The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be one of the most-watched sporting events in streaming history. It will also be one of the most complicated for viewers to navigate.

For fans, the question sounds simple: where do I watch the match? But across connected TV, the answer is no longer as straightforward as turning on a channel. Viewers may encounter the tournament through a smart TV home screen, sports hub, streaming app, platform search, voice navigation, YouTube preview, or AI-powered recommendation.

With 104 matches and 48 teams, combined with multilingual coverage across multiple platforms, YouTube’s first 10-minute viewing window, and connected TV operating systems playing a larger role in content discovery, the tournament is shaping up to be a major test of the modern streaming experience.

The Home Screen Is the New Sports Guide
Today, the TV home screen is becoming the front door to live sports. The apps a viewer sees first, the events promoted in hero banners, the matches surfaced in live sports rows, and the results returned through search can all influence where audiences go and what they watch.

That matters because live sports discovery is different from entertainment discovery. A movie can be found later. A series can sit on a watchlist. But a live match has a start time, a halftime, and a final whistle. If fans cannot quickly find the right destination, the moment may be missed.

Because of that urgency, placement, timing, accuracy, and context all matter. A World Cup match prominently promoted on a TV home screen has a very different discovery advantage from one buried behind multiple clicks or unclear app navigation.

Live Sports Merchandising Is More Complex
The scale of the World Cup will make this even more complex. The tournament will include multiple daily matches, different kickoff times, national teams with varying levels of audience demand, and different viewing preferences across language, region, and platform. FIFA has predicted that 6 billion viewers will watch the tournament.

A fan searching for “Mexico live,” “World Cup highlights,” “soccer on now,” or “watch Argentina” may expect an instant answer. Whether that answer appears clearly will depend on how well platforms organize, tag, promote, and surface live sports content.

Apps still matter, but operating systems increasingly shape the path viewers take before they ever open an app. Sports hubs, recommendation rows, search tools, voice assistants, and AI-driven prompts can all guide fans toward one viewing path over another.

YouTube Could Reshape the Funnel
For the 2026 World Cup, match discovery could increasingly begin on YouTube, where official media partners will have the option to stream the first 10 minutes of every match on their YouTube channels.

That model adds an important new dimension to the viewing journey. By giving rights-holding broadcasters a way to showcase the opening minutes live on YouTube, FIFA is creating a new top-of-funnel entry point for fans who may encounter matches through previews, clips, creators, search, or algorithmic recommendations.

YouTube could become a powerful discovery channel, particularly for younger viewers and casual fans. But the real test will be the handoff: once the preview ends, can viewers easily find the full match on the correct app, language feed, or platform destination?

The more friction involved, the greater the risk that viewers drop off before reaching the full match experience.

Small UI Errors Can Create Big Problems
The 2026 World Cup will also expose the operational challenges behind live sports merchandising. At Looper Insights, our data has found an average of 1.3 user interface errors per live sports event. These can include incorrect tiles, incorrect start time listings, outdated promotions, missing event information, broken navigation paths, or inconsistent placement across devices.

For general entertainment, these issues are frustrating. For live sports, they can be costly. When a fan is trying to find a match already underway, even a small error can mean missed viewing time, confusion, or abandonment.

The impact extends to advertisers as well. If fans miss the opening minutes of a major World Cup match because the game is difficult to find, brands lose access to some of the most valuable live viewing moments: pre-game build-up, kick-off, early in-game attention, and the shared urgency that makes sports advertising so powerful. For sponsors and media buyers investing in marquee matches, discovery friction can weaken the value of campaigns that depend on audiences arriving on time and at scale.

That is why verification will matter as much as promotion. Broadcasters, streamers, rights holders, and platforms will need to know whether placements appeared as planned, whether event information was accurate, and whether issues were resolved before they affected viewers. At the World Cup scale, a missing tile, outdated promotion, or incorrect start time can affect tune-in, advertiser value, and the overall fan experience.

The Winners Will Make Discovery Effortless
The companies that perform best during the World Cup will not simply be those with the biggest campaigns. They will be the ones that make the viewing journey effortless: surfacing the right match at the right time, guiding fans from previews to full-match viewing, and ensuring promotions accurately reflect what is live now.

As streaming becomes more fragmented, visibility becomes more valuable. For live sports, visibility is not just about awareness. It is about access, timing, and conversion.

The match may start on the pitch, but for millions of viewers, the journey will begin on the home screen.

STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK, N.Y.—Charter Communication’s Spectrum pay TV operations and Warner Bros. Discovery have announced that the discovery+ streaming app is now included at no additional cost for customers who subscribe to certain eligible Spectrum TV plans.

The addition is part of Charter’s ongoing push to add more streaming to its programming packages and to secure rights to those services in its negotiations with programmers.

This strategy provides consumers with a more seamless experience that brings together live TV and popular streaming apps, and includes more than $125 per month in retail streaming value, Spectrum reported.

“The inclusion of discovery+ extends the value Spectrum TV delivers to customers with more choice and flexibility in what and how to watch,” said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president of programming acquisition at Spectrum. “We’re meeting customers wherever they are by bringing live TV and streaming together so they can enjoy discovery+ and other popular apps without managing separate subscriptions and with built-in cost savings.”

With the launch, Spectrum TV customers can activate ad-supported discovery+, which retails for $5.99 per month, for no extra cost to begin streaming shows from HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Animal Planet and more. Customers can also upgrade to discovery+ (Ad-Free), which retails for $9.99 per month, by paying the $4 difference.

Additionally, Spectrum customers without an eligible TV plan can use The Spectrum App Store to purchase discovery+ and other streaming apps à la carte.

Ad-supported discovery+ joins a lineup of popular apps included with eligible Spectrum TV plans, including the ad-supported versions of:

• Disney+ Hulu Bundle
• ESPN Unlimited
• HBO Max Basic With Ads
• Paramount+ Essential
• Peacock Premium
• AMC+
• ViX
• Tennis Channel
• FOX One

“Our partnership with Spectrum allows us to put discovery+ in front of millions of customers in a way that fits naturally with how they already watch TV,” said Scott Miller, president, networks and streaming distribution, Warner Bros. Discovery. “By making discovery+ available as part of Spectrum TV Select and giving customers without a traditional TV plan the ability to purchase à la carte, we’re extending the reach of our world-class portfolio and making it even more convenient for fans to watch their favorite home, food, true crime, relationships and lifestyle programming as part of their existing Spectrum experience.”

BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, France—Moments Lab will showcase the latest multimodal and agentic AI capabilities of its Video Discovery Platform that accelerates at-scale content search, creation and distribution workflows for video teams at the 2026 NAB Show, April 18-22, at the Las Vegas Convention center.

Moments Lab’s Discovery Agent enables users to search their media library through conversational prompts that describe what they need just as they would to a colleague. The agent returns relevant clips, quotes and precise moments across entire libraries or within a single long-form video.

“We’ve seen rapid user uptake of the Discovery Agent at more than 50%, and the feedback we’re getting is that it’s a ‘life-changing’ tool,’” said Phil Petitpont, CEO and co-founder of Moments Lab. “The true impact of the Discovery Agent is its velocity. You simply ask for what you need in plain language and get precise, contextual results in seconds. The agent even makes suggestions to help fill narrative gaps. It’s truly transforming how creative teams work.”

Moments Lab’s Discovery Agent is now available. Other new features that will be demonstrated at the show include:

• Agentic Ecosystem: Beyond Discovery Agent, Moments Lab will demonstrate how agentic workflows are deployed to enable agent-to-agent interactions and what’s possible with Agent-to-Agent (A2A) and Model Context Protocol (MCP).
• Projects: New collaborative workspaces for producers, editors and digital teams to work with specific media within the Moments Lab Video Discovery Platform.
• Moments Gateway: A lightweight application that bridges on-premises production and archive storage to cloud systems to enable AI-powered video search.
• Native panels for Avid Media Composer and DaVinci Resolve: Joining Moments Lab’s existing Adobe Premiere Pro in-edit capabilities to eliminate manual EDL workflows and dramatically reduce download times. Editors can search, preview and access AI-indexed footage from their Moments Lab libraries directly within their NLE. 

Taken together, these advancements create a continuous flow from archive to rough cut to final delivery, reducing handoffs, shortening turnaround times and enabling creative teams to focus on storytelling rather than file management.To support organizations moving beyond experimentation toward full-scale adoption, Moments Lab is also introducing a dedicated Agentic Transformation package. Designed to accelerate the deployment of agentic workflows, the package removes three critical barriers to entry: strategic advisory to help teams define where and how to begin their agentic journey; technical deployment support to facilitate migration and ensure agents fully understand and interact with proprietary media libraries; and support of AI indexing costs to enable sustainable, large-scale implementation.

See Moments Lab at 2026 NAB Show booth N1011.

More information is available on the company’s website.

LOS ANGELES—Cineverse Corp. has announced that it will be launching a new AI-powered movie search platform called cineSearch. 

The public beta of cineSearch, which was developed using Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform, will be available within the Cineverse streaming platform in Spring 2024. Users can join the waitlist for the public beta at www.Cinesearch.com.  It will then be made more widely available in partnership with OEM and third-party streaming platform partners in the near future, the company said. 

“Effective search and discovery is currently the most pressing problem for users of streaming services today,” says Tony Huidor, chief technology officer & chief operating officer of Cineverse. “We first developed cineSearch as an answer to our own problem. Using Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform, we now have the ability to expand this feature well beyond our initial expectations. We feel this is a great example of leveraging the power of AI to not only create better user experiences, but to also help aid in the discovery of great films that fans may not have otherwise found.”   

The cineSearch service was developed by Cineverse using Google Cloud’s Vertex AI Search, the company reported. The underlying core cineSearch technology was built as an adaptive layer on top of the PaLM 2 Large Language Model (LLM) with the intent to craft a chatbot specifically tuned for feature film and television entertainment. Through the use of PaLM 2 and Google Cloud’s gen AI infrastructure, cineSearch promises an innovative, conversational experience for those seeking advice on what films to watch. 

As part of this new service, Cineverse is introducing a new “artificial intelligence-based video advisor” that will be known simply as “Ava.”

The launch of Cineverse’s AI-powered search feature will utilize the first proprietary movie industry-specific AI model specifically tuned with an extensive set of metadata – both standard metadata as well as computer vision-based enriched, contextual metadata (such as weather or setting) – across more than 100,000 Hollywood movies and television shows, the company said. 

The cineSearch tool offers a single unified search engine with support for dozens of search dimensions such as theme, tone, mood, setting, music score, plot, micro-genre, and many more traits for films available across all streaming services. 

The cineSearch service will also utilize scene-specific metadata and a viewer’s previous viewing history as well as their location, the current date, the local weather conditions, and other factors to determine the ideal titles to recommend. Viewers will be able to conduct searches across a plethora of characteristics at the film and scene-level, making the process of finding the perfect movie more intuitive, simple and entertaining. In addition, if a particular movie is not available within Cineverse’s extensive catalog, Ava will recommend films available elsewhere – and provide direct links to access films available across other streaming services – for a seamless movie discovery experience. 

“Generative AI has the potential to fundamentally transform the media industry, fueling a new era of cloud-enabled capabilities that can significantly improve the consumer experience,” said Anil Jain, Global Managing Director of Strategic Consumer Industries at Google Cloud. “By leveraging Google Cloud’s leading gen AI capabilities, cineSearch can further personalize and streamline the user experience, providing viewers a vastly improved way to discover new content, with relevant recommendations  for movies and television shows at their fingertips.”

SAN FRANCISCO—The streaming platform Reelgood has announced the launch of Cue, a new tool that it is billing as the entertainment industry's first AI assistant to help users figure out what to watch.

Using Reelgood's sophisticated data platform and machine learning algorithms, Cue analyzes what a user has watched, loved, liked, and disliked and then matches that information against billions of data points on the entertainment preferences of over 100 million users.

Based on that analysis, it is then able to tell the user whether it will like or dislike a piece of content. 

"You'll be surprised to see that Cue often understands your tastes even better than you do," says Reelgood founder and CEO David Sanderson.

To access Cue, users can open Reelgood's iOS app, visit any movie or show, and tap "Should you watch this?" to get a recommendation. 

Perifery, a recently launched division of DataCore was created to provide compelling content management solutions for the broadcast industry. At NAB 2023 in Las Vegas, Perifery CEO Dave Zabrowski shares the company’s vision and development of a product that will dramatically streamline workflow for video producers. It’s a critical time for media producers, given the rise of AI and the vast amounts of data they must now juggle to create content efficiently and effectively. In addition to data stored on traditional local servers, producers are increasingly utilizing AI and storing and retrieving data-rich content from the cloud and streaming sources. “Imagine having to search endlessly for the right piece of content. It holds up the creative process and makes the job more difficult than it should be,” Zabrowski explains. Media producers need to get at the data fast and in an organized fashion to complete projects quickly—the new award-winning Perifery AI+ announced at NAB is the enabler. Meta-aware and intuitive, Perifery AI+ accelerates content searching, browsing, reviewing, and previewing, enabling users to rapidly locate content clips and objects based on specific topics. It’s THE missing link to maintaining productivity in today’s data-rich environments. “Plus, it’s ready for the future,” says Zabrowski, as he describes how producers may one day also have access to new sources of content, such as data from consumer wearables. “The M&E market is in the golden age of disruption and Perifery is poised to lead it with products like Perifery AI+.”

