acquires and commissions cartoons so how are they going to train talent?”Dave, Dubai, UAE.

SPOT POLLDID NAB 2010 LEAVE YOU FEELING CONFIDENT?

50% Very, lots of deals being done.

32% Reasonably confident, the traffic was ok.

14% Depressed, unless you’re interested in 3D that is.

4% Not especially. DA

TE: A

pril 2

8

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COMMENT

MAY 2010 05

The regulatory framework for

broadcasters in the Middle East

is notoriously fragmented with

national and multi-national bodies

simultaneously trying to exhort a degree of

control on the industry in an environment that is

severely disjointed.

The MENA market is commonly referred to as

unique due to the 300 million people all speaking

Arabic. This might be true but are all these

people really ‘speaking the same language’?

Cultural differences, tastes and preferences

vary greatly within this vast area, yet

broadcasting is more or less universal from one

end to the other.

While market liberalisation and other

freedoms are often held as the ideals that any

media industry should pursue, it could well be

possible that the Middle East is in fact in need of

more regulation.

Regulation could help clarify the confusing

censorship issues in the Middle East that see one

broadcaster painstakingly editing out material

that is openly shown on the next channel. The

agreement of a watershed to keep material not

suitable for children restricted to certain times

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would only work if all stations agreed, something

a pan-regional body could enforce.

Next is the issue of local content production.

In other markets, public broadcasters are

required to screen a minimum quota of locally

produced content.

The region is looking for ways to stimulate

local content production. What better way than

to use a regulatory body to enforce a minimum

quota? As well as boosting the industry, it

would also contribute towards several of the

goals set up by culture and heritage authorities

throughout the Middle East by telling local

stories in the local language.

The present system is complex for all involved.

A singular, more powerful unit that understands

and mitigates for the diversity of the region,

whilst acknowledging its discrepancies could

have a surprisingly positive effect.

06 www.digitalproductionme.comMAY 2010

THE BRIEFING

Al Arabiya news channel launched a live HD

stream of its broadcasts last month.

The service uses adaptive bit rate technology

to ensure that individual users receive the best

possible quality that can be supported by their

internet connection at that moment in time.

“This feature enables us to provide the best pic-

ture quality to high speed internet users around

the world and in parallel helps Al Arabiya to

overcome problems caused by limited broadband

internet access in the MENA region,” according to

Nasser Alsarami, head of media at Al Arabiya.

The technology underlying the service has been

provided by Arvato Mobile.

“The way we are doing this is very unique. The

challenge was to create a big reach so everyone

can access the video and simply click and view,”

said Ingo Lalla, VP IPTV and platform services,

Arvato Mobile. “That is why it was decided to base

this service on Flash, which is on 95 percent of all

computers rather than something like Silverlight

which is on less than 40 percent of all computers.”

Twofour54, Abu Dhabi’s media production zone

unveiled the masterplan for its new 600,000sqm

campus in Mena Zayed last month.

Some of the world’s leading architects and

consultants have been engaged to work on the

project that will showcase a bold waterfront de-

velopment close to the UAE capital’s Corniche.

Bernard Tschumi, who has provided the

concept master plan for the project, was respon-

sible for the plans of Mediapolis, Singapore and

France’s Parc de la Villette. UN studio, which

won the design competition for Zone 1, will work

under lead consultant Adamson Associates

International while Kohn Pedersen Fox has been

appointed to develop Zone 2, which will house

Abu Dhabi Media Company’s (ADMC) new HQ.

Wayne Borg, COO twofour54 called the new

campus “a spectacular addition to Abu Dhabi’s

skyline; a symbol of Abu Dhabi’s commitment to

deliver on the Emirate’s 2030 economic vision”.

“This campus is the embodiment of the

creative ecosystem that we have been creating

at twofour54; specifically designed to allow the

Arab content creation community to flourish,”

he stated.

• Twofour54 also extended its children’s

content partnerships signing deals with The

Cartoon Network and local animation firm

Blink Studios.

TWOFOUR54 UNVEILS NEW LOOK CAMPUS World leading architects and design consultants combine on project

AL ARABIYA LAUNCHES LIVE HD STREAMING

MONTH IN NUMBERS

12,000Number of people that will work at the

completed twofour54 campus at Mena Zayed.

BROADCAST BUSINESSGOOD MONTHYOUTUBEThe video sharing site has just celebrated its fifth anniversary. The company has been look-ing for a way to turn eyeballs into dollars. Now the firm may have found its golden ticket to profitability. Last month CEO Chad Hurley and other execs indicated they would begin fo-cusing on increasing the num-ber of minutes users spend on the site, allowing them to tap into the multi-billion dollar TV advertising market.

BAD MONTHBEBOAOL’s once wildly successful social network Bebo an-nounced that its UK profits fell 143 percent.

Bebo cost AOL US $850m in 2008 but has since been a victim of Facebook’s ongoing surge in popularity.

Bebo’s daily reach has halved in the past six months. A leaked internal email by Jon Brod, EVP AOL ventures stated that the service would “require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space” appearing to signal that AOL was ready to sell.

220,000sqmThe amount of office space available at

the site by 2018.

The new campus will open in

stages starting in 2014.


THE BRIEFING

MAY 2010 07

TECOM Investments has announced that

its 11 business parks will be consolidated

into five clusters, including one dedicated

to media.

The move will see Dubai Studio City,

Media City and the International Media

Production Zone (IMPZ) working more

closely in the future.

Jamal Al Sharif, the former executive

director of Studio City becomes the man-

aging director of both Dubai Media City

and Studio City. Saeed Al Falasi remains

the executive director of IMPZ.

“We have more partners and more

responsibilities but this creates better op-

portunities for us as well as our partners,”

said Al Sharif. “I have been working with

TECOM for the last nine years but I expect

that this restructuring will make it easier

than ever to connect the partners of each

zone together,” added Al Sharif.

“I have announced a new internal

structure that will see a partner relations

development team put in place. Their job

is purely to work closely with our partners

in the media zones and see what we can

do to help them improve their business.

We are also putting together a database of

our partners so that they can create better

synergies,” revealed Al Sharif.

NAB OFFICIALS CLAIM ATTEN-DANCE RISE AT 2010 SHOWAccording to NAB figures, the number of reg-istered attendees for the this year’s show was 88,044 as opposed to 82,650 in 2009.

“Content professionals from across the globe turned out in force at the NAB Show, and we’re delighted by the extraordinarily positive feed-back,” said NAB executive VP Dennis Wharton.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

BROADCAST BUSINESS

TECOM MERGES DUBAI MEDIA ZONES AMID SHAKE-UPJamal Al Sharif to take on new role as managing director of Dubai Media City and Studio City

Sometimes it has felt like the entire company is working on the EPL! ADMC’S RICKY GHAI ON THE HECTIC PROCESS

OF PUTTING THE FIRM’S AMBITIOUS DISTRIBUTION PLANS FOR THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE IN PLACE AHEAD OF THE NEW SEASON IN AUGUST.

MEIFF EVENT REBRANDED AS ABU DHABI FILM FESTIVALThe Middle East International Film Festival (ME-IFF) will adopt the title Abu Dhabi Film Festival to strengthen connections with the emirate.

“It’s common practice for major international film festivals to name themselves after the town in which their principal screenings take place,” said Peter Scarlet, executive director, ADFF.

SYRIAN ASSEMBLY SHAKES UP BROADCAST REGULATIONSSyria’s People’s Assembly passed a law earlier last month to establish a new unit called the Public Body for Radio and TV Production.

The body is expected to replace the TV Pro-duction Directorate of Syrian Radio and TV and have greater autonomy. The new law will enable the body to work as an independent entity.

Peter Scarlet, executive director, ADFF.

Dennis Wharton.

Jamal Al Sharif, MD, Dubai Media and Studio City.

08 www.digitalproductionme.com

THE BRIEFING

YahLive has signed a deal with Jordan Media City

(JMC) for playout and uplink services, the two

companies have revealed.

The agreement will allow YahLive to offer its

clients from the Levant the option to uplink from

JMC, with playout facilities also available.

“We have agreed to have two transponders

worth of bandwidth,” said Mohamed Youssif, CEO,

YahLive. “The number of channels that this repre-

sents will vary depending on how many are stan-

dard- or high-definition,” added Youssif.

“We want to have a number of uplink facilities

contracted to us to make sure that we are close

to the customers and can give them the option of

where they uplink from,” said Youssif.

