ALEXANDRIA, Va.—A new research study from CTAM and Hub Entertainment Research highlights the high cost of bad app design and poor user experiences with survey data showing that a poor streaming user experience (UX) is cited by a surprising 36% of viewers, and 43% of viewers under 25, as the sole reason they’ve cancelled a streaming subscription, according to the study.

The result is notable because pricing and the quality of content are often seen as by far the biggest driver of subscription cancellations and churn, which can significantly add to a service's marketing costs.

“This research underscores the extent to which TV apps are compared not just to other TV apps, but to all of the apps consumers use across categories,” said Jon Giegengack, founder of Hub Entertainment Research and one of the research authors. “Viewers have high expectations, and even small moments of friction can quickly accumulate to cause frustration and abandonment. The findings are clear that improving even seemingly small frustrations can have a big impact on satisfaction, engagement and churn.”

The new research report, Value by Design: Building a Better Streaming UX and Discovery Experience, available to CTAM members, examines the importance of the streaming user experience to consumers’ overall satisfaction. Additional notable findings include:

• TV apps are evaluated against all apps across categories. Two-thirds (68%) of viewers do at least some of their decision-making outside of dedicated TV apps. Users judge their experience against all other apps across categories including Instagram and TikTok.
• TV apps are delivering. 90% of those surveyed were very or somewhat satisfied by their user experience. But there is room to improve. 72% experience at least one problem that leaves them “extremely frustrated” and 80% experience one problem that happens “all the time.”
• Hub tested also 20 UX problems to learn how often they happen and how frustrating they are when they do. Then 13 design solutions were tested, with five found to most likely add value to a subscription. The most damaging design and navigation issue was found to be “burying” of common tasks like having to scroll too far for “Continue Watching” and a hard-to-find “Watch List.”

The study identifies some potential solutions, with the two that would most impact viewer behavior including:

• Pinned “Continue Watching” – 46% loved this feature; 63% say they would absolutely use it; 42% think it would make their subscription more valuable; and 48% say it would make them more likely to keep their subscription.
• Pinned Watch Lists – 39% loved this feature; 56% say they would absolutely use it; 36% think it would make their subscription more valuable; and 43% say it would make them more likely to keep their subscription.
• Viewers reward apps that open straight into content – relevant, actionable, and free of decision fatigue.

One survey respondent over age 35 said: “When I open an app, I want it to already be where I left off or already doing what I need. The ones I like don’t make me figure anything out.”

Young viewers have less tolerance when the app experience fails.

For Gen Z viewers, the idea of more relevant recommendations was highly appealing, with 59% of viewers ages 13-24 saying that TV recommendations don’t feel like they are designed for them vs. 45% of older viewers.

Younger viewers also make viewing decisions well before turning on the TV, with 43% reporting they decide what to watch in advance vs. 35% of older viewers.

Plus, they look to social media for those recommendations; 48% of viewers 13-24 said they hear about shows and movies from trailers on social platforms vs. 38% of older viewers.

“This latest research highlights the pivotal role CTAM plays to give our members a big picture perspective on industry-wide challenges,” said Vicki Lins, president and CEO, CTAM. “Consumers by and large are satisfied with streaming apps, but a negative user experience can be a silent killer, quietly eroding loyalty while price and content grab the headlines. The full report for CTAM members reveals the extent of the threat posed by poor user experience, and how the industry can give consumers more clarity and control.”

The CTAM/Hub Entertainment Research study, "Value by Design: Building a Better Streaming UX and Discovery Experience", included both quantitative and qualitative elements: first, an online survey of 3,000 U.S. consumers ages 13-64, with the sample balanced to the U.S. census by gender, age, and race; and second, 24 in-depth interviews with a mix of Pay TV subscribers and cord cutters/cord nevers who subscribed to at least one streaming service. The research was conducted in April 2026.

CTAM members can access the full report on the group's website here.

STAMFORD, Conn.—In a move that highlights the growing importance of streaming apps on pay TV platforms, Charter Communications’ Spectrum operating brand has launched The Spectrum App Store, a new digital marketplace where Spectrum TV customers can activate, manage and upgrade the streaming apps included with their Spectrum TV plans.

Spectrum customers without a traditional TV package can also use the store to manage and purchase streaming apps à la carte.

The store, accessible on the My Spectrum App and on Spectrum.net, builds on the cable operator’s longstanding strategy of providing consumers with the most popular streaming services in addition to live TV for no additional cost to subscribers.

