LAS VEGAS—In a notable effort to improve the quality of audio in OTA broadcasts, Dolby Laboratories and TV Azteca have announced a project to bring Dolby Atmos to free-to-air television in Mexico over ATSC 1.0 transmissions.

The two companies said the distribution of immersive audio within the current ATSC 1.0 transmission standard marks a significant step forward in the evolution of live television and opens the door for other broadcasters to make similar improvements to audio quality of OTA broadcasts.

Those involved in the project said immersive audio has a particularly powerful appeal in live sports events, where sound is an essential part of the emotion. With Dolby Atmos, sound moves above and all around, placing viewers at the center of the action and making every game more thrilling and memorable, Dolby said.

“Our work with TV Azteca represents a decisive step in bringing immersive experiences to mass audiences in Mexico,” said Pankaj Kedia, vice president of Americas, commercial partnerships at Dolby Laboratories. “Imagine watching a game from your living room and hearing where every cheer in the stands comes from, the sound of the ball, and the voice of the commentator moving around you. That is what Dolby Atmos makes possible today in Mexico.”

Pedro Manuel Carmona Ortiz, CTO of TV Azteca added that “this project with Dolby Laboratories marks a technological milestone, as well as a turning point for the industry, which would not have been possible without the support and collaboration of our strategic partners in this journey.”

In addition to Dolby, those include Imagine Communications and Ateme, a global provider in video compression and distribution solutions.

“We are collaborating with Dolby to demonstrate that innovation in audio can transform free-to-air television,” added Pedro Carmona Ortiz. “Our goal is to bring people closer to the real emotion of every story, with a quality that was previously reserved for premium environments.”

The announcement was made in Las Vegas, during the 2026 NAB Show, where Dolby, Imagine and Ateme are exhibiting.

PARIS—Ateme, a major provider of video compression, delivery, and streaming solutions, has announced that Moldtelecom in the Republic of Moldova has deployed Ateme technologies across its entire streaming workflow, from encoding to delivery, operations, and analytics.

Moldtelecom has relied on Ateme’s delivery and storage solutions for several years. Most recently, the operator strengthened its platform by expanding its NEA-CDN footprint with two additional points of presence and by deploying Ateme’s PILOT Analytics, giving the operator real-time insight into platform performance and actual viewer experience.

Moldtelecom also selected Ateme to modernize its compression headend, entrusting Ateme with the encoding of more than 200 channels using TITAN Edge for contribution and TITAN Live for distribution. This upgrade completes the migration of Moldtelecom’s entire streaming workflow to Ateme technologies.

"Ateme’s integrated solutions give us the consistency and visibility we need to deliver a high-quality viewing experience at scale," said Rodica Hurmuzache, head of marketing, Moldtelecom. "The combination of TITAN, NEA, and PILOT provides a robust, flexible, and easy-to-operate platform that strengthens our service performance and prepares us for continued growth."

Ateme described the advantages of the unified technology stack as follows:

• A single vendor and unified support, reducing complexity and speeding up issue resolution.
• Consistent, superior video quality across the entire chain.
• Simplified operations thanks to centralized management and monitoring.
• Flexible business models enabling efficient growth over time.

"Moldtelecom’s decision to entrust Ateme with its full streaming chain reflects the value of an integrated platform," said Boris Yurin, sales director, Southern Europe - MEA. "With encoding, storage, delivery, orchestration, and operating in a unified stack, we enable operators like Moldtelecom to simplify operations, elevate video quality, and scale with confidence. We are proud to support their evolution with technology designed for efficiency and long-term growth."

More information is available at www.ateme.com

PARIS—Ateme HAS announced that its Ateme Encoding products & services are now included in YouTube’s Live verified encoders list, including support for SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) output as part of the certification.

This validation confirms that Ateme’s TITAN meets YouTube’s technical and performance requirements for reliable, high-quality live streaming workflows using SRT contribution. Ateme enables creators and content owners to securely and efficiently deliver low-latency live content to YouTube over unmanaged networks, with enhanced resilience, and secure transmission.

“We are proud to receive the official YouTube seal of approval for our TITAN encoding solution,” said François Guilleautot, head of new media at Ateme. “This milestone is a testament to our commitment to making the best video quality available to all customers in the live streaming industry.”

Ateme’s live encoding and processing technologies are designed to operate in the most demanding live production environments, on-premises, in the cloud, or as SaaS, offering advanced compression efficiency, industry leading video quality across all major codecs including AV1, as well as features such as HDR support and low-latency streaming.

Ateme’s TITAN solution powers the live encoding to YouTube for CazéTV, the Brazilian YouTube channel that says it has hosted 5 of the 10 most viewed live events on YouTube.

PARIS—Ateme said it has been working with Spain-based multinational telco Telefónica to deploy a cloud-native media processing platform for next-generation video-on-demand (VOD) services. Built on Google Cloud Platform (GCP), the solution enables scalable, high-quality content delivery across Telefónica’s international operations, the companies reported.

Using a cloud-native architecture, Ateme said that Telefónica can now deliver its extensive VOD catalog, including 4K content, to a wide range of devices, from mobile screens to connected TVs, with improved agility and efficiency.

“For us, this project is about more than technology—it’s about improving how we serve our audience,” said Javier Lucendo de Gregorio, head of video processing and delivery at Telefónica. “The new platform gives us the agility to launch services faster, ensure consistent quality across regions, and adapt more quickly to changing viewer behaviors.”

Ateme noted that its platform, integrated with Google Cloud’s infrastructure and AI services, is at the core of this effort. Ateme described the key benefits as follows:

• Cloud-Native Scalability: Powered by Ateme’s platform on Google Cloud, the solution enables Telefónica to dynamically scale resources in line with demand. This ensures consistent performance during high-traffic periods while optimizing costs during quieter times, leveraging the global reach and elasticity of the cloud.
• Multi-Affiliate Flexibility: A centralized architecture supports Telefónica’s regional affiliates, simplifying rollouts, updates, and service consistency across markets.
• AI-Enhanced Workflows: The deployment incorporates advanced capabilities such as audience-aware encoding, automated metadata tagging, and predictive demand analytics, driving greater personalization and operational efficiency.
• 4K Multi-Screen Delivery: The platform ensures consistent 4K video delivery across mobile, desktop, and connected TV devices, regardless of bandwidth conditions - improving quality of experience and reducing viewer churn.

“This deployment is a strong example of how we work closely with operators to address evolving video delivery needs,” said Christophe Stigas, vice president of Southern Europe and MEA at Ateme. “By integrating our media processing platform on Google Cloud as part of Telefónica’s VOD architecture, we’ve enabled dynamic resource scaling, 4K video delivery, and automated workflows—all while simplifying operations across multiple markets.”

More information is available here.

PLYMOUTH, Wisc.—Heartland Video Systems (HVS) recently completed configuring New Mexico PBS’s Ateme-based encoding system with live artificial intelligence (AI) language translation of the broadcaster’s ATSC 3.0 OTA broadcast signal using LingoPal’s cloud translation services.

New Mexico PBS operates KNME-TV licensed to Albuquerque and KNMD-TV licensed to Santa Fe. The broadcaster created its own ATSC 3.0 lighthouse when KNMD-TV transitioned to 3.0 in June 2021, HVS said.

That conversion included a full solution from HVS, including an Ateme encoder that processes two HD program streams and three SD program streams that are simulcasts of KNME-TV’s offerings. New Mexico PBS and HVS have continued to evolve the functions and capabilities of the ATSC 3.0 OTA system over the last several years, most recently by providing AI-powered language translation, it said.

The HVS engineering team reconfigured KNMD-TV’s Ateme 3.0 encoder to send an SRT English-only audio stream to LingoPal’s cloud-based service. The 5.1 English audio track (there was no need to send SAP audio) was processed through the AI system, it said.

"Technology is moving fast, and what unlocks it for broadcasters is the tight, day-to-day collaboration between our teams and partners like Ateme, aligning encoding, delivery, and real-time translation so it just works inside existing workflows,” said Casey Schneider, LingoPal founder and CTO.

Live Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean translations of the original audio, delivered in 2.0 downmix mode and lip-synced with the video, are returned to the TV station’s ATSC 3.0 Ateme encoder, the company said.

“Sometimes technology advances enough to unlock features that previously could not be imagined,” said Mike Schmidt, ATSC 3.0 technologist at HVS. “The hope, in that case, is that the process isn’t too complex or require[s] so many resources so that it can’t be readily used. I was very pleased to find that neither drawback applied to this feature set. The entire configuration took about an hour, not including the work LingoPal did to prep the service beforehand, and worked as advertised the first attempt.”

The benefits of adding this new capability, particularly with regards to emergency messaging, “can’t be overstated,” said New Mexico PBS director of engineering Jason Quinn.

“The ability to communicate with our viewers in their native language gives us the chance to serve our complete audience with all of the important details they need in times of an emergency,” he said.

Heartland Video Systems will exhibit during the 2025 NAB Show New York, Oct. 22-23, at the Javits Center in New York City.

See HVS at NAB Show New York booth 465.

More information is available on the company’s website.

PARIS—The video compression, delivery, and streaming solutions provider Ateme has announced that it was selected to manage live video feeds for a new major French sporting event for Mediawan, one of Europe’s leading studio groups.

For this event, Ateme’s TITAN Edge decoders were deployed in a 1+1 redundancy setup to receive over ten live stadium feeds, encoded onsite and delivered up to 1080p50. The solution provides reliable production access for journalists, replay teams, and editors during live broadcasts.

“We are delighted to support Mediawan in bringing a brand-new sporting experience to audiences in France,” said Benjamin Etienne, Sales Director, France at Ateme. “Our TITAN Edge solutions combine low-latency, reliability, and scalability, empowering Mediawan to deliver premium quality while staying future-ready.”

Ateme announced that it was selected because the 1+1 redundant TITAN Edge deployment guarantees robust operations for live production, minimizing downtime risk in high-stakes environments and it has a long track record in delivering reliable, high-quality live video solutions In addition, Ateme’s software-driven technology delivers minimal latency, accelerating editing, replays, and highlights production.

Its TITAN Edge’s software-based architecture also meant that workflows can scale and adapt quickly to future requirements to support new capabilities such as HDR LUT conversion or future 2110-based workflows.

More information is available at www.ateme.com.

AMSTERDAM—Irdeto and Ateme revealed the strategic integration of the former’s TraceMark forensic watermarking solution within the latter’s end-to-end video delivery ecosystem during recently concluded IBC2025 convention.

The integration enables content owners, broadcasters and streaming service providers to seamlessly activate content protection directly within their entire headend workflows, embedding unique and imperceptible watermarks in real time across the content lifecycle, the companies said.

The move enables operators to embed Irdeto’s TraceMark forensic watermarking directly into the content within their secure headend, moving beyond component-specific deployment, they said.

TraceMark’s blind detection capabilities eliminate the need for complex interfaces with Irdeto’s forensics system, ensuring straightforward and minimally impactful integration into any workflow. Embedding the technology into Ateme’s expanding portfolio covering transcoding, packaging and CDN, equips users with a streamlined path to adopting proven server-side watermarking.

This deterrent against content theft operates without disrupting existing workflows, guaranteeing that all distributed content—from source to screen—is invisibly watermarked, providing an essential and comprehensive layer of security, the said.

“Ateme’s end-to-end solutions are increasingly adopted across the industry for their quality and efficiency, and this integration makes it easier than ever for their customers to protect valuable content,” said Andrew Bunten, chief operating officer of Video Entertainment at Irdeto.