Yahsat, the satellite operator behind YahLive,

also announced that it had signed the

first Shariah-compliant insur-

ance for satellite operations.

“Insurance protection is an

integral part of our satellite

programme. With firm roots

in the region, we are proud to

be the first organisation to

use a Shariah-com-

pliant insurance

solution for space

programs,” said

Jassem Al Zaabi,

CEO, Yahsat.

MAY 2010

BROA

DCA

ST BRIEFS

DELIVERY

YAHLIVE STRIKES UPLINK DEAL WITH JMC TELEPORTParent company also signs landmark Shariah-compliant insurance deal

THE BRIEFING

OSN TO EXTEND HIGH DEFINITION BOUQUETOrbit Showtime Network (OSN) will add six HD chan-nels to its current line-up.

The new additions will bring the total number of HD offerings from OSN to nine. The new channels include Sundance channel HD, Outdoor channel HD, Food Network HD, Fashion TV HD, Fox Sports HD and Shows-ports 1 HD.

“HD is the biggest

development to happen in TV in the last 15 years,” said Marc-Antoine d’Halluin, CEO, OSN. “Less than ten months since Orbit and Showtime merged, we are very proud to be the first network to offer subscribers a line-up of nine exclusive HD channels from world-renowned brands.”

The operator is presently in the process of swapping subscribers’ Showtime boxes with its new OSN decoders. Viewers will require the new boxes to receive the service.

OSN is presently the only pay TV operator in the region to offer HD with Dolby Digital surround sound.

The continued growth rate of mobile phone subscriptions in the Arab world in 2009.16.6%

OMNEON PRO-MOTES FERREIRA TO TOP EMEA SALES JOBOmneon announced the promotion of Manuel Ferreira to the position of vice president of sales for

EMEA. Ferreira has been involved in both the technical and sales aspects of the broadcast industry for more than two decades.

Ferreira’s 20 years in the technology industry includes various technical service and support roles with major companies such as Sun Microsystems, MIPS, and SGI.

EL SOKKARI SWAPS BBC ARA-BIC FOR YAHOO!Hosam El Sokkari has left his position as head of BBC Arabic to become the head of Yahoo! Channels in the Middle East.

El Sokkari was at the BBC for 15 years as a journalist, presenter and manager. He launched the BBC Arabic website in 1999 and became the first Arab to head the service in 2004.

He will take charge of Yahoo’s English-, French- and Arabic-language services in the Middle East.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Mohamed Youssif,

CEO, YahLive.

www.digitalproductionme.com MAY 2010 09

THE BRIEFING

State broadcaster Egyptian Radio and Television

Union (ERTU) recently invested in a new contribu-

tion and distribution video headend solution from

Ericsson to upgrade its broadcast network.

Commenting on the investment, Hamdy

Mounir, chairman of ERTU stated: “ERTU has a

duty to Egyptian viewers to provide the best TV

experience possible, which is why we continue our

eff orts to upgrade our network”.

Eric Baron, head of EMEA region, Solution Area

TV, Ericsson claimed the order was “further evi-

dence of the company’s leadership in the contribu-

tion & distribution market”.

Nan & Lili, an Arabic animated preschool series

created by director and executive producer Fir-

daus Kharas for Al Jazeera Children’s Channel

(JCC), will be distributed worldwide by Classic

Media, it was announced.

Th e show, which was unveiled to buyers at

MIPTV, was created for a global audience of pre-

school boys and girls (2-4yrs). Two-hundred epi-

sodes of three minutes each have been created in

three languages: Arabic, English and French. One-

hundred more episodes are presently in develop-

ment and will be delivered later this year.

ERTU BOOSTS SIGNAL QUALITY

CLASSIC MEDIA ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO JCC SERIES

TELECOMS MARKET

The UAE’s second telco operator du declared that it would be investing heavily in improvements to its mobile broadband network and would

begin to push harder into new areas such as digital content and social networking.

“We will be investing in our infrastructure and we will be investing in continuing and accelerating our mobile broadband coverage,” said Osman Sultan, CEO, du.

The operator will also look to develop its MediaLabs business as it looks to fi nd new sources of growth.

“We don’t think this will be capital intensive for the coming three to four years, this is to prepare for what we believe is the [new] world for telecos in fi ve, six or seven years from now.”

Teleco giant France Telecom is sizing up acquisitions and new licences in the Middle East and Africa as it sets about doubling the amount of rev-

enue it generates in emerging markets.In an interview with Bloomberg, recently

appointed CEO Stephane Richard said the group may invest as much as US$9.3 billion over the next fi ve years in the region.

“If we can buy a portfolio of assets to arrive more rapidly, that’s very good. If it’s necessary to buy licences country by country, that works also,” he told the newswire.

As well as a presence in 14 countries in Africa, France Telecom has a 51 percent stake in Jordan Telecom Group (JTG), which in 2007 adopted the Orange brand for its services in Jordan.

DU EYES NETWORK UPGRADES FT CEO PLANS MENA INVESTMENT

L to R- Firdaus Kharas, creator of Nan and Lili, Malika Alouane, director of program-ming at JCC, Chloe van den Berg, EVP, Classic Media.

BROA

DCA

ST BRIEFS

TURKISH BROAD-CASTER TO LAUNCH ARABIC CHANNEL IN THE MIDDLE EASTThe Turkish Radio Televi-sion Association (TRT) has launched an Arabic language channel for the Middle East.

The channel was of-fi cially opened in Istanbul last month by Turkish Prime Minister Rajeb Tayeb.

The station will look to capitalise on the recent popularity of Turkish soaps screened by MBC such as Nour and Aliye, which have dominated free to air ratings in the region. The fi nal epi-sode of Nour is reported to have attracted an audience of 85 million – a record for the MENA region.

A trial broadcast was conducted for two weeks prior to launch with the full channel now being trans-mitted by Noorsat.

SOUTH INDIAN NET-WORK MULLS MENA EXPANSIONSouth Indian broadcaster Sun TV Network has an-nounced plans to launch two free-to-air channels from Dubai to cater to the South Indian population in the Middle East.

Sun will open an offi ce in Dubai and have a dedicated editorial and sales team to manage its daily Middle East operations.

Vijay Babu, VP of Surya TV, confi rmed the move and stated that the network will enter the Middle East market “with its fl agship channels, Surya TV and Sun TV”.

www.digitalproductionme.com MAY 2010 09

THE BRIEFING

09

State broadcaster Egyptian Radio and Television

Union (ERTU) recently invested in a new contribu-

tion and distribution video headend solution from

Ericsson to upgrade its broadcast network.

Commenting on the investment, Hamdy

Mounir, chairman of ERTU stated: “ERTU has a

duty to Egyptian viewers to provide the best TV

experience possible, which is why we continue our

efforts to upgrade our network”.

Eric Baron, head of EMEA region, Solution Area

TV, Ericsson claimed the order was “further evi-

dence of the company’s leadership in the contribu-

tion & distribution market”.

Nan & Lili, an Arabic animated preschool series

created by director and executive producer Fir-

daus Kharas for Al Jazeera Children’s Channel

(JCC), will be distributed worldwide by Classic

Media, it was announced.

The show, which was unveiled to buyers at

MIPTV, was created for a global audience of pre-

school boys and girls (2-4yrs). Two-hundred epi-

sodes of three minutes each have been created in

three languages: Arabic, English and French. One-

hundred more episodes are presently in develop-

ment and will be delivered later this year.

ERTU BOOSTS SIGNAL QUALITY

CLASSIC MEDIA ACQUIRES RIGHTS TO JCC SERIES

TELECOMS MARKET

The UAE’s second telco operator du declared that it would be investing heavily in improvements to its mobile broadband network and would

begin to push harder into new areas such as digital content and social networking.

“We will be investing in our infrastructure and we will be investing in continuing and accelerating our mobile broadband coverage,” said Osman Sultan, CEO, du.

The operator will also look to develop its MediaLabs business as it looks to find new sources of growth.

“We don’t think this will be capital intensive for the coming three to four years, this is to prepare for what we believe is the [new] world for telecos in five, six or seven years from now.”

Teleco giant France Telecom is sizing up acquisitions and new licences in the Middle East and Africa as it sets about doubling the amount of rev-

enue it generates in emerging markets.In an interview with Bloomberg, recently

appointed CEO Stephane Richard said the group may invest as much as US$9.3 billion over the next five years in the region.

“If we can buy a portfolio of assets to arrive more rapidly, that’s very good. If it’s necessary to buy licences country by country, that works also,” he told the newswire.