During an exclusive interview with Perifery CEO Dave Zabrowski, we learn how the needs of media producers have advanced to a point requiring a more sophisticated means of content storage and retrieval. The company’s new Perifery AI+ was created to do just that. Watch the video below to hear how.

For more information about NAB’s award-winning Perifery AI+ and how content producers can benefit from integrating it into their workflow, please visit  www.perifery.com.

NEW YORK—As Warner Bros. Discovery prepares to launch its combined streaming service on May 23, the company reported Q1, 2023 earnings that showed the heavily indebted firm is making progress on its plans to cut streaming costs and reduce losses while continuing to retain and attract new direct-to-consumer subscribers. 

Based on those positive trends, the company also said that it now expects its U.S. direct-to-consumer (DTC) segment to be profitable in 2023, a year ahead of its previous guidance. 

In the Q1, total DTC subscribers around the world were 97.6 million, an increase of 1.6 million global subscribers since the end of Q4 while DTC operating expenses were $2,405 million, down 24% (excluding currency fluctuations) compared to the prior year quarter. 

Overall, DTC adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were $50 million, a $704 million year-over-year improvement on a pro forma combined basis.

In the U.S. DTC subs for HBO, HBO Max and Discovery+ increased to 55.3 million in Q1 from 54.6 million in Q4, 2022 and 53.4 million in Q1, 2022. 

We’ve come through some major restructurings and have repositioned our businesses with greater precision and focus,” said David Zaslav, president & CEO in a statement announcing the earnings. “And we see a number of positive proof points emerging, with DTC perhaps the most prominent. We made a meaningful turn this quarter with $50 million in segment EBITDA and 1.6 million net adds, and we feel great about the trajectory we are on. In fact, we now expect our U.S. DTC business to be profitable for 2023 – a year ahead of our guidance.”

BURBANK, Calif.—Warner Bros. Discovery has unveiled its new Max streaming service, which will launch in the U.S. on May 23 with content from both HBO and the Discovery brands. Pricing for Max will remain the same as the HBO Max ad-supported and ad-free tiers.

Max will be a destination for HBO Originals, Warner Bros. films, Max Originals, the DC universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, an expansive offering of kids content, and programing across food, home, reality, lifestyle and documentaries from brands like HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Channel, TLC, ID and more, the company explained. 

While the new service combines both HBO and Discovery content, discovery+ will continue as a standalone service. HBO Max subs will be moved to the Max app. 

"From the biggest superheroes to real life champions; from culture-shaping dramas to taste-shaping entertainment; from fantastical realms to the realest of worlds, Max will offer an unrivaled range of choice," said JB Perrette, president & CEO, Global Streaming & Games, Warner Bros. Discovery. "This new brand signals an important change from two narrower products, HBO Max and discovery+, to our broader content offering and consumer proposition. While each product offered something for some people, Max will have a broad array of quality choices for everybody."

Max will offer three pricing options: 

• Max Ad-Lite | $9.99/month or $99.99/year. 2 concurrent streams, 1080p resolution, no offline downloads, 5.1 surround sound quality 
• Max Ad Free | $15.99/month or $149.99/year. 2 concurrent streams, 1080 resolution, 30 offline downloads, 5.1 surround sound quality. 
• Max Ultimate Ad Free | $19.99/month or $199.99/year. 4 concurrent streams, up to 4K UHD resolution, 100 offline downloads, Dolby Atmos sound quality 

Existing HBO Max subscribers will have access to Max at the same price as their HBO Max subscription and can visit http://help.hbomax.com/introducingMax to find out more. 

Additionally, HBO Max subscribers will still have access to their current plan features for a minimum of six months following launch. HBO Max subscribers' profiles, settings, watch history, "Continue Watching," and "My List" items will also migrate to Max so they can pick up streaming right where they left off.

In terms of content, the company said the service will feature an average of more than 40 new titles and seasons every month. Audiences will be able to explore the worlds of HBO, the DC Universe, and Harry Potter, plus hit movies, original series, and genres like true crime, reality, food, and comedy. 

"The Max service is a wide-ranging mosaic of content that will be unmatched in the breadth, reach, and excellence of its offerings," said Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO, HBO and Max Content. "We are unique because we have the best-in-all-categories across the board by any measure – be they ratings, awards, fandom. We know we can satisfy any craving because we have the brands that people love. At Max, they will find what they want, when they want it."

The company also announced a number of new titles, including a Max Original Harry Potter series; a Max Original comedy series derived from The Big Bang Theory; an HBO Original "Game of Thrones" prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight; a Max Original drama series based on The Conjuring films; Magnolia Network's Fixer Upper: The Hotel; Discovery Channel's Survive the Raft; Max Original Peter & the Wolf from Bono, Adult Swim's Rick and Morty: The Anime; Investigation Discovery's Lost Women of Highway 20; Cartoon Network's Tiny Toons Looniversity; and TLC's Love & Translation.

In announcing the new service, the company also highlighted a number of features to improve the viewing experience:

• Premium Video Playback: A new video playback experience will deliver smooth and cinematic video to users, wherever and however they prefer to watch. Whether binging their favorites, watching offline on-the-go, or tuning in on Sunday nights for the latest episode of Succession, users can count on seamlessly diving into their preferred worlds.
• Personalization: Max will expand personalization beyond just the home page, offering a differentiated and high-performing experience for every user across the whole service. By significantly increasing our investment in machine learning while maintaining an editorial voice, Max will deliver a unique human and machine approach that will help surface the best content for our users.
• More Prominent Kids Experience: At launch, Max will introduce a default kids profile for new subscribers along with accompanying parental controls. Parents can choose to customize settings and select to limit content for the kids profile by ratings: little kids (tv-y), big kids (tv-y7, tvy7-fv), big kids plus (tv-g, g), preteens (tv-pg/pg), or teens (tv-14, pg-13). Parents will also have the ability to set individual profile PINs to lock access to their adult profiles, as well as a parent code to lock their children inside of the Max kids experience.
• Simplified Navigation: Streamlined categories, improved content details pages, shortcuts, dedicated brand hubs and thematic content rails, make exploring the app and discovering new interests easier. The updated design coupled with a better personalization engine will help consumers quickly find and discover the best of what they are looking for.
• 4K UHD: The Ultimate Ad-Free tier of Max will have an expanded catalog of content available in 4K UHD including key programming such as Game of Thrones, The Last of Us, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Dark Knight Trilogy and more. All Warner Bros. movies released this year and going forward will also be available in 4K UHD when they arrive on Max following their theatrical windows.

LEAWOOD, Kan.—With the NAB Show right around the corner, it’s time to ramp up the NAB Show Daily, which we publish for the association.

My pre-NAB Show assignment was to do a preview of what NAB is calling “Intelligent Content,” a broad term that encompasses using technology to make content more relevant to individuals. Part of that is content personalization and AI-driven recommendation engines.

I spoke with Greg Riker, chief revenue officer at ThinkAnalytics, among many others for the story. Our interview took an interesting turn when I brought up privacy and opened up a new line of questioning related to television broadcasters, NextGen TV and content recommendation.

What Riker had to say was just too good to leave on the cutting room floor.

(An edited transcript.)

TVTech: Tell me about the balance between privacy concerns and collecting viewer data that powers meaningful recommendation engine results. How do you pull that off?

Greg Riker: It really varies from region to region. We are bound by different privacy regulations. Obviously, privacy is super important, as is how you deal with it when you want to make personalized recommendations.

You can build what we call these taste profiles based on anonymous data. You are what you watch, and we are able to build taste profiles based on anonymous behavior as you are in the environment. So we build these things in real time.

We are able to surface different content based on the activity that we’re seeing at the time of the interaction.

Now, we would prefer, the service provider would prefer—and we are finding the consumer prefers—to capture and hold onto that taste profile and build on it as the relationship moves forward. It gets smarter and smarter every time you interact with it [the recommendation engine].

There are a lot of organizations outside the U.S. where we do what we call a “cold start,” which means there is no early reference to anything prior to that first interaction. In those instances, we wipe the chalkboard clean after a viewer stops engaging with the system and turns it off. Then we start over again the next time a viewer watches.

TVT: Traditionally, personalization would be regarded as an antonym when it comes to broadcast. But now, ATSC 3.0 is a reality with its internet back channel from smart TVs and other devices. Are the tools used by OTT and MVPD organizations adaptable to the needs of NextGen TV broadcasters?

GR: Absolutely. We are working with some large broadcast groups doing some brainstorming and trying to figure out what does this Next Generation TV look like. But really the tools, the back end—all of these things—are in place. And once you've got that two-way interaction, then you can leverage all of these things. Broadcasters can decide whether it’s in front of the firewall, which basically means no user ID and password. In other words, they would be doing a cold start. Or they could throw it behind a firewall and start doing some more sophisticated personalization.

The challenge is you just need to have that two-way technology relationship with viewers. But once you have a true two-way [connection with viewers], you can take advantage of the infrastructure that’s already in place.

I think broadcasters are in an interesting place because they are going to leverage a lot of the investment that companies have already put in place that they can use and not have a real time-to-market issue. All they have to do is to decide the direction they want to go.

TVT: So what challenges will they face?

GR: Broadcasters don’t need to worry about scale too often when they’re talking about a one-way broadcast. The question is, with a new technology that’s hanging out there, is the infrastructure in place to support this, and I don’t think anybody knows the answer until we start doing some of these things.

The other side is the business model. You’ve got to have an ROI associated with it. Everything [revenue] right now is based on the contracts and retrans. Are there other ways for broadcasters to monetize content? What are those? Those are the other questions people are asking.

We’ve been saying for years that [personalized] advertising is going to drive billions and billions of dollars [in digital]. Now broadcasters want in to play in that space as well. When you get into some of the ability to do personalization and start creating, something we call hyper-targeted affinity segments—basically doing targeted ads based on personalization, broadcasters are saying, “I want to come and play in that game, too. How can I do that.”

Those are where the conversations are that we are having with broadcasters at the moment. 

TVT: Based on your company’s experience with OTT and MVPD clients, what can broadcasters expect in terms of stickiness if they essentially launch NextGen TV FAST or SVOD channels and leverage recommendation engine technology?

GR: We haven’t done a lot of modeling on the inside. But what we can say is there is a ton of data that demonstrates both the stickiness and conversion. Conversion is when you make a recommendation. Are subscribers actually using that? With good recommendation, we are seeing conversion rates in double digits, which is really good.

Essentially, you are creating an environment that the customer is staying in. They’re not coming and going, or they are coming back. Personalization absolutely keeps customers engaged longer and produces customers who come back more often. 

TVT: How does a broadcaster personalize a linear channel? In other words, by definition a linear channel is playing out content one piece at a time back to back. So where does personalization fit?

GR: You know, when you start talking about personalized linear channels, I see one of two approaches. In the FAST world, we’re able to build channels based on taste profiles that you might have of a subscriber. The other approach to personalizing a linear channel is building, I guess the best way to put it is, a personalized EPG [Electronic Program Guide] where you might rank channels presented prioritized based on viewer preferences.

Rather than scrolling through a couple of hundred channels as you would in the old days of EPGs, a personalized EPG would present 30, prioritized channels base on viewer tastes.

I’ve also been talking to some broadcasters. They want to do bumper content and shoulder content relevant to the broadcast to engage with viewers a little bit more then. That starts to open up the ability to monetize things a little bit differently.

There are going to be many business models broadcasters can take advantage of.

More information about ThinkAnalytics is on the company’s website.

LOS ANGELES—Question: How ever does Josh Gates, the star of the Discovery+ documentary series “Tales from the Explorer’s Club,” wind up in inhospitable regions as diverse as Mount Everest, outer space and the arctic region and remain no worse for the wear?

Answer: With the help of ARwall’s virtual production technology that enables immersive storytelling and its 20-by-21-foot, 1.5mm pitch 4K LED backdrop, which combined transports the host and viewers to these and other distant, potentially life-extinguishing environments.

ARwall provided the backdrops for the Burbank, Calif., studio where the series was shot. They were used for nearly all of the reenactments in each of the five episodes of the first season—an assignment that included all stunt and outdoor sequences. 

Each episode featured production design, special effects and virtual production technology. The combination of these elements was crucial in achieving lavish visuals, essential for documentary production ARwall said. 

ARwall used its new color management system, which allowed for quicker control over the image, an advancement in software UI/UX and single operator operation. From the production’s side, the extensive use and variety of special effects and practical set pieces, combined with the virtual environments and LED backdrop, took the seamless mix of virtual and practical set elements to a new level, it said.

One example was snow. “[S]now is difficult,” said Ryan Arms, single operator and virtual production artist. “[I]t tends to blow out and lose detail, so we had to really bring down and control highlights for each new setup while ensuring there was depth and richness in the frame.”

Even the CEO of ARwall was stunned by what the production achieved. “Seeing the ingenuity and creativity in this production made us realize that we’ve barely scratched the surface of what amazing things you can do with this tech combined with a smart team of filmmakers,” said ARwall founder and CEO Rene Amador.

“One time, I visited the set, and they had placed a rock face on the ground with the actor laying on it pretending as if he was climbing up a cliff," Amado continued. "When I looked at the monitor, it looked like we were above the actor with a snowy cliffside below him going into the distant slope below; and it was shockingly convincing.” 