“By simplifying and expanding the watermarking process across the entire Ateme ecosystem, we’re creating new opportunities for content owners to secure their assets and for Ateme to deliver even greater value.”

The pre-integration of TraceMark into Ateme’s solutions offers a key differentiator where critical protection is already seamlessly available and deeply integrated, the companies said.

“At Ateme, we are committed to delivering solutions that not only meet but anticipate the evolving needs of our customers,” said Remi Beaudouin, chief of strategy of Ateme. “By integrating Irdeto’s TraceMark watermarking not just within our encoders, but across our broader end-to-end video delivery platform, we are giving our customers an effortless way to enhance their content security, without adding operational complexity.”

More information is available on the Irdeto and Ateme websites.

PARIS—Ateme, a provider of video compression, delivery, and streaming solutions, today announced it is leveraging Google Cloud’s generative AI capabilities to automate large-scale, multilingual subtitle generation, a move Ateme says could drastically reduce costs and production times while enhancing content accessibility and value for audiences worldwide.

Ateme’s file transcoding application, TITAN File, is containerized as microservices and deployed through Google Kubernetes Engine. Media files stored in Google Cloud Storage are processed by Vertex AI, Google Cloud’s unified AI development platform. This distributed, flexible, and scalable infrastructure has allowed for a smooth transition and seamless integration into client workflows, according to Ateme.

“This innovation addresses a key challenge for content creators and distributors who have often been limited to translating content into a single language, thereby restricting international distribution and accessibility for non-English speaking or hearing-impaired audiences,” said Yohann Guilloux, VP Global Partnerships at Ateme.

“In the face of exploding content volumes, it’s no longer enough to have good technology: you have to be able to innovate quickly, at scale, and with the right partners,” said Jules Mermet-Husson, Cloud Solutions Architect at Ateme. “Google Cloud’s generative AI capabilities enable us to automate what was once a challenging process. Together, we are building an agile, open, and scalable platform that transforms every technical constraint into an opportunity for value creation.“

PARIS—Ateme has announced that it is powering a nationwide terrestrial service upgrade for KT Skylife, a South Korean satellite television provider.

For the upgrade, Ateme provided its KYRION encoder, a ATSC encoding solution that ensures unmatched video quality, low latency, and full ecosystem integration.

"We chose Ateme because of its superior solution quality, especially in video encoding. Their track record in contribution and ATSC distribution is unmatched. With this refresh, we’re positioned to deliver even better quality and reliability to our viewers across South Korea," said Jeong WooK Choi, network operator team leader, KT Skylife.

The two companies said that the encoder meets the complex ATSC and IPTV requirements of the system. Those include PSIP remuxing and AES input for full compatibility with existing broadcast systems while maintaining the highest standards of video performance and reliability.

"Ateme is proud to support KT Skylife in modernizing their terrestrial services," added Boyang An, sales director at Ateme. "With near 100% market share in terrestrial HD encoding in Korea, we continue to lead with innovation, quality, and customer satisfaction."

PARIS—Ateme will showcase key innovations in its product portfolio spanning contribution, distribution, OTT streaming, advertising and the sports experience during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

Addressing the sports experience, Ateme is integrating immersive video, artificial intelligence innovation and cloud-native workflows to enable deeper fan engagement and greater reliability.

Ateme will present its advanced MV-HEVC and HEVC encoding technologies, which enable immersive live 180- and 360-degree experiences. These solutions have recently been implemented for a major sporting event in France and for DAZN during the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States. IBC attendees will have the opportunity to experience demonstrations on Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro, the company said.

The company will also demonstrate AI-driven speech-to-speech and text translation, breaking language barriers, reducing cost and enhancing fan engagement for global audiences. It also will showcase its Cloud MCR with Ateme++, a SaaS-based, cloud-native service that powers a fully virtualized Master Control Room (MCR) for live production.

For contribution and distribution, Ateme will feature flexible full IP delivery from media companies to affiliates. The company will unveil its IP-based OTT primary distribution solution to deliver global reach and scalability, it said.

Supporting all existing presentation formats, it streamlines B2B live workflows, enabling seamless integration, lower distribution costs and faster service launches. Complementing this, Ateme’s PILOT Manager brings manage-by-exception orchestration, designed to minimize operational overhead.

The company will also present its TITAN Edge for low-latency contribution. Delivering hardware-level latency with uncompromised video quality in a software-based solution, TITAN Edge supports IP, SDI, SMPTE 2110 and JPEG-XS. It ensures secure contribution with BISS-CA and DRM, hybrid failover from any input, frame rate and LUT-based HDR conversions, and HTML5 graphics overlay, flexibility, the company said.

The TITAN Converged Video Headend offers on-premises, cloud or hybrid deployment, giving operators the flexibility to scale effortlessly. Ateme’s leadership in standards-based codes, delivers high channel density and exceptional bit-rate efficiency, cutting bandwidth and infrastructure costs.

Ateme will also introduce File to Live, enabling operators to schedule file playback without dedicated playout servers or expensive automation, it said.

When it comes to OTT streaming, Ateme will show an integrated, end-to-end solution that addresses every stage of the workflow.

The TITAN encoder offers efficiency and supports advanced codecs, including HEVC, AV1 and VVC, to deliver best-in-class quality with optimized bandwidth use. NEA solutions enable flexible content preparation and secure, scalable distribution. This ecosystem is complemented by NEA CDN, it said.

At IBC, Ateme will showcase NEA Genesis, a cloud-native DVR solution supporting live, catch-up and time-shifted TV and VOD from a single solution. Deployable on-premises, in the cloud, or hybrid, it helps service providers migrate legacy DVR libraries, cut TCO, and speed time-to-market.

Ateme will also feature Audience-Aware Encoding, which dynamically adapts encoding to real-time viewing behavior.

NEA solutions deliver UHD, support low-latency streaming with fast zapping between channels and full accessibility on any device, it said.

When it comes to advertising, the company will feature its dynamic ad insertion (DAI) with low-latency streaming. It also will feature its SSAI, SGAI and VAST Proxy services to enable targeted ad experiences.

More information is available on the company’s website.

See Ateme at IBC2025 Stand 3.B21.

PARIS—Ateme has partnered with Lingopal.ai, an AI-driven language translation platform, to introduce a new solution that simplifies the localization of content for global audiences.

This collaboration merges Ateme’s industry-leading video compression and delivery expertise with Lingopal’s cutting-edge AI-powered translation technologies that will allow direct-to-consumer (D2C) services and broadcasters to effortlessly offer content in multiple languages.

Leveraging NVIDIA’s advanced AI capabilities and the power of the NVIDIA L4 GPU. the solution ensures high-quality translations in over 120 languages while preserving the tone, nuance, and emotion of the original audio mix, the companies said.

“This partnership marks a significant step toward breaking language barriers in global content distribution," said Mickaël Raulet, CTO at Ateme. "By integrating AI-driven translation into our video delivery workflows, we are enabling content creators to reach wider audiences with unprecedented ease and quality."

Deven Orie CEO at Lingopal.ai, added: "Our AI-powered translation technology, combined with Ateme’s robust video delivery platform, allows broadcasters to localize content at scale. Essentially, with the click of a button, a live broadcast can be heard in any language worldwide. This opens the door to endless revenue streams and significant opportunities for viewership growth."

The solution is being shown by Ateme and Lingopal.ai at the 2025 NAB Show—West Hall booth W1643 for Ateme and W4143AD for Lingopal.ai.

LYNDONVILLE, N.Y.—Digital Alert Systems and video compression tech specialist Ateme today said they will collaborate on Emergency Alert System (EAS) integration, making it more efficient and cost-effective for broadcasters and cable operators.

The partnership adds Digital Alert Systems’ EAS-Net device networking protocol to Ateme’s TITAN line of SD, HD and UHD encoders. The integration allows Digital Alert Systems’ DASDEC flexible emergency-messaging platforms to connect directly to Ateme solutions via a simple network connection, eliminating the need for added hardware or software to provide full EAS text crawl and audio capabilities across all streams from the Ateme units.

“We are pleased to offer EAS-Net within the TITAN encoders to streamline airchains, reduce potential points of failure, increase redundancy and reduce costs,” ATEME Director of ATSC Sales Fred Ramsey said. “Digital Alert Systems and its EAS-Net interface are the gold standard for emergency alerting. We have the highest regard for the system and are eager to enable our customers to benefit from this advancement.”

Prior to the integration, linking DASDEC and the Ateme solutions required a combination of the legacy SCTE-18 protocol with an MPEG-2 transport stream for audio, resulting in a more rigid equipment configuration. The addition of EAS-Net introduces a new mode that supports hybrid virtualization at a significantly lower cost than previous methods. This makes it an attractive option for smaller broadcasters and those looking to implement more flexible, IP-based workflows, the companies said.

A key advantage of the integration is its ability to work across all streams in the Ateme encoding systems. Users no longer need one unit per stream or multiple DASDEC clients to support this comprehensive solution. This single-interface approach reduces equipment footprints and simplifies system design. The configuration process also has been greatly simplified, requiring only a network connection between the two systems. There are no restrictions on colocation, nor is there a need for additional hardware to provide fully compliant EAS text crawls and audio through the Ateme platform, they said.

“Teaming up with Ateme to bring this innovative solution to market is a real boon for our shared customers,” Bill Robertson, vice president of business development at Digital Alert Systems, said. “EAS-Net has become the de facto standard for linking equipment together for EAS information exchange, and the integration with Ateme shows how this protocol works around the facility and across multiple platforms for playout, automation and direct transcoder support. This level of flexibility allows broadcasters to select and implement newer, higher-performance equipment while maintaining seamless emergency alert capabilities. By integrating EAS-Net into Ateme’s encoder solution, broadcasters can ensure that critical emergency alerts reach viewers more efficiently and reliably.”

More information is available on the Ateme and Digital Alert Systems websites. 

PARIS—Ateme has announced a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to bring their compression expertise to the Graviton platform with their Titan product line. The integration of the Graviton processors into Ateme’s Titan product line highlights the two companies' shared commitment to technological innovation and industry leadership, Ateme said. 

By adopting AWS Graviton processors, Ateme will bring the benefits of ARM-based CPU architectures to AWS media customers with up to a 60% gain in energy efficiency. This integration will significantly improve processing efficiency, performance per watt and lower the barrier to entry for cloud computing for media workloads with a lower total cost service. "Integrating AWS Graviton processors into our Titan product line is a milestone for Ateme," said Remi Beaudouin, Chief Strategy Officer of Ateme. "Together, we are leading the charge in delivering high-quality, efficient, and scalable video solutions."

Looking forward, Ateme and AWS reported that they plan to continue their collaboration, exploring new avenues for innovation. 

The scalability and flexibility of AWS Graviton processors make them ideal for Ateme's diverse applications, from live streaming to video on demand. "Our goal is to push the boundaries of video compression," added Remi Beaudouin. "With AWS Graviton, we deliver greater value to our customers through our Titan product." As demand for high-quality video content grows, this partnership demonstrates Ateme commitment to driving technological progress and setting new industry benchmarks.

VIENNA—Ateme has announced that it worked with the ORS Group, a major Austrian service company for analogue and digital broadcasting, on what they are billing as “the world’s first trial of an IP-based StatMux over 5G-Broadcast.” The trial is notable as it provided a way of increasing 5G-Broadcast capacity for live streaming services.