As well as a presence in 14 countries in Africa, France Telecom has a 51 percent stake in Jordan Telecom Group (JTG), which in 2007 adopted the Orange brand for its services in Jordan.

DU EYES NETWORK UPGRADES FT CEO PLANS MENA INVESTMENT

L to R- Firdaus Kharas, creator of Nan and Lili, Malika Alouane, director of program-ming at JCC, Chloe van den Berg, EVP, Classic Media.

BROA

DCA

ST BRIEFS

TURKISH BROAD-CASTER TO LAUNCH ARABIC CHANNEL IN THE MIDDLE EASTThe Turkish Radio Televi-sion Association (TRT) has launched an Arabic language channel for the Middle East.

The channel was of-ficially opened in Istanbul last month by Turkish Prime Minister Rajeb Tayeb.

The station will look to capitalise on the recent popularity of Turkish soaps screened by MBC such as Nour and Aliye, which have dominated free to air ratings in the region. The final epi-sode of Nour is reported to have attracted an audience of 85 million – a record for the MENA region.

A trial broadcast was conducted for two weeks prior to launch with the full channel now being trans-mitted by Noorsat.

SOUTH INDIAN NET-WORK MULLS MENA EXPANSIONSouth Indian broadcaster Sun TV Network has an-nounced plans to launch two free-to-air channels from Dubai to cater to the South Indian population in the Middle East.

Sun will open an office in Dubai and have a dedicated editorial and sales team to manage its daily Middle East operations.

Vijay Babu, VP of Surya TV, confirmed the move and stated that the network will enter the Middle East market “with its flagship channels, Surya TV and Sun TV”.


NEWS REVIEW

PEOPLE METERS: WHO’S WATCHING?Digital Broadcast investigates the impending UAE people meter project and the unique challenges it presents.

T he potential benefi ts of a TV audience mea-

surement system in the Middle East are

well documented. Th e challenge facing the

industry now is to implement the system in

the markets where it matters most.

Th e progress of the UAE people meter project

received a signifi cant boost last year when the

National Media Council (NMC) became involved.

Th e organisation’s involvement has helped to pull

together the various stakeholders and accelerate the

NEWS REVIEW

project’s development. Th e NMC hired Capgemini

Consulting to assess the best route for a people meter

in the UAE and reported its fi ndings last October.

“We recommended the use of a large panel size

for the UAE of between 750-1000 households. Th e

population profi le in the UAE is very complex and

the structure of the sample that you use must

represent this,” says Romain Delavenne, director of

telecom, media and entertainment in the Middle

East for Capgemini Consulting.

013MAY 2010

region. Th ere is both pan-regional and national

advertising – a situation not repeated anywhere else

– so it is hard to say for sure,” says Delavenne.

“If an advertiser is given the option of investing in

the UAE market once it has a people meter in place,

or in a another Gulf country of a similar size, it is

quite an easy choice.”

Th e benefi ts of audience measurement extend

beyond the obvious boost to advertising revenues.

“A people meter will improve the economy. It

off ers advertisers better value for money and more

confi dence. It allows broadcasters to attract more

advertising as well as providing feedback on the

audiences across the programming schedule.

“Th e people meter issue has never been about why,

but how. All the parties agree that this is a crucial

development. It is diffi cult however to balance who

is going to pay for what, it is a complex situation that

requires much discussion,” says Delavenne.

Th e negotiation phase has also been a lengthy

one in Saudi Arabia, where its so-called Project

Illumination measurement scheme has been making

slow progress for years. Delavenne is confi dent that

the involvement of the NMC will play a crucial role in

moving the UAE project to the implementation stage.

“Discussions about people meters seem to

have been going on in the Middle East for 10 years

now. Th e NMC is now telling the UAE market it is

important to put in place and that was an important

step,” he says.

Th e NMC has stated that the UAE people meter is

now in an advanced phase and has said it expects it

to be operational in the very near future.


NEWS REVIEW

WHO’S WHO?The Advertisers Busi-ness Group (ABG)The ABG was set up by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry to protect the interests of the big advertisers.

The body’s remit includes all forms of ad-vertising from print to TV.

Members include Nestle, Unilever and Gen-eral Motors.

UAE National Media Council (NMC)The NMC is the UAE government’s media regu-latory body.

Together with the country’s Telecommunica-tions Regulatory Authority (TRA) these groups are both keen to establish an audience monitoring service for the UAE to stabilise and improve the effi ciency of the region’s TV industry.

AGB IpsosAGB Ipsos is the joint venture by media research fi rm AGB Nielson and Ipsos Stat.

The organisation is re-sponsible for the technical infrastructure that powers a people meter project. It already has a deploy-ment in Lebanon and is awaiting fi nal approval for the Saudi-based Project Illumination.

Capgemini ConsultingThe independent consul-tancy fi rm was hired by the NMC to assess the strategy for implementing a people meter in the UAE. The company made its recommendations to the NMC in October 2009.

“Th is is around 1000 sample homes representing

a country of 1 million households in total. In the

UK the panel is 5000 homes for a country 20 million

households. Th e UAE sampling must be around four

times denser,” adds Delavenne.

Recommending a larger panel also means

suggesting an investment that is larger than

previously thought.

“Th e bigger the panel the more expensive it is. But

when you look at the size of investment required to

go from 500 to 1000 households, it is not very much

compared to the value of the credibility that a large

panel brings,” explains Delavenne. “Nobody should

have reason to be suspicious about the quality of the

information. All the value is based on this credibility.

Th e involvement of the NMC as a neutral body is

important. If one channel does its own numbers then

those results could be prejudiced.”

Th is value presents itself in the form of an

expanded TV advertising business. Delavenne says

that this does not mean that money from other

mediums with be transferred to TV, instead it will

attract advertisers to increase their investment in

advertising where a people meter system is in place.

“Advertisers in the Middle East tend to use print

and outdoor more than elsewhere because these two

mediums are measurable. Th e impact of a people

meter will be to bring new investment to TV. If you

cannot measure, you cannot sell.

“Th e [UAE] ad market is worth around half what it

should be. It is diffi cult to place an accurate number

on the impact a people meter could have on the

market because the Middle East is such a unique

THE PEO

PLE METER PLA

YER

S

Online advertising has overtaken TV revenue in some markets. People meter implementations would boost the future of the ad spot in the Middle East.


TECH TALK

ANDY PALMER, GROUP DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL OPERATIONS, MBC

“I joined MBC in December last year after filling the position on an interim basis. I had been consulting in the region and had visited Dubai on several occasions.

The Middle East market is very exciting right now and I was impressed with MBC’s technology infrastructure. In the UK, the economic environ-ment has led to a slowdown in investment but the situation is far better here.

One of our key priorities is the transition to a tapeless workflow. It’s a large project and something that we will be working on right through 2011.We will be looking for an Asset Management System (MAM) and are currently searching for a systems integrator.

One of the key business driv-ers of a tapeless system is the ability to cost-effectively make content available on any plat-form from mobile or online to IPTV. This process is far easier when you are file-based and have just one point of ingest.

At the moment there are some tapeless islands at MBC. The TX content is run from a server. The post-production environment is tapeless as is the Avid newsroom solution that we have installed recently. The task for us now is to join all

of these elements together into a managed system.

With a project like this, you find that 70 percent of the change is about the people and the organisa-tional structures rather than the actual technol-ogy itself.

Staff will need to be re-trained, something many manufacturers can assist with. There are a lot of organisational disruptions to contend with and it is the train-ing and the change manage-ment that determines how successful you are.

It is essential that IT and broadcast engineering depart-ments work closely together during such projects, some-thing I realised about six years ago when I worked on my first tapeless workflow with a broadcaster in the UK.

MBC’s IT and Broadcast units already work seamlessly together under the technical operations banner, which is both refreshing and gratifying.

We will be setting up a net-work operations centre (NOC) to monitor the file transfer traf-fic, something that will increase in importance as the tapeless transition progresses.”

As the Middle East’s largest free-to-air broadcaster operating a double-digit number of TV and radio stations, MBC also has one of the largest operations centres in the region. Digital Broadcast takes a tour...

MBC ACTION

Main image: One of the broadcaster’s transmission sites. As part of the plans to centralise operations, MBC plans to consolidate its transmission facilities to one site.

Harris automation and SeaChange servers are currently in place.