That effort has taken center stage in recent carriage negotiations with major programmers like Disney and has led to the creation of video packages that include direct-to-consumer apps like ESPN Unlimited, AMC+, HBO Max Basic with Ads and Disney+.

“Our new Spectrum App Store delivers what our customers want most—real savings with consumer choice and a simpler way to enjoy the up to $125 per month worth of streaming apps that our Seamless Entertainment experience provides,” said Rich DiGeronimo, president, product & technology, Spectrum. “At the same time, we're also creating new opportunities for our programming partners to reach more households and connect with our large base of non-video customers. In today's fragmented video landscape, Spectrum is combining value, choice and convenience, creating an experience that benefits both our customers and our partners.”

In addition, Spectrum announced it will partner with Apple to facilitate and distribute a selection of live Lakers games in the 2025-26 season for the Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset.

Spectrum said that with “Apple Immersive, a remarkable storytelling format available on Vision Pro, Lakers fans will feel like they are sitting courtside for those games.”

Live games, available via streams of up to 150 Mbps, will be accessible to authenticated Spectrum SportsNet subscribers, as well as Spectrum Internet customers, via the Spectrum SportsNet app in the Lakers' territory, the operator reported.

The game replay and highlights in Apple Immersive will also be available on demand via the Spectrum SportsNet app across the Spectrum footprint and on the NBA App for national and international fans.

In a separate announcement, Spectrum and Amazon also reported that they’ve entered into a new B2B partnership that allows secure auto-connection to the Spectrum Mobile Network for Amazon's enterprise connectivity use cases with WiFi to optimize network options and reliability. This service applies to a wide range of connectivity deployments where the ability to use WiFi to securely route data to the cloud can reduce cost, improve performance and extend reach for Amazon.

DALLAS—In the run-up to its Future of Video conference, Parks Associates has released new data highlighting the importance of easy navigation between connected TVs and other devices.

New research from Parks has found most households that own or are planning to purchase a connected TV (CTV) device recognize the benefits of staying within a product ecosystem—53% state it is easier to manage apps and preferences when using devices within the same ecosystem.

With one-third of households planning to buy a smart TV in the next six months, companies looking to capture these households could succeed by emphasizing the ease of navigation across their portfolio and their list of supported streaming apps, Parks reported.

The research noted that Roku has done a particularly good job at this cross-platform CTV effort to attract ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) users.

"Customers are looking for an interface that is fast and easy to navigate but can also provide an expansive experience compatible across multiple devices and apps, especially AVOD services," Parks Vice President of Marketing Mindi Sue Sternblitz-Rubenstein said. "At Future of Video, industry experts discuss the latest innovations to meet these demands, plus design and messaging strategies that will resonate with today's streaming households."

"Our data shows Roku has been particularly effective in leveraging its CTV platforms to bring in AVOD users," Sternblitz-Rubenstein added. "Roku device owners/users have high usage rates for The Roku Channel."

The seventh annual in-person Future of Video conference will be held Nov. 19–21 at the Marina del Rey Marriott in Marina del Rey, Calif. It will address new strategies for streaming, internet, and mobile providers to deliver high-quality video services that will retain current and attract new video subscribers.

NEW YORK—NBCUniversal Local has added several new weather products to the mobile apps of its NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations that feature customization tools, a streamlined layout and a new design that delivers faster and easier access to local weather data, information and forecasts.

As part of the upgrade, the English- and Spanish-language weather sections are now available across all 35 NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations’ apps for iOS and Android.

“Serving our communities with the most extensive and accurate weather coverage, in English and Spanish is our mission, so we’re proud to unveil this new experience that serves all users how they want, and when they want, to keep them informed and safe,” NBCU Local Executive Vice President of Multiplatform Lora Dennis said. “This redesign was an extensive effort that relied on significant research and data, the expertise of our meteorologists and weather experts around the nation, and most importantly, our users, who provided considerable feedback.”

The app’s new design prioritizes personalization, NBCU Local said, with customization features that let users curate how content modules are organized and presented. It also provides more control over the display of radar features, such as layers and overlays. Advanced settings help users more easily manage weather alerts and notifications, including new options for adding locations or accessing recent ones.

The streamlined layout and intuitive design help users to quickly access the most relevant and essential data and information—such as current conditions and forecasts—and navigate to different features. The enhanced display also uses larger fonts to increase legibility and employs easy-to-understand icons, NBCU Local said.

The new version of the weather product will be automatically installed for users with updates enabled. Users without automatic updates must manually update the app to access the new features.