NextGen Statmux will be on display at IBC 2024 in booth 1D61

The groundbreaking trial leveraged Ateme’s NextGen StatMux technology, which is designed to work with the latest broadcast standards from 3GPP, DVB, and ATSC, transitioning from a traditional transport stream environment to an IP-based one. ORS Group successfully integrated this solution into its 5G-Broadcast Nakolos platform in Vienna, achieving the transmission and reception of a multiplex of five services, Ateme reported. 

As 5G Broadcast gains traction for enabling linear television on mobile devices, broadcasters face the challenge of efficiently utilizing frequency bands of limited width, such as the UHF channels allocated for terrestrial television (6, 7, or 8 MHz). By focusing on small screens rather than home TVs, broadcasters can deliver multiple services within the same band while maintaining high video quality. 

The companies noted that statistical multiplexing is crucial because it offers up to 20% efficiency gains over existing solutions and allows the delivery of an additional service within the same 5G Broadcast band. This enables broadcast operators to offer a broader range of services with an optimal quality of experience.

“The trial successfully showcased the gains it would bring to this emerging market, after an exceptionally smooth integration in ORS 5G Broadcast environment. We are thrilled to collaborate with ORS Group, pioneer of 5G-Broadcast, for the integration and maturation of our 5G-Broadcast solutions.”, says Mr. Julien Mandel, senior solution marketing director at Ateme.

“The world’s first test of statistical multiplexing in our operational 5G Broadcast environment in Vienna has shown that spectrum efficiency can be further increased when using 5G Broadcast. This will also contribute to strengthening the future business model of broadcast network operators operating 5G Broadcast. We are excited to continue testing and developing this innovative solution for 5G Broadcast together with Ateme.”, says Dr. Johann Mika, chief innovation officer of ORS group.

PARIS—Ateme, a global provider of video compression, delivery, and streaming solutions, says longtime partner SES is integrating its technology to improve and secure SES’s distribution network for broadcasting of sports and events content worldwide.

SES will utilize Ateme’s TITAN encoders, multiplexers, and decoders for distribution of UHD content via its ground and satellite infrastructure. Additionally, Ateme is integrating premium frame rate conversion with full motion compensation and supporting High Dynamic Range (HDR) in UHD for an enriched visual experience.

The combined solutions also utilize the BISS-CA encryption standard and receivers, integrating HDR conversion with HDR LUT (Look-Up-Table) conversion to facilitate the adoption of HDR technology. This will ensure reception of the highest quality video content with optimal picture clarity, smooth motion, and enhanced security measures, Ateme says.

"We are thrilled to expand our collaboration with Ateme to enhance our delivery workflow for major sporting events," said Michele Gosetti, Head of Media Sales France, Spain, Italy and Sports & Events at SES. "This partnership underscores our commitment to providing broadcasters with advanced, secure and reliable content distribution solutions and ensuring that viewers around the globe have access to an unparalleled viewing experience."

"We are excited to strengthen our partnership with SES to deliver premium sports content to audiences worldwide," said Julien Mandel, Sr Solution Marketing Director at Ateme. "Our collaboration reinforces our commitment to innovating with the BISS-CA encryption standard. We are dedicated to proposing evolutions for future sporting events, ensuring enhanced security and performance for content distribution."

PARIS—Ateme will feature technologies pushing the boundaries of transformation, monetization and experience at IBC 2024, Sept. 13-16, at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, the company said today.

Ateme is helping to transform video delivery with infrastructure-neutral solutions that offer a choice between optimized on-premises and scalable cloud-centric options, including SaaS offerings. 

The company is tearing down the barriers between on-the-ground and cloud operations, creating seamless, cost-effective workflows. Its integrated approach slashes infrastructure investments and operational costs, the company said.

Ateme’s Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST) monetization efforts are focused on AI-managed workflows that take Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) to the next level by ensuring precise ad targeting and increased profits. 

The company will also give attendees the opportunity to experience the future of streaming with its low-latency live sports tech and immersive video/audio capabilities. The Gen7 STREAM encoding engine and MV-HEVC advancements showcased on the Apple Vision Pro, deliver high quality for VoD and live applications. These experiences are managed with Ateme’s AI Streaming, using data from player to encoder to drive compute and network optimization. 

"In this fiercely competitive industry, enhancing user experience while boosting operational efficiency is non-negotiable," said Rémi Beaudouin, chief strategy officer at Ateme.

"At IBC 2024, we’re rolling out flexible, hybrid solutions that seamlessly operate across on-premises and cloud environments. With AI, we’re driving superior engagement and cost efficiencies. Our versatile approach empowers content and service providers to conquer challenges with streamlined workflows and groundbreaking business models, perfectly aligned with their financial targets."

Ateme will also participate in various speaking and presentation activities at the IBC Show, including:

• IBC Accelerator: Project: Scalable Ultra-Low Latency Streaming for Premium Sports. Goal: Sub-two-second glass-to-glass delay with standard adaptive streaming. Presentation: Sept. 14, 1:30-2:30 p.m. on the Innovation Stage in Hall 3.
• 5G-MAG Insights: Immersive Video Codecs: Ateme CTO Michael Raulet will present next gen video codecs and new immersive video codecs and methods for capturing and transporting spatial information, with a focus on MV-HEVC. Presentation: Sept. 13, Noon-5 p.m. in meeting room G.106.
• SMART-CD: An efficient and sustainable end-to-end video streaming architecture, a French project developing an energy-efficient video streaming solution to help operators and users manage their environmental impact. The paper outlines the project's background, technological challenges and early results along with ongoing optimization strategies. Participants: Ateme, GreenWeb, Motion Spell, Telecom Paris and Viaccess Orca. Presentation: Sept. 13, 11 a.m.-Noon.

See Ateme at IBC 2024 Stand 1.D61.

More information is available on the company’s website.

PARIS—Ateme has announced that Canal+ has deployed Ateme's NEA solution to power TV+, its new streaming offering. The offering allows users to access more than 80 live and catch-up TV channels, a selection of  Canal+  SVOD content, and 8 digital channels all in one app. 

For the new service, Canal+ leveraged Ateme’s NEA solution for manifest manipulation and dynamic ad Insertion in live streaming and VOD-to-Live workflow. With the solution, Canal+ can aggregate linear and VOD content from the various channels of the group, and repurpose them in the new streaming offering. 

“With the launch of this new service, Canal+ is positioning itself more than ever as the reference in terms of content aggregation, in particular by using its own large content portfolio to launch new channels,” said Philippe Rivas, platform engineering manager at Canal+. “We are thrilled to collaborate with the Ateme team on this project. The NEA solution we co-created ensures smooth and efficient workflow operations and totally reinvents the way to build and distribute OTT channels while maintaining a high-quality end-user experience.”

This new collaboration builds on a long-standing partnership between Canal+ and Ateme. Over the years, Ateme has been integral to Canal+’s transformation across the delivery chain, contributing to advancements such as high-quality video compression, low-latency OTT streaming, multi-device packaging, and, most recently, dynamic ad insertion, the companies reported. 

“We are very proud to continue supporting Canal+ in its innovation journey,” said Remi Beaudouin, chief strategy officer at Ateme. “The TV industry is undergoing significant changes, and Canal+, through its brand and technological leadership, consistently demonstrates its ability to adapt to these changes and provide new ways of consuming video content.”

PARIS—Drei TV has deployed video compression and management technology from ATEME to power the Austrian TV service provider’s over-the-top (OTT) streaming service, which consists of more than 60 channels, in time for coverage of a major European Football Tournament.

The move enables Drei TV to strengthen its offering with premium video quality and an innovation-driven roadmap, the company said.

With ATEME’s solutions, Drei TV is simplifying its video-delivery operations, creating efficiencies and positioning itself at the forefront of the market, it said.

"We are excited to partner with ATEME, whose expertise and innovative solutions have proven to be a perfect match for our needs,” said Günter Lischka, chief compliance officer (CCO) at Drei. “Their exceptional support and rapid delivery times have exceeded our expectations. At Drei TV we want to provide the highest reliability and quality possible to our customers.”

More information is available at the company’s website.

STOCKHOLM—Global video solutions provider, Accedo is reporting that it has been working with Deutsche Telekom to showcase an extended reality (XR) sports streaming application of its live sports streaming service.  

The application for live soccer uses Accedo Xtend, Accedo’s solution for advanced XR applications in media complemented with solutions from Ateme and HISPlayer. The XR solution integrates live streams and data feeds to showcase a next-gen interactive sports service for MagentaSport. 

The service will include a host of interactive features such as live statistics, multi-camera feeds, player cards, and 3D sponsored experiences, all embracing the immersive aspects of the Accedo Xtend platform.

By incorporating Magenta’s live streams into an XR experience, Deutsche Telekom and Accedo said that they are introducing fans to a viewing experience that is no longer constrained to the physical limitations of the TV screen. 

The application will blend fans’ physical and virtual worlds by displaying the match in the space around the fan, while also introducing a new layer of interaction where fans can access supplementary information such as team and player statistics and watch replays from different angles. 

It draws on solutions from Ateme and HISPlayer to ensure high quality video and experience with low latency and bandwidth, while enabling advanced features in new environments. Additionally, it enables sponsors to interact with fans in new ways to drive revenue, the companies said. 

“Accedo’s unrivaled experience and expertise within the XR, media and sports industries has enabled it to seamlessly build a high-quality XR live sports streaming experience,” explained Daniel Aslam, senior partner & business development manager, Deutsche Telekom. “The application will allow us to deliver a truly immersive and engaging vision of a next-generation MagentaSport experience.”

“As the sports industry evolves, we’re seeing a noticeable increase in activity and interest in XR applications,” added Michael Lantz, CEO, Accedo. “The Accedo Xtend platform enables immersive applications to be launched in record time with a configurable set of features, allowing for experimentation as well as cost control. We’re thrilled about this collaboration with Deutsche Telekom, which we believe will showcase the immense potential of spatial interactive user engagement for live sports.”

PARIS—Ateme has announced that the Indonesian public broadcaster TVRI is making the transition to 4K UHD OTT streaming using Ateme technologies. 

For the upgrade and the launch of its first 4K UHD OTT channel, TVRI, Indonesia's national public broadcasting organization, selected Ateme's Gen 7 video encoding and low latency streaming solutions.  With Ateme's Just-In-Time Packager Origin, TVRI is able to seamlessly deliver the new streaming offerings while embracing future-proof technologies such as AV1 and VVC.

"Our decision to deepen our collaboration with Ateme stems from the recognition of their solutions,” explained Satriyo Dharmanto, CTO at TVRI. “We're thrilled to embark on this journey together and to introduce TVRI's first 4K UHD OTT channel with Ateme. This underscores our confidence in Ateme's capabilities and our shared commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology and exceptional viewing experiences to our audience."

“In today's rapidly evolving streaming market, broadcasters must adapt to meet changing viewer expectations,” added Sean Tan, Ateme's head of sales for Southeast Asia. “Our comprehensive end to end OTT suite empowers TVRI to upgrade and futureproof its platform, ensuring it remains agile and responsive to its viewers demands."

Ade Dianofiar, head of IT & New Media at TVRI, together with Ricky Plamonia, TVRI's technical lead of IT & New Media explained that "Utilizing TITAN & NEA's comprehensive OTT solution suite enables us to streamline our time-to-market process through a single vendor. This approach enhances efficiency, lowers operational costs, and ultimately leads to a more cohesive and reliable streaming system."

Missed any of our product coverage during your busy week? The TV Tech weekly product and services news wrap-up provides links to all of our coverage from May 13 to May 17, with the most recent news listed first, day by day from Friday back to Monday. 