TECH TALK


TECH TALK

MAY 2010 015

TECH TALK

NICK BARRATT, SENIOR BROADCAST MANAGER, MBC

“One of the most recent addi-tions at MBC is the Avid news-room system.

We have around 70 journalists’ seats hooked-up as well as three studios. One of the key benefits

is the ability to do desktop editing rather than rely on the availability of a suite. Journalists can work on a story immediately. This cuts down the time-to-air significantly and allows stories to be easily repurposed for use by our web team and uploaded to the Al Arabiya websites.

We also centralised our post-production equipment taking them out of the actual suites. This creates a better working environment for the operator and fits in with the strategy of creat-ing tapeless islands throughout our operations and then connect-ing them.”

MBC will soon be digitising its tape library. Pictured is just one row of the Al Arabiya archive housed on-site.

An Al Arabiya journalist using Avid iNews Instinct. The pictured key-frame viewing feature allows easy browsing of each shot within a file. The feature was requested by MBC and developed for them. Al Arabiya is beta-testing the application.

MBC’s facility is a busy crossroads for video traffic.

It receives live feeds from Al Ara-biya correspondents, BGAN and SNG units, satellite feeds and file transfer via the Quicklink service.

The company also has an MPLS network operated by du and Hong Kong’s PCCW.

“Anil Alva [pictured left] is senior IT engineer responsible for Avid,” says Bar-rattt. “He has been with the company for eight years and played a key-role in the Avid installation and transition. He personally oversaw all the support and engineer training for the entire system,” adds Barratt.

e

ftpea

MBC’s high-spec MCR records a high-res version for repur-posing online and a low-res version for the records.


OPINIONOPINIONO

Shortly after the EPL announcement there

was talk in the industry of ADMC off ering some

matches on a free-to-air basis. Th is was quickly

identifi ed as a breach of the terms of the deal,

dashing hopes in the 95 percent of Arab house-

holds that do not have pay TV.

To give ADMC credit it will open up new ways

to view the EPL which could serve to extend audi-

ence reach beyond the wealthy. Th e last World

Cup was viewed by more people in Africa on mo-

bile phones than TVs due to the network coverage.

As ADMC begins to reveals its plans, the reality

of the situation is beginning to emerge and is far

less advantageous for low-income viewers than

previously suggested when the rights were won.

Understandably ADMC wants to redeem some

of its investment and why shouldn’t it, but the

possibility of the two wealthiest centres of media

power going head-to-head for all premium content

– sports and otherwise – in the future could cre-

ate a bi-polar industry with all the other players in

a distant second.

Th e industry has called for consolidation for a

long time. Th e diff erence between market-driven

consolidation and the current situation is the

unbalancing eff ect that Al Jazeera and ADMC’s

respective fi nances have had.

Th e challenge facing the rest of the media land-

scape is to avoid becoming “also-rans” in the race

for broadcast superiority in the Middle East.

Qatar and Abu Dhabi have proven them-

selves to be the real powerbrokers in

the Middle East broadcast industry

during the last few years.

Nowhere else in the region has the

combination of a liberalised media regulatory

environment and signifi cant disposable income to

even come close.

Recently, however, some of the gloss has been

removed from the investments made by each in

the broadcast and supporting creative industries.

Th e acquisition of the exclusive regional broad-

casting rights to the EPL by Abu Dhabi Media

Company (ADMC) presents a fantastic opportu-

nity for a local company to demonstrate the high

production values that can be achieved using local

staff , but lower-income viewers could now miss

out after early claims of aff ordability.

Far more worrying is the imminent FIFA World

Cup in South Africa that starts next month.

Th e World Cup, like the Olympics, frequently

gives emerging technolgies a shot in the arm and

drives user adoption. Th e late transfer of the rights

from ART to Al Jazeera Sport has left huge ques-

tion marks over the scope of the coverage, avail-

ability and distribution. So far there has been no

comment from Al Jazeera on any of the above. Th e

only development is that it now appears there will

be no access for ART subscribers that had signed-

up prior to the World Cup rights being sold on.

The fi nancial disparity between Qatar and Abu Dhabi and the rest of the Middle East is creating a bi-polar powerbase that could see other players fall far behind, writes John Parnell.

LOST IN TRANSMISSION

202Number of countries broadcasting the English Premier League.

360 millionThe largest audience size recorded in China for a single match.

$1.4bnThe annual TV revenue raised by the Premier League worldwide.

EPL TV IN NUMBERS

www.digitalproductionme.comMAY 2010

INTERVIEW

018

taken the best part of 12 months to put everything

in place. Now the intention is to go out and shout

about it.

What deals do you have on the horizon?AW: We have several deals about to be signed

which I believe represents one of the largest online

media deals in the Middle East. It will combine

mobile and online applications with a physical

retail presence. We are handling the project end-

to-end in partnership with a globally recognised

entertainment brand, which already has a strong

presence in the Middle East.

We are also developing white label content

portals and mobile applications.

We are now launching our mobile apps in MENA;

this same application was launched with mobile op-

erators in Europe. We are also working on a similar

application in conjunction with the IPL.

Will these services include video?AW: These applications can be quick wins; some

of the video streaming services will be tackled

further down the road.

What content have you secured so far?AW: We have a strong portfolio of kids’ content

and will sign our first broadcast deal for these

shortly. These will be backed with DVD releases

and live shows through our live events division

Tech Access Media Access (TAMACS).

TAMS has the rights to some video content

based around the World Cup. It’s is also pushing

out IPL content next year, working with the NBA

and talking to Major League Soccer in the US.

The idea is to provide content for all genres, in all

languages. There is a gap in the Arabic language

content online; this is something TAMS is trying

to address.

Has Tech Access Media Solutions (TAMS) developed as envisaged when you launched?Adrian Wood: TAMS has been evolving for several

years now. The concept of aggregating and licens-

ing content is still the same. What is very differ-

ent is that we are using our own development

company to create and manage media platforms.

There has also been much more integration into

the core business. Integrating the IT hardware

business to media customers was considered from

the outset.

Is there one particular area of the hardware business that has done well?AW: We have been getting a lot of feedback from

our resellers in different markets whereby govern-

ments and media groups are asking about DRM

and the digitisation of archives.

We have put out many proposals in that area

during the last two quarters.

Have you tailored the IT approach for your media clients?TAMS has taken the Tech Access approach that

we have had for the past 10 years with our princi-

pals. We have looked at what media products and

services our vendors provide and have then added

the bits that were missing. Therefore, we have tied

up and are working with media companies.

We are also in talks with major related broad-

cast technical firms.

What other sectors is TAMS tackling?AW: There are now about five or six areas TAMS is

focusing on from the developing media applica-

tions to the integrated hardware solutions, value-

add professional services, content aggregation and

to distributing/developing our own content. It has

become something bigger than we thought. It has

The decision by IT hardware firm Tech Access to launch a media arm has proven to be a wise one. As the division prepares to begin signing off its first major deals in the region, Digital Broadcast talks to the venture’s GM, Adrian Wood.

ACCESS ALL AREAS

There are now about five or six areas TAMS is focus-ing on from the developing media applications to the hardware solutions, professional servic-es, content aggrega-tion to developing our own content. It has become some-thing bigger than we thought.

ADRIAN WOOD

General manager, TAMS

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COVER STORY

www.digitalproductionme.com020 MAY 2010

COVER STORY

ADMC executives discuss tactics for the upcoming EPL distribution including online, mobile and 3D plans as well as answering the big question, can

they turn a profi t? John Parnell reports.

C executives discuss tactics for the upcoming distribution including online, mobile and 3D

ON THE BALL

www.digitalproductionme.com 021MAY 2010

COVER STORY

T he announcement of ADMC’s victory in

the auction for the exclusive broadcast

rights to the EPL triggered a deluge of

questions. Will the games be off ered on a

free to air (FTA) basis? Will they be leased to exist-

ing pay TV operators? Will ADMC match OSN’s

commitment to show all 380 matches?

Th e line of questioning has meandered as infor-

mation trickled out of ADMC towers during early

2010. Th e network would not be “sub-letting” the

EPL to another broadcaster – FTA or otherwise –

and the questions turned to what will it cost? Will I

need another set top box? How will ADMC

make a profi t from the $300 million

price-tag of the rights?

Th e broadcaster has been work-

ing fl at out to address all of these

issues and now (most) of these

questions can fi nally be answered.

“Our key position is to make

premium content – in this case the

EPL – available to the widest number

of consumers on all platforms,” says Ricky

Ghai, executive director digital media, ADMC. “Th e

intention is to create uniformity, consistency and a

simple consumer experience on any platform.”