Once the update is complete, a highlighted “new” setting will appear in the app settings. Users can tap there to view a walkthrough introducing the updated weather experience, highlighting its key features and providing customization guidance.

NBCU Local’s stations serve 30 U.S. markets and Puerto Rico, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Francisco, Houston, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and Miami.

ATLANTA—Gray Media has announced that its 24/7 streaming news network, Local News Live, has launched standalone apps for connected TVs and smartphones. 

“Local News Live delivers a local perspective on national stories by tapping into the expertise of Gray journalists in 113 markets,” Gray Chief Operating Officer Sandy Breland said. “With this new streaming presence, our reach will expand to deliver that unmatched breaking news coverage and impactful information to a national audience.”

Local News Live launched in February 2021 as a national news network to provide live streaming coverage on more than 500 Gray station websites, connected TV apps and mobile apps. Local News Live will remain available on Gray’s local apps and continue to provide audiences with nonstop access to local and national news feeds.

“We are excited to grow our footprint to the rest of the US to serve even more viewers with our unique blend of national coverage through a local lens,” Lisa Allen, general manager of Gray’s Wasington operations, said.

Local News Live is based out of Gray’s Washington, D.C., news bureau.

These new apps are now available to download for free by searching “LNL” on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, iOS and Android streaming devices.

BARCELONA, Spain—The video intelligence solutions provider NPAW has announced that it will be releasing an updated version for App Analytics and showcasing the new features at IBC 2024. With the new NPAW App Analytics, users can view app crashes and errors on all their streaming apps.

“The new App Analytics has vast AI-driven capabilities for identifying app and website crashes and errors, sign-up errors, login failures and UI problems,” explained NPAW’s head of Video Business Unit, Till Sudworth who is spearheading App Analytics for the company. “It also learns about the client’s apps. So it's able to spot anomalies and provide resolutions much faster, making their video services much more resilient.”

The updated application performance monitoring solution includes key features such as:

• Highlight critical app errors and crashes
• Blends app diagnostics data with the video analytics data
• AI-powered comprehensive analysis
• Spot website slow load times and page freezes
• New dashboards detail ‘App Errors & Crashes’, Web Performance’, ‘Sign up & Login Errors’
• Easy integration with the NPAW V7 Plugin

It also addresses common use cases facing streaming providers that affect the Application Quality of Experience (QoE):

• Login/Sign-up QoE - diagnoses error rates and statistics for Signup, Login and TV Pair flows. Top errors and crashes preventing logins and signups.
• Web/App QoE - detects issues with app loading, page loading, average time to interaction and more.
• Api QoE - logs API / Backend anomalies for all pages/screens on the client apps.

Learn more at this year's IBC, September 13th -16th - RAI Amsterdam, Booth #G76 — Hall 5.

In a notable example of how big TV and broadcast events can impact digital media, AppsFlyer is reporting that app usage during Super Bowl LVII varied during the game, but in general showed an increase of about 10-15% across the U.S. on Super Bowl Sunday vs. the average Sunday. 

In sharp contrast, there was a very notable dropoff of app engagement during the Halftime show as users focused on Rihanna’s performance. 

In terms of in-app purchases and consumer spending, AppsFlyer found: 

• Casino and sports betting activity in-apps showed spikes during specific points in the game, and was up overall about 45% (55% on iOS and 15% on Android) more than average Sundays.
• An increase of around 60% on iOS and 40% on Android in food & drink purchases on Super Bowl Sunday compared to average Sundays.
• Shopping app purchases were down around 20% on both Android and iOS when compared to the average Sunday.
• Sports app purchases on iOS were up nearly 140%.
• Spending on entertainment apps was up slightly among Android users, but down over 20% among iOS users.
• Food and Drink app orders peaked just before game time at over 60% more than a typical Sunday

The data also showed that Philadelphians tended to be more active on mobile (especially on social media apps) during the game than those in Kansas City. This remained true until the end of the game, when Kansas City pulled out a last second victory and folks from Kansas City became engaged on their social apps at a much greater rate than those from Philadelphia, where there was a steep decline at the end and following the game.

Configuring an end-to-end system storage solution for a new facility can be challenging. Systems once built upon the theory that “storage tiers” were key dividing elements—today, the challenges include managing data movement between such tiers and tailoring the storage types for best uses and applications.

Storage tier assignment was a model that separated “continuously-active” storage from “not-so-active” storage, i.e., fast vs. slow or bulk storage. Legacy storage tier designs continually pushed data amongst storage tiers based upon the associated activities known at the time of the design. As storage capacity requirements increased, more drives were “thrown” at the system.  Dissimilar drive capacities created differentials with performance measurement becoming unpredictive.  