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ESPN, Fox, WBD Unveil Name for New Sports Streaming Service

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https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/chyron-releases-enhancements-for-live-cloud-production-platform

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PARIS—Ateme and Verance have integrated Verance's Aspect Watermarking within the audio chain of Ateme's TITAN transcoders, the companies said.

The move makes possible widely distributed NextGen TV interactive experiences and gives North American broadcasters the chance to drive new business models, create personalized offerings and investigate new ways to monetize the standard, they said.

Verance Aspect is the company’s implementation of ATSC open watermarking standards. It launches broadcast applications by carrying metadata and triggers associated with NextGen TV interactive broadcast experiences across all distribution paths, including ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 over-the-air, cable/satellite and over-the-top services, to reach all connected televisions, the companies said.

Sans the watermark, 80% of U.S. households would be unable to take advantage of these capabilities, they said.

Integrating the watermark in the transcoder’s audio chain enhances interactivity, taking advantage of many NextGen TV use cases, including start-over functionality, sports betting, fantasy sports, personalized news and weather, targeted advertising and advanced emergency alerting, they said.

“With more and more broadcasters deploying NextGen Broadcast, they want to see a return on their investment," said Julien Mandel, Ateme solution marketing senior director, Contribution & Distribution Segment.

Calling the integration “a significant milestone in delivering personalized and engaging content experiences,” Verance CEO Nil Shah said it will “empower broadcasters with unparalleled opportunities to deliver personalized content, explore new revenue opportunities and embrace the transformative capabilities of NextGen TV.”

More information is available on the Verance and Ateme websites. 

PARIS—Ateme, a provider of video compression, delivery, and streaming solutions, will be at the 2024 NAB Show, highlighting new developments in its ad insertion platform. 

Specifically the company will focus on how its Server Side Ad Insertion solution now supports the latest Apple HLS Intersitials specification. This development of the Ateme NEA solution for targeted advertising ensures a superior viewing experience while enabling content and service providers to increase revenue streams through wider reach and more effective ad targeting, the company said.

Implemented initially for a leading content and service provider in Europe, the solution is one of the first SSAI solutions in the market to include support for HLS Interstitials Ateme said, offering seamless transitions from content to ads and back to content, despite differences in codec parameters and audio tracks; the ability to enhance or restrict player control actions during ad breaks as well as the ability to reverse or change inserted ads after initial decisions. Ateme says its “stronger technical solution” will be more resiliet to ad-break conditioning and segment boundaries in the HLS manifest.

"Content and service providers are struggling to find new ways to increase their revenue,” said Ahmed Swidan, Director of Personalized TV at Ateme. “One way to achieve this is to reach more viewers, on more devices, with the best ad-insertion techniques. The latest HLS Interstitials specification from Apple enables a wider reach, while also introducing advanced functionalities for ad-break replacement logic and making the system more resilient. We are thrilled to be among the first vendors to implement this standard, helping the media industry reach its full monetization potential."

Ateme will discuss the latest advances to its SSAI solution at Booth W1721 in the West Hall of the LVCC during the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas,  April 14-17.

MELVILLE, N.Y.—HBCU GO, a leading media provider for the nation’s 105 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), has acquired an end-to-end first-and-10 graphics solution and illustrated replay and sports analysis production tool from Chyron’s Hego division, the company said.

Used for production of NCAA Division I and Division II HBCU football games, the technology has put HBCU GO on par with major network broadcasts, the company said. 

HBCU GO deployed Chyron’s Virtual 1st system and an on-site operator for the 2022-23 football season and added the company’s PAINT telestration tool for the 2023-24 season, it said. 

"The technology delivered by Chyron, with Hego services, allows for unparalleled in-game analysis and player storytelling, contributing to the consistently high production values evident in our live football coverage and confirming HBCU GO's commitment to showcasing the rich history, diversity, perspectives and cultural experiences at HBCUs," said HBCU GO founder Curtis Symonds. "With the Virtual 1st system, every play looks fantastic, and with Chyron's PAINT telestration tool, we unleash the full potential of our knowledgeable commentary team. It's a powerful combination that brings added depth and dimension to every game-day production."

The Virtual 1st system seamlessly delivered the dynamic on-field graphics, including virtual lines of scrimmage, first-down markers and sponsored advertisements, that sports fans expect from top college football broadcasts. Based on advanced real-time image-processing algorithms, the Virtual 1st optical tracking system enables fast calibration and setup, giving HBCU GO the means to incorporate these visual elements in any live broadcast, the company said.

For the 2023-24 season, commentators have had PAINT's toolset of replay creation tools and 3D telestration effects at their fingertips. The network will feature 22 engagements, including two championship bowl games, between teams representing NCAA Division I and Division II college sports programs within the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), it said.

More information is available on the company’s website. 

PARIS—Ukrainian pay-TV and cable broadband service provider Voila went live in May with a disaster recovery (DR) solution from Ateme for its packaging and CDN platform.

Voila is using Ateme’s NEA packaging and CDN solutions for its DR headend. The service provider is committed to continuing to offer robust connectivity to Ukrainian customers, even in the face of hostilities, it said.

The flexible Ateme DR solution is hardware-agnostic. It offers the flexibility Voila required because M&E businesses in Ukraine cannot readily secure exact hardware or equipment, it said. 

“We welcome Ateme as a long-standing partner of Volia Cable and are more than happy to renew our confidence in their service and the quality of the software,” said Voila CTO Andrii Val. “We specifically selected Ateme for disaster recovery because we needed a reliable and flexible solution that could be adapted to our needs in difficult circumstances. In addition, we didn’t just want a black-box integration but a true partner to work with us and meet our objectives.”

More information is available on the company’s website. 

The “television experience” has morphed into the more broadly defined “viewing experience,” extending to mobile and connected devices, new streaming services, and multiple screens. Accelerating these trends are a changing business landscape, IP and cloud workflows, and AI and data-driven analytics that will re-shape content creation. But whichever way it’s defined, created, or consumed, quality content will always be a social influencer, attracting an audience craving unique, customized, and engaging viewing experiences.

“High-profile live TV events still have the capacity to attract large audiences,” said Mike Ward, head of marketing at Singular.live. “At the same time, what we now know as television has changed drastically in terms of the platforms on which content is distributed and watched, giving audiences more options.”

“The shift from a linear, scheduled format to an on-demand, streaming model has allowed viewers to access content whenever they desire,” said Dan Brooks, head of marketing and pr at Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC). “Viewers can now enjoy content on their smartphones or social media platforms, broadening the scope of content consumption beyond traditional screens.”

“As the industry tries to figure out the appropriate models for streaming, viewers still want to be entertained,” said John Wastcoat, senior vice president, brand development, and marketing at Zixi. “Live events and live linear programming are now found on a diverse and confusing choice of OTT platforms, and the platforms themselves, which never relied on satellite delivery, are deploying IP workflows in the cloud.”

Wastcoat added that legacy broadcasters are moving to IP and the cloud to reduce operations costs, which allows them to create and acquire more content and monetize it in different ways.

As the industry continues to accept IP distribution and cloud alternatives while realizing savings of 50% to 90%, audiences will begin to see fewer glitches and better broadcast quality, according to Paul Calleja, CEO and CTO at GlobalM.

“The cloud is reshaping how TV is both produced and distributed, facilitating remote production, giving broadcasters and streamers the flexibility to navigate peaks in viewership, and enabling content providers to go direct-to-consumer,” said Sassan Pejhan, vice president of business development at Ateme.

GlobalM’s Calleja added that “companies will see more flexibility, from multiple different clouds to open protocols, to close deals with rights holders at the last possible minute. The future of television lies in the hands of organizations that understand that content distribution needs to change to software-defined video networks to meet the requirements of high-quality, low-latency, or file-based video delivery over the internet.”

Advancements in TV production technology have also helped level the content creation playing field.

“Behind the enabling technology, the biggest transformation has been who can originate content,” said Neil Maycock, chief commercial officer at Pebble. “What was exclusively the domain of large companies is now democratized for individuals.”

Technological advancements have democratized production by enabling smaller independent producers to create high-end 4K material, according to Brooks at MMRC. He added that the company’s range of broadcast and motion control solutions drives the advancement of content capture, from creating movement for PTZ camera enablement to automated camera positions for live sports and news broadcasts, full-scale motion control to achieve in-camera special effects, and virtual set integration.

Virtual studio technology has opened exciting new possibilities for driving higher-quality viewing experiences across all TV genres, according to Richard Wormwell, head of production Innovation at dock10. “Sports television has been revolutionized by virtual studios,” he said, “elevating commentary and stats to a new level of immersive engagement and enabling jaw-droppingly realistic scenes previously impossible for TV.”

New technologies are transforming viewers from passive spectators to active participants with endless possibilities for customization and personalization, according to Ateme’s Pejhan. “The convergence of video with social media, gaming, shoppable TV, betting, and immersive viewing experiences will see audiences engage with content in completely new ways,” Pejhan said.

Vinayak Shrivastav, CEO and co-founder at VideoVerse, said, “The emergence of OTT streaming apps has transformed media consumption, offering efficient content delivery and diverse pricing models. Seamless integration of internet-connected TVs and streaming devices grants users unparalleled control over their viewing choices. While live TV still remains relevant in some cases, viewers now demand uninterrupted streaming, rapid speeds, and a tailored viewing experience.”

Shifting the focus to business trends, Andy Shenkler, CEO and co-founder of TMT Insights, said, “We’ve seen a re-focus on cost controls, efficiencies, and stabilization to reduce footprints while still being able to provide scale and adoption of new consumer offerings to differentiate services amongst a crowded marketplace. We’ll see many companies shifting greater investment from outsourced vendors to insourcing all but the most commoditized sets of services to ensure service continuity.”

Shenkler forecasted an investment focus on technologies that further enable cost-efficiencies for high-touch services, such as AI and ML applications.

Manufacturers have an opportunity and responsibility to ensure television positively impacts future generations, according to Alun Fryer, technical marketing lead, hyperconverged solutions at Ross Video. “We are acutely aware of our responsibility to lead by example in using technology to steer us toward a more sustainable future. Our commitment involves developing environmentally conscious technologies and promoting sustainable practices in manufacturing, broadcasting, and video production.”

Television is increasingly being driven by data-enabled technologies, according to Kenny Miller, national director of sales at SuiteLife Systems.

“From a monitoring and control perspective, aggregating and managing data is critical to business integrity,” Miller said. “Monitoring and control technologies protect revenue streams by improving operational efficiency and reducing operational costs, while identifying performance trends and preempting technical problems by alerting engineers to potential problems that could lead to broadcast failures.”

He added that monitoring and controlling ecosystems can help broadcasters gain valuable insights into their operations.

Wormwell at dock10 believes “Technological advances in production are reinvigorating television content in ways that make people still want to watch. Made-for-TV content is still a focus in most households and remains as relevant today as it was 50 years ago."

Pebble’s Maycock continued, “In our race to enable more content on more devices, it’s important that we ensure television remains a force for good: informing, educating, and entertaining."

 Singular.live’s Ward summarized, “There is more that can be done to modernize the viewer experience, especially as more live production gets digitized using cloud-native or web tools that enable localization, personalization, and interactivity combined with data. We can’t wait to see what comes next."

SYDNEY—MediaHub Australia and Ateme have announced that they’ve completed work on a new headend for WIN TV.

The project came about when WIN TV decided to replace its broadcast compression system, which had reached its useable lifespan. The older system required an excessive amount of compute power to function and didn’t support the latest features needed for WIN’s broadcast over the next few years.