Th e company announced in February that it

would be off ering access to all 380 matches through

three methods; online streaming; an encrypted

satellite signal and via IPTV where possible.

Th is announcement triggered a number of ques-

tions all of its own.

ADMC owns the mobile rights... We are in ongoing discussions with mobile operators about some form of offering; these have not been fi nalised but it will be part of the ser-vice. We hope to have a mobile offering in time for our fi rst season.

KARIM SARKIS

Executive director of broadcast, ADMC

“Th e real value we are providing is the fl exibility

of choice and the convenience of accessibility on

top of what had previously been a very limited

direct to home off ering,” says Ghai.

Th e online streaming service attracted a lot of at-

tention with sceptics pointing out that the region’s

limited broadband infrastructure and high prices

have limited take-up. So does the Middle East have

enough high speed internet users to create a mass

market for ADMC’s EPL streaming service?

“If you had asked me this a year ago I would have

said that it would be a big challenge to make this

work. But now, if you look at the number

of press releases and announcements

in the past three months on the

anticipated increases in broad-

band growth and the progress the

operators are making… STC has

announced that it has achieved

speeds of 100Mb/s for example. All

the signs are right and the stimulus

of this momentum is always going to

be the availability of content,” says Ghai.

Despite this, ADMC is well aware that the

quality of connection varies greatly throughout the

territory that it possesses the rights for, and will be

doing what it can to off er a suffi cient service within

for all users regardless of bandwidth.

“Although broadband capacity and uptake are

improving, we are going to do all that we can to

provide the most sophisticated form of delivery in

the last mile. Th e streaming will use an adaptive

ADMC has partnered with The Perform

Group, which specialises in broadcasting

sports on new media platforms.

380Number of matches

ADMC will show live and in HD per season.


COVER STORY

MAY 2010022

bit rate. Th at allows anyone including those with

the slower speeds to at least see a clean, consistent

stream. Th e quality of that stream is dependant on

your service provider relationship and your pipeline

but we can stop buff ering and other problems.”

Distributing the content online is only the fi rst

part of the process however. Ghai says another chal-

lenge posed by the streaming service is fi nding an

appropriate and secure means for online payment.

“Th ere is a lack of e-commerce in this

region. ADMC is addressing that and

there are a number of forms of

online payment coming up. Th ese

will be available for third-parties

to use and will stimulate the

online sector generally, not neces-

sarily just those selling premium

content,” explains Ghai.

“We have a great opportunity

to stimulate the uptake of broadband

and the demand for upgrades to high-speed

services. Th e EPL is just one premium stream of

content and others will follow,” claims Ghai.

ADMC will partner with UK-based company Th e

Perform Group, which specialises in broadcasting

sports content on new media platforms.

“Perform is the offi cial partner of the EPL in the

mobile and online form. Th ey have a tremendous

amount of experience in delivering sport on these

platforms including the England vs Ukraine World

Cup qualifi er that was shown exclusively online.”

So could this relationship mean mobile services

based around the EPL are on the way?

“Th e premium nature of the content and of

the market that we are operating in with almost

200 percent mobile penetration in some markets,

means that clearly this will play a very important

role. Th is could stretch from handset-friendly web

TV clips or otherwise to a full streaming or broad-

cast platform. We are part of the DVB-H consor-

tium in the UAE and that will play a large role in

how we deliver a service to a handset,” says Ghai.

ADMC’s executive director of broadcast

Karim Sarkis agrees.

“ADMC owns the mobile rights

and we are in ongoing discussions

with mobile operators about some

form of off ering; these have not

been fi nalised but it will be part of

the service and we hope to have a

mobile off ering in time for our fi rst

season,” says Sarkis.

Th e second component of ADMC’s

triple-pronged distribution strategy will see its

Abu Dhabi Al Riyadiya sports bouquet off ered via

IPTV platforms in partnership with telcos.

Th e UAE’s du and Etisalat were the fi rst two ser-

vices to announce that they had struck a deal.

“Th ese agreements are standardised benchmark

deals of wholesale supply and partnership. Th ere

is common ground to stimulate markets and

make premium content accessible and maintain

the consistency across territories, so it’s a tighter

partnership than an old fashioned cable carriage

agreement,” says Ghai.

“Th ere has to be a degree of wholesale retail fl ex-

REVENUE STREAMSThe nature of ADMC’s distribution plans opens up a host of new revenue streams for the company both directly and indirectly.

These stretch far beyond regular sponsorship and subscription charges. For the fi rst time, some of these services can be sponsored on a national rather than a regional level.

The creation of multiple related products on differ-ent platforms also creates the chance to for brands to integrate more deeply into each service.

• Wholesale rights to IPTV distribution partners and potential VOD revenue

• Sales of STBs and sub-scription fees

• Web streaming subscrip-tions and potential on demand fees

• Mobile services, poten-tially both on demand and linear

• Traditional advertising and sponsorship of pro-gramming, websites and mobile platforms

• Deep-rooted “ownership” style sponsorship of new media services, such as individual deals for future mobile services from each specifi c national telco operator

• Potential service upgrade to 3D for home-based subscribers

• Commercial and cinema 3D screenings

• Increased exposure for other ADMC brands, channels and products and associated sponsors

WH

ERE WILL TH

E MO

NEY CO

ME FRO

M?

A 3D camera at a top-fl ight German

football match.

$263,000The price ADMC has paid

per match.

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COVER STORY

ibility to allow the telcos and service providers to

create the value-added distinctions that they need

to create to attract customers. So while there are

wholesale and retail pricing parameters to main-

tain consistency, there may be some movement

within those depending on the creative off er that

each service provider takes to market,” says Ghai.

Essentially this means that upper and lower

limits on the prices telcos can charge for their EPL

bundles are in place. Until all the telco partners are

in place however, ADMC cannot reveal what these

prices are.

“It’s expected that the telcos will off er the EPL as

part of certain bundles. Th ere is also the opportu-

nity to off er extensive VOD services through IPTV

but that would depend on the EPL rights usage

guidelines,” says Ghai.

Th e fi nal piece of the jigsaw is the creation of an

encrypted satellite channel.

ADMC has tied with STB manufacturer Humax

to roll-out HD boxes that will be packaged along

with annual subscriptions and made available

through a number of outlets.

“Th e boxes will be sold through the usual retail

channels, satellite equipment specialists, hyper-

markets and electronics stores,” says Sarkis.

Sarkis says the box is one of the most widely

available HD boxes in the market already, which

could save some customers from having to pur-

chase an additional box. Th e company has claimed

that its streaming application will help promote the

adoption of broadband, so does hope to do the same

for HD TV?

“I wouldn’t claim that we were the only entity

pushing HD adoption in the Middle East. HD take-

up is already happening in this region, but the EPL

will help. Our motivation to off er all 380 matches in

HD was more about providing something new for

viewers,” says Sarkis.

“Th is will be the fi rst time that ADMC has done

full HD and tapeless broadcasting and if I am not

mistaken it will be the fi rst time in the region. It

is a change for the company and the systems have

been upgraded during the last three years but the

completion of the move to a tapeless workfl ow was

the icing on the cake. Th ere are new studios, the

network infrastructure is upgraded, new servers,

encoding equipment for encryption – which is of

course something new for ADMC as are subscriber

management systems. Basically everything has

been upgraded to support full HD,” says Sarkis.

Th e project’s scope is broad with Ghai joking that

it has sometimes felt like all of the company’s near

2200 employees have been working on the EPL.

“It would be very diffi cult to quantify how many

people have been contributing. A lot of people

in the broadcast and technology divisions have

been working on it and half of my digital division

have been too. Th ere are also a number of external

partners. Th ere have been some tremendous eff orts,

time and resources applied to ensure that we can

deliver something respectable,” says Ghai.

Th e project is also an example of what future con-

verged media and telecoms projects could look like.

“Convergence is something that we have been

shouting about at ADMC since our digital division

was formed,” says Ghai.

“Digital [media] is often an afterthought or is

merely a limb attached to the parent company.

Th e EPL is an example of a converged output from

production to delivery to distribution through to all

of the commercial aspects wrapped around it. If it

succeeds with the EPL then it should work with all

Convergence is something that we have been shouting about at ADMC since our digital division was formed... Digital [media] is often an afterthought. The EPL is an example of a converged output from production to delivery to distribution to all the commercial aspects.RICKY GHAI

Executive director of digital media,

ADMC


COVER STORY

kinds of content, news, entertainment and music.”