As “cloud” and other sophisticated storage architectures came into play, a different science emerged. Previously dedicated “hierarchical architectures” changed functionality to leverage software solutions which manage needs, capacities, performance, and timing. By carefully modeling with best-of-breed data storage products, new solutions could be solved using complex data activity predictions and automation. No longer is it practical to use a single storage element or just the cloud, alone, to support modern media production activities.

Managing by Type to Fit the Need
Highly sophisticated structures in today’s media asset management solutions allow storage administrators to apply variants in storage sets across groups of individual topologies and workflows (Fig. 1). Software-driven approaches coupled with fast flash memory, and other backbones (NVMe, PCIe) now allow the administrator to select workflow segments and marry them into independent systems appropriately configured for specific workflows across the enterprise.

Add in a growing proportion of media technology which is moving to the cloud, and hybridized choices open up wider possibilities amongst on-premises and cloud workflows.  

Cloud supports ingest operations to funnel content from many geographic locations. Depending upon the need, placing accumulating data into a cloud platform offers a lot of extras, including long-term storage of content in its raw form plus the ability to consolidate content into a single virtualized allocation.

Knowing and defining the variety of steps to produce airable content is essential to determining if data is stored on-prem, in the cloud, or both. When and why to place which data in one or more locations vs. the efficiency or performance perspectives for specific or immediate workflows is what defines “managing by type and fitting the need.”

Differing Storage Structures and Elements
Organizations with varying requirements may need immediate, fast access to content at speeds incompatible with the capabilities of a “cloud-only” architecture; some workflows may not need the additional features, functionality or capabilities offered in a cloud solution. 

For media organizations, a workflow might simply push “raw” content straight into editorial production. When facing a breaking or live news requirement, they may need to push the new content straight to playout while other activities (including editorial) occur in parallel.

Often workflows must support multiple parallel processes, repetitive alteration, and documentary-like preparation for later specials or features.  In “live” production, raw content often needs at the very least a “technical preview” before being aired “live.” Producer approval or other reviews may also be required prior to pushing straight to air.  

Proxy generation, while simultaneously moving the data from an ingest cache to playout services, could gain efficiency from differing storage platforms. While some may only need a “tops-and-tails” segmentation, others may only require a mid-sequence removal or audio overtone.

These “fast vs. slow” example workflows demand the ability to quickly take in content, transform it to an “airable” format, and assemble it for purpose necessitates fast delivery process versus lengthier or more conventional tagging, shifting into editorial cache, or moving into near term storage for other production purposes.

Attention to Metadata
Tagging or metadata association for any number of workflows or production/legal mandates are not uncommon. Metadata collection covers activities from automated tagging to scene-change detection to detailed content analysis or evaluation with respect to people, location or purpose.  These variations gain additional benefits by their placement onto different types of storage depending upon the degree of effort required for each workflow.  

Such differentiation by activity helps reduce load balancing and may mitigate “bottlenecking,” which drags down other processes involving multiple read/writes or transfers between processing platforms. Other methodologies, such as Kubernetes and microservices structures, are leveraging AI principles to improve performance and speed up operations.

Depending upon the workflow, data may be repositioned to fast disk arrays based on the best system approach using the available targets. Storage that can materialize the information into a particular format, managed by a MAM, and sent to the cloud or straight to air ahead of editorial may also be sought. Thus, we recognize that “not all storage is created equal.” 

Monitor Proactively
High-availability storage systems need to be “watched” to ensure bottlenecks, over-provisioning, or other random events do not occur. Administrators who manage storage sets, manipulate the best data paths, and leverage file-based workflow activities proactively keep an eye on storage volumes, overall system bandwidth, and the management of those processes.  

Some less intense or non-immediate activities take more time to complete their operations and would best be allocated to hours when other commands needing higher performance are more immediately addressed. For example, if the storage volumes associated with editing command more reads and writes than simple reads for transfers—move those less important activities to overnight periods when less editing occurs. 

Administrators routinely must watch the logs to ensure that up-time, system loading, and security are handled proactively. 

Suggestions include scheduling upgrades at times when high-availability periods are unnecessary. Establish a hierarchy of notifications and reporting to ascertain when peak performance periods need full accessibility. High-availability work-periods, if monitored and reported proactively, can support most maintenance without downtime, and can occur during a flexible and convenient time based upon a routine schedule.