For the upgrade, WIN TV turned to long-term technology partner MediaHub Australia for a new solution, explained MediaHub Australia chief digital and information officer Simon Scott explained. 

“WIN were seeking a full outsource of their headend and looking for a ‘headend-as-a -service’ offering,” he said. “Their requirements were substantial, for 158 channels of compression encoding, Statmux, and Muxing from SMPTE 2022-6 IP source playout streams. They also wanted a fully redundant system included that has the backup system hosted in another datacenter.”

MediaHub partnered with Ateme to provide a solution that met all of WIN’s requirements. This included using Ateme Titan Live and Ateme Titan Mux software running on Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) compute servers.

“We have been using Ateme’s technology for a number of years, as the foundation for the Imparja channel and SCA VAST News systems and have seen them come on leaps and bounds to meet the needs of the largest broadcasters in Australia,” said MediaHub CEO Alan Sweeney. “Ateme and MediaHub work extremely well together as both organizations continue to push the latest technologies to allow our clients to meet changing consumer demands.”

In addition to the Ateme Titan Live and Ateme Titan Mux software running on COTS equipment, the solution MediaHub provided for the new WIN TV headend includes using MediaHub’s FibreHub services for inter-datacenter connectivity of over 200 Gbps, to connect both the main and backup system across the two datacenters.

In addition, Nvidia, Dell, EVS Nureon’s, Worldcast Kybio, Packetlight, Meinberg, Birddog, Barrowa, AppearTV, Actus and TAGVS products were used in the project and Ateme’s local team were involved in the custom design and implementation of the solution.

Full SI services were provided by Magna Systems for the physical deployment across the two sites.

“The WIN network transitioned onto its new Ateme headend and we have been very impressed with the ease with which we have been able to change transmission formats,” WIN TV’s general manager of television operations Stevan Djokic said, “The industry is pushing hard to move to full MPEG4 with a mix of HD and SD and more focus on having as many channels as possible in HD. So far, we are very happy with the picture output and look forward to pushing boundaries further in order to give regional Australia even higher quality pictures by using our new MediaHub Ateme headend to its full capabilities.”

Ateme’s software underpins the overall headend solution, providing an industry leading compression system with amazing picture quality to deliver the best services for WIN and ultimately the viewer at home.

Ground-breaking technology such as AI-assisted encoding and Statmux assists in getting the highest quality in the final encode. In addition, Ateme’s flexible licensing model allows WIN to pick and choose the codecs and formats they want as required, which further assists in the migration of SD services across to HD. 

“MediaHub and WIN had a number of key performance requirements for the new headend system, including low power usage, and reduced equipment footprint, both of which Ateme’s solution met and exceeded,” Scott added.

Djokic also explained that the new system allowed them “to switch seamlessly between main and backup compression systems across datacentres at multiple levels such as input, encode and mux with no impact to air, which has drastically simplified testing and maintenance.”

WIN’s 158 Channels are ingested as SMPTE 2022-6 IP streams by Ateme Titan Live and compressed into the various renditions needed for each market as MPEG or h264. This is done using the latest Dell/AMD server technology where the system can encode over 60 channels in a single CPU server regardless of HD or SD. These compressed streams are then picked up by Ateme Titan Mux servers, that create the various MPTS for each market and these are then on passed to the rest of the equipment in the transmission path as MPTS IP Streams (2022-2) for delivery by the distribution network to the transmitters around Australia.

Since the system went live, WIN have migrated WIN GEM from SD to HD with quick and simple software configuration changes performed by MediaHub’s Digital Services Team. 

“Ateme’s system provided the opportunity to leap WIN to the next generation of technology powered by AMD servers and Ateme’s unique software product line,” said Sweeney. “MediaHub ran the project and delivered the solution within a tight budget, despite the problematic IT supply chain issues of recent years. Critically, MediaHub also leveraged our close relationships with vendors such as Magna Systems, Dell, Nvidia and Ateme to be able to deliver the system before the required deadline. As a result, the new system is housed in just one single IT rack, which provides not only a footprint reduction, but also savings and efficiencies in power and cooling. Whilst improving the quality and flexibility we can offer WIN going forward. Ateme’s advanced technology and unparalleled solution also helps exceed MediaHub Australia’s internal sustainability targets and this in turn ultimately leads to lower costs for WIN TV.”

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Akamai Technologies Inc. has announced that Ateme is the latest organization to join the Akamai Qualified Computing Partner Program. 

The Akamai Qualified Computing Partner Program is designed to make solution-based features that are interoperable with Akamai's cloud computing services easily accessible to Akamai customers. The services are provided by Akamai technology partners that complete a rigorous qualification process to ensure they are readily available to deploy and scale across the globally distributed Akamai Connected Cloud, Akamai explained. 

As an Akamai Qualified Computing Partner, Ateme will be able to offer Akamai customers end-to-end high-quality video-delivery solutions and greater choices in their digital transformation. The smooth, one-stop source facilitates cloud migration, as well as customers' search for a relevant Akamai-supported solution, the companies said. 

"We are honored to become a part of the Akamai Qualified Computing Partner Program," said Ricardo Minari, director of global partnerships at Ateme. "This partnership highlights Ateme's commitment to ensuring our customers deliver the highest quality of video content to global audiences, even during their ongoing digital transformation journeys."

With Ateme's high-quality video-delivery solution running on Akamai, joint customers can benefit from low latency and better throughput thanks to the power of Akamai Connected Cloud, Akamai's massively distributed edge and cloud platform, the companies explained. 

As a qualified computing partner, Ateme offers workloads that can be deployed with a range of origin options on Akamai, giving customers the flexibility to choose either a self-managed or an Akamai-managed origin. In addition, Ateme's compression efficiency combined with Akamai's cloud computing services' competitive data-transfer rates can help customers enjoy the cost benefits of reduced bandwidth and storage requirements, the companies said. 

"Akamai is pleased to make quality video compression and delivery easily available to Akamai customers through the Akamai Qualified Computing Partner Program," said Matt Berk, vice president of cloud computing at Akamai. "Pay TV operators and content providers are now able to captivate their audiences with high-quality video and scale it across Akamai Connected Cloud, the massively distributed platform for cloud computing, security, and content delivery."

AMSTERDAM—Ateme has unveiled its plans for IBC, where it will be returning to the RAI between September 15 and 18 to showcase end-to-end solutions from contribution all the way to the CDN for OTT streaming services and other outlets. 

The new solutions include what Ateme is billing as the world’s first solution for operating a cloud DVR in the public cloud. 

The provider of video compression, delivery, and streaming solutions will also demonstrate new ways of offering state-of-the-art quality of experience on any screen, monetizing audiences, and engaging sports fans in-venue and beyond while respecting green streaming strategies 

“This is an exciting time for our industry,” said Rémi Beaudouin, chief strategy officer at Ateme. “Audience expectations are being shaped by new entertainment experiences such as gaming and social media. Meanwhile, new technologies are enabling innovative ways of consuming and monetizing video content. We are thrilled to go to IBC this year and present the pioneering work we’ve done to help broadcasters and service providers leverage these changes.”

Demos will be on display at Ateme’s booth at the RAI in Hall 1, booth D33. 

These include demos in the following areas: 

• Fan Engagement. Ateme will showcase a complete workflow including automatic detection of the most important moments of sports content and enriched push notifications to smartphones. This will enable sports content rights holders with D2C services to enhance fan engagement, attract more viewers to their OTT apps, and increase monetization by connecting next-generation video experiences with other verticals such as e-commerce.
• Enhanced Stadium Experiences. Ateme will demonstrate how sports teams and leagues can attract more fans to stadiums, increase digital engagement, and enable new platforms for monetization. With a premium enhanced-reality solution using 5G multi-access edge computing, fans can enjoy an immersive look into the game from their smartphones and/or headsets with real-time access to stats and multi-angle live and replays.
• OTT: Enhanced QoE. Ateme will highlight a variety of features that optimize the Quality of Experience for OTT subscribers. In addition to showcasing Ateme’s industry-leading video compression solutions that enhance viewing of linear and VoD content, Ateme will also showcase features that enhance the OTT experience, including fast zapping, video scrubbing, and low latency.
• Ateme+: SaaS. Ateme will present the latest features and use cases of Ateme+, its cloud-agnostic SaaS offer. This will include a new packager feature for OTT, supporting all use cases already live today: MCR in the cloud for sports, news, and live production; business continuity with effective disaster recovery; 24/7 contribution and distribution; and on-demand file transcoding.
• Green Streaming. Ateme will showcase the continuation of its optimization efforts that have resulted in a 66% reduction in energy consumption over three years, all while simultaneously improving the user experience. The latest strategies include audience-aware streaming, elastic CDN, per-title encoding, and CMAF chunk sharing for OTT content.
• Converged Hybrid Headend. Ateme will showcase its complete, feature-rich hybrid headend to address both traditional and cutting-edge workflows. Based on Ateme’s TITAN compression and processing solutions, the converged headend can address all applications, from traditional broadcast and OTT to manifest-based playout and linearization workflows. Running on any infrastructure — from appliance deployment to private and public clouds — it provides a proven, efficient, and flexible solution for the workflows of today, while enabling a smooth transition to cloud-native IP workflows.
• Beyond Contribution. Ateme will showcase its future-proof software contribution solutions, adding ultra-low latency inter-connection capacity to its universal gateway, as well as raw content manipulation with features such as premium framerate conversion. This offers content owners richer cloud processing offload opportunities.
• Advertising. Ateme will showcase its versatile end-to-end content manipulation solutions for DAI as well as FAST and personal channels. These help providers boost monetization and enable increased revenue and inventory value through data collection and activation.
• Media Supply Chain. Including its innovative management and enrichment features, Ateme’s Media Supply Chain solution focuses on efficiency, resilience, agility, and metadata-aware orchestration for optimized operations. Providers will gain greater insight about how to reduce operational costs and enhance supply chain workflow and security. 
• Next-generation Cloud DVR. Ateme will highlight its Cloud DVR solution, allowing service providers to streamline operations, optimize their hardware pool, and achieve greater scalability by leveraging the public cloud, without being capped by on-premises investments. Because it enables resources to be shared across services, it is also expected to reduce the carbon impact of video delivery.
• The Ultimate Viewing Experience. Ateme will emphasize the highest quality of experience using HDR and a wide range of video codecs (HEVC, AV1, VVC), resulting in pristine video quality and immersive, personalized audio for any type of content including sports and other high-profile events. 
• Beyond the booth. Two demos showcasing Ateme's VVC solutions and partnerships with Qualcomm and InterDigital will also be presented.

PARIS—Ateme has begun offering its video processing and delivery products through Google Cloud Marketplace, the company said today.

The integration of Ateme’s technology, available on both public and private offer, expands the choices available to Google Cloud users, it said.

“In today’s ever-changing world of technology, Google Cloud understands the importance of continuous innovation and helps customers find solutions to their biggest challenges by allowing seamless cloud migration on Google Cloud Marketplace,” said Yohann Guilloux, vice president of global partnerships at Ateme. “We are very excited to be able to reach out to our customers using this infrastructure, providing greater choices in innovative end-to-end cloud video solutions.”

“Making high-quality video delivery solutions more sustainable is a top-of-mind business priority for organizations across industries today,” said Kip Schauer, global head of Media & Entertainment partnerships at Google Cloud. “We’re excited Ateme has launched their next generation of video compression and delivery solutions on Google Cloud to help broadcasters meet the growing global distribution demands for video content.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

PARIS—Ateme has launched Audience-Aware Streaming, an end-to-end solution that allows service providers to deliver more sustainable streaming while optimizing Quality of Experience (QoE).