A sizzle reel of “Tales from the Explorers” is available online as is the series.

More information about ARwall is available online.

LOS ANGELES—As streaming options proliferate and streaming services rapidly revamp their offerings, a new study is once again highlighting the difficulties facing viewers trying to find content and manage their increasingly large watchlists.

New research conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Plex, the free global streaming media platform, revealed that the average American has 13 TV shows and 16 movies on their watchlist to get through — averaging a total of 104 hours — which is enough content to last two whole flights around the world. 

The study, which was conducted in July of 2022, also found that half of Americans said it's a struggle to find what streaming platform the content is available on and that they spend an average of 30 minutes flipping through four different streaming services before deciding on what to watch.

The study of 2,000 Americans found that 68% keep a TV show and movie watchlist so lengthy, it's "nearly impossible" for them to get through. While over 7 in 10 (73%) keep a list of shows and films they plan to watch, more than half (58%) said they struggle to keep track of everything they want to watch.

The research also found: 

• Getting through a watchlist is not easy: Of the 42% of Americans who haven't made it through their watchlist, the biggest obstacles preventing them from completing the list are that it's consistently getting longer (43%), it's already too long (29%) or it's overwhelming (25%).
• New, buzzy TV serials are the most popular for watchlists: "Stranger Things" topped Americans' watchlists as the TV show they'd most like to watch, followed by "Game of Thrones" (21%) "The Walking Dead" (21%), "Breaking Bad" (19%) and "Squid Game" (19%).
• Preferred TV show genre varies by generation: While Millennials are nearly twice (45%) as likely than Gen Z (26%) to have true crime shows on their watchlists, sitcoms are most popular on Zoomers' lists (38%). Meanwhile, Gen X and baby boomers both prefer full-hour procedurals (50% and 58%, respectively).
• Men and women prefer different watchlist formats: Nearly half (46%) of women simply try to remember what they want to watch, and the same number of men (46%) keep a note on their phones for their watchlists.
• Simply having a list of shows and movies does not cut it for most Americans with 58% reporting that maintaining an organized watchlist is a "must" to ensure they can cross off content from their list. While two-thirds (65%) prefer watching content from their list before defaulting to something else, over half (56%) turn off the TV and find something else to do if they can't find something to watch, and 55% opt for re-watching a show or movie.

Earlier this year, Plex launched with two new features, Discover and Universal Watchlist, to alleviate many of the pain points that plague consumers subscribed to multiple streaming services. With Discover, users can simply search for a title to find where it is streaming. If it's available on a streaming service they have, they can launch it directly from Plex, eliminating time wasted switching from app to app. Users can also easily add any titles to one Universal Watchlist on the Plex app, regardless of where the content is available, making it easier to remember what they want to watch across streaming apps and networks.

"With new content constantly being released to streaming services, it can be difficult to keep track of it all," said Jason Williams, product director at Plex. "With Plex Universal Watchlist, consumers can easily stay updated on their favorite movies and shows across all major streaming platforms, even as their favorite content moves or becomes available on other services. Our goal is to make the streaming experience as seamless and enjoyable as possible."

NEW YORK—Discovery has announced that EDO will be its preferred behavior measurement partner and that Discovery will use EDO during this year’s upfronts to measure the impact of ad campaigns. 

Discovery is using EDO’s Ad EnGage offering to measure consumer interest and intent with proprietary data measurement tools that focus on search activity following a TV advertisement. The data will be leveraged during the 2022/23 Upfront season across Discovery’s portfolio of trusted brands. 

“Offering clients reliable and predictive behavioral measurement data is the linchpin of Discovery’s advanced advertising solutions, and this partnership with EDO allows us to build upon that and emphasize our influence on consumer habits,” said Jon Steinlauf, chief U.S. ad sales officer, Discovery. “EDO is a trusted and strategic data insights partner offering solutions that will supplement Discovery’s already impressive measurement toolkit that provides clients with an unmatched ability to understand their audience.” 

Within the Discovery Engage advanced advertising platform, EDO’s Search Engagement data will be used as a key input to inform and optimize media plans for Discovery advertisers, as well as a critical performance measure of behavioral advertising impact, the companies said. 

This will provide clients with data that will help them plan and optimize ad campaigns beyond basic demographic targets or audience segments. The companies reported that a major wireless telecom advertiser that executed a data-driven media plan through the Discovery Engage platform in Q3 2021 experienced 22% higher Search Engagement as compared to its cable average.

"The era of single-currency television advertising is over and marketers must now use multiple premium video currencies to determine the effectiveness and value of their ads," said Kevin Krim, president and CEO, EDO. "By leveraging our actionable data and insights during the 2022 upfronts, Discovery is in a great position to create optimized plans and drive impact for their advertisers across the rich and diverse Discovery programming portfolio.”

Discovery consistently delivers the most engaging programs for advertisers, according to EDO data. In 2021, Discovery held seven of the top 10 positions on EDO's ranking of the most engaging entertainment programs in primetime cable. More than half (60) of the top 100 programs aired on Discovery’s networks, the companies reported. 

Discovery will also use EDO data to showcase the value of its Discovery Premiere sales package, which empowers brands to exclusively advertise in a carefully curated mix of premiere episodes. Notable advertisers, including Capital One, Expedia, Kia, Lowe's and Panera Bread, ran Discovery Premiere Primetime schedules in the second half of 2021 and experienced over 25% higher Search Engagement than their individual primetime broadcast and cable averages.

Additionally, EDO’s behavioral data set will provide key performance measures of branded short-form custom content, sponsorships and integrations across Discovery’s networks.

NEW YORK—Discovery, Inc. has announced that its shareholders have approved various matters relating to the acquisition of WarnerMedia from AT&T to create Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.

The approvals set the stage for the $43 billion deal to close in Q2, 2022. 

Based on estimated preliminary voting results, Discovery said that during the Special Meeting of Discovery Stockholders, Discovery stockholders voted to approve the charter amendment proposals, share issuance proposal and the advisory (non-binding) compensation proposal. 

The approvals mark the completion of one of the few remaining closing conditions for the merger.  These preliminary voting results will be updated through the filing of a Current Report on Form 8-K to reflect the final certification of results from the Inspector of Election, the company said. 

The Boards of Directors of both AT&T and Discovery have approved the transaction.

NEW YORK—In the Q4 earnings results, Discovery reported notable progress in its streaming efforts, with direct-to-consumer subs hitting 22 million, and outlined some streaming strategies for the combined WarnerMedia, Discovery assets when the merger is completed. 

Overall, Discovery added about 2 million direct-to-consumer subs in Q4, 2021, mostly for its Discovery+ service. 

During the Q4 earnings call David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery noted that for Discovery+, “we expect to launch the U.K. in March with additional countries in Europe having been identified to follow thereafter.” 

Zaslav also stressed that they had revamped their tech stack in Europe so it is on the same platform as the U.S., which will help speed up future growth and international rollouts for Discovery's direct-to-consumer products. 

“Within direct-to-consumer, discovery+ plus continues to perform very well,” Zaslav said. “We end the year with 22 million total subscribers passing peak investment loss levels supported by consistent and continued strong KPIs, advertiser interest, and overall monetization efforts. As previously discussed, we've thoughtfully and tactically managed our rollout and will continue to do so while sharpening our focus and gaining perspective for the next leg of our direct-to-consumer journey with WarnerMedia and HBO.”

“[W]e achieved a significant milestone this past quarter, having replatformed our discovery+ tech stack across Europe, bringing it onto a single platform consistent with the U.S.,” Zaslav said. “We achieved this important migration quite seamlessly, enabling a more feature rich and personalized consumer experience. These efforts should ultimately drive better consumer engagement, higher retention, and ultimately lower churn, further supporting the trend we've enjoyed over the last few quarters.”

“This replatforming also enables the rolling out of an add light tier to discovery + and select international regions,” he continued. “Something as you know, that was not contemplated when we launched at the end of 2020, in which we expect will figure meaningfully in our eventual merged offering.”

During the call Zaslav also explained how the large libraries and production capabilities of the combined WarnerMedia, Discovery assets would position them for faster growth on multiple platforms. 

But he also stressed that they planned to be "careful and judicious" in their spending. 

“We have the resources,” he said, adding that “we plan on being careful and judicious. Our goal is to compete with the leading streaming services, not to win the spending war.”

“We're going to spend more on content, but you're not going to see us come in and go, all right, we're spending $5 billion more" he said. 

“We're going to continue to spend, but don't expect us to come out and go a couple of billion dollars more and off we go,” he continued. “No, we're going to be measured. We're going to be smart and we're going to be careful, but we're going to invest in the streaming platform. But that's not our only game. Our game is to create a business that generates sustainable growth, that's global in nature, that generates a lot of free cash flow."

The remarks come at a time when Wall Street has become increasingly concerned about spending on content for streaming services at companies like Netflix and Disney. 

LONDON—Discovery has reported record Olympic Winter Games viewership and engagement on its digital platforms. 

More than 156 million Europeans visited Discovery's platforms with over one billion streaming minutes consumed, 19 times more than the last Olympic Winter Games, the company said. 

The discovery+ and Eurosport streaming services saw 8 times more streaming viewers during this Games as users consumed more than double the content with average consumption exceeding 7 hours per viewer. 

The same trend was seen on linear television with viewers on average watching 24% longer than PyeongChang 2018. The ad-supported Eurosport.com, and its local country editions, reached over double the amount of users compared to the same period.

Average linear TV audiences, both free-to-air and Eurosport, “remain resilient and in line with PyeongChang 2018, despite an overall 10% reduction in total TV usage since 2018,” the company also noted. 

High audience shares on Discovery's free-to-air networks in the Nordic markets continued with highs of 88% (Norway), 83% (Sweden) and 82% (Finland). Eurosport channels saw significant audience and share growth in many key markets - including Poland (+36%), Romania (+23%), and Italy (+250%) - and Discovery's channels across both free-to-air and pay-tv saw an overall increase in audience share. 

"The Winter Olympics has proven to be a terrific success for discovery+ and all our channels and platforms across Europe,” said Jean-Briac Perrette, president and CEO, Discovery Streaming & International. “Discovery is leading the way in building global scale in streaming whilst also maintaining strength in traditional television viewership, significantly outperforming the market across both.”

"Well over half of all new Olympics subscribers also enjoyed discovery+'s entertainment content, reinforcing the increased depth and value of our offering,” he added. “These subscribers remain engaged and retained for longer, which meaningfully improves subscriber lifetime value."

Discovery presented Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in 50 markets in Europe featuring 11 national productions and coverage in 19 languages. 

NEW YORK—In another example of how networks and media buyers are looking for new currencies and measurement tools that better capture viewing across all platforms, Discovery, Inc. and the Omnicom Media Group (OMG), have announced a new data trial pilot that aims to offer new currencies to advertisers in the upcoming television upfront season.

For the first trials, which are already underway, Discovery and OMG are working with Comscore and VideoAmp. 

“As we head into the Upfront season, it is vital that we work with our clients who believe they have an idea that might improve upon the current status quo in measurement.” said Jon Steinlauf, chief U.S. ad sales officer, Discovery. “This pilot program with OMG ensures our partners can test best-of-breed measurement solutions, as well as trial new linear TV currencies, which will be an important first step towards transitioning to an eventual accredited person-based cross-platform currency.”

“Understanding that the video currency of the future has to better align with our advertisers’ objectives, we need to be transacting cross-platform on metrics that directly relate to our advertisers’ audiences and are reliably measured,” added Geoff Calabrese, chief investment officer of Omnicom Media Group. “OMG’s partnership with Discovery will accelerate our ability to deliver on this imperative for our clients.”

The trial is currently in progress across multiple advertiser categories and evaluates linear delivery for OMG clients via several measurement services, with the aim of validating their ability to provide stable and accurate audience estimates, the companies said. 

Comscore and VideoAmp will serve as the video measurement services for the initial set of advertisers, which include AT&T and State Farm.

“OMG and Discovery, Inc. have long embraced the census-based measurement approach Comscore invented with its digital and television services. We are proud to participate in the currency initiatives undertaken to advance the accuracy and evolution of media measurement,” said Carol Hinnant, chief revenue officer, Comscore. “We have invested in our media solutions to ensure that the buy-side and sell-side will have stable, predictable and accredited choices for measurement now and in the future.”

"VideoAmp is thrilled to partner with Discovery Networks and OMG on this pilot and bring our currency solution to market for the 2022-23 Upfront season. Our currency-grade TV Viewership dataset, which commingles Set Top Box and Smart TV data into a unified footprint for linear measurement across 39 million households, provides accurate data on which buyers and sellers can transact. With VideoAmp measurement as currency, advertisers can now transact on age and gender, advanced audiences and cross-platform as well as understand attribution," said Michael Parkes, president, VideoAmp.

BEIJING & LONDON—Discovery Communications is reporting that the opening week of competition at Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 has driven massive increases in engagement on discovery+ and Eurosport digital services, as well as strong overall linear viewership across Europe.

Eight times more viewers are streaming Olympic content compared to the same period for Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 with total new paid subscribers to Discovery’s streaming services already surpassing 2018 with a week of competition still to go.

Nearly three-quarters of a billion streaming minutes have been consumed on Discovery’s subscription services so far, more than 18 times higher than the same period of PyeongChang 2018, the company said. 