Extreme Hyper-scalability
Selecting the appropriate storage components requires understanding the entire media ecosystem. Workflows vary, so storage system administrators must engage components which are sufficient in scale to handle the average workflows yet still provide for those “hyper-activities” whereby the next level of availability can be enabled as necessary. Flexibility and capacity overhead for burst-up periods need consideration throughout the various workflows.

Speed and throughput are usually expected during “peak periods” but not necessarily at all times.  When a workflow pushes the envelope or approaches the edge of your storage infrastructure’s routine capabilities, your storage architecture should be expected to “spin up” to a higher level to address short-term needs. Changing when those activities occur (i.e., to “off hours”) may alleviate the potential for bottlenecks during peak periods.  

Some vendors can autonomously elevate their system performance by employing “capacity module” extensions. Additional support is usually configured using flash storage in an NVMe over PCIe architecture. These modules need not be deployed throughout all storage sub-systems; and are likely relegated only to your “highest-performance-level” activities. Plan for potential needs in massive scalability, also known as “scale out and scale up”—this extra horsepower may be necessary for one-offs or major events (e.g., Super Bowl, Final Four or breaking news). 

We’ve only touched the surface of modern intelligent storage management and its details. When considering an upgrade or new storage platform for a current or greenfield facility, be sure to take notice of the competitive and continual changes occurring in the storage-for-media sectors. You may be surprised how the many new on-prem storage additions are changing those capabilities which are essential to media productions. 

TYSONS, Va.—Tegna has announced that it will be rolling out new over-the-top (OTT) streaming apps and 24-7 streaming channels for its 64 stations in 51 markets. 

Two stations, 11Alive+ in Atlanta and WTHR13+ in Indianapolis, are already piloting their new apps and additional stations are expected to launch apps through the second quarter. 

Updated streaming apps will initially be available on Roku and Fire TV, with additional platforms slated to launch later this year.

Tegna launched its first-generation of apps in 2021 and the newly redesigned apps are designed to be a one-stop destination for local stories that matter. 

“With more than 100 million minutes of streaming per month on our first-generation apps, it is clear that our viewers crave live and on-demand local content,” said Adam Ostrow, Tegna’s chief digital officer. “Now, with 24-7 access to news, sports, lifestyle content, weather forecasts and more, stations are delivering on our ‘live, local and always on’ promise more than ever, making our valuable and important local content available to viewers when they want it.”

Each new streaming app will feature a local twenty-four-hour “Watch” stream, which will include live local news, newscast replays, extended live coverage, weather, and station specials and investigations.

Stations’ “Watch” streams will also include:

• Local Sports Shows: Tegna’s Locked On Podcast Network produces daily shows for every team across the four major professional sports leagues, as well as college sports programs. These shows are now available as video, and stations can offer locally relevant shows inside their respective OTT apps. Locked On will also produce “Locked On Sports Today,” a fast-paced show featuring local experts discussing the day’s biggest sports stories.
• VERIFY: Tegna’s brand dedicated to stopping the spread of misinformation will be producing a new weekly show hosted by Ariane Datil and Brandon Lewis that uses trusted sources and transparent reporting to help audiences understand what’s true and false.
• Daily Blast LIVE: Tegna’s interactive live daily show for television and streaming covers news, entertainment, pop culture, celebrities and the latest trending stories 24-7 and features hosts Sam Schacher, Jeff Schroeder, Al Jackson, Erica Cobb, Tory Shulman, Lindsey Granger and Stefanie Jones.

Consumers can also navigate to on-demand streaming channels to catchup on their favorite newscasts, view the latest forecast and extended coverage, watch Locked On shows for sports news, analysis and commentary on their favorite local sports teams and go deeper into VERIFY stories across topic areas, Tegna reported. 

Premion, Tegna’s OTT advertising platform, is selling stations’ premium streaming app inventory. 

Since 2020, Tegna stations have significantly increased digital viewership, achieving record audiences across platforms in key metrics such as visitors, video plays and monthly active users. 

Additionally, Locked On Podcast Network has more than 16 million monthly listens and views, and VERIFY stories reach more than 5 million unique visitors each month across platforms, Tegna said. 

STUTTGART, Germany—Set-top box (STB) software solutions provider 3 Screen Solutions (3SS) has delivered two new smart TV apps to A1 Bulgaria, which provides digital services and communications solutions to Central and Eastern Europe.

