CHICAGO—Weigel Broadcasting’s mission is to bring audiences the best in classic and contemporary entertainment. From MeTV, America’s leading classic television network, and Catchy Comedy to Movies!, Heroes & Icons and more, we deliver programming that connects generations of viewers across the United States.

To support our expanding portfolio of networks and affiliate stations, we needed exceptional-quality programming and modern technology to efficiently scale our operations. Managing a network of 25 television stations and multiple digital networks using hardware-heavy systems—with standalone encoders, playout servers and PSIP generators—was becoming increasingly complex. Each new station required more “pizza box” appliances, adding costs, maintenance and interoperability headaches.

It was time to rethink our broadcast infrastructure and break free from hardware limitations.

VOS Media Software
Our goal was clear: consolidate workflows, reduce hardware and create a future-ready foundation to sustain our rapid growth. We wanted a unified solution that would simplify our operations, eliminate redundant equipment and provide the flexibility to scale efficiently as we expanded into new markets.

From the start, we knew that a cloud-native approach to playout and delivery would be key to transforming how we operate. We chose Harmonic’s VOS Media Software to modernize our broadcast distribution, centralize control and simplify operations.

Harmonic’s VOS Media Software allows us to integrate automation, advanced playout, premium encoding and all the broadcast-grade capabilities we rely on into one streamlined platform. Instead of a patchwork of hardware at every site, everything is managed centrally, with greater control and efficiency.

With VOS Media Software, we can preassemble all channels and distribute air-ready signals directly to our owned stations. This change eliminates the need for local hardware at each station and dramatically simplifies channel origination.

Today, we manage 41 ATSC 1.0 signals, spanning both HD and SD channels, from a single, centralized environment. Our operations and engineering teams now control 24/7 linear channel origination, branding, statistical multiplexing and content delivery, all through a unified web interface.

What once required multiple systems for captioning, watermarking, graphics insertion and delay-line programming now lives entirely within the VOS platform. Harmonic’s containerized architecture makes it easy to scale resources up or down dynamically. If we need to launch a new channel or expand services in a market, we can do so almost instantly without new hardware investments or long deployment cycles.

Efficiency and Scalability
The results were immediate. By consolidating workflows into a single software environment, we’ve reduced hardware costs, eliminated interoperability challenges and simplified management for our engineering teams. Previously, adding a new station required weeks to procure and install hardware; now, it’s as simple as allocating more software capacity.

The shift to a subscription-based model has brought predictability. We can align costs with usage and redirect savings toward content creation and audience engagement—freeing up funds to invest in innovation.

Beyond cost savings, the transition to Harmonic’s VOS Media Software has modernized our operations. The same system now supports ATSC, streaming and split-signal workflows, positioning us to evolve alongside the industry and successfully meet our viewers’ needs. We’ve created all ATSC 1.0 multiprogram transport streams with well over 100 separate channels powered by VOS Media Software that feature SCTE-35-based ad insertion, opening new monetization opportunities.

Collaborating with Harmonic has reshaped how we think about broadcast operations. By embracing this playout-to-delivery transformation, we’ve not only simplified our workflows but also unlocked new creative and business potential. For Weigel Broadcasting, it’s the start of a new era that is defined by agility, efficiency and growth.

More information is available at www.harmonicinc.com.

COLUMBIA, Md.—Lionsgate and its TV syndicator subsidiary Debmar-Mercury have selected LTN to launch and deliver the new MovieSphereGold all-movie digital network via LTN’s multicast-enabled, purpose-built IP video distribution network.

MovieSphereGold is available in 38 million homes and continues to expand its reach across pay-TV, streaming platforms and local station groups reaching more than 86% of U.S. TV households.

The movie network is said to be the first contemporary all-movie digital network. It features premium films from Lionsgate’s 20,000-title library, including franchises like ”The Hunger Games,” “John Wick” and ”Rambo.”

LTN’s footprint and distribution expertise give MovieSphereGold seamless access to stations across all major broadcast groups, multichannel video programming distributors and virtual MVPDs including DirecTV, Dish TV, Frndly TV and Sling Freestream. LTN relies upon broadcast-grade, Transport Stream over Internet Protocol (IP-TS) video distribution technology to provide the network with a cost-efficient, reliable and flexible alternative to satellite, LTN said.

“Purpose-built LTN multicast IP-TS distribution is now the primary choice for established and new networks that want to reliably and cost-efficiently reach traditional and digital platforms,” LTN Executive Chairman and Co-Founder Malik Khan said. “Premium movie experiences hold viewer attention and drive strong ad value. MovieSphereGold is an innovative launch and a recognition of the readiness and footprint of our network, which is on course to reach 100% of U.S. pay-TV households in 2026.”