Average minutes consumed per viewer across discovery+ and Eurosport streaming services has more than doubled, as well as people on average watching 29% longer on television vs PyeongChang 2018. The free Olympic news and short video clips on Eurosport.com have more than doubled their reach as well.

In terms of linear TV, Eurosport’s average linear audiences remain strong and are in line with the last Olympic Winter Games, despite total TV usage being down more than 10 percent since 2018, Discovery said. 

Linear television audience shares in the Nordics, including Sweden and Norway where Discovery is both the pay-tv and free-to-air broadcaster, remained strong versus PyeongChang 2018 with continued stellar results reaching highs of 87% (Norway), 83% (Sweden) and 71% (Finland).

Discovery is presenting Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in 50 markets in Europe featuring 11 national productions and coverage in 19 languages.

“The Olympics are off to a strong start across all our platforms, with discovery+ at the forefront of this early success as the growth of our streaming service continues to significantly outperform,” said Jean-Briac Perrette, president & CEO, Discovery Streaming & International.

“It is also reaffirming the power and value of integrating sports into our discovery+ entertainment service,” he added. “As well as attracting a significant number of new discovery+ subscribers, sports broadens its appeal throughout the whole household and provides consumers an even greater, more retentive value proposition. Through just this first week, more than a third of new discovery+ Olympics subscribers have already consumed other entertainment content on the platform.”

Since the start of the Olympics, nearly twice as many people have visited the ad-supported Eurosport.com site, together with its multiple local country versions, compared to the same stage of PyeongChang 2018. The platform has continued to extend its offering and bring fans live updates, news and on-demand video around the Games, the company noted. 

NEW YORK—The proposed merger between Discovery and WarnerMedia has passed an important hurdle, with Discovery reporting that the proposed merger has passed U.S. regulatory review for possible antitrust violations. 

Discovery made the disclosure in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

The deal has already been approved by European regulators and only needs to be approved by shareholders to be finalized. Discovery and AT&T have said the $43 billion deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. 

In the 425 Filing, Discovery told the SEC that: “As of February 9, 2022, Discovery, Inc. (“Discovery”) and AT&T Inc. (“AT&T”) have satisfied the closing condition in Section 9.1(d)(i)of the Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”), dated as of May 17, 2021, by and among Discovery, AT&T, DrakeSubsidiary, Inc. and Magallanes, Inc. (“Spinco”) relating to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended(“HSR Act”). The HSR Act statutory waiting period has expired or otherwise been terminated, and any agreement not to consummate the transaction between the parties and the Federal Trade Commission or the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice or any other applicable governmental entity, has also expired or otherwise been terminated.”

NEW YORK—As part of a push to expand its advanced advertising capabilities, Discovery will become a minority owner of OpenAP, an advanced advertising company. 

Discovery joins Fox, NBCUniversal and ViacomCBS in the joint venture. 

The investment signals an expansion of Discovery’s existing relationship with OpenAP. Discovery integrated with the central TV identity spine, OpenID, in April 2021 and more recently partnered with OpenAP on the launch of XPm, the TV publisher backed cross-platform measurement framework. 

The investment in OpenAP is part of Discovery’s strategy of building a technical framework that will allow it to improve its cross-platform audience-based buying capabilities and support alternative currency standards, the company said. 

Discovery will join OpenAP’s board of directors with Jon Steinlauf, chief U.S. advertising sales officer, and Jim Keller, executive vice president, digital ad sales and advanced advertising, both representing the company.

“Discovery is excited to take an active role shaping the future of advanced audience buying,” said Keller. “Given our current momentum, influence and growth of audience-based sales, we believe Discovery can help further the work OpenAP has been doing to initiate meaningful change in the market.”

Discovery’s investment follows a year of significant platform growth for OpenAP with half a billion in publisher-driven advertising sales expected to run through OpenAP in fiscal year 2022, marking 140% year-over-year growth, the companies said. 

Currently, OpenAP works with more than 100 advertisers following the 2019 launch of the OpenAP Market with centralized advanced audiences able to be distributed to all national TV publishers regardless of platform. 

“Discovery has long been a pioneer of TV entertainment with its iconic portfolio of content and direct-to-consumer experiences people love. The last two years have demonstrated the force of change that can happen when we take an audience-first approach to reimagining TV advertising for media owners, advertisers and consumers alike,” said David Levy, CEO of OpenAP. “We are grateful for the increased commitment Discovery is making to work alongside us on this journey of propelling further growth of the marketplace.”

For more information, visit www.openap.tv.

SEATTLE—Discovery has turned to Amazon Web Services (AWS) to assist with the global rollout of discovery+, including enabling greater personalization capabilities to assist viewers in finding content that appeals to their interests, AWS said.

This latest engagement extends the existing strategic relationship between the companies. As Discovery’s preferred cloud provider, AWS currently powers the majority of the broadcaster’s infrastructure needs to deliver its discovery+ on-demand streaming video service, its digital services and more than 450 linear TV channels around the globe, AWS said.

“AWS provides the unparalleled portfolio of services, global infrastructure and proven performance we need to reliably deliver our premium content at scale to Discovery viewers all over the world,” said Avi Saxena, chief technology officer of direct-to-consumer at Discovery.

“Running on AWS, we have the agility and elasticity we need to deliver quality viewing experiences for peak events like the Olympics, as well as scalable machine learning capabilities to deliver meaningful personalization to viewers so they can get the most value out of their subscriptions.” 

Discovery is the largest media and entertainment user of Amazon Personalize, the company’s machine learning service that enables developers to create real-time, personalized user experiences faster and at scale. Using Amazon Personalize, Discovery offers recommendations for curated content matching the specific interest of viewers.

It also relies on Amazon Transcribe speech-to-text across its linear broadcast channels and streaming services for accurate closed captions as well as Amazon Rekognition automated image and video analysis to extract and tag video content with metadata, AWS said.

Discovery leverages AWS Media & Entertainment Services to deliver over 8,000 hours of original live and on-demand programming each year. AWS Elemental MediaConnect, AWS Elemental MediaLive and AWS Elemental MediaPackage manage Discovery’s video transport, preparation, processing and delivery behind-the-scenes, it said.

In the summer of 2021, as the home of the Olympics in Europe, Discovery scaled its use of AWS Media Services to transmit 1.3 billion minutes of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 content across its range of digital platforms, AWS said.

AWS is also the official cloud, artificial intelligence, machine learning and deep learning provider of Discovery Sports Events. As part of this strategic relationship, the two companies are building an immersive fan-engagement experience for the new Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Track Champions League to introduce track cycling to new audiences and expand its global fan base, it said.

Discovery Sports Events and AWS will serve live data, analysis and stats, such as bike speed, race position and pedal cadence, to fans in the velodrome where races take place through live television and streaming and in a new UCI Track Champions League app, it said.

Discovery Sports Events will use Amazon Kinesis for collection, processing and analysis of video and data streams in real time, ingesting and processing live, streaming data from sensors on the track, bikes and riders. It will apply AWS analytics and machine learning capabilities to serve up stats, such as rider power output in watts, time keeping and racer biometrics, the company said.

It will also use AWS Media Services to provide the stats to fans through the app and broadcast in a simple and compelling format, it said.

More information is available on the AWS website.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil—Discovery has announced plans to launch discovery+ in Brazil on November 9. The streamer will launch with more than 25,000 episodes and titles and has plans to produce 40 local originals in the next two years. 

“Brazil has always been a key market for Discovery. We’ve enjoyed serving our fans there for more than 25 years and we’re thrilled to make Brazil the first country in Latin America to receive the discovery+ product, fully customized for the Brazilian audience,” said Fernando Medin, president and general manager of Discovery Latin America. “As the international portfolio with the biggest audience in Brazil and an innovative content offering in our core genres, discovery+ fulfills Discovery’s brand promise for streaming: the service with an exclusive focus on real-life entertainment and with the most-loved family-friendly content.”

The company stressed that local Brazilian production will a key component for the service. Discovery’s Latin American production team is working with local and global production companies on approximately 40 local titles to be released within the next two years, in addition to over 150 shows in development. 

Available on November 9 in Brazil, “Naked and Afraid Brazil” is the first version of the franchise to feature only Brazilian participants. The series follows the lives of 10 contestants facing the toughest survival challenges for 21 days in the jungle, without water, food, clothes or shelter. The series will also feature a global discovery+ launch, including in the U.S., at a later date to be announced. 

For the first 30 days after launch, discovery+ will be available at a special annual subscription price of 12 installments of R$16,24 for the annual plan, through discoveryplus.com.br. 

For monthly subscriptions, discovery+ will be available for R$21,90. Monthly subscribers will have a free trial period of 7 days. Following the 30 day promotional window, the annual subscription will be available in 12 installments of R$18,90.

In terms of distribution, discovery+ comes to market with partnerships with Claro and Globoplay.  

In Brazil, discovery+ will also be available on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV 4K; Android phones and tablets; smart TVs; as well as Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices. The service can also be accessed by browser from any computer.

It is arguably the best time in history to be a content consumer. Gone are the days of relying on the Big Three (ABC, CBS and NBC) for news and entertainment. Today, between linear broadcasters and the flood of OTT services — a new one being introduced what seems like every day — consumers have more viewing options than ever before.

New streaming services continue to be launched. HBO Max, Roku Originals and IMDb TV joined the Big Three — Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu — as well as Disney+, Apple TV+, Peacock, Paramount+ and Discovery+ among the major entertainment choices.

Altogether in the United States there are over 100 OTT services and more than 1,000 worldwide, according to Dan Rayburn, principal analyst, Frost & Sullivan, who said that the growing OTT market is giving consumers more options to find their entertainment.

“Whether it’s cars or streamers, consumers love choice when it comes to services as a general rule,” said Rayburn.

But with choice comes confusion, and understandably so. The multitude of OTT services in the market, with prices shifting on a regular basis, has left consumers confused and wary of adding on more monthly fees.

“These services are going to get more expensive, so consumers are going to have to decide how much money they have to spend and which services are most important to them,” said Rayburn. “And that’s not going to change going down the road because you’re not going to have services combining.”

Consolidation is not likely to happen among the biggest worldwide OTT services, according to Rayburn, because conglomerates with different business models and ecosystems own them.

Liam Gaughan, a researcher at Parks Associates, agrees. “Larger players are less likely to merge due to their role as brand ambassadors for their respective entertainment companies,” he explained. “But consolidation will continue to be common among smaller and niche services.”

Some might say documentaries are a niche market, but with the boom in content services, according to Gaughan, that programming is essential to OTT service libraries.

“Nonfiction programming ranks high among viewers’ preferred content,” Gaughan said. “Of U.S. broadband households, 37 percent watch documentary content on the online video services they access. Nonfiction exclusive services such as CuriosityStream and Discovery+ have rapidly grown.”

While nonfiction content might be the sweet spot for several OTT services, Rayburn said that when it comes to what programming works for a streaming service is debatable.

“If you look at content, [each service] has their own formula based on who their audience is,” Rayburn said. “They have a formula and data, which they don’t share. What’s interesting, though, is to see how many times a formula doesn’t work. How many shows on Netflix and Amazon and Hulu get cancelled after a year? It’s a hard formula to figure out and a very expensive business.”

There’s no denying that the digital version of the Magnolia Network, the highly anticipated multimedia venture between Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines, helped Discovery+ when it launched in July with more than 150 hours of unscripted programming. 

Originally the plan was to launch Magnolia on the linear grid first, taking over Discovery’s DIY Network. The challenges of the pandemic altered that plan, pushing the linear takeover to January 2022 and making Magnolia a streaming exclusive for now.

Magnolia Network President Allison Page said that while the Gaineses already had plenty of viewership among all demographics, being on Discovery+ has introduced the duo to nonlinear audiences and has also “brought some of that linear audience over into streaming because they’re passionate about [the Gainses] and they are passionate about this brand. So, even though they don’t want to pay $5 more a month, they came to Discover+.” 

Content, as they say, is king and all the kings in this streaming war, or race, want to win. Only time will tell what OTT services survive. 

© NAB 2021

NEW YORK, N.Y.—Discovery has reported that its direct-to-consumer (DTC) efforts hit the 20 million sub milestone at the end of Q3 2021 and that its “next generation revenues” from subscription and advertising revenues generated from DTC products, as well as revenues from TV Everywhere, GO applications and other digital properties hit $425 million in the quarter.  

During the earnings call David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery stressed that there were opportunities to further grow their streaming operations after the merger with WarnerMedia is completed. 

“We are very excited about our pending merger with WarnerMedia and the opportunity to bring these two companies together, combining iconic and globally cherished franchises and brands, and positioning us to more efficiently drive global scale across the combined portfolio,” he said. 

Zaslav also noted that there was relatively little overlap in the U.S. subs of Discovery+ and HBO Max. “At least here in the U.S., we believe less than half of Discovery+ subscribers are also HBO Max subscribers, which with the right packaging, provides a real opportunity to broaden the base of our combined offering,” Zaslav said, adding that there was also a “meaningful upside” in international markets.

Overall total revenues hit $3,150 million in Q3 2021, up 23% from a year earlier. But net income fell to $150 million, down 48% from a year earlier.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Scalable Display Technologies has announced that technology integrator AV Innovative Design selected it to provide projection edge-blending technologies in Discovery’s new global headquarters in New York City. 