A1 Bulgaria, part of the A1 Telekom Austria Group, has gone live with the apps for its Bulgarian subscribers to Xplore TV, enabling them to heighten their viewing experiences on their Samsung Tizen and LG webOS connected TVs. 

The launch in Bulgaria is the first of five. The custom, localized Xplore TV apps from 3SS also will be deployed in Austria, Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia, 3SS said.

The 3SS 3READY Product Framework powers the apps. It includes features like live TV, catchup, TV guide, mini EPG, time shift, live start over and cross-device continue watching. Users access features from an intuitive UI. A1 Telekom Austria Group and 3SS have worked closely on the project, defining and creating the apps to deliver a superior user experience and heighten viewer engagement, 3SS said.

The apps were delivered for the first deployment six months after the contract for the project was signed. 3SS is using a single codebase, which is easily customizable for all five markets. Adaptations will accommodate several languages and both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. The company’s use of Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) methodologies also underpins the fast delivery, it said.

“We’re extremely proud to have been selected by A1 Telekom Austria Group to deliver this major multi-country project,” said 3SS managing director Kai-Christian Borchers. “With the launch of the first 3READY-enabled Xplore TV apps, consumers in Bulgaria can now benefit from a world-class smart TV UX. We look forward to bringing the same exceptional experience to subscribers across other A1 markets.”

See 3SS at IBC 2021 Stand 5.H15.

More information is available on the company’s website.

NEW YORK, N.Y.—NBCUniversal Local has announced that its NBC and Telemundo owned station apps are now available on Amazon Fire TV. 

The NBC and Telemundo station apps on Fire TV allow users to access content produced by 11 NBC owned stations, 23 Telemundo owned stations and New England Cable News (NECN) – including local news, weather and investigative reporting.

“We want to serve audiences on the platforms they prefer to deliver easy access to our best-in-class apps and the local news, information and storytelling that matters to them,” said Lora Dennis, executive vice president, digital media, NBCUniversal Local. “Fire TV is another great addition to our growing distribution portfolio for our apps.”

The launch on Fire TV follows the summer 2021 unveiling of newly redesigned NBC and Telemundo apps that make it easier for English and Spanish-speaking audiences to access their communities’ latest news and weather forecasts, while offering users an array of in-app customization options.

Users can also access NBC and Telemundo station apps on Roku and Apple TV. Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming platform, which gives audiences access to NBC owned stations local news playlists through it’s ‘News’ tab. 

AMSTERDAM—When it comes to production needs, Crystal Vision may just have an app for that now. The company plans to showcase a series of new software apps designed for its Marble-V1 media processor hardware that can offers services that include video delay, synchronization, color correction, IP to IP processing and gateways; different versions of the apps are available for those working in IP, SDI or mixed SDI/IP environment.

Eight of the apps that Crystal Vision is unveiling at the conference are video delays. They are available with different numbers of channels (single or dual) and delay lengths as well as SDI, IP or both SDI and IP connectivity; all include a framestore synchronizer. The Vivid1-IP and Vivid2-IP app offer IP connectivity with the apps handling single (Vivid1-IP) and dual (Vivid2-IP) channel IP video delay. Then there are the single-channel Vivid1-SDI and dual-channel Vivid2-SDI that introduce as SDI video delay to the Vision frame system while offering an upgrade path to IP. The remaining four apps (Vivid1-SDI-IP, Vivid2-SDI-IP, Vivid1-IP-SDI and Vivid2-IP-SDI) work in mixed SDI/IP environments. All these apps can match any 3Gb/s, HD or SD extended delay systems, while the single-channel versions provide 800 frames of video delay and the dual-channel provides 400 frames of video delay.

Crystal Vision will have eight other apps on display that are tasked with color correction, and like the video delay apps are available in single- or dual-channel and can work in IP, SDI or a mixed environment. The apps are COCO1-IP, COCO2-IP, COCO1-IP-SDI, COCO2-IP-SDI, COCO1-SDI-IP, COCO2-SDI-IP, COCO1-SDI and COCO2-SDI. All eight apps include RGB gain, RGB lift, YUV gain, YUV lift, video gain, chroma gain, chroma hue and overall and individual RGB gamma adjustment.

All of the apps that have IP connectivity work with SMPTE ST 2022 with future upgrade to ST 2110 video.

In addition to the apps, Crystal Vision will display its new Cleanit video and audio profanity delay system, which allows for up to 20 seconds of delay for live content, and the Safari 3 real-time chroma keyer that supports resolutions from SD to 1080p.