The network launch was completed in three months with LTN enabling instant activation across existing delivery points while rapidly onboarding dozens of new affiliates and hand-off sites as part of a fully managed service.

LTN enabled MovieSphereGold to deliver its high-quality HD feed while quickly providing downconverted standard-definition feeds to meet the varying needs of downstream takers. LTN’s always-on technical operations center is providing MovieSphereGold with full visibility and operational support that includes real-time feed visibility and insights into signal performance across its entire nationwide distribution footprint, the company said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

SAUGERTIES, N.Y.—Tower Products, a manufacturer and distributor of pro video and audio equipment here, said President and CEO Jim Veltrie will retire from the company effective Dec. 30.

Succeeding Veltrie atop Tower and its two sales divisions, Markertek and TecNec Distributing will be Chief Marketing Officer Gregory DeCelle.

A 38-year veteran, Veltrie was one of the first hires by Tower’s founder, president and CEO and chairman, Mark Braunstein, in 1987. He was elevated to CEO upon Braunstein’s retirement in 2016.

Tower said Veltrie was an integral part of the company’s consistent growth and stability, establishing long-term, positive business partnerships, leading its transition to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) company, initiating Open Book Management at the company and establishing its executive management team. He also established Core Values and a collaborative culture throughout the organization, Tower said, which proved critical in helping the company navigate the unprecedented challenges posed by COVID-19.

Over Veltrie’s tenure, Tower achieved a significant increase in share value while substantially investing in advanced manufacturing and facility upgrades to support a workforce that grew by 20%, the company said. Veltrie also continued Braunstein’s corporate mission of feeding the hungry by expanding the charitable initiatives of the Markertek Foundation and Markertek Open Charity Golf Tournament, which have donated more than $1 million to the Hudson Valley Food Bank, Tower said.

DeCelle is a 32-year veteran who brings extensive industry knowledge, experience and leadership to his new post, Tower said, and will work with Veltrie to ensure a smooth transition.

In addition to Markertek and TecNec Distributing, Tower is also the parent firm of manufacturing brands Camplex, Sescom, Laird Digital Cinema, Ocean Matrix, Delvcam and My Custom Shop.

HACKENSACK, N.J.—The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has awarded LiveU a five-year contract to deliver 24/7 live news content through its Eurovision News Exchange.

The exchange project is the next step in an ongoing transition from a previously satellite-only system towards IP-based contribution and hybrid distribution. The Eurovision News Exchange will rely on LiveU Matrix for delivery of its members’ live signals throughout Europe and beyond, LiveU said.

"The project marks a decisive step for the broadcasting industry, as major public service media embrace cloud-based IP workflows for faster, more sustainable and cost-efficient live news delivery,” said Emilio San Pedro, EBU head of Eurovision News Exchange. “LiveU’s Matrix platform enables us to connect Europe’s leading broadcasters better than ever and ensure seamless, future-proof live news delivery for audiences everywhere."

The project connects all members with LiveU technology, extending to more than 60 public service newsrooms in Europe and globally, the company said.

The exchange conducted a rigorous evaluation of the company’s LiveU Reliable Transport (LRT)-based delivery with Secure, Reliable Transport (SRT) capabilities and chose the platform for its reliability and scalability, it said.

The project includes a phased rollout—currently in its pilot phase with 15 members—of LiveU Ingest for cloud recording and shared content workflows across both primary and backup channels.

"Following a very tight and highly competitive selection process, we are delighted to partner LiveU to replace the Eurovision News Exchange live contribution and distribution system,” said Piotr Kaszynski, EBU program manager for the renewal of the Eurovision News Exchange live network, said.

“By the end of 2025, the new solution will bring greater flexibility and faster setup times, enabling our members [to have] continuous, reliable access to Eurovision News Exchange live signals,” Kaszynski added. “With LiveU Matrix seamlessly connecting on-prem and field units already used across the News Exchange, this will strengthen collaboration and deliver even more value to our Members and partners."

LiveU's Matrix IP distribution platform sits at the heart of this transformation, enabling seamless contribution and distribution of live news content among members and ad hoc sharing with other sources. The solution integrates 125 LiveU Transceivers deployed at member premises, with Dual Active (active/active) redundancy ensuring that two parallel streams—via cloud and transceiver—guarantee uninterrupted service in each location. This premium layer of Dual Active reliability enhances Matrix's capability to serve as a primary distribution system complement to backup satellite distribution, it said.