Discovery recently relocated its global headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, to New York City. The new headquarters is designed to be a creative, collaborative environment with an open floor plan and loft-like features. The facility features a ground-floor studio and production space, an outdoor rooftop terrace, a full-service wellness center and a dedicated lobby. 

AV Innovative Design, a New York-based technology integrator, was selected to support Discovery with technology integration at the new headquarters. 

“We were introduced to this project with the goal of blending multiple projectors across the common areas in their new headquarters,” said Garett Widmaier, operations manager for AV Innovative Design. “We had limited space in the building, and we were working with short-throw projectors that were being projected on a glass wall. The projectors were mounted to an older brick ceiling, which created its own challenge. The surface was not even, and because of that, we had to create a level brick surface for both projectors to work cooperatively.”

Widmaier added, “Once we had created an even surface, we needed a solution for the edge-blending. We were working with two projectors on each of the nine floors in Discovery’s facility. Our goal was to blend the two projectors evenly and eliminate the line down the middle of the full-size image. It had to be recreated seamlessly across each floor. We integrated Scalable Display Technologies as a solution for edge-blending because we’ve had great success working with their cutting-edge, reliable technology.” 

“I’ve worked with Scalable on many projects,” said Chen Vanunu, partner for AV Innovative Design. “When it comes to various design challenges and solutions, Scalable is always able to meet the challenge and provide us with a professional, reliable solution. Scalable’s technology is incredibly easy to use. Scalable enabled us to seamlessly blend the images between the projectors. It also allowed us to pinpoint the edges to accomplish the design our clients wanted.” 

Scalable’s software automatically warps and blends multiple projectors into one seamless display. 

“The client is thrilled with the overall result,” said Vanunu. “We started this project on the first floor, and they were happy that we were able to meet their expectations. They asked us to recreate the design across the remaining eight stories. In addition, we’ve started integrating new technology for control systems, audio and video. It’s resulted in additional business for us, as well, which we appreciate. This was an important project for Discovery, and it was imperative that we got it right. The result was overwhelming. We appreciate the technology and support that Scalable provided us with.” 

BURBANK, Calif—Discovery CEO David Zaslav has announced that the combined Discovery, Warner Media assets will be officially known as “Warner Bros. Discovery.”

 “We love the new company’s name because it represents the combination of Warner Bros.’ fabled hundred year legacy of creative, authentic storytelling and taking bold risks to bring the most amazing stories to life, with Discovery’s global brand that has always stood brightly for integrity, innovation and inspiration,” Zaslav said in making the announcement.

Zaslav, who will lead the merged company, unveiled the new name to WarnerMedia employees at the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank.

The logo for the combined company includes a tag line, “the stuff that dreams are made of” from the classic Warner Bros. film “Maltese Falcon,” as an homage to the rich legacy of Warner Bros. and statement about the focus of proposed company, the company reported.  

In May, AT&T and Discovery reached a definitive agreement to combine WarnerMedia’s premium entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery’s nonfiction and international entertainment and sports businesses to create a single company. The deal is expected to close in mid-2022.

DALLAS & NEW YORK—WarnerMedia, which is owned by AT&T, and Discovery Inc. have reached an agreement to form a standalone global entertainment company that will combine WarnerMedia’s entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery’s nonfiction and international entertainment and sports business.

With the deal, WarnerMedia and Discovery will merge its leadership teams, content creators and content libraries, with nearly 200,000 hours of programming from brands like HBO, Warner Bros., Discovery, HGTV and more, the announcement detailed. It is also poised to help accelerate both companies’ plans for direct-to-consumer streaming services, which already are available via HBO Max and Discovery+.

“The new company will be able to invest in more original content for its streaming services, enhance the programming options across its global linear pay-TV and broadcast channels and offer more innovative video experiences and consumer choices,” the official press release said.

Discovery President and CEO David Zaslav has been tapped to lead the new company. Zaslav will also serve on the new company’s board of directors, which will consist of 13 members in total—seven appointed by AT&T, including the chairperson, and six, including Zaslav, from Discovery.

“This agreement unites two entertainment leaders with complementary content strengths and positions the new company to be one of the leading global direct-to-consumer streaming platforms,” said John Stankey, CEO of AT&T. “It will support the fantastic growth and international launch of HBO Max with Discovery’s global footprint and create efficiencies, which can be re-invested in producing more great content to give consumers what they want. For AT&T shareholders, this is an opportunity to unlock value and be one of the best capitalized broadband companies, focused on investing in 5G and fiber to meet substantial, long-term demand for connectivity. AT&T shareholders will retain their stake in our leading communications company that comes with an attractive dividend. Plus, they will get a stake in the new company, a global media leader that can build one of the top streaming platforms in the world.”

The deal has already been approved by AT&T’s and Discovery’s Board of Directors. Per the terms of the agreement, AT&T will receive $43 billion in a combination of cash, debt securities and WarnerMedia’s retention of certain debt. AT&T’s shareholders would receive stock representing 71% of the new company, while Discovery shareholders would own 29%.

AT&T and Discovery expect the deal to close in mid-2022, subject to approval by Discovery shareholders (no vote is required by AT&T shareholders) and other customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

NEW YORK—Discovery+ ended its first full quarter with 13 million subscribers, according to Discovery’s Q1 2021 financial report. This brings Discovery’s total direct-to-consumer subscribers to 15 million across its entire global portfolio.

Discovery+, a streaming service that offers Discovery-owned content from Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, the new Magnolia Channel and more, launched in the U.S. in January. It launched in the U.K. and Ireland in 2020.

At the end of 2020, Discovery reported that its DTC subscriber numbers were at 5.2 million. That number shot up to more than 11 million in February, and now has cracked 15 million.

“Our strong direct-to-consumer performance underscores outstanding value and appeal of our content, brands and personalities to both consumers and distribution partners alike,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery.

While Discovery+ was available on most major streaming platforms at launch, Zaslav said that it recently added Comcast Xfinity and Amazon Prime Video channels.

Beyond streaming, Zaslav said that Discovery had the most-watched pay-TV portfolio in the U.S. and experienced its seventh consecutive quarter of international share growth.

The bigger financial picture had Discovery netting total revenues of nearly $2.8 billion, a 4% increase year-over-year. While U.S. advertising revenues dipped by 4%, Discovery said that its distribution revenues went up by 12%. It was the inverse internationally, where advertising revenue was up 16% and distribution was flat.

For Discovery’s full Q1 2021 financial report, visit its website. 

SILVER SPRING, Md.—Discovery’s direct to consumer business has seen major upgrades since the launch of Discovery+, as the company reports that it now has more than 11 million paid subscribers across its DTC platforms. Per TV Tech's sister publication Next|TV, that number was at 5.2 million at the end of December 2020.

Discovery+ launched on Jan. 4 in the U.S. and several European markets, providing the exclusive streaming home for Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network TLC, ID, OWN, Travel Channel, Animal Planet and more.

According to David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery, the company's DTC platforms are expected to reach 12 million paid subscribers by the end of February.

This information comes from Discovery’s fourth quarter and full-year 2020 report, though any revenue from discovery+ did not factor into those numbers. As for the financial details, Discovery had a total revenue of $2.886 billion in Q4 2020, which it says was generally flat compared to Q4 2019. It’s total revenue for 2020 of $10.671 billion was down, however, about 4%.

Zaslav is bullish on Discovery’s outlook, largely because of the emergence of discovery+.

“We are off to a promising start in 2021 with the successful launch of discovery+,” he said. “Our unmatched global scale and ability to serve consumers everywhere with a truly differentiated offering across platforms, as well as our robust cash flows, even amidst the significant investments in our next generation initiatives and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, position us to achieve sustainable long-term growth and drive long-term shareholder value.”

Discovery’s latest financial report is available online. 

PALISADES, N.Y.—The Video Call Center will continue to provide its remote production technology to Discovery Inc., as the two sides have announced a two-year extension to their master agreement. As per the deal, VCC will serve as Discovery’s global, remote video production partner.

Starting in 2017, Discovery began using VCC’s Caller Cloud Service for its “90 Day Fiance Tell All” series to help with remote connections and capture high-quality programming. Since this initial use, Discovery’s use of VCC has expanded to other programs, including those for TLC, HGTV, Food Network and the new discovery+ streaming service.

VCC provides Discovery, as well as its production teams at Sharp Entertainment, Eastern, Lando Entertainment, Big Fish Entertainment, Wilma TV/Discovery Studios, with a suite of services and proprietary systems that help enable remote work with a global cast and have participation from audience members. 

In addition to the Caller Cloud Service, VCC provides Discovery with its HAT customizable, on-demand, automated control room service; and CC-SOLO, an on-demand host platform to establish and record IP video calls.

For more information, visit www.thevcc.tv.  

NEW YORK—Discovery+, Discovery Inc.’s new streaming service, has officially launched in the U.S. with availability on all major streaming platforms and devices.

Discovery+ enters the market with a range of options for viewers to access it. The SVOD is available on Amazon Fire TV streaming devices and Fire TV Edition smart TVs; iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Apple TV; Android phones and tablets, Chromecast with Google TV, Android TV OS devices, Google Chromecast and Chromecast built-in devices; Microsoft Xbox One and Series S/X devices; the Roku platform; and 2017 and newer Samsung Smart TVs.

Discovery+ also has a partnership with Verizon in the U.S. that will provide a year subscription for the service to new and existing Verizon wireless customers with a Play More or Get More Unlimited plan. A six month free subscription is available to customers with Start or Do More Unlimited plans. Also, new Verizon 5G Home Internet or Fios Gigabit Connection customers can get a free year subscription.

Discovery also has a deal in place with Sky in the U.K. and Ireland for discovery+. In addition, a deal with Vodafone TV has been announced bringing the streaming service to Vodafone subscribers in the U.K., Germany, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland and Iceland.

As far as content, discovery+ will be the exclusive streaming home to Discovery brands that include the Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, OWN, Travel Channel, Animal Planet and the forthcoming Magnolia Network. Content will also be available from A&E, The History Channel, Lifetime and natural history content from the BBC. For European subscribers, it will also be the home of Eurosports content and the Olympics.

In total, discovery+ is expected to feature more than 55,000 episodes of current and classic shows from Discovery’s portfolio, as well as more than 50 original titles and more than 150 hours of exclusive content at launch.

Discovery+ is available for $4.99/month with ads and $6.99/month without ads in the U.S. Each account allows for up to five user profiles and four concurrent streams.

Systems integration is at the core of Miller’s concept of the new television ecosystem. 

“To do something transformational, you have to build it,” Miller explained, quickly adding that the process requires “an effective supply chain” and a constant awareness of “the creative processes.”  

“You need all that system visibility to drive workflow in order to become a more efficient business,” he added. “Our goal has been to develop things that [expand] the creative process.” For the multiplatform, internationally based Discovery media network, that has necessitated a “single technical approach” to consolidate its digital and traditional platforms.

“The content factory is providing material for all the distribution platforms,” he explained. That requires integration throughout media operations, including ad sales systems, marketing systems, software development and more, Miller added.

“The next big thing is determining how to bring in new tools for production, including machine vision,” Miller predicted. “A lot of our focus will be on the live production process, including machine learning.” 

In his 15 years at Discovery, Miller has supervised the design and construction of its production facility and broadcast center and manages day-to-day operations across Discovery’s North American production and broadcast facilities. He also oversees the company’s Global Media Engineering, R&D and IT Development teams.

“People think we pioneered the move to the cloud; [we’ve seen it as] a means to an end,” he said. “We didn’t just want to lift and shift to the cloud. We wanted to reimagine how we do it.”

Miller believes the “monumental shift” toward digital platforms has been “the big disrupter,” which is driving the reimagining throughout the media technology business.

Miller foresees continuing growth of cloud services in all segments of the TV industry, including live news and sports. That’s a vital factor given Discovery’s sizeable ownership role in Eurosport and news in Eastern Europe. 

“As a tech leader in the industry, we had a jump start,” Miller explained. “We started our shift about three to four years before others,” he said. “We struggled like others with the stack and bringing everything together.” He cited the process of identifying appropriate technology, automation and advanced tools to get content onto “all those screens,” and the “elegance of software” as a primary tool in the transformation. 

NEW YORK—Shortly after we usher in 2021 there will be another streaming platform entering the U.S. market, as Discovery has announced that Discovery+ will be available to U.S. viewers as of Jan. 4.

Discovery+ will be the exclusive streaming home from Discovery brands that include the Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, Animal Planet, TLC and ID, as well as programming from A&E, History and Lifetime, with more than 55,000 episodes from more than 2,500 current and classic shows as well as new original series. The platform will also be the streaming home for BBC’s natural history shows “Planet Earth,” “Blue Planet” and “Frozen Planet.”

Subscribers will be able to watch Discovery+ on mobile devices, tablets, computers, game consoles and connected TVs.

Discovery is offering both ad-supported and ad-free subscriptions for Discovery+. The ad-supported version will cost $4.99/month, while the ad-free version will cost $6.99/month.

The Jan. 4 date is the U.S. launch of Discovery+; it is already available in the U.K. and Ireland. There are plans to launch in 25 countries within the streaming platform’s first year.

According to a report from the Hollywood Reporter, Discovery+ has teamed with Verizon to offer a year’s subscription for free to some Verizon customers.