One of the challenges both Ghai and Sarkis iden-

tify is the tight schedule imposed on ADMC to fulfi l

all of its ambitions. Th e company is breaking new

ground with several aspects of its intended initial

services and could take this pioneering attitude

further once its coverage begins with 3D – one goal

it has in its sights.

“BSkyB supply a large portion of the live coverage

of the competition to the EPL itself but the 3D pro-

ductions is something it has been doing for itself,”

says Sarkis.

“It is not yet clear if 3D is part of the package of

rights. We are waiting to hear from the Premier

League,” adds Sarkis. “It is defi nitely something we

are interested in.”

In the UK, BSkyB has shown 3D coverage of

matches in commercial premises and in special

cinema screens to negate the lack of 3D TV sets in

homes, a strategy Sarkis says he would replicate at

ADMC given the chance.

“Th e price of 3D TVs is falling and the technology

will come to the home much faster than HD did. In

the short-term however – say the upcoming season

Monetisation is a clear component but it’s a long-term strategy; we’re certainly not go-ing to realise profi tabil-ity in year one, two or three... The halo effect of a superbrand like the EPL is already tangible. ADMC is in talks with some very interesting brand partners, some very excited telco part-ners and ISPs.RICKY GHAI

Executive director of digital media,

ADMC

– it is far more practical to talk about commercial

screenings than broadcasting 3D to the home.

“Th e set top boxes that we will be off ering to

viewers wishing to access the satellite feed of the

EPL are 3D compliant but the adoption of the

format is dependant on consumers purchasing 3D-

enabled TV sets,” says Sarkis.

Although ADMC is state-owned, it does have a

commercial remit, something many questioned

when they paid a reported $300 million for the

three-year contract for the EPL rights.

“Monetisation is a clear component but it’s a

long-term strategy; we’re certainly not going to

realise profi tability in year one, two or three,” says

Ghai. “I think it’s the fi rst step towards developing

the infrastructure, partnerships and ecosystems

around the various content services.

“Th e halo eff ect of a superbrand like the EPL is

already tangible. ADMC is in talks with some very

interesting brand partners, some very excited telco

partners and ISPs, it has drawn attention to us. And

we are happy to share this attention with everyone

because there are more benefi ciaries in this project

than just ADMC.”


INTERACTIVE TV

Home shopping, SMS voting, social networking crossovers and simple text-based services have all entered the broadcast sphere under the banner of interactive TV. Digital Broadcast talks to some of the technology fi rms supporting these services and asks which of them can drive real revenues.

JOINED UP TVThe development of a two-way connec-

tion between viewers and broadcasters

regardless of the means of communication

involved, has transformed the revenue op-

tions available to broadcasters.

Paired with the introduction of digital TV

platforms, the humble TV set rapidly

assumed new uses and applications

for viewers. Operators could now

off er games and communication

services. Programme producers

could incorporate money spin-

ning user participation through

SMS and online interaction.

More than a decade after the

emergence of these platforms, interac-

tive TV is still a developing technology. New

platforms – particularly IPTV – create new oppor-

tunities and spark innovation in the industry.

Changing consumer behaviour, such as the pre-

dominance of connected wireless devices and the

high level of comfort most people now feel with the

internet, means that many of the barriers between

services and users have now been removed.

“Interactive TV today is more about video and

information services than the games and other

one-off applications,” says John Boulton, marketing

manager with broadcast technology fi rm SysMedia,

which specialises in interactivity.

“In some territories, especially Europe,

the old teletext information services

are increasingly migrating to in-

teractive TV. Th is off ers improved

advertising presentation and the

programme video-in-picture inset

option that is very popular. Broad-

casters are also looking towards

interactivity as a means to deliver alter-

native video and audio streams plus video-

on-demand and catch-up TV applications.”

As interactivity has become more widely ad-

opted, the need for a universal standard has grown.

MHEG-5 is the open standard that has gained

traction in Europe, which has been the source of

many of the developments in interactive TV. As well

as providing some congruence to the industry, an

35%The rise in annual sales of

Arabic home shopping channel Citruss TV.


INTERACTIVE TV

open standard also helps to simplify an area that

was in danger of becoming overly complicated

by the sheer number and variety of stakeholders

involved in its development.

“Broadcasters want and need to be able to

monetise their content to its maximum,” says Colin

Prior, a founding member of the International

MHEG Promotion Alliance (IMPALA). “Key to this

is the ability to provide not only broadcast services,

via a clearly navigable EPG, but now some form

of video-on-demand or catch-up TV service and

open

was i

by th

involv

“Br

mone

Prior

the inherent ability to carry targeted advertising.

Th e world is moving quickly to a combination of

push and pull mechanisms when it comes to video

delivery and access requires interactivity. In order

to facilitate this interactivity, set top boxes (STBs)

or interactivity-enabled digital TVs need a middle-

ware capable of handling hybrid services – broad-

cast and IP-based.”

Facilitating this requires investment, the money

for which is harder than ever to fi nd.

“Th e solution needs to be low-cost, yet technolog-

INTERACTIVE TV: WHAT WORKS?The plethora of interac-tive TV services available range greatly in terms of their sophistication, appeal to viewers and the ability to create new revenues for the stakeholders involved. So what works and which services are all show and no substance?

Our customers have found various forms of advertis-ing and SMS-driven pages generate real revenue. When a return-path is added, it opens up a world of potential for transactional services, targeted adverts, referrals, voting, competitions and paid-for content including VOD.

JOHN BOULTON

Marketing manager, SysMedia

IT TAK

ES TWO

Nader Qirat, winner of the fi fth season of Star Academy, one of the fi rst major successes for interactive and participation TV in the Middle East.

029MAY 2010

030 www.digitalproductionme.com

XXXXXXX

MAY 2010

INTERACTIVE TV

ically elegant with a small receiver footprint,” says

Prior. “It should be market-proven with a clear tech-

nological roadmap that allows the development of

a strong consumer model via conformance tested,

aff ordable STBs or TVs with interactive-enabled

tuners. MHEG is that technology and has proven

itself in UK, New Zealand and Hong Kong.”

While the overall benefi ts of MHEG are similar

to those of any open standard, the requirement for

viewers to have a TV or STB-enabled for MHEG can

have a limiting eff ect on the available audience.

“STBs and web-connected TVs are merely ad-

ditional personal terminals, just as mobile

phones and PCs are, but they have

serious limitations,” says Saad

Mouneimne, VP Middle East and

Africa at never.no, an interactive

technology fi rm. “Broadcast-

ers today demand universal

interactivity. Th ey are much less

interested in confi ned topologies

like an STB network or web-enabled

TVs. Modern broadcasters want view-

ers to be able to interact directly with their

programming regardless of the make of the viewer’s

TV set and or their pay TV provider. No matter

what interactive device the viewer chooses – re-

mote control, mobile phone, PC or social network –

they should have the same opportunity to infl uence

programming and to connect with the broadcaster

and sponsors,” claims Mouneimne.

SysMedia’s Boulton believes that although the

presence of the correct tuner is very important, the

crucial factor is the availability of an IP connection.

“I think that future interactive TV services will

be very much shaped by broadcasters’ reactions to

the opportunity to distinguish between TV and PC

services. Viewers want the display of web content

in the context of the lean-back, multi-viewer TV

experience,” claims Boulton.

“For the more forward thinking broadcaster

there is an opportunity to wrap the best-of-the-

web services into their own branded site that’s

specifi cally targeted at the TV user and retains

the programme-in-picture to keep eyeballs on the

channel at the same time.”

Prior acknowledges the importance of web

connectivity, however he views the hybrid

approach as the likely future.

“We are already moving into a hy-

brid delivery world with both broad-

cast and broadband connectivity in

a single box. Web-connected TVs

are all very well but at the moment

they are based on individual solu-

tions rather than a united approach

to the issue. Th is also raises the issue of

updatability; after all, a TV is not a PC (even if

there is a united approach). Th en there is the issue

of cost – any solution has to be cost-eff ective for

manufacturers and consumers alike,” he says.

Mouneimne agrees that the provision of web

services will be the cornerstone of successful inter-

active TV off erings in the future.

“Social networks are big. Th e next major wave

will be concepts that combine these with broadcast

interactivity,” he predicts. “We already see the most

innovative broadcasters in Scandinavia and the

INTERACTIVE TV: WHAT WORKS?