The multiregion, multivendor contingency plan relies on global cloud providers in the various regions, further supporting a highly resilient, multilayered architecture. Proactive monitoring is also included in the solution as well as the option to scale up the distribution channels for high-demand events, LiveU said.

Deployment began earlier this year. LiveU Matrix has already been used for major news events, such as the papal conclave. It will be completed in January 2026, when the EBU plans to gradually phase out its satellite contribution workflow and transition to a hybrid distribution and IP-based contribution. The official go-live date for the new IP-based network is set for Jan. 1, 2026, it said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

LOS ANGELES—OpenDrives has signed a new distribution partnership deal with Versatile Distribution Services (VDS) to strengthen its channel and streamline how its Atlas data storage and management solution reach the market.

The collaboration combines OpenDrives’ software-defined storage expertise with VDS’ experience as a full-service technology distributor and systems integrator in logistics, staging and channel-enablement capabilities, OpenDrives said.

“Our new agreement with VDS significantly changes the way that we bring our data storage solutions to market,” OpenDrives Chief Operating Officer Trevor Morgan said. “OpenDrives’ focus and expertise is on the software aspects of these solutions. With their proven hardware distribution capabilities, VDS enables us to match our software with a wide range of hardware options, and as such, provides our partners and customers with just-in-time acquisition of those platforms. We can now offer a much-simplified purchasing process so that our partners and customers can focus on what really matters: managing and benefitting from their expansive corporate data.”

OpenDrives channel partners can now source the company’s certified Atlas hardware architectures, which include Eos and Ceres, directly through VDS. This will simplify procurement, shorten lead times and ensure increased sales and higher customer satisfaction, the company said.

Customers get faster access to the Atlas software and to OpenDrives customer support. Resellers benefit from streamlined quoting, fulfillment and support processes that make it easier to deliver OpenDrives solutions to users.

“Our partnership with OpenDrives makes it easier for channel partners to deliver enterprise-grade storage without the usual complexity,” said Amy Wade, vice president of sales at VDS. “By combining OpenDrives’ software-defined Atlas platform with our integration and fulfillment expertise, we’re giving resellers access to pre-configured systems that are tested and ready to deploy.”

More information is available on the OpenDrives and Versatile Distribution Services websites.

See OpenDrives in booth 249 at NAB Show New York, Oct. 22-23 at the Javits Center in Manhattan.

CYPRESS, Calif.—FOR-A America said it has signed a distribution deal with TecNec, its first-U.S.-based distributor.

TecNec will carry FOR-A America’s systems for broadcast, professional video and the house of worship market, with a focus on the HVS-190 1 M/E video switcher series. TecNec, a subsidiary of Tower Products, is a well established as a premier reseller and distributor that has been a reseller of FOR-A America’s solutions for over 25 years.

“With their engineering expertise, they’re able to package FOR-A and non-FOR-A products very effectively,” FOR-A America President and Chief Operating Officer Satoshi Kanemura said. “They know our product line well and offer a level of support that goes above and beyond. In addition to their integration skills, they’ve got a proven track record of closing sales and providing timely delivery to a nationwide customer base. We’re thrilled to have them as our trusted source for the FOR-A broadcast and live event product suite throughout the country.”

Tower Products Chief Marketing Officer Greg DeCelle added: “FOR-A's reputation is built on its long-standing commitment to excellence. The brand’s high standard of quality and reliability make our job easier. The products seamlessly integrate into our customers’ studios and production setups without the hassle of returns or performance issues. We appreciate the trust FOR-A America has put in us to deliver for them. As Satoshi likes to say, ‘We look forward to growing our business together.’ ”

More information is available at https://tecnec.com, https://towerpower.com, and www.for-a.com.

HACKENSACK, N.J.—The European News Exchange (ENEX) added an ad hoc channel to LiveU’s Matrix cloud-native IP video distribution platform, used for the first time in May to boost distribution of the 2025 papal conclave.

ENEX, which has used LiveU Matrix to deliver regular live feeds via three fixed channels to its alliance of more than 50 global commercial news members, wanted to scale distribution capacity for major world news broadcasts.

The news agency can expand its LiveU Matrix on an ad hoc basis at any time to give members a fast, flexible content sharing solution to meet growing demand for more cost-efficient, dynamic live news content, LiveU said.

Millions around the world watched coverage of the papal conclave, May 7-8, in multiple languages. ENEX members were able to grab feeds across the weekend as the cardinals completed the election process, which culminated in the famous white smoke signal from the Sistine Chapel chimney.