For more information, visit the Discovery+ website. 

LONDON—Discovery has been revealed as the lead investor in news channel GB News, which will count Andrew Neil as its chairman.

The new 24-hour channel is described as a right-leaning channel that will aim to take on the likes of BBC, ITN and Sky News.

GB News is currently aiming to raise between $55 million and $65 million—with Discovery said to have invested about a quarter of the capital the channel hopes to raise by launch.

Neil has announced he has left the BBC to join GB News, tweeting: “I’m delighted to announce I have accepted the post of chairman of GB News, a new news channel to be launched early in the New Year bringing new perspectives to the news. I will also be presenting a new nightly prime-time show on GB News. Watch this space.”

The Spectator, which Neil also chairs, confirmed Discovery’s involvement. It described GB News as “Not a British answer to Fox News (the analogy often reached for whenever a rival to the BBC is mentioned) but a station that might broadcast good news a bit more often, or would not be so quick to assume that everything that goes wrong is the fault of the government. One that takes a more even-handed approach to culture wars and doesn’t see coverage of U.S. politics an exercise in exorcism.”

The management team will include Angelos Frangopoulos (ex-Sky Australia) John McAndrew (ex-Sky News) as director of news and programming.

WASHINGTON—Another major media player has plans to launch its own direct-to-consumer streaming service, as reports are indicating that Discovery is eyeing an early 2021 launch date for its Discovery+.

This comes from a report by Digiday, which cites agency executives that the first quarter of 2021 is the likely time frame for Discovery to enter the streaming market.

While calling it Discovery+ is not official, Discovery reportedly filed a trademark for that name back in July.

Digiday also reports that the streaming service is likely to feature an ad-supported and an ad-free tier. The streaming service is specifically targeting cord-cutters, Digiday claims.

A Discovery spokesperson declined to comment on the Digiday story. 

DreamCatcher BRAVO, the newest addition to Evertz’ DreamCatcher suite of live production tools, is proving a major asset for international broadcaster Discovery Inc., which has adopted this uniquely collaborative production system for its high profile, direct to consumer streaming service, Food Network Kitchen.

Offering a complete food and cooking digital experience, Food Network Kitchen features thousands of live and on-demand cooking classes hosted by top Food Network chefs, as well as on-demand instructional videos, thousands of recipes, culinary-related original programming and select shows from Food Network’s library. The service is integrated with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, providing hands-free navigation to subscribers as they prep their dishes. Subscribers can also order ingredients via Amazon, Peapod and Instacart.

Launched at NAB 2019, Evertz’ BRAVO is an application on the DreamCatcher architecture that allows producers to maximize live broadcast revenues and capitalize on rights by creating top tier live content at lower cost and for multiple platforms. Ideally suited to live sports, gaming and entertainment programming, BRAVO provides all the features required for a multicamera production, including video/audio mixing, dynamic graphics, support for external graphic engines, replays and highlights. By acting as a software client on the DreamCatcher Playout node and leveraging DreamCatcher’s patented network architecture, BRAVO has access to all inputs and can be used on any production, regardless of its size or scale. Its intuitive, touch surface interface uses Evertz’ VUE technology and can be customized for one, two or more operators, giving them the controls they require to tackle a wide range of production tasks.

Discovery was quick to spot the potential of Evertz’ new BRAVO technology and became the lead customer to deploy the Dreamcatcher and BRAVO solution. Rob Goldheim, Discovery’s Group vice president of Production Engineering, says BRAVO’s arrival on the market coincided fortuitously with the broadcaster’s plans to launch the Food Network Kitchen app, which went on air in October 2019.

Discovery added DreamCatcher and BRAVO solutions to their existing SMPTE ST 2110 facilities based on Evertz’ Software Defined Video Networking (SDVN) solutions. This includes MAGNUM (SDVN Orchestration and Control), Evertz IPX128 10G/25G switch fabrics, IP Multiviewers, evEDGE conversion where required and 570ITXE’s that allow for multiple formats for distribution, including baseband, IPTV H.264 and JPEG XS for hand off to distribution via the Discovery WAN. 

Goldheim says the main production challenge was delivering a large number of live events without dramatically increasing staffing levels. The system chosen had to be reliable, cost effective and collaborative, while also meeting the stringent quality requirements that Discovery demands of all its programme content.

“From the outset, the concept was to create an app-based cooking show that was outside the normal cable TV food show offering,” he explains. “Live events were key and Food Network Kitchen was planning to do a lot of them. Having a production control room filled with people for every one of these live events would have been totally cost prohibitive as it would have meant staffing across multiple shifts and getting people in and out between each production. This is why we turned to the DreamCatcher BRAVO. By adding DreamCatcher and BRAVO functionality, we are able to manage any number of live events with very small crews—usually just one TV producer and an engineer. DreamCatcher and BRAVO have brought a new dimension to Discovery’s approach to live programming.”

Using BRAVO gave Discovery’s production staff a whole set of useful new tools. According to Christian Jacobs, director of Engineering at Discovery’s New York office, favorites include keyable graphics that can be run by a single operator, the ability to easily bring in pre-recorded clips and files to supplement the live action and the ability to quickly choose audio inputs so that microphones can be switched by simply touching a computer screen.

“Food Network Kitchen’s requirements were not defined very early on, so we needed a Swiss Army knife solution that could do pretty much anything,” Rob Goldheim says. “The clip player, for example, not only records clips but also rolls clips as well, which we anticipated would be a big part of the Food Network Kitchen’s ask. There is also a metadata piece that we are still trying to define because there is a lot of interest in this. It will eventually tag live events for more integrated Alexa control and help identify ingredients, kitchen equipment and the various steps for each recipe. There’s a lot we still haven’t tapped into, and we are developing the tool sets behind our app to allow us to do more.” 

“Working with Discovery on the Food Network Kitchen project has been a great experience, as the application was a perfect fit for BRAVO. The goal for BRAVO has always been to allow media companies like Discovery [to] tell great stories and create high quality content across multiple platforms. We are excited to be adding more advanced features to the BRAVO workflow to enhance the user experience on the streaming service. These features include intelligent automatic framing for 9x16 pan and scan as well as insertion of advanced metadata to allow user step through the content using Alexa,” says Vince Silvestri, vice president of Software Systems at Evertz.

COVID-19 THROWS A CURVEBALL

Food Network Kitchen’s plan was always to incorporate more remote filming, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, this had to happen a lot faster. 

Initially chosen because it allows Discovery to deliver more live shows efficiently, BRAVO really demonstrated its value with its flexibility, ease of use and scalability, and it enabled the broadcaster to continue streaming live programming on the Food Network Kitchen app, despite its talent and production teams being in lockdown.

“When COVID-19 hit, our only option was to film live segments remotely from the chefs’ home kitchens, which were located all over the USA,” says Christian Jacobs. “The combination of BRAVO and DreamCatcher has been a real asset because the system allows us to make production tools accessible remotely. As a result, we have been able to produce new, live content on the Food Network Kitchen app, which is something many other apps and networks have struggled with.”

“When we went into lockdown, live production was halted for approximately three weeks and the app replayed previously recorded content,” Jacobs says. “We used that time to work out what we were going to do. We just had to deal with it. From 70 live events a week, we went down to none, although we have now picked up again to about 40.”

The solution, according to Rob Goldheim, involved sending various Food Network talent— from A-listers to up and coming chefs on social media networks—a basic kit incorporating a couple of iPhones, a tripod and some simple production equipment. Discovery also partnered with a cellular transmissions company to transmit video feeds via its app to Food Network Kitchen’s production crew. 

“We sent kits to talent all over the USA and then spent a couple of weeks working with them to make sure they knew how to use the equipment,” Jacobs says. “Obviously, we couldn’t send a cameraman to each location, so each person had to rely on a family member or significant other to film them while they cooked. It was nerve-wracking, but we kept it simple because we were relying on people who are not production experts to produce live content for us.”

Having good internet was also key as a poor connection could cause dropouts in the picture. “With a stable internet connection, the footage was broadcast quality,” Jacobs says. “The signal we received from the iPhones was compressed full-res 1080i 59.94 resolution, but was good quality and was decoded as baseband video. We have used the footage for linear promotions domestically and Food Network Kitchen intends to use the content on linear channels internationally.”

“It is fantastic that the technology existed to make this work,” he says. “There were certainly things that had to be ironed out, but we managed to solve most issues to the satisfaction of Discovery leadership.”

Rob Goldheim adds that having access to DreamCatcher and BRAVO during this critical period was crucial. During the early stages of COVID-19, Evertz introduced a key new feature on the DreamCatcher called “DC Anywhere” that enabled full low-latency remote access and control from any location with an IP connection. 

“Without it, we would have needed many more crew,” he says. “The real benefit is the ability to do everything remotely because the system is software based and operationally all you need is a touchscreen. During the COVID-19 lockdown, operators connected to a VPN and remotely accessed Discovery’s BRAVO stations so they could work from any location, which was a huge win.”

“Our partnership with Evertz goes back many years, and we have a very good relationship” says Goldheim. “We worked closely in 2016 with Evertz to install and globally roll out a cloud-based Linear playout solution, so we had a high level of confidence in the company to deliver this solution. Our requirements may initially be unique to Discovery, but what we build together tends to develop into something that is ultimately useful for everybody.” 

“Having worked with the group from Discovery for many years, we know that flexibility, reliability and ability to adapt quickly to changing environments is an absolute must. Utilizing an IP-based SMPTE ST 2110 infrastructure with MAGNUM Orchestration and Control, Evertz VUE Technology and incorporating evEDGE and 570ITXE’s along with the DreamCatcher and BRAVO solutions gives Discovery a very flexible and powerful platform to move forward,” says Melissa Davis, Evertz director of sales, Washington, D.C. 

 For more information, please visit www.evertz.com.

PALISADES, N.Y.—The Video Call Center and Discovery Inc. are continuing their partnership and are working together on a new socially-distant live, late-night series on TLC, “Find Love Live.”

VCC has announced that its contract with Discovery, which began in 2017, has been extended. This will enable Discovery to expand upon the VCC video caller-based production platform and production services that are currently being used to help create content for programs like “After the Catch” and “90 Day Fiancé” during the current coronavirus pandemic.

VCC will also be a key resource for the new show “Find Love Live.” The live show will utilize VCC’s location-agnostic video call production capabilities to keep with social distancing safety protocols. The show will feature an in-studio host, but the rest of the cast, special guests and audience members will join the show via a live remote connection from VCC’s platform and be supported by VCC’s call production staff, all working from their own homes and using specialized remote systems.

VCC says that its lag-free, two-way communication capabilities will enable show participants to see and hear each other in real time. Participants only need a smartphone or other internet-connected device to join, says VCC.

A new VCC technology that will be used for “Find Love Live” is the VCC Caller Queue system. Caller Queue recruits, screens and prepares members of the live viewing audience to appear on-air as prospective daters, with help from VCC call producers to get ready for air. Producers can sort and filter potential participants in Caller Queue. Participants are also able to complete release forms through the platform prior to participating.

“Even before the pandemic, the complexity and number of remotes required for the show meant we likely could not do this show without our partners at the VCC,” said Jason Cooper, executive in charge of production at Discovery Studios.

PLUS: CBS' 'All Rise' to Virtually Produce New Episode

“These are challenging times and we are thankful for the opportunity to continue to help discovery innovate, both in terms of what viewers see on-air and the creative production that takes place behind the scenes,” said Larry Thaler, VCC CEO. “Together we can continue to push new boundaries, increasing the number of simultaneous remotes and holding them at high quality for as long as 16 hours, all to enable the producers to achieve the very best results.”

“Find Love Live” will debut on May 10 at 11 p.m. ET.

For more information, visit www.thevcc.tv.  

NEW YORK—TV measurement and analytics company 605 is launching its new, next-generation platform for national TV networks, advertisers and agencies, dubbed 605 Platform.

605 Platform is a web-based application that enables advanced measurement and analysis of TV programs and advertisements across linear, over-the-air, DVR and set-top box VOD. The system can combine and match client viewership data across the various datasets, with an “Identity Layer” allowing for users to select, activate and target first- or third-party audience segments or datasets.

The web-based dashboard for the 605 Platform supports planning, posting, measurement and analysis of programming or advertisements based on demographics, intent, psychographic, purchase or CRM audience segmentation. Users can expand viewership periods for coverage of recent viewership or as far back as two years, per 605. An API is also available for integration with in-house and third-party tools.

The 605 Platform can be used on its own or with other measurement tools for better understanding and targeting of specific audiences, the company said.

“We are delivering a currency grade view of the traditional TV ecosystem that makes it actionable in ways that were never before possible,” said Noah Levine, chief revenue office at 605.

605 Platform already has its first pair of customers, as AMC Networks and Discovery have agreed to serve as the first official programming clients.

For more information, visit www.605.tv.

WASHINGTON—Settlements have been reached between the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and a TV broadcaster, cable networks and a radio broadcaster for misusing the Emergency Alert Systems and Wireless Emergency Alert tones. Combined fines of $600,000 in civil penalties were issued as a result of misuse by ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” Discovery’s “Lone Star Law” and Meruelo Radio Holdings’ KDAY and KDEY-FM morning radio shows.