Crystal Vision will be located at stand 2.B59 during IBC 2019, which will run from Sept. 13-17 in Amsterdam.

NEW YORK—BigVu is putting a big piece of newsroom gear onto people’s smartphone, announcing the release of a video prompter app for mobile reporting.

Available for both iOS and Android devices, this mobile prompter enables users to capture themselves with their devices as the text scrolls on the screen and adjusts to the reader’s speed.

The BigVu app can also be used as an end-to-end news-authoring collaboration platform. Stories can be accessed by multiple users simultaneously through a shared, cloud-based virtual desk; scripts can be assigned and uploaded to a specific user; and multiple takes can be stored on the app and uploaded to the cloud for distribution. The background can also be changed.

BigVu is offering the app in different packages: Freelancer for a single user; Starter Pro for up to three; Publisher for up to 15; and Enterprise allows for unlimited users.

RALEIGH, N.C.—Capital Broadcasting Company has announced that it has upgraded its WRAL News app to deliver content to the Apple Watch. Users of the app can now get breaking news, headlines, the DUALDoppler 5000 radar, and seven-day and hourly weather forecast on the smartwatch.

The ability to use the WRAL News app on the Apple Watch is available through an update that is free for all iOS users. The app will only work on Apple watchOS 2.

CBC also announced that WRAL News is also accessible on Apple News for iOS 9 users. Users can add WRAL News into the aggregating news app feed and favorites.

WRAL News and other WRAL apps can be found through the app store and on the WRAL.com mobile download page.

It’s probably fair to say that when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone he didn’t envision it one day being its own mini production studio. However, thanks to apps and other mobile applications made by various companies, smartphones and tablets are becoming an essential tool for broadcasters to have. Here are five apps that are able to lend broadcasters and engineers a hand with TV production.

5. Academy Color Predictor

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences may be best known as the organization behind the Oscars, but a little more than a year ago it came out with the Academy Color Predictor app for the iPad. The app is able to predict the interaction lights, cameras, filters and the photograph subject to visualize color rendering differences and compare different combination of elements. The Academy Color Predictor is available for free on the iOS App Store.

Agent-IC

4. Clear-Com Agent-IC

Clear-Com recently began to ship the Agent-IC mobile app. Available on both the iPhone and iPad, the app accesses the Eclipse-HX Matrix intercom systems remotely to connect studio staff and OB teams working live events or at remote locations. Features include point-to-point calling, point-to-multi-point calling, local cross point audio level control and notification functions. The Agent-IC works with iOS 8.0 or later.

3. Broadcast Pix iPixPanel

The iPixPanel app from Broadcast Pix allows users to control an entire Broadcast Pix system for live video. Designed specifically for the iPad, iPixPanel has the ability to switch cameras and add key layers, while its device control bank can control the system’s clip server, CG and other functions. It features a three-axis virtual joystick, rotary knobs, and PixButtons that change to show the device and file name on the button.

2. L-S-B The Wall

L-S-B recently acquired development resources from NEP labs, among which includes The Wall, an iPad app that helps configure monitor walls in mobile production units. The Wall allows engineers, technicians and members of a production team to set up monitors with ease and change them on the fly with a drag-and-drop selection function. Users can also save specific screen configurations as favorites to be able to recall them at any point. The Wall is multiviewer-agnostic and provides connectivity with all major manufacturer’s systems.

Dejero Live+ V3.1

1. Dejero Live+

Dejero’s latest version of the Live+ mobile app is currently available for users via the Apple app store, transforming their smart device into a newsgathering or live event tool. With the ability to transmit low-latency video over bonded cellular and Wi-Fi connections, Live+ can broadcast live video, record content for later broadcasts, or import and upload edited video files. New features include the ability to connect to satellite Internet transmission systems via Wi-Fi for connectivity from remote locations, and the ability to assign live feeds and uploaded files to different server destinations. In addition, V3.1 supports HD video up to 1080p on the iPhone 6 and has an increased bitrate transmission of up to 9 Mbps.

NEW YORK—As NBC’s iconic “Saturday Night Live” approached its 40th anniversary earlier this year, the idea of creating an app came up. But, says Michael Martin, senior vice president, product, technology & operations at NBC Entertainment Digital, they had to think long and hard about whether to proceed. “Consumers are much more discerning and careful as to whether they want to go through the steps of downloading an app and taking up phone storage,” he says. “The bar is pretty high nowadays.” Discoverability is also an issue; experts estimate there are more than 3 million total apps for Apple and Android.