Larger broadcast-ers like interactiv-ity because it gives

them an extended creative and com-mercial toolbox. They use this to cre-ate more interesting programming, which draws more viewers, and to lead their viewers to comple-mentary media as-sets, such as internet and mobile portals. Smaller broadcasters are less ambitious and mostly focus on the potential for transaction rev-enues, particularly those from mobile interaction.

SAAD MOUNEIMNE

VP Middle East & Asia, never.no

CROSS PLATFO

RM TR

AFFIC

Audience interaction, specifi cally voting, in shows such as Million’s Poet (above) creates greater viewer interest as well as revenues for the broadcaster.

624 mThe number of votes received

in the last season of the American Idol talent show.


XXXXXXX

APRIL 2010

INTERACTIVE TV

INTERACTIVE TV: WHAT WORKS?

Text-based iTV services alongside additional “red but-ton” video streams have already proven themselves to be very popular, sig-nifi cantly enhancing viewer stickiness to channels that deploy them.

COLIN PRIOR

Founder member, IMPALA

USA moving in this direction, with interesting and

encouraging results. Th is trend is also very liberat-

ing for the broadcaster because it establishes a

direct link with the viewer that can be used to build

loyalty. If you bring a sponsor into the equation this

connection becomes even more valuable.”

Mouneimne is less confi dent about the ability of

cable operators and hardware manufacturers to

secure a portion of these revenues as the technology

becomes web-based.

“Future broadcast interactivity will largely by-

pass them. Th is is true for a number of reasons, one

being the long lifespan of a TV set or STB relative to

a PC or mobile phone. A TV or STB that is cutting

edge in 2010 will be seriously out of date fi ve years

from now however.”

Regardless of how interactive services are

delivered, the opportunity to drive new revenues

remains the same.

Boulton summarises the opportunity succinctly.

“Transactional services will play an increasing

role for broadcasters. Th e process will become ‘see

the advert, view the microsite and buy the product’

all through your TV.”

IT’S ON

LY WO

RDS...

PRODUCT FOCUS BROADCAST SERVERS

034 MAY 2010 www.digitalproductionme.com

The demands placed on servers in broadcast environments have increased dramatically in recent years. The number of operations they are used for and the intensity of those demands have grown as broadcasters switch to multiscreen, HD workflows. Digital Broadcast looks at some of the latest products on the market.

SERVER STRAIN



035MAY 2010

OMNEON – SPECTRUMOmneon’s modular Spectrum media server system allows for maximum flex-ibility during the initial configuration and adaptability in response to changing requirements, according to the manufacturer.

The system can be setup with entry-level storage capabilities and support for a handful of channels or scaled up to dozens of channels and hundreds of hours of content. Spectrum supports a variety of SD and HD formats, and numerous industry standards.

Additional services can be supported with the addition of new compo-nents protecting a user’s investment. Additional storage capacity or support for additional channels can be added in the same way allowing broadcasters to grow the system in time with their own expansion and needs.

Omneon recently launched the MediaDirector 2202, the latest iteration of the MediaDirector system controllers for the spectrum system.

MediaDirector 2202 extends the system’s bandwidth by an order of

magnitude allowing broadcasters to meet the requirements that come with adding SD and HD channels allowing more file access and larger number of edit seats permitted in the production environment.

Omneon claims to have increased the reliability of its media servers within the Spectrum range by isolating individual compo-nents with the potential to fail, so that the failure of an individual part does not affect the overall operation.

Failure of a disk drive does not result in loss of content (Omneon claims that this means not even one dropped frame). The system also includes a redundant fibre channel to the disk storage arrays ensuring continuing opera-tions in the event that one cable should become broken or is removed.

VECTOR 3 – VECTOR MULTIPLAY VSERVERThe Vector 3 MultiPlay VServer’s exclusive decoding system ensures support for future technologies supporting every new format and codec that is intro-duced to the market.

Supported compression formats include MPEG-2 IBP and I-Frame, DVCAM, DVCPRO25 and MJPEG among others. Supported file formats include Quick-time, MXf, raw, DV and AVI. Media can be mixed and played on the same server. Vector 3 claims that once the system is in place the studio operator does not even need to know which format is being used.

Operators can apply transitions between clips (including fades and wipes) with corresponding audio. The server also includes a number of integrated, real-time effects.

The Vector MultiPlay VServer also provides an IPTV output for broadcast over IP. Output can be in the form of a compressed Windows Media 9 or QuickTime file stream ready for broadcast or a file series for broadcast from an external ISP.

EVS – XT[2]+EVS has upgraded its XT[2] production server with the release of the XT[2]+ earlier this year.

The new version has many of the same functionalities of its predecessor and is capable of operating in studio, near-live or live OB environments.

The XT[2]+ provides always-on loop recording and multi-channel ingest of audio and video from any source, claims EVS.

The unit can provide a number of near-live applications including instant replays, live slow-motion, live editing, video delay and playout.

The upgrades include boosted internal storage of up to 12 disks; expand-able storage with external 2RU arrays(up to 24 hot swappable disks for a total of 84 disks) and a 30 percent increase in bandwidth from the XT[2]’s 11.5 HD streams to 15 HD streams with the XT[2]+.

The Omneon MediaDirector 2202

KEY FEATURE: Software based data rebuilds

ensure that if a file has previously failed, the chances of it happening

again can be greatly reduced compared to a hardware based RAID system

boosting the reliability of the Spectrum system.



ROSS VIDEO –SOFTMETAL VIDEO SERVERSRoss Video has advanced its SoftMetal 3000 Series of video servers with v4.3 software and the launch of the new “4 in, 4 out” configuration.

Version 4.3 builds on the features of the platform adding video disk control protocol (VDCP) over Ethernet and AMP

automation control support. New Unicode character support makes SoftMetal a suitable choice for multi-language applications. The 3000 Series also features native support of 3D stereo-scopic playout and record.

The 3000 Series is avail-able in both standard and multi-definition versions with 1x2, 0x4, 2x4, and 4x4 configurations, support-ing up to six simultaneous channels in SD and up to

four simultaneous channels in HD.

It uses SATA tape drives and offers up

to 14 TB of Media Storage in a compact 3RU.

QUANTEL – SQ SERVER The sQ server is the ingest, editing and playout server that underpins the company’s Enterprise sQ production suite.

Like many of its competitors, the sQ is fully scalable supporting any number of inputs and outputs from two to hundreds. The storage capacity is similarly scalable ranging from tens to thousands of hours.

Broadcast and browse media are locked together in a single database in the sQ server so that any editing decisions made on browse material are instantly reflected on the full resolution counterpart to provide the shortest possible time between ingest and playout, says Quantel.

To ensure reliability, the disk arrays have dual PSUs and keep working in the event of disk failure. Disks are hot-swappable and rebuilds are automatic. The FrameMagic filing system means that defragmentation and consolidation are never required. This also means that sQ servers run at 100 percent even when fully loaded, there is no performance drop-off, according to Quantel.

SEACHANGE – UNIVERSAL MEDIA LIBRARYSeaChange’s answer to the massive storage requirements inherent to multi-screen delivery is the new Universal Media Library, a CDN-class library storage system.

The UML incorporates FalconStor’s widely proven Hyper File System, which delivers the throughput performance that CDN’s need to access content anywhere on a network. The unique chassis design of the UML consists of six blades that are serviceable even while operational, according to the company. Each blade module contains 12 top-load drive slots that enable simple drive replacement without impacting operations.

The manufacturer will also introduce a broadcast version of the UML, which is an IP hub optimised for tapeless infrastructures that can function as a play-to-air server and production storage platform for non-linear edit-ing systems.

With edit-in-place support, the UML allows editors to manipulate programme content while it is still being ingested into the production storage. Paired with SeaChange’s MediaClient software codecs, play-to-air MediaClusters or standalone edge servers, it meets playout requirements for any size broadcast environment, claims the company.

KEY FEATURE: The SoftMetal MD servers offer

on-the-fly scaling on each output. Clips are automatically converted as they play out either from SD to HD or HD to SD depending on the desired output, a bonus for systems with

a mix of HD and SD clips.


NAB REVIEW

The industry’s biggest trade show NAB took place last month as technology providers continued the 3D charge and broadcasters began to draw up their shopping lists for the year ahead.

The industry’sbi t t d h

LEAVING LAS VEGASThis year’s NAB was a further sign of the

industry’s progress towards full recovery

with the number of attendees up seven

percent compared to last year.