The LiveU Matrix makes it possible to share, receive and record high-quality, low-latency live feeds in the cloud. It can be accessed directly from a browser without the need for a satellite or fiber infrastructure, the company said.

The LiveU Matrix expansion follows ENEX‘s recent third two-year contract renewal with LiveU.

“LiveU is a market leader in live delivery. Most of our news media partners have decided themselves to utilize LiveU technology as part of their newsgathering capability,” ENEX Managing Director Adrian Wells said. “It makes perfect sense for ENEX to work with LiveU to leverage their solutions through the Matrix delivery network. LiveU continues to be a highly valued and trusted technology collaborator.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

NEW YORK—Fubo and DAZN have struck a multiyear partnership that will allow virtual MVPD Fubo to offer a new channel, DAZN1, and allow sports streamer DAZN to add Fubo Sports to its lineup.

Those launches are the first phase in a partnership that will see additional collaborations in the future, the companies said.

As part of the deal, Fubo will offer DAZN’s exclusive boxing and mixed martial arts events through the launch of a new linear channel, DAZN1, that features DAZN’s premium live fights and on-demand content. Fubo customers can purchase DAZN1 as a standalone subscription or as an add-on to Fubo’s virtual MVPD product.

At the same time, DAZN will launch Fubo Sports, a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel featuring 400 live sporting events each year, as well as sports documentaries and movies.

Launched by Fubo in 2019, Fubo Sports currently features exclusive UEFA soccer matches as well as live events from Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC), Peak Fighting and Ultimate Strongman. Fubo Sports is available on Fubo, as well as nearly a dozen free streaming platforms. Select Fubo Sports programming is also available on the network’s YouTube channel.

Fubo will be also able to offer its customers DAZN’s live pay-per-view events.

“Fubo and DAZN’s partnership delivers more premium sports to fans, wherever they choose to watch,” Fubo Co-Founder and CEO David Gandler said. “Adding DAZN’s unmatched fight content enhances our sports entertainment lineup while offering customers greater flexibility. We’re also excited to expand our FAST channel, Fubo Sports, through DAZN and explore further opportunities with Shay and his team.”

Added DAZN Group CEO Shay Segev: “Our deal with Fubo enables DAZN to increase access to top-tier sports content for fans in the U.S. and Canada, as we continue to provide the ultimate sports entertainment experience. Fubo’s viewers can now watch the world’s leading fight talent compete in unmissable events as part of a new DAZN premium fight package. Meanwhile, the launch of Fubo Sports on the DAZN platform will be an exciting addition to our ever-expanding portfolio of premium sports content.”

BALTIMORE—Sinclair has announced a new broadcast affiliate distribution agreement with Nexstar to renew and expand the clearances for Comet, Charge!, TBD and The Nest, Sinclair’s free, over-the-air multicast television networks.

These renewals and additions represent over 15 million total U.S. households, further strengthening their coverage in key markets and prime channel positions.

“The expanded distribution agreement with Nexstar marks a significant milestone in our efforts to bring Sinclair’s multicast networks to even more viewers nationwide,” said Lee Schlazer, senior vice president of distribution at Sinclair. “With the addition of key markets like Chicago and continued renewals across critical stations, we are strengthening our commitment to delivering high-quality, diverse programming that resonates with audiences of all ages. This is just the beginning as we continue to grow the reach of Comet, Charge!, TBD, and The Nest.”

Sinclair reported that Charge!, home to a line-up that delivers the police procedural series, has renewed agreements on the following Nexstar stations:

• WJZY-3 (46.3) Charlotte
• WJW-4 (8.4) Cleveland
• WNOL-4 (38.4) New Orleans
• WXIN-4 (59.4) Indianapolis

Charge!, will also add two new markets:

• KRBK-3 (49.3) in Springfield, Mo.
• KWGN-3 Denver (2.3) launches 4/1/25
• Charge! is now available in 23 of the Top 25 DMAs.

Sinclair noted that Comet, which offers sci-fi and fantasy programming, has renewed agreements on the following Nexstar stations:

• WNOL-3 (38.3) New Orleans
• WTTV-3 (4.3) Indianapolis
• WJW-3 (8.3) Cleveland
• KGBT-3 (4.3) Harlingen

TBD, which features comedy programming, has renewed agreements on the following Nexstar stations:

• WDAF-4 (4.4) Kansas City
• KTXL-4 (40.4) Sacramento

Sinclair reported that The Nest is now available in Chicago on WGN (9.5.). With the addition of the Chicago market, The Nest will now have prime location, full power OTA coverage in the top 10 DMAs.