A successful app, Martin and his group decided, had to fulfill two criteria: It had to perform a utility really well and communicate that utility easily, and the assets had to be unique enough to merit its own app. Forty years of SNL has produced 800 episodes with roughly 6,000 individual comedy sketches. But the library had already been digitally available for some time, and Martin was troubled at how viewers consumed the content. “Fundamentally people were snacking on that content,” he said. “The consumption would be to watch one or less than one clip of the newest, latest, most topical video.”

Michael Martin, senior vice president, product, technology & operations at NBC Entertainment Digital

A MYRIAD OF DESCRIPTIONS
How to make every season and every sketch more discoverable and valuable was the challenge. One advantage the digital group had was NBC’s 40 years of audience research. The first important piece of information gleaned was just how much more varied the sketches were, by season, cast members, guest stars, topics, categories and many other factors. “We realized that there were scores, if not hundreds of facets that could describe an individual sketch,” he says. “We needed something different than the typical recommendation engines, based on commonality in consumption patterns. Those patterns didn’t hold for this content.”

They hired what they called a “metadata army” of people who took four months to go through all 6,000 sketches, recataloguing them for the hundreds of defined facets. “The semantic model is very flexible,” said Martin. “It isn’t just the facets that are important but their relationship to one another.” The sketches were ultimately connected by 33,000 relationships. “It became an incredibly dense model, so we can take some of what we learned from audience research and put a prediction engine on top of it,” he adds.

Eddie Lee, vice president of technology for NBC Entertainment Digital, was responsible for building the prediction engine from scratch. “We tried to apply and re-use some of the traditional, off-the-shelf recommendation engines, but they couldn’t deal with our model,” Lee says.

The app and website—powered by the MarkLogic Enterprise NoSQL database platform— integrate, manage and search the database. “Building the prediction engine took two to three months, constructing and iterating it,” he said. “It included connection between the CMS [content management system] and the database, built on top of MarkLogic using our resources and our set of rules.” The system also has enterprise traits for security, data integrity, and scalability.

More than 100 million clips have been streamed since the SNL Official App was released in February.

SWIPING FOR APPROVAL
Also critical was an interface mechanism that let users interact with the content, and, the team hoped, turn a snack into a meal. The User Experience team came up with a gesture-based function that provided real- time feedback to the engine. “We didn’t want to give the user a choice of thumbs up or thumbs down,” Martin said. “The user wouldn’t just perceive that as work but it’s too simplistic to get the outcome we were looking for.”
Instead, if the viewer swipes left, he or she gets a new video. “If you’ve watched 75 percent of that first video, we assume that you liked most of it and will harvest facets that we’ll serve in the second and third video,” says Martin. “If you swipe it very quickly, we assume that you didn’t like that one whatsoever and revise the model accordingly. And if you swipe five or six videos very quickly, we’ll put you on another path, in a totally non-technical way.”

Swiping up and down to add to favorites is another way that the app signals viewer preferences about the sketches. “We built that interface into a product in a way that we don’t have to spend any time up front to explain it to the consumer,” said Martin. “But it also results in a high-quality data stream.” He also notes that the data is completely anonymous. The UE design was recently nominated for an Interactive Emmy for outstanding user interface.

The response to the app has been stronger than Martin and his team could have anticipated. “We had over 100 million clips streamed to the app,” he said. “Most critical, we definitely unlocked binging. On average, people who were consuming less than one sketch in the past are now watching several to a dozen sketches.”

Since its February release, the team has continually updated the app and is now at version 1.3.1. “We’ve extended capabilities and added new features and polished some things to make predictions better,” Martin said. And the team has also prepared some entirely new features for the opening of SNL’s 41st season, Oct. 3. “We are adding new social features so people can share their personalized experiences with family and friends,” Martin added. “We’re also looking for the opportunity to get the cast and show more involved in curating and highlighting content. And our emoji library will expand to include new cast members.”

The app is free and available on iOS and Android (www.nbc.com/saturday-nightlive/app).

SAN JOSE, CALIF. – TiVo is getting in on the streaming game, announcing that users can now stream recorded shows to Apple TV through AirPlay. With the updated TiVo iOS app, recorded content from TiVo Roamio or Premiere DVRs can now play on an Apple TV through an iOS device connected on the same network.

The content can be streamed to Apple TV by enabling AirPlay through the iOS control center, selecting Apple TV from the menu and then hitting the “mirroring” button, providing users with a multi-screen experience.

TiVo’s latest version of its iOS app, featuring the AirPlay feature, is now available in the App Store for free.