The solution combines audience-aware encoding and audience-aware elastic Content Delivery Network (CDN) results, making it possible to optimize resources to reduce energy consumption, thereby minimizing carbon emissions from video streaming while optimizing QoE, the company said.

With an end-to-end view of the streaming workflow, the solution creates a virtuous feedback loop between the CDN and encoders. Rather than wasting power by creating the same set of streaming profiles for every type of content, the new solution dynamically connects CDN data with the encoder to adapt to viewing requirements and optimize profiles, it said.

While delivering on the service expectations of viewers regarding video quality, Audience-Aware Streaming also makes it possible for operators to reduce their overall environmental impact, it said.

“In a competitive and fragmented market, service providers need to optimize viewers’ QoE, while also addressing the need to reduce power consumption to meet CSR policies,” said Ateme vice president of content delivery Dan Patton. “Going beyond optimizing single steps in the video workflow, Audience-Aware Streaming brings a new, end-to-end approach to making video delivery more efficient, so service providers can meet all these needs.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

PARIS—Gulfsat Communications, a major satellite communications and media service provider in the MENA region, has installed Ateme’s converged video headend solution to power its London and Kuwait sites, serving 100 mainly Arabic-language channels. 

The new infrastructure enables Gulfsat to transmit SD and HD DTH services while future-proofing the system with OTT capabilities as well as UHD technologies.

Gulfsat needed to replace its video headend systems in London, which service 40 channels, and in Kuwait, which service 60 channels. Following extensive consultation, the converged video headend solution from Ateme was chosen and deployed to cover the MENA region, the companies said. 

“Ateme presented a strong future-proofed technological solution, coupled with an innovative business model, making it the right choice for Gulfsat’s current and future requirements,” Rabih Salim, technical operations director, Gulfsat, said,  

The installations feature Ateme’s TITAN encoding and statistical multiplexing (StatMux), an intelligent and cost-efficient bandwidth-saving technology. The system is OTT-ready and features high-density encoding, which is expected to enable a greener service through lower energy consumption, Ateme reported. 

Gulfsat’s experience with the solution has been so favorable that it is now acting as a system integrator for the Ateme converged headend solution for other organizations in the region.

PARIS—The Cyprus Telecommunications Authority Cyta has installed a low-latency encoding and packaging solution from Ateme to reduce the latency of its premium OTT channels.

Cyta’s OTT channels were experiencing significant latency compared to the IPTV latency reached on set-top boxes (STBs). Cyta’s goal was to reduce the latency for its 20 premium OTT channels to less than five seconds from the source.

Following in-depth consultation with Ateme, Cyta selected the company’s encoding and packaging software solutions to allow content to be processed and delivered in less than four seconds. The system delivers videos compatible with iOS and Android devices (smartphones, tablets and TVs) as well as Windows and MAC OSX web browsers, the company said.

The installation took less than three months, with an easy integration with Cyta’s OTT Content Management System (CMS), it said.

The sub-four-second latency exceeded expectations and has allowed Cyta to remain competitive with its sports and premium content coverage, the company said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

PARIS—The Brazilian media company Globo has been pushing the boundaries of audio distribution for over-the-air broadcasting in Brazil as the country moves toward TV 3.0, the country’s next-generation Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) system. 

In those efforts, it has been using Ateme’s KYRION encoder platform to provide low-latency immersive audio codecs. In addition, Ateme is providing enabling technologies behind the immersive sound experience that Globo is currently delivering to viewers during all matches in the World Cup in Qatar, held from November 20 to December 18, 2022. 

The improved audio experiences are available to viewers over the commercial free-to-air television in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Globo's Recife market, based on Dolby ATMOS and MPEG-H formats which are presented in the current TV 2.5 Brazilian standards. 

Ateme’s technology-agnostic, low-latency video and immersive-audio codec enables immersive-audio experiences in the TV 2.5 expanded live channel, as well as providing a clear path for the transition to TV 3.0., the companies said. 

“The World Cup is a tremendous opportunity for us to take a significant step to improve user experience with the current TV standard and to look forward to the next generation soon,” explained Uirá Moreno at TV Globo. “We welcome the support of trusted partners like Ateme whose expertise and dedication will enable us to complete this crucial step for TV 2.5 production.”

Julien Mandel, Solution Marketing Senior Director, Contribution & Distribution Segment at Ateme added that “TV Globo is a major player in the Brazilian broadcast sector. As such, its forward-thinking and proactive approach is crucial to the successful implementation of TV 2.5. Ateme is proud to be part of TV Globo’s live production project to affirm the possibilities for next-gen audio for TV 2.5 over-the-air broadcasting.” 

PARIS—Viaccess-Orca a provider of OTT and TV platforms, content protection, and advanced data solutions, and Ateme, a developer of video compression, delivery, and streaming solutions have teamed up to launch “Personal Live Channels,” a new service that simplifies the creation of VOD-to-live and personalized live channels with targeted ads. It analyzes usage data, viewing preferences, and subscriber consumption patterns, services to help content owners, broadcasters, and service providers boost viewer engagement, reduce churn, and increase monetization, the companies said.

"We're thrilled to team up with Viaccess-Orca and redefine the linear TV experience," said Ahmed Swidan, Director of Personalized TV at Ateme. "One of the greatest challenges for viewers today is finding what to watch. With this new service, we're enabling viewers to discover the most relevant content in a live watch mode, keeping them watching longer and increasing monetization opportunities for our customers. Viewers can sit back, relax, and enjoy several 'For You' live channels with their favorite shows back to back. No doubt these personal channels will increase loyalty to the service."

The Personal Live Channels service is powered by Ateme's NEA solutions for streaming, including server-side ad insertion (SSAI) technology integrated with VO's AI-based content discovery and Targeted TV Advertising solution. The Ateme NEA range includes a cloud-native, containerized solution that allows service and content providers to originate live channels from VOD and catch-up archives. All VOD-to-live channels, personal and non-personal, are monetization-ready by combining VO's Targeted Advertising solution with Ateme's SSAI technology, enabling accurate and seamless delivery of targeted ads within the VOD-to-live channels.

VO's content discovery solution enables service providers to gain deeper insights into viewers' behavior and preferences, enabling them to go beyond routine content recommendations, according to the company. VO's solution is driven by AI analytics, allowing service providers to accurately segment audiences and fully monetize first-party usage data. Using the VOD-to-live service, service providers can deliver custom-made channels based on viewers' moods or true personal channels based on viewers' usage data, simulating the effortless lean-back approach of linear TV.

"The Personal Live Channel service is an innovative step forward for video delivery," said Dror Mangel, Director of Data-Driven Product Management, Viaccess-Orca. "Collaborating with Ateme, we have solved viewers' paradox of having too many content choices. And we have offered service providers and content owners many more opportunities to display ads, giving them higher revenue potential."

Viaccess-Orca will demonstrate the Personal Live Channels service at IBC2022, Sept. 9-12 at stand 1.A51 and Ateme will showcase the service in stand 1.D71.

PARIS—Ateme today announced the launch of Ateme+, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud-centric platform, making the company’s video compression and processing solutions available as an operational expense rather than requiring a substantial CapEx investment.

"We are increasingly seeing demand for more flexibility in content processing and delivery – in terms of both the business model and the scale. Ateme+ truly delivers on these requirements, while also ensuring the superior quality of experience our customers expect from Ateme,” said Jean-Louis Lods, vice president of media and monetization at Ateme.

Ateme+ offers broadcasters, service providers and streaming platforms with the functions and capacity they require via an easy-to-use management console. The new offering enables frictionless onboarding, ensuring quicker time to value and lower overall total of cost of ownership (TCO), the company said.

“This is the beginning of a new chapter, giving more choice to video service providers,” said Rémi Beaudouin, chief strategy officer at Ateme. “They can now choose between the traditional licensing model, Software as a Service or a hybrid model where they mix the two.”

Ateme+ is cloud agnostic; however, the company has optimized the solution for use on Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. The new SaaS platform supports any resolution and is available on a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis. It is fully scalable to meet the changing needs of media organizations and offers built-in redundancy to maximize uptime and reliability, it said.

With the ability to be customized, Ateme+ provides management via a single pane of glass for configuration, monitoring, user management and key metrics. Ateme takes care of scaling the platform and will implement regular product updates to ensure customers benefit from a service that offers maximum flexibility and agility, it said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

You’re watching a major soccer final, live streamed to your main screen, when your neighbors cheer for a goal 40 seconds before you see it. This is the classic, borderline cliched conundrum, routinely trotted out to illustrate how the user experience is spoiled when viewing live content Over the Top (OTT).

The real question is, why has this problem not yet been tackled?

Despite the growing popularity of streaming services, reducing OTT latency remains a challenge for content providers, broadcasters and service providers, and a major source of frustration for audiences. Is there a way to efficiently deliver lower latency at a large scale while preserving visual quality? Is low latency realistically achievable today in production?

The answer is an emphatic yes! Low-latency OTT is no longer theoretical: it is real.

The trouble with latency
Latency is introduced by the different stages required to process and deliver video content within the streaming pipeline. Some components are already operating very close to their physical limit, i.e., the speed of light, with sub-millisecond processing delays at the sending and the receiving end. Other components, such as the video encoder, come in different versions, many of which include low-latency options to reduce the delay between the last input pixel and the first encoded byte. 

Typical broadcast linear stream delay ranges anywhere from five to ten seconds. In contrast, OTT multi-screen video delivery has historically been anywhere from 30 seconds to over 60 seconds, depending on the viewing device and video workflow used. 

Latency is a critical issue, both for the viewer in terms of Quality of Experience (QoE), and for the streaming provider in terms of monetizing the investment. The challenge for the industry is to reduce this latency to a range closer to linear broadcast latency, however achieving very low latency at the expense of poor picture quality won’t work either.

The aim must be to achieve low-latency streaming on par with broadcast while advancing the audio and picture quality to exceed standard broadcast.

Low latency for both DASH and HLS using existing workflows
Achieving low latency traditionally required investing in different dedicated workflows: one for traditional OTT and another for low latency, both requiring outputs for HLS (iOS products principally) and MPEG-DASH. This meant a considerable upfront investment and additional complexity.

It has taken several years and several iterations for the chief players in each camp (DASH-IF and Apple) to devise a low-latency solution that would be interoperable among devices of both parties.

In 2020, Apple’s release of a new version of LL-HLS finally simplified the integration of the technology over a wide range of video players. It meant that the entire market could, for the first time, take advantage of Just-in-Time (JIT) packaging for both LL-DASH and LL-HLS, making it possible for operators to achieve low latency using existing workflows. 

Where operators were previously reluctant to invest in technologies that would only serve one-half of the market, now with a JIT Packager, low-latency streaming is ready to take off. Since content is only packaged at the request of the subscriber, processing and storage requirements are reduced. This equates to fewer servers and lower energy consumption, leading to lower operational costs and an improved environmental footprint.

To make the JIT Packager even more efficient in this workflow, the Common Media Applications Format, otherwise known as CMAF can be used by the packager, both for input from the encoder as well as the output to the CDN. The advantages of using CMAF are that it maintains the highest quality while also optimizing the streaming workflow, since both DASH and HLS can take the same format of video and audio chunks from the packager.

Moreover, streaming service providers can leverage the same workflow for more typical OTT services—including time-shifted TV, start-over capabilities, and VOD—on any device. Viewers can therefore enjoy a range of high-quality experiences.