“Content professionals from across the globe

turned out in force at the NAB Show, and we’re

delighted by the extraordinarily positive feedback

from both attendees and exhibitors,” says NAB

executive vice president Dennis Wharton.

”Th e uptick in attendance and the dazzling tech-

nology on display on the showfl oor demonstrates

again the extent of the NAB Show’s enduring popu-

larity and status as the premier global event for the

content marketplace.”

As well as the increase in visitors there was also a

high volume of activity at the show.

Avid announced that it would acquire Euphonix,

a manufacturer of digital audio consoles, media

controllers and peripherals. Th e deal has been con-

cluded since the show fi nished.

Th e tech fi rm acquired media archive developer

Blue Order Technologies in February of this year

and has continued its expansion with the purchase

of Euphonix.

“Th is acquisition greatly expands our portfolio to

off er customers a complementary set of workfl ow

solutions – from independent producers creating

music in their home studios to broadcasters prepar-

ing segments for national broadcast,” says Gary

Greenfi eld, chairman and CEO, Avid. “As audio and

video workfl ows continue to converge, we are now

well positioned to deliver control surfaces that work

across both audio and video applications, making

the content creation process more cost-eff ective

and effi cient for our customers.”

As expected 3D dominated the conversation at

NAB with industry identities including Dream-

Works CEO Jeff rey Katzenberg discussing the for-

mat’s progress at the show. Sports broadcasting and

3D, the development of the fi rst 3D production in

outer-space Hubble 3D and the consumer electron-

ics approach to the technology also went under the

microscope at NAB 2010.

Much of the new technology on show was also

dominated by 3D applications and upgrades from

post-production software to content security.

Nagravision announced that it will collaborate

with South Korea’s sole pay TV service provider Sky-

Life to develop a secure 3D service in South Korea.

Dolby Labs released an open specifi cation for

broadcasting 3D content. Th e spec details how 3D

images can be encoded and carried using frame-

compatible techniques through a conventional 2D

broadcast infrastructure.

88,044The number of show

attendees according

to NAB.

www.digitalproductionme.com 039MAY 2010

NAB REVIEW

IPHARRO MEDIAContent identifi cation specialist iPharro demonstrated a number of new products at this year’s NAB exhibition including the Media TV Content Monitoring (TVCM) system.

The automated solution for identifying broadcast content in real-time across multiple channels. The platform is based on the company’s content fi ngerprinting technology, which identifi es content across an unlimited number of TV channels and provides users with accurate results within minutes of broadcast, according to iPharro.

The PC-based system can monitor a number of TV sources including terrestrial, satellite, cable and mobile TV. The Difference Detection feature detects and highlights minute differences between reference and broadcast content down to the frame level.

NETIAContent management software provider Netia launched two new modules for its Radio Assist 8 automation solution at NAB.

CamDirector offers direct or automatic camera switching during interviews based on which micro-phone is active at a given time.

Radio Assist 8 now also includes the Netia workfl ow engine, de-signed to allow users working with complex worklfl ows across multiple platforms to choreograph this pro-cess and harmonise the exchange between all existing applications.

NEVER.NONever.no showcased its Inter-activity Suite at this year’s NAB show in Las Vegas.

The package includes a num-ber of software applications to enable participation TV includ-ing the ability to interact with TV in real-time. It also allows publishers to multi-publish user generated content and multi-sourced aggregated content.

The Interactivity Desk was also on display at the com-pany’s booth. The software tool provides editorial control both on-air and off-air for interac-tive and multi-sourced content including text messages and submitted audio and video fi les. It allows the editor to schedule, moderate, edit and sort the data before submitting it to the broadcast systems, blog, internet pages or STB or IPTV middleware that the content is being fed into.

It also includes basic and advanced broadcast control so that editors can also trigger CG sequences, tickers and scrolls.

The system can be integrated with Vizrt, Harris RTX, Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight or using an open XML standard to allow integration with third-party systems.

JAMPROAntenna manufacturer Jampro demonstrated a number of its more prominent products at NAB 2010.

The company’s compact UHF RWED-516-U TV mask/fi lter combiner was one of the highlights on the fi rm’s stand.

The unit includes four-port directionality that can be used either as a mask fi lter or constant impedance-combining module for high-power UHF TV broadcasts.

The expandable design allows future channels to be added as and when required.


DATA

Only a quarter favoured online media access compared with 43 percent who said offl ine and a third said it made no difference. Creating integrated business models which make the most of both traditional and digital business models is, therefore, key.DAVID ELMS

Head of media, KPMG UK

Consultancy fi rm KPMG released its

six-monthly Media and Entertainment

Barometer report last month.

Th e study of UK consumers found

that the average spend on traditional media

per person in the UK fell from US $14.2 to $11.5

compared to September 2009. More worryingly,

the spend on digital media halved from $3 to $1.5

in the same period.

Th e report found that despite the disappointing

drop in spending, consumers’ appetite for media

remained strong. Th e average monthly consump-

tion of traditional media rose from 11 hours and

40 minutes to 12 hours and 13 minutes.

Th e number of hours spent on digital media

consumption enjoyed even larger growth from 6

hours and 14 minutes to 7 hours and 28 minutes.

Social networking and blogging was the most

used digital media application with half of those

asked using these services in the past 12 months.

Video streaming was highlighted by 16 percent,

an increase of two percent from September 2009.

Th e largest increase in new media was for video-

on-demand services, which notched up 24 percent

compared to 19 percent in the previous study.

“Th e fi ndings of the second KPMG Media and

Entertainment Barometer illustrate the problem

faced by the media sector in curbing the struc-

tural decline in revenues,” says David Elms, head

of media, KPMG UK. “Online subscription models

Consumers’ media consumption habits continue to shift although spending is down, according to a new study.

HABIT FORMINGDATA

SOURCE: Web TV Enterprise

remain in their infancy and once more developed

should provide a platform for signifi cantly higher

online revenues,” he adds.

“Th ere is considerable focus on driving digital

media revenues. Respondents indicated they do

access more media because of online availability,

but the tide has not yet turned, the majority of

us still prefer consuming media offl ine. Only a

quarter favoured online media access compared

with 43 percent who said offl ine and a third said it

made no diff erence. Creating integrated business

models which make the most of both traditional

and digital business models is, therefore, key.”

Th e recent success of 3D cinema was noted in

the report with 27 percent of respondents having

seen a 3D movie in the past 12 months. By com-

parison, only 15 percent of consumers said they

were likely to purchase a 3D-enabled TV when

they replace their existing set.

Of those that said that they were unlikely to

purchase a 3D set, 63 percent said they didn’t see

the need, 59 percent named price as a prohibitive

factor and 49 percent said the idea of wearing

the accompanying glasses was an issue. Only 12

percent had concerns over quality of service.

“It is early days with new technologies like

VOD, 3DTV and e-readers, but they are examples

of the innovations and platforms which can help

drive new areas of revenue of the media sector in

a digital age,” says Elms.

Watched TV (not online) 94% Social networking/blogging sites 50%

Listened to the radio 79% Online news/RSS feeds 36%

Watched a DVD/Blu-Ray 53% Used video on demand for TV 24%

Played a console/video game 34% Downloaded music 21%

Visited the cinema 27%

Streamed online TV programmes 16%

Media activities respondents had partaken in during past 12 months

Traditional media:

Source: KPMG 2010

Digital media:

This September, compare the latest connected devices and discover business opportunities in emerging media at IBC – the premier annual event for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and news content worldwide.

New! Connected World

RAI Amsterdam

Conference 9-14 September : Exhibition 10-14 September

www.ibc.org/connectedworld IBC Fifth Floor International Press Centre 76 Shoe Lane London EC4A 3JB UK T. +44 (0) 20 7832 4100 F. +44 (0) 20 7832 4130 E. [email protected]

Connected Home of the future...

• custom-built environment showcasing how we consume content now and tomorrow

• compare TV and video content on the latest consumer electronics devices

• interact with TVs, tablets, netbooks, games consoles, mobile phones and more!

Connected World Hub...

• FREE Exhibition Business Briefings in a dedicated presentation theatre

• learn about the latest opportunities in IP-based distribution technology beyond broadcasting

• network with the world’s key technology suppliers of IPTV, Mobile TV and Digital Signage

For the first time, IPTV, Mobile TV and Digital Signage are all under one roof in Hall 9! The Connected World includes two new features that will provide you with valuable insight into how media convergence is continuing to create new business models in our industry.

Register n

ow at

www.ibc.org/register

digital broadcast - may 2010

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