ABC agreed to pay a $395,000 civil penalty for an Oct. 2018 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” where it used a simulated WEA tone three times during a sketch. AMC paid $104,000 for an episode of “The Walking Dead” that aired in February 2019 and used the EAS tone twice. Discovery paid $68,000 for an episode of “Lone Star Law” that included an actual WEA tone that was captured while filming during Hurricane Harvey. Meruelo Radio Holdings paid $67,000 for a promotion of its two morning shows that included a simulation of EAS tones. All outlets admitted their errors and agreed to a compliance plan.

In addition to these finds, the Enforcement Bureau has released an Enforcement advisory to reiterate the existing law that speaks to the misuse of EAS tones and how it can be a public safety concern.

“We remain concerned about the misuse of the EAS codes and EAS and WEA Attention Signals, or simultaneous thereof, to capture audience attention during advertisements; dramatic, entertainment and educational programs; and at any other time that there is no genuine alert, authorized test or authorized PSA about the EAS or WEA that is accompanied by an appropriate disclaimer,” the advisory reads.

NEW YORK and SANTA MONICA-- Hulu recently announced a deal with Discovery Inc. to increase its live programming and streaming options. The deal gives Hulu with Live TV more than 60 live channels and Hulu's streaming library nearly 4,000 episodes of Discovery shows, making it the largest in the U.S. across internet-connected living room and mobile devices, according to the company.  

For the first time, shows like “Deadliest Catch,” “MythBusters,” and “Property Brothers” will stream outside of Discovery’s network. The agreement also gives Hulu live television offerings from Discovery Channel, TLC, Investigation Discovery, Velocity network (formerly Motor Trend) and Animal Planet, available in early December. HGTV, Food Network and Travel Channel, also owned by Discovery, are already available on Hulu.

Hulu also has a licensing agreement with Oprah Winfrey’s OWN channel, part of the Discovery Networks family, to air four of its most popular shows. This includes past episodes of “Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots,” “If Loving You is Wrong,” “The Paynes” and “Love Thy Neighbor,” which will all stream for the first time.

“At Discovery, we are committed to bringing our portfolio of high-quality, safe family friendly brands and content to viewers across every screen, service and device around the world,” said Eric Phillips, president of affiliate distribution at Discovery. “Our new agreement with Hulu affirms the strength of our brands and their value to viewers in a marketplace with an increasing array of options.”

PALISADES, N.Y. — Discovery Inc. has entered into a multi-year contract with the Video Call Center (VCC) to provide two-way video call acquisition technologies, management and production services for its global networks, VCC announced this week.

Discovery will use the services of VCC for new programs enhanced with video calling for its U.S. and international networks.

“The VCC has repeatedly demonstrated to Discovery that its platform is uniquely capable of delivering reliable, high-quality video remotes that help us make distinctive, cost-effective TV experiences,” said Jhamal Robinson, SVP of production management for Discovery Communications.

[Read: MLB Hits Home Run With VCC Caller Queue Fan Chat System]

TLC, a Discovery network, has already used live video content in the production of its “90 Day Fiancé.” VCC provided seven live, two-way remotes into a show on July 8. The most difficult was of a cast member on the outskirts of Nazareth, Israel. Connectivity was limited, and traveling was not an option due to security concerns, VCC said.

The solution was for the cast member to originate the content for the live, national show with her smartphone under the coordination of VCC call producers. No local producer, crew or transmission coordinator was required.

Recently, TLC productions have paired VCC technology and its team with production and creative teams at Sharp Entertainment, which produced “90 Day Fiancé: Epilogue.”

“The VCC platform has become an essential component in the production of immersive television experiences for TLC audiences,” says Mike Granowsky, VP of production for Sharp Entertainment. “It’s reliable IP video call technology means hosts and cast members can stay in the moment for an extended period regardless of location, which allows them to really open up without technology distractions getting in the way.”

The VCC service has made shows possible that otherwise would have been cost prohibitive or undoable because of logistics, he added.

“Discovery continues to break new ground in both the types of programs it creates and in its embrace of new production techniques to make them possible,” said Larry Thaler, VCC CEO.

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NEW YORK — Discovery and the PGA Tour today announced a strategic alliance aimed at creating a multiplatform home for golf that will present fans around the world with access to exciting moments, players and championships.

“The long-term partnership between the PGA Tour and Discovery will create the new global home of golf, including delivering over 2,000 hours of live content year-round and this prestigious sport’s greatest moments, stories and athletes,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO, of Discovery.

The 12-year relationship, which begins next year, includes multiplatform live rights outside the United States, to all PGA Tour media properties, which account for about 2,000 hours of content per year, according to a joint announcement. Those properties include six tours operating under the PGA Tour umbrella and about 150 tournaments each year, including The Players Championship, the FedExCup Playoffs and the Presidents Cup.

[Read: Discovery to Shut London Playout Hub]

Discovery will spend more than $2 billion over 12 years to license PGA Tour international media rights and build a global OTT platform outside the United States. The alliance also covers linear rights in 220 markets and territories, it said.

“Following our successful first Olympic Games in PyeongChang, Discovery will contribute its strong global distribution and promotional infrastructure, in-market relationships, global sports expertise with direct-to-consumer platforms and brands to create a valuable new long-term home of golf offering in every market outside the U.S.,” said Zaslav.

The alliance will build a dedicated PGA Tour-branded OTT video streaming service, leveraging Discovery’s direct-to-consumer product and platform expertise, to be home to the Eurosport Player.

Discovery also will broadcast the PGA Tour on its pay-TV and free-to-air channels as well as digital and short-form platforms. It will work with PGA Tour to capture access to the action and leverage the non-live and library rights for all media platforms.

“This is an exciting next step for the PGA Tour, which presents a tremendous opportunity to accelerate and expand our media business outside the United States, better service our international broadcast partners, and drive fan growth with a deeply experienced strategic global partner,” said Jay Monahan, commissioner, PGA Tour.

More information is available on the PGA Tour website.

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SILVER SPRING, MD. & KNOXVILLE, TENN.—Discovery Communications, cleared to acquire Scripps Networks Interactive, on Thursday (March 1) announced new management for the combined company.

Among the top Scripps execs taking prominent roles are Jon Steinlauf, who will be chief U.S. advertising sales officer. Ben Price, currently president of U.S. ad sales for Discovery, will report to Steinlauf, along with Leigh Anne Brodsky, currently executive VP of Discovery Global Enterprises.

Scripps’s programming chief, Kathleen Finch, will become chief lifestyle brand officer for the combined company with oversight of HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, Discovery Life, American Heroes Channel, Destination America, Great American Country and Lifestyle Digital Studios in the U.S.

Henry Schleiff will continue as group president for ID, Destination America and American Heroes Channel. Howard Lee, currently executive VP, development & production for TLC and general manager of Discovery Life, will be the new president and GM for TLC and Discovery Life, effective immediately. Both Schleiff and Lee will report to Finch upon closing of the transaction.

[Discovery Acquires Scripps Networks for $14.6 Billion]

Nancy Daniels, currently president of TLC, will assume the new role of Chief Brand Officer, Discovery & Factual, effective immediately. Daniels will lead all aspects of the Discovery Channel and Science Channel brands. Rich Ross, currently group president of Discovery Channel and Science Channel, will be leaving the company.

Susanna Dinnage, currently serving as Global President of the Animal Planet network in the U.S. and Animal Planet brand worldwide, will continue in that role.

Erik Logan, currently serving as president of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, will continue in that role and report to the OWN Venture board of directors.

“Today’s announcement is another major milestone in combining these two fantastic companies into a new kind of media company with the most trusted portfolio of real life entertainment brands in the world,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO, Discovery Communications. “Upon closing, each division will have a best-in-class leader focused on quickly integrating the combined teams to create new ways for advertisers and distributors to reach highly targeted audiences at scale; capturing operating efficiencies across both companies; and driving innovation to continue telling great stories and nourishing our passionate, loyal superfans around the world across every consumer screen, service and platform.”

Other executives who will be reporting to Zaslav include:

Gunnar Wiedenfels, currently Discovery’s CFO, who will be CFO for the combined company.

Jean-Briac Perrette, currently president and CEO of Discovery Networks International, will continue in that role for the combined company.

Bruce Campbell, currently chief development, distribution and legal officer for Discovery, will continue in that role. Leading the combined company’s linear, non-linear and mobile distribution efforts in the U.S. & Canada will be Eric Phillips, president, affiliate distribution, reporting to Campbell. Discovery’s General Counsel, Savalle Sims, will retain that role for the combined company, also reporting to Campbell.

David Leavy, currently serving as Discovery’s Chief Corporate Operations and Communications Officer, will continue in that role for the combined company with continued oversight of the company’s global technology operations. Discovery’s John Honeycutt will be the combined company’s Chief Technology Officer with direct management over global technology operations and strategy, continuing to report to Leavy.

Adria Alpert Romm, currently serving as Chief Human Resources and Global Diversity Officer for Discovery, will continue in that role for the combined company.

Karen Leever, currently serving as executive VP and GM, Digital Media U.S., and Mike Lang, currently serving as president, Discovery Networks International Digital & CEO TEN/MotorTrend, will continue in those roles for the new company reporting to Zaslav.

Current Scripps Networks executives not assuming roles in the company going forward will participate in the integration process following the deal's close to ensure a smooth transition of responsibilities, Discovery said.

This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publication B&C.

SILVER SPRING, MD.—Discovery Communications has wrapped up its transition to playout from Amazon Web Service’s public cloud based on technology from Evertz Microsystems, the network and Evertz announced this week.

The playout system, based on technology from Evertz, including Mediator-X, Overture-RT LIVE and Render-X, can be used to play to air pre-recorded as well as live programming.

Discovery Communications, which counts the Discovery Channel, TLC and ID among its brands, first used the new solution for a total of 40 hours of live coverage of the Barrett-Jackson auto auction from Las Vegas Oct. 19 and again on Oct. 21 on Velocity, said Dan Turow, vice president of File Based Solutions at Evertz, during a telephone interview.

“Evertz’ cloud-based playout solution has transformed Discovery Communications’ playout operations and has given us the scalability, flexibility and agility to address continuously evolving business and technical challenges,” Brinton Miller, senior vice president of Technology Strategy & Architecture at Discovery, said in a press announcement.

The playout setup also uses Evertz Software Defined Video Networking (SDVN) solutions using IPX Switch Fabrics, Network Address Translators (NAT) and encoding/decoding products.Video is moved to and from the cloud with mezzanine level compression as a transport stream, said Turow.

Amazon Web Services hosts the Evertz cloud-based playout solution natively. Six data centers, distributed across two geographic areas –one in northern Virginia and the other in Ireland-- host Mediator-X, Overture-RT LIVE and Render-X. Mediator-X provides Media Asset Management (MAM) functionality, serves as a workflow engine and provides playout automation. It prioritizes and automates file transfers to and from Amazon S3 storage.

Secondary events, such as logo and graphics insertion, SCTE metadata messaging, audio loudness correction, Nielsen watermarking and Dolby D encoding, are the domain of Evertz’ Overturn-RT LIVE, the company’s software modular playout engine. Discovery can scale its operations and recover playout instances using automated orchestration methods.

For more information on Discovery's move to the cloud, check out this recent webinar: Project On-Ramp: Migrating Discovery's Media Supply Chain to the Cloud.

SILVER SPRING, MD. & KNOXVILLE, TENN.—A deal has been struck that will see Discovery Communications acquire Scripps Networks Interactive. The transaction is valued at $14.6 billion.

Discovery and Scripps, as a single network, will produce 8,000 hours of original program a year, have 300,000 hours of library content and generate a combined 7 billion short-form video streams monthly. The combined company claims that it will has five of the top pay-TV networks for women, will account for more than 20 percent share of women watching primetime pay-TV in the U.S., and will have nearly 20 percent of ad-supported pay-TV audiences in the U.S.

The Scripps channels that will now be under the Discovery banner include HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network, Cooking Channel, Great American Country, TVN, UKTV, Asian Food Channel and Fine Living Network.

The transaction is expected to boost Discovery’s presence both internationally in markets like the U.K., Poland and Latin America, as well as one social media and video platforms.

“This agreement with Discovery presents an unmatched opportunity for Scripps to grow its leading lifestyle brands across the world and on new and emerging channels including short-form, direct-to-consumer and streaming platforms,” said Kenneth W. Lowe, chairman, president and CEO of Scripps, who is expected to join Discovery’s board of directors upon closure of the deal.

The $14.6 billion deal is based on a cash-and-stock transaction at a value of $90 per share

The deal is subject to approval by Discvoery and Scripps’ shareholders, as well as the necessary regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Discovery expects the deal to close by early 2018.

“We believe that by coming together with Scripps, we will create a stronger, more flexible and more dynamic media company with a global content engine that can be fully optimized and monetized across our combined networks, products and services in every country around the world,” said David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery.

NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES—Discovery Channel’s summer staple “Shark Week” is pushing into new media as a new short-form series, “Shark Week on Snapchat,” is scheduled to launch on July 23 exclusively on Snapchat’s Discover platform.

“Shark Week on Snapchat” will be hosted by comedian Jordan Carlos and will have three episodes, with each episode remaining on the platform for two days before the next episode premieres. In addition a special filter will be available for Snapchat users to “shark” themselves on July 23.