Every step matters
Packaging is critical to achieving low latency, but it is not the only component in the video delivery chain that can introduce latency. Each step needs to be considered for further optimization, from encoders to CDN, and finally the player at the consumer device. Driving down OTT latency requires an end-to-end strategy, with every stage playing its role.

The aim must be to minimize latency while maximizing video quality, even with 4K HDR content. For example, the encoder needs to ingest source streams and produce the right size of chunks and segments that can then be uploaded to the origin server for delivery.

Scalability
It is also necessary that the CDN can easily and quickly scale. It is not just a matter of bandwidth capacity but of having the functionality to manage a high volume of simultaneous streaming sessions.

Operators need to increase streaming capacity quickly during prominent events that generate traffic peaks. This is where efficient CDNs often use lightweight caching applications that can spin up to scale quickly and turned off to repurpose the resources when not needed.

There are solutions that support all these functionalities at a level of performance that enables low-latency deployment at scale, relying on fully virtualized software technology that provides the elasticity needed to scale rapidly.

Improving monetization and user experience
Improving the latency to the viewers opens several avenues to increase the revenue component for the streaming service. 

Managing Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) with low latency streams is one important challenge that many customers are interested in solving.  

It’s easy to see why. Events where low latency is highly relevant such as live sports attract large audiences and consequently high-value ad inventory. Being able to insert advertising on a geographic, demographic, postcode or personalized basis on the fly would generate even greater monetization opportunities for the broadcaster.

The key here is Manifest Conditioning—the ability in the Origin packager to indicate where an ad break starts and finishes. Enabling Manifest Conditioning for low latency channels is another active R&D focus of industry leaders today.

Advertising also offers the ability to insert placement ads directly into streams, this can be from the advertising angle to promote and gain ad revenue, but can also be from a shopping angle to insert placement of new revenue opportunities. 

Another path for monetization comes in the form of sports betting, which is seen as a major growth segment. Here latency is critical, and being able to achieve close to 5 seconds should allow streaming providers to leverage this market.   

Conclusion
Delivering low-latency live streams is essential for high-value content such as live sports. The technology is primed and ready for OTT providers to offer audiences the quality of experience and services they expect from broadcast TV—at scale.

AMSTERDAM—Ateme has announced that it will return to IBC in Amsterdam, from September 9th to 12th, to showcase its end-to-end solutions for video delivery - from contribution all the way to the CDN - as well as its monetization options, including Dynamic Ad Insertion and 5G.

During the show Ateme will offer use case demonstrations both at Ateme’s stand (1.D71) and in other areas of the RAI.

“We could not be more excited about joining the industry once again at IBC 2022,” says Remi Beaudouin, chief strategy officer at Ateme. “We plan a packed showcase illustrating how our end-to-end Cloud solutions really help our customers engage their audiences with smooth and flawless delivery, while generating new revenue flows. By owning and mastering the full technology stack of compression, packaging and streaming – and so all the server-side analytics associated with these – we are in a unique position to provide solutions that can dynamically deliver the best content experience. We look forward to welcoming everybody to our stand at IBC.”

Activities at the Ateme booth include:  

• Monetization & high QoE over 5G. Ateme will showcase high-efficiency fixed wireless access, in-venue content delivery & car entertainment over 5G.
• The content factory. Ateme will show its media supply chain technology: a manage-by-exception, no-code/low-code solution to automate file-based workflows for file-to-file and live-to-file aggregation, quality control and publishing, on-prem and in the Cloud.
• Contribution to the Cloud. Ateme’s contribution encoder/decoder using SRT and RIST, 2110, JPG XS distribution links to the Cloud will be showcased at the show.
• Next-gen headend. Ateme will show its converged headend solution, which can offer more video content at higher resolutions and overall better quality. It will demonstrate DVB-I solutions to reach customers on any screen mixing broadcast and broadband to add customer experience channels – while reducing the carbon footprint with high bandwidth efficiency.
• E2E OTT solution. Ateme will showcase its technology enabling low-latency live streaming at scale.
• Ateme will also demonstrate solutions that simplify workflows for personalization and Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI).

In addition, Ateme will show these solutions on other booths:  

• VVC encoding on UHD Forum booth (10.D46).  Ateme will contribute to a demo showing live next-generation video coding, VVC, in low latency at the UHD Forum's booth 10.D46, using Ateme encoders and a 20222 LG TV.
• DVB-I demo on DVB booth (1.B73). Ateme will contribute to a DVB-I demo on the DVB booth.

PARIS—Ateme has officially launched a new 5G streaming solution that is designed to enable powerful and engaging video experiences for live events on mobile devices. 

The solution has already been used in the Eurovision Song Contest and in a major tennis tournament, as well as by the government-backed 5G Vista consortium for an in-stadium project in the UK, the company said. 

“With 5G, mobile video consumption is expected to thrive thanks to UHD content and new metaverse video services,” said Williams Tovar, 5G media streaming solutions director at Ateme. “The new capabilities and flexibility brought by 5G are a fantastic opportunity to create immersive experiences and attract the highly connected younger generations (millennials and generation Z). We are thrilled to enable new mobile video services and experiences that will increase viewers’ engagement and loyalty, translating into revenue growth for both network operators and content providers.”

The Ateme 5G streaming solution is designed to provide sport fans, news addicts and TV show song contest enthusiasts unique video experiences on their mobile devices while commuting, watching a game in the stadium or at home, the company said. The 5G streaming technology supports high-quality UHD video. 

In stadiums, the enhanced experiences enabled by this solution include viewing the game live in multiple angles – which is especially useful in the case of car races, where what is happening elsewhere on the track might not be visible to certain viewers – and re-watching the most important actions on near-live channels, the company reported. 

Ateme's  low latency 5G solution is enabled by a number technologies, including: integrated 5G-broadcast technology from infrastructure technology provider Rohde & Schwarz; efficient compression using powerful codecs such as VVC; the Common Media Application Format (CMAF) streaming protocol for low latency; and a reduced transport delay thanks to the 5G Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) architecture.

The 5G streaming solution from Ateme will be demonstrated at the European Digital Forum in Lucca, Italy, June 16th-17th.

PARIS—ATEME today announced it is leading NESTED, a 5G consortium focused on developing high quality of experience (QoE) and sustainable video streaming via 5G.

As part of the NESTED, or New vidEo STandards for Enhanced Delivery, initiative, ATEME is working with Orange, which is testing the efficiency and sustainability of the NESTED streaming solution in real use cases over 5G.

Several French companies are collaborating on the two-year-long NESTED project. Viaccess-Orca is contributing its secure video player, QoE analytics enabler suite and targeted advertising solution, and ENENSYS Technologies is providing its MediaCast Mobile and CubeAgent Mobile. 

IETR (Institut d'Electronique et des Technologies du numéRique), the research unit of French engineering school INSA Rennes, is also active in the project, providing a Versatile Video Coding (VVC) decoder. 

Besides leading the project, ATEME is providing its latest compression technology, its Just-in-Time packager and its CDN, the company said. 

Among the goals of the consortium is demonstrating the expected benefits of the latest advances in video compression and delivery technology with respect to reducing environmental impact. 

To that end, the consortium will look at: Common Media Application Format (CMAF) chunk sharing to reduce the traffic burden on CDNs; the latest VVC video encoding; and multicast/unicast convergence to enable peak audience reach.

Another goal is to highlight the benefits of an end-to-end, pre-integrated, best-of-breed multicast adaptive bitrate (ABR) solution in terms of QoE and personalized viewing, which ultimately can enable 5G multicast and a greener approach to streaming.

The project is supported by France’s Brittany region.

More information is available on the ATEME website. 

PARIS—ATEME has launched the CM5000e, its new-generation Kyrion encoder for UHD contribution in a sustainable manner.

Built with sustainability in mind, the ATEME Kyrion CM5000e encoder consumes less power, thereby reducing its carbon footprint and increasing its green credentials for adopters. Contributing to its environmental benefits are the encoder’s dense integration capabilities. The encoder offers UHD remuxing and satellite or IP outputs in a single device, eliminating the need for additional hardware, the company said.

The Kyrion CM5000e includes all of the necessary features for transmission of live events while being easily accessible and simple to use. Its short booting time and low latency encoding make the CM5000e well-suited for a sports, news and entertainment coverage, it said.

The encoder paves the way for IP migration in the future with Zixi, SRT and RIST solutions as well as SMPTE ST 2110. It enables content protection with the latest innovations, such as the BISS-CA standard and dynamic watermarking technologies, ATEME said.

“…[W]ith Kyrion CM5000e, we are … pioneering sustainable solutions in the contribution and distribution market, and we’re committed to making a positive environmental impact,” said Julien Mandel, contribution and distribution segment solution marketing senior director at ATEME.

More information is available on the company’s website.

PARIS—Viaccess-Orca (VO) and ATEME have announced a contribution watermarking solution with a pay-per-use business model that eliminates the complex pricing traditionally associated with watermarking and in the process enables faster technology adoption.

"Piracy is evolving. Hackers are exploiting new techniques to illegally access and redistribute video content, and the industry needs an accurate, scalable, and cost-efficient solution to identify the source of leaks," said Mathieu Harel, product director of watermarking at Viaccess-Orca. "Collaborating with ATEME, we've developed a smarter method for tracking piracy: one that focuses on the full content path as opposed to just the end points. With our solution, content owners and providers can protect their content and revenues in a way that was never before imaginable."

As part of the solution, VO's software-based dynamic watermarking technology is embedded and ready to use within IRDs and encoders from ATEME, enabling content owners and providers to precisely identify the source of video piracy leaks within various distribution channels.

VO's dynamic watermarking technology features multiple, dynamic algorithms with the ability to track and change watermarks in real time. As content owners distribute live content to multiple affiliates, the solution tracks its path through different channels — including satellite and IP — injecting an invisible watermark on the video at each distribution point. The solution offers a portal to VO's Anti-Piracy Center, where content leaks are closely monitored and then quickly identified so that content owners can fight back against piracy, the companies said. 

The new solution's pay-per-use business model eliminates licensing, maintenance, and service fees, allowing content owners and providers to pay for contribution watermarking technology only when they use it. The dynamic watermarking technology is software-based, allowing content owners and providers to scale the new solution rapidly as they address piracy concerns, the companies explained. 

"By 2022 the cost of online video piracy is expected to reach $52 billion, and this problem is only going to get worse without an effective solution," said Julien Mandel, solution marketing senior director at ATEME. "Teaming up with Viaccess-Orca, an industry leader in content protection, we've created a free solution that liberates content owners and providers from sizing their network, so that they can focus only on tracking the path of leaks throughout the distribution workflow. Before this, content providers were limited to only identifying the end point of leaked content, so this solution is a real game-changer for the industry."

The companies also noted that the new solution supports BISS-CA encryption, an open protocol that enables real-time entitlement management for content streams over any network. When used in conjunction with dynamic watermarking, BISS-CA simplifies content owners' ability to trace the source of illegal streams and safeguard their content, making this new watermarking solution especially advantageous for live sports streaming applications.

More information about VO and the new contribution watermarking solution is available here. 

PARIS, DENVER, SINGAPORE and SYDNEY—ATEME has become an AWS Technology Partner (APN) on the Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Partner Path, the company said today.

It also has successfully completed the Foundational Technical Review for Titan File MS, the company’s multi-codec/format video transcoding software. The ISV Partner Path status enables ATEME to differentiate, market and co-sell with Amazon Web Services (AWS), it said.

“This collaboration brings together two leaders in their fields and presents us with the perfect opportunity to work with AWS to test and improve our solutions, and ensure they are fully integrated with the AWS cloud,” said Rémi Beaudouin, chief strategy officer at ATEME.

“The cloud ecosystem is only growing in size and importance, and we have always been dedicated to helping our customers make that migration: first with our cloud-compliant software solutions and now by joining the APN. This is just the beginning of an exciting cloud journey for ATEME and we look forward to continuing to expand our customer base with AWS by our side.”

The AWS Foundational Technical Review (FTR), formerly called the Technical Baseline Review, enables AWS Partners to identify and remediate risks in products or solutions. The FTR is led by an AWS Partner Solutions Architect (PSA) who reviews AWS Partner products and solutions against a specific set of security, reliability and operational excellence requirements, it said. 

With the FTR Lens, AWS Partners like ATEME can review a workload against each FTR requirement and select the best practices to follow. 

ATEME will work with AWS to offer comprehensive cloud solutions to broadcasters and content providers. Leveraging the AWS cloud will deliver a wide range of benefits, including the ability to start up new video services quickly and add larger numbers of channels, the company said.

The company’s AWS-integrated solutions also will offer broadcasters and content providers cost-effective, high-quality video services, as well as the potential for additional monetization in the future, enabling capabilities such as advertising and personalization, it said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

PARIS, DENVER, SINGAPORE & SYDNEY—ATEME today announced it has achieved up to 2x higher performance encoding for over-the-top (OTT) video delivery applications.

The improvement comes out of a collaboration with microprocessor giant Intel and harnesses the power of its 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor working in combination with ATEME’s encoders. The enhanced performance means OTT companies will enjoy high visual quality at a lower cost, ATEME said.

The latest Xeon processor demonstrated up to a 2x performance increase with ultra-high definition (UHD) video when compared to the previous generation of the processor. The improvement will reduce the cost per OTT channel without negatively affecting the quality of delivery. It also makes possible increasing the number of OTT services per server, creating additional cost savings, it said.

The latest 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor provides advances in architecture and throughput that benefit the ATEME Titan encoders, it said.

SKUs are available in a range of core counts, frequencies and power levels. They deliver built-in AI acceleration and advanced security capabilities, the company said. 

“A key metric for video-delivery providers is the optimization of the cost per channel, and the latest 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor has allowed us to do exactly that,” Abdellatif Khindouf, who is responsible for Titan Live at ATEME. “Integrating Intel’s technology with ATEME encoders to achieve a performance increase of up to 2x for UHD encoding is undoubtedly a breakthrough technological achievement, which will result in more cost-efficient delivery of video. We’re excited to see what the future holds as we continue to leverage Intel technology moving forward.” 

More information is available on the ATEME website and on the Intel website.

PARIS, DENVER, SINGAPORE, & SYDNEY— ATEME has announced that the Korean broadcaster KBS has selected ATEME’s Kyrion encoders to update its legacy infrastructure, an upgrade that will allow it to broadcast in high-quality MPEG-2 HD.

As the largest broadcaster in Korea, KBS operates a wide range of platforms to deliver nationwide terrestrial service, including four terrestrial and two satellite channels, as well as seven radio and four DMB channels. 

The companies noted that the infrastructure upgrade will have several benefits, including the delivery of outstanding video quality and a surround-sound audio experience. 

The new encoders will also help KBS to streamline its operations by combining three pieces of legacy equipment into just one encoder and provide the stability and reliability of the SMPTE-310 configuration, while remaining compatible with KBS’ existing ATSC system.

Finally it will reduce latency for live broadcasts. 

Su-ho Park, media planning team manager at KBS explained that “ATEME’s Kyrion encoders easily met our stringent set of business requirements – which is testament to their stability. In particular, the optimum video quality of the MPEG-2 HD technology has significantly strengthened our service offering to the Korean public.”

 PARIS, DENVER, SINGAPORE & SYDNEY—ATEME has announced that its NEA streaming solution now supports full channel origination, an upgrade that will allow content owners, broadcasters and service providers to deliver personalized TV channels that are more relevant to their viewers. 

NEA was already capable of dynamic ad insertion into a live stream for targeted advertising. This upgrade, with on-the-fly stream-origination capabilities, now makes it possible for VOD files to be scheduled, effectively creating a new way to deliver linear streams, the company reported. 

“This is a real paradigm change in the construction of linear streams,” Jean-Louis Lods, vice president of media supply chain solutions at ATEME explained. “It will enable content and service providers to tap into new revenue streams while reducing operational costs. Whether it’s national, regional, local or personalized streaming, NEA will enable them to create new themed channels from scratch, from documentary and lifestyle to children’s programming, with minimal upfront investment.”

The NEA channel origination solution is a cloud-native, containerized solution, following a micro-services approach designed to run in the cloud, on-premise or via a hybrid model.  It is scalable from national feeds through to personalized individual viewer experiences.

Moreover, the solution allows for a single workflow, enabling a ‘Content Lego’ servicing to be adopted for both VOD and linear content, removing the complexity of two distinct workflows. Combined with the micro-services approach, this brings reduced infrastructure and CPU requirements when compared to traditional playout technology – meaning both reduced costs and a lower carbon footprint, the company reported. 

PARIS, DENVER, SINGAPORE & SYDNEY—The video delivery solutions provider ATEME has announced the launch of Pilot Media, a cloud-native solution that offers improved media supply chain efficiencies and makes it easier to deliver content to more places. 

Pilot Media is designed to facilitate the migration of production and operations to new service models in ways that enable content owners, broadcasters and service providers to harness the power of the cloud in whatever capacity suits them best, the company reported. 

Pilot Media uses a manage-by-exception approach that enables business logic and metadata-driven automation for media capture, ingestion, management, enrichment, storage, and publishing. This reduces operational overheads throughout the media supply chain, the company said. 

The product also features a simple drag-and-drop workflow builder to support flexible operation models and management insights, with dashboards updated in real time from overall operations or specific workflows.

“Viewers today have more options than ever in terms of what content to watch – both on TV and on their personal devices,” said Jean-Louis Lods, vice president of media supply chain solutions at ATEME. “With this, content and service providers are facing fierce competition. We are excited to launch Pilot Media to the market as in doing so we are not only enabling our customers to compete more efficiently and maximize ROI by reducing their operational costs, but we are giving them the opportunity to create new revenue streams, for example by launching a D2C OTT service or through rapid onboarding for distribution.”

More information is available at: https://www.ateme.com/.

PARIS, DENVER, SINGAPORE & SYDNEY—ATEME is now offering production-grade low-latency in pull mode for both HLS and DASH with its NEA-Live Just-in-Time (JIT) packager. This is the first low-latency JIT packager to hit the market, according to ATEME.

The updates to NEA-Live will allow streaming service providers to deliver live streaming content in low-latency mode while using JIT packaging in pull mode, where only the format needed for the requesting device is created and delivered. Users can also use the same workflow for more typical OTT services, including time-shifted TV, start-over capabilities and VOD on any device.

With content being packaged just in required formats, both processing and storage requirements are reduced. This allows for the use of fewer servers and lower energy consumption, ATEME says.

“The low latency provided by NEA-Live allows OTT providers to offer audiences the quality of experience and services that they have come to expect from broadcast TV,” said Tanguy Person, NEA-Live product owner, ATEME. “This will help them to ensure that their offering stands out from the crowd and allows them to better compete within the OTT landscape.”

For more information, visit www.ateme.com.  

PARIS, DENVER, SINGAPORE & SYDNEY—ATEME wants to make video delivery more green, launching its new Green Delivery solution, an integrated end-to-end tool that is designed to allow OTT and DTH operators to reduce their video delivery carbon footprint.

Green Delivery brings together carbon-efficient components to reduce hardware requirements, bandwidth usage and energy consumption. Part of Green Delivery’s makeup includes software optimizations for higher-density compression, reduced packaging and more efficient multiplexing; efficient resource allocation; sharing of hardware resources across applications; and sharing of workflows across services. There is also an elastic CDN to eliminate the need to build over-capacity.

According to Joseph Soueidi, ATEME’s chief operations officer, a number of operators that have already deployed Green Delivery have reduced their energy consumption by 66% compared to the 2018 market average.

“With the official launch of the solution, we look forward to helping more operators reach their sustainability goals, while also reducing costs through a more efficient platform,” said Soueidi.

For more information, visit www.ateme.com.  

LUXEMBOURG—Our goal at POST Luxembourg is to consolidate our position as the country’s leading telecommunications provider. POST Luxembourg’s continued deployment of infrastructures is making a direct contribution to the country’s economic development and its international positioning as a beacon of excellence for ICT (Information and Communications Technology).

As the nation’s largest provider of IPTV services it’s of the utmost importance that we have the appropriate infrastructure in place. POST started working with ATEME in 2011 to encode our IPTV lineup, and in 2014, they helped us expand our offering with the addition of multiscreen and nonlinear services such as replay, timeshift and start-over. Today, ATEME’s TITAN encoders process more than 400 channels, which are then delivered by its origin-packager-recorder-storage, NEA-DVR and EDS.

This technology played a vital role in the success of our services and helped us meet the growing demand of nonlinear OTT services.

EXPANDING USE OF ATEME’S SOLUTION

With the success of our multiscreen service, PostTV, we knew we would have to increase capacities for streaming and storage of our OTT platform in order to support the increasing demand for nonlinear services. This required a new architecture that would make sure our streaming platform was available to any number of viewers watching simultaneously, while also removing both the operational and technical bottlenecks of the initial NAS (network attached storage) setup, to make it simpler and more scalable.

However, we also had to make sure our customers weren’t inconvenienced during the transition to the new architecture. We needed an approach that would keep our customers satisfied and allow us to continue meeting our commitments with third-party operators. Building a new architecture was considered too risky, so we chose to implement a dual-site architecture and extend our use of ATEME’s NEA-DVR solution—an approach that made both technical and commercial sense.

By leveraging ATEME’s NEADVR dual-site architecture, we were able to keep all our services running while we built a second, high-availability site from scratch, with ATEME helping us to quickly put an additional cluster in place to handle the extra load.

SIMPLICITY AND SCALE

We also saw this project as an opportunity to replace our former NAS with ATEME’s Embedded Distributed Storage (EDS), which reduces costs and complexity by distributing assets across the embedded storage available on each streaming server, instead of locating them on dedicated servers. Thanks to the seamless approach offered by ATEME, we were able to keep our NAS cluster running while we transferred its licenses into a new cluster in the EDS.

With this solution in place, we have been able to simplify our operations with a single solution to secure both storage and streaming, making our platform easier to maintain and scale. Additionally, by eliminating the need for a NAS, we now benefit from reduced costs and energy consumption, while improving redundancy and resilience.

PROVIDING HIGH-QUALITY VIEWING EXPERIENCES

With an expanded EDS, the NEA-DVR platform has become more reactive and stable, especially at the catch-up peaks in the evenings, which has improved the viewing experience. Looking forward, we will also be able to reuse our existing NAS to serve colder cloud DVR assets as second-tier storage.

This end-to-end solution provided by ATEME—from encoding to CDN, through packaging, recording and storage—has been extremely efficient and reliable. We’ve always been able to count on ATEME for expert and holistic support. In undertaking this project, we have ensured we can continue to provide the high-quality experiences and services our customers have come to expect, both now and long into the future.

Georges Klosen has worked in the telco domain since 1996 and has been responsible for IPTV from the beginning of 2007. He can be contacted at georges.klosen@post.lu.

For more information, visit www.ateme.com.