This special series is part of the deal that Discovery Communications and Snap, Inc. signed earlier this year to develop shows for Snapchat’s Discover platform. “Shark Week on Snapchat” was produced by Discovery’s Original Content team and Group Nine Studios.

“Shark Week” officially gets underway on Discovery Channel as of July 23 and runs through July 30.

BURLINGTON, MASS.—Discovery Networks MENA, the Dubai-based division of Discovery Communications, has installed Avid’s MediaCentral Platform to assist with its production and collaboration efforts.

The Avid MediaCentral Platform that has been deployed at Discovery Networks MENA consists of many different Avid tools to boost the end-to-end production efficiencies. The Avid Media Composer stations are used to cut programs and trailers and works with the Avid Artist | DNxIO video interface to accelerate hi-res workflows from capture to output. The Avid Nexis scalable storage system provides virtual pools of storage for real time collaboration. Avid MediaCentral | UX is the cloud-based web front end of the Avid MediaCentral Platform, and allows remote access to production access. Avid Interplay | Production provides production and asset management tools to streamline the production process.

Avid has provided similar installations to a number of Discovery global sites. Discovery Networks MENA workflow went live in November.

SILVER SPRING, MD.—Discovery Communications is making an effort to move its linear playout and core master control functions to the public cloud thanks to a new partnership with Evertz. Using software and IP-based products from Evertz, Discovery can host and operate all its core services required for linear playout channel in the public cloud.

Discovery will deploy Evertz’ Mediator-X media asset management and automation system as well as the OvertureRT-LIVE-VM virtualized channel playout engine. The Mediator-X workflow engine optimizes the preparation and distribution of content for both linear and non-linear playout applications, and incorporates advanced infrastructure management features for controlling dynamic spin up/down of virtualized services. Operating in a virtualized cloud environment, the OvertureRT-LIVE-VM provides a linear playout engine with traditional master control functionality, advanced branding capabilities and support for live events.

Both the Mediator-X and Overture-RT-LIVE-VM operate on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure. Using the Mediator-X system, along with Evertz’ Magnum SDVN and VistaLink Pro software, the Discovery operations staff have control capabilities for both on-premise and cloud-based services. Magnum SDVN provides system control and routing, while VistaLink Pro provides network management and monitoring for the system.

Evertz is a media asset management, automation and IP playout technology provider.

CEI’s buildout of Discovery’s new Latin American operations in Sterling, Va., includes five multichannel-playout master control rooms operating up to 13 channels each.STERLING, VA.—Discovery Networks is home to some of the most widely distributed cable channels in the world. Programming for its Latin America service alone provides 44 unique channels including Discovery, TLC, ID, Animal Planet, Discovery Civilization, Discovery Science, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Kids, Home & Health, Discovery Familia, Discovery en Espanol, and Discovery HD Theatre—each customized for various regions in Latin and South America.

In Discovery’s Miami playout center, where the LatAm channels originate, the network faced a difficult challenge. Existing playout systems were aging, and much of the gear was approaching end of life and loss of vendor support. Also, there was no more room for additional channels to serve new market opportunities.

So the questions became what to do, where to do it, and when? Did it make more sense to rebuild in Miami or relocate LatAm playout to Discovery’s primary transmission facility in Sterling, Va.? In either case, the equipment would have to be upgraded. Was IP technology ready enough for prime time?

TECHNOLOGY RIDDLE

To solve this technology riddle, Discovery enlisted Communications Engineering Inc. (CEI), a systems design and integration firm based in Newington, Va. It was clear that migrating the LatAm channels to Virginia would centralize playout resources, drive efficiency, and allow room for channel expansion—key goals for this challenging project. After deciding to make the move to Virginia, Discovery charged CEI with making it happen in two phases: Phase 1 included technology analysis and proof-of-concept testing, and Phase 2 comprised implementation and transition.

Surprisingly, CEI’s analysis showed that building the LatAm playout systems on an IP architecture would cost about 30 percent more than expanding Discovery’s traditional SDI infrastructure. On the other hand, IP would provide a much more flexible design that was fast and cost-effective to expand once the core systems were in place. Even though cost was a huge consideration, Discovery wisely looked at the long term and chose to invest in an IP playout platform.

“CEI provided extremely valuable guidance and expertise as we broke new ground for the LatAm playout systems,” said Jim McGrath, Discovery’s senior vice president of engineering and technology. “During the technology analysis phase, they provided expert advice on IP system architectures and helped us weigh the pros and cons of each design based on their experience with each of the major playout-system vendors. That guidance was invaluable.”

With approval to pursue an IP architecture, CEI focused on which manufacturers could deliver end-to-end IP playout systems. The conclusion: Evertz and Grass Valley. For channel-in-a-box systems, Grass Valley’s iTX Integrated Playout platform came closest to meeting Discovery’s key requirements. Meanwhile, evaluation of core IP routing platforms settled on Evertz’ SDVN (Software Defined Video Networking) platform, which uses its EXE Video Service Router and its MAGNUM and VUE applications for IP routing, signal distribution, control, monitoring, and redundancy switching.

Working collectively with project stakeholders, CEI developed the new Latin America playout systems around iTX, EXE, MAGNUM and VUE. The result is an exceptionally robust playout platform leveraging the latest technologies from two of the industry’s leading manufacturers.

“Working with Evertz and Grass Valley together on this project was a critical factor in its success,” said Raef Alkayat, CEI’s lead on the Discovery Latin America project. “Their close cooperation meant the project stayed on schedule and on budget—key factors in every project effort.”

That teamwork became especially important when dealing with project challenges. For example, the project had unique program audio and caption/subtitle requirements to serve the diverse, multi-language needs of Latin/South America. The goal was to make one program file and automatically rearrange the playout audio channels per region, directly from the playlist rather than separate files. Grass Valley stepped up and developed custom code to make it happen.

THREE KEY SYSTEMS

Overall, Discovery’s new Latin America playout facility encompasses three key systems, and IP technology made it all possible. First, the playout systems themselves consist of five clusters, each delivering up to 12 channels in 1+1 redundancy for a total capacity of 60 channels (120 streams). Currently Discovery uses only 44 channels, with a few additional playout chains dynamically assigned to support system maintenance.

The other key areas of the project: five multichannel-playout master control rooms operating up to 13 channels each, and four live-event control rooms, each managing a single channel during a live program, when commercial rolls are less predictable. New multiseat supervisor positions support the multichannel rooms, and there are two individual supervisor consoles to manage the four live-event control rooms.

What’s interesting is that, thanks to IP multicast (using SMPTE 2022-6), any channel can be controlled and monitored from any operating space using DNF Controls’ DC21 and USP control panels with Evertz MAGNUM and VUE. And while the high-level, file-based workflow remains similar for the operators, the underlying IP technology behind the operation is radically different.

Many media companies are rolling IP technology into their facilities, but so far, few are doing it at this scale, and not for both primary and backup playout.

THE RESULTS

There are many advantages of Discovery’s all-IP master control and playout systems, but the two main benefits are dramatically improved flexibility and upgradeability. Leveraging IP has given Discovery a playout platform that can quickly adapt to new business opportunities for Discovery programming.

By building an all-IP core, the signal-transport systems are resolution-independent, requiring little or no change of gear as technology advances. Those benefits will enable Discovery to respond rapidly to viewer demand for advancing technology such as HD, 4K, or even 8K down the road.

Spike Jones is the vice president of sales and marketing for CEI.

DISCOVERY LATIN AMERICA IP PLAYOUT FACILITY

Key Components

Grass Valley

• iTX Integrated Playout system with 104 channels

– 14 HD channels (1+1) = 28 HD streams
– 30 SD channels (1+1) = 60 SD streams
– 8 maintenance channels (1+1) = 16 streams
– Softel Swift Create captions and DVB subtitles
– Vertigo XG Inside graphics
– Nielsen watermarking
– Softel Swift TX – DVB Subtitle Playout Systems
– Custom software development on iTX

Evertz

• 288-port EXE 10G IP routing platform (expandable to 1152 ports)
• 72 570IPG IP gateways (redundancy switchers)
• MAGNUM control (SDVN)
• 23 VUE-CUBE visualization and control panels (GUI)
• 14 3067VIP10G IP multiviewers (36 x 4 each)
• 5601MSC Master Reference Generators w/PTP

DNF Controls

• 5 DC21 controllers
• 16 USP-16 control panels
• 6 USP-S48R control panels
• Exclusive delegation control software

Emerson

• Avocent HMX network KVM

switching system (154 x 16)

Volicon

• 3 Observer TS enterprise logging and monitoring systems

Sony

• 6 LMD-2451TD and LMD-A220 production monitors

Tektronix

• 2 WVR7200 multistandard/multiformat rasterizers

Audio Monitoring

• Studio Technologies, Bryston, JBL, Tannoy, Wohler

SDVI’s Rally analyzes incoming files and checks them for compliance with Discovery’s delivery specifications.SILVER SPRING, MD.—Discovery Communications receives media assets from more than 600 production companies and distributors globally. Its new “On Ramp” project is designed to create a delivery platform for the company’s suppliers while simultaneously streamlining and unifying the processing of media assets within Discovery’s facilities around the world.

The system needed to carry robust metadata, provide automated file analysis and quality control, and transcode files for use in Discovery’s regional facilities while maintaining a single global standard for delivery. To do so, Discovery recently adopted an SDVI Rally media supply chain management system, running on the Amazon Web Services cloud.

OUT WITH THE OLD

Discovery’s previous content delivery chain relied on physical media. Suppliers shipped either LTO data cartridges or videotapes to Discovery’s regional facilities. The facilities analyzed the incoming deliveries, copying or capturing media and using different processes to evaluate the media before checking it into the local MAM.

The new process replaces physical media with file uploads and centralizes the analysis and communications processes in the supply chain. Producers and distributors can now log into the Discovery Producer’s Portal and initiate file upload of the final content, along with the metadata required.

Content is directly uploaded to AWS, where SDVI Rally begins automatically processing. Rally analyzes incoming files and checks them for compliance with Discovery’s delivery specifications. If files pass a basic analysis, then Rally uses a combination of file-based QC tools to further inspect them. Rally stores all of the analysis and QC results as part of each file’s metadata record, combining the information it learns from file analysis with metadata from Discovery’s business systems to determine the workflow for each file.

Workflows can involve any combination of proxy creation, rewrapping or transcode depending on the type of file and Discovery’s business requirements. SDVI Rally provisions third-party tools on-the-fly in the cloud to perform these operations. Rally can also trigger manual technical evaluation, alerting an operator that the content needs to be reviewed, using a high resolution proxy.

When content is finalized and approved, SDVI Rally publishes a message to notify the regional Discovery MAM systems that the content is ready. Each regional MAM can check-in all of the content and metadata created as part of the Rally cloud workflow into its local database.

FLEXIBILITY

SDVI Rally provided the flexible framework that Discovery needed to build their workflow. Rally’s ability to design workflow and deploy software in the cloud allowed Discovery to implement a system without the need for traditional on-premise hardware.

As a SaaS solution, SDVI Rally allowed Discovery to quickly establish core services and change workflow as the “On Ramp” design team refined the supply process. Rally also gave Discovery flexibility around the third-party tools used in each workflow, allowing the use of existing licensed products and augmenting permanent licenses with on-demand services to deal quickly with increasing demand on the supply chain.

Josh Derby has served as a technologist and operational manager at Discovery since 1999. He currently leads Discovery’s internal R&D team, Discovery Technology Development & Strategy. He can be contacted atjosh_derby@discovery.com.

For more information, please visitwww.sdvi.comor call 408-594-5184.

OH, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO—Today’s press release of the day proclaimed, “Americans lose 377 days in a lifetime browsing for something to watch!”

“No way,” I thought. “Has to be twice that.”

Max and I spend more time looking for something to watch than watching something. We have Time Warner Cable on-demand, Netflix and Amazon Prime, not to mention all of those over-the-top options on a smart TV that no one ever uses because 377 days for Pete’s sake.

This is clearly an outrage, or as alert flack Mauricio Guitron phrased it, “a horrific, loathsome, and devastating problem afflicting living rooms across America.”

Mr. Guitron cited the “Rovi Multi-Region Survey,” which said Americans spend 19 minutes a day “browsing aimlessly for something to watch.” I don’t agree. We aim to find something when we browse. It goes like this:

“Push the ‘smart hub’ button.”

“I can’t see it… oh, there it is. It says, ‘no input.’”

“OK, turn the TV off and back on.”

“It’s not working.”

“You need the other remote. No, the other one.”

“OK, here we go. What do you want to watch?”

“Something not violent.”

“Let’s see… ‘Death Race,’ ‘Death Wish,’ ‘Death Tunnel,’ ‘Faces of Death,’ ‘Death Trap,’ ‘Dawn of the Dead,’ ‘Day of the Dead,’ ‘Night of the Dead,’ ‘The Dead of Night…’”

“Let’s see what’s on-demand.”

“What did I just do?”

“You have to use the other remote.”

“Where did it go?”

And so forth. A good five minutes lost looking for something to look for something to watch. Then there’s the tedious chore of either choosing individual letters with microscopic arrow keys, or in the case of TWC on-demand, scrolling through a list of a thousand unfamiliar titles.

This process is technically referred to as, “discovery.” If “discovery” doesn’t make a space-age leap in development soon, I predict that a new phenomenon will emerge in television—the little-known practice of “linear viewing.”