NEW YORK and PHILADELPHIA—Paramount Global and Comcast have announced the renewal of their comprehensive distribution agreements that allow the operator to carry Paramount networks and streaming services on its Xfinity-branded platforms.

The multiyear deals feature ongoing carriage of Paramount's networks, including CBS, BET, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network and others. Comcast subscribers will also retain access to Paramount's popular streaming services, including Paramount+, Pluto TV and BET+. Additionally, as part of the renewal, Comcast has the right to make Paramount+ with Showtime available to qualifying Xfinity customers.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

“We are pleased to renew and expand upon our broad partnership with Comcast,” Paramount Distribution President Ray Hopkins said. “This new deal ensures that our dynamic portfolio of popular brands and premium programming continue to reach and entertain our valued audiences everywhere.”

“Paramount Global is a valued partner, and we are excited to continue providing Xfinity customers with access to their traditional and streaming content across our industry-leading entertainment platforms,” John Dixon, senior vice president, entertainment, Comcast Cable, said. “This agreement gives us the ability to offer customers more choice and flexibility in what they want to watch and how they want to watch it.”

SAN FRANCISCO—MRMC, a supplier of motion control, automation, broadcast robotics, volumetric and remote image-capture solutions, has added Tom Shelburne as key account manager, Americas, for the broadcast market.

Separately, the company said it will continue its push for growth in the Americas by signing audiovisual equipment supplier JB&A as its U.S. distribution partner.

Shelburne brings extensive industry experience to MRMC Broadcast, having held senior sales roles with such companies as Vu, Mo-Sys, Pixotope and Vizrt. In his new role, he’ll be tasked with developing MRMC’s presence with strategic broadcast customers in the Americas.

“Tom’s exceptional industry knowledge and understanding of the Americas region, together with his extensive technical expertise, make him a valuable addition to the MRMC global team,” MRMC Head of Broadcast Paddy Taylor said.

The deal with JB&A is meant to bring value and reach to MRMC’s robotic product line, which has seen significant expansion over the last 18 months, the company said. JB&A was acquired by DCC Technology, an FTSE 100 firm based in Ireland, in 2020 and joined the DCC-owned JAM Industry family of distributors in 2023.

“With over 20 years’ service in the creative industries, JB&A has the experience and drive to help us expand MRMC's U.S. customer base,” Taylor said. “These appointments demonstrate our strong commitment and ambition to continue to grow in this highly competitive market.”

Added JB&A VP, Technology and Marketing Nicholas Smith: “We are pumped to have MRMC as a part of the JB&A family. It has been at the forefront of auto-tracking technologies and building world-class robotics for the broadcast and pro AV industries. The team brings a world of knowledge and expertise to the industry as well as a massive complement of robotics to support our customers’ needs. As the PTZ market has matured in the last few years, MRMC is creating the most diverse catalog of PTZ enablement tools, giving customers new and unique viewpoints for their cameras.”

MRMC, which stands for Mark Roberts Motion Control, is owned by Nikon Group and provides robotic and software solutions used worldwide by film studios, sports broadcasters, football leagues and others, it said.

NEVADA CITY, Calif. and CHESTERTON, Ind.—Telestream has signed a distribution agreement with Starin, a value-add distributor of broadcast and pro AV products, to distribute Telestream’s complete line of media processing, production and distribution solutions for cloud, hybrid and on-premises operations through its nationwide network of system integrators and value-added resellers.

“Telestream’s acclaimed media transcoding solutions are at the heart of a broad range of workflows for the world’s leading media and entertainment companies,” Starin Executive Director of Business Management—Broadcast Rich D’Angelo said. “We are focused on enabling our channel partners to capitalize on the ongoing convergence of broadcast and AV, and Telestream is a key addition to our portfolio, making it possible for corporations, ad agencies, healthcare providers and educational and government facilities to deliver high-quality video content to any audience regardless of how it is created, distributed, or viewed."

“Starin is perfectly positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for broadcast applications within AV installations,” Greg Doggett, SVP, global channels, Telestream, said. “They offer a unique combination of AV & broadcast expertise, software distribution capabilities, and solution selling, which will allow Telestream to reach new partners and grow our market opportunity.”

The Telestream solutions being offered by Starin include:

• Media Processing and Workflow Automation: Solving the media industry’s most challenging video workflows with Vantage and Lightspeed Live Capture.
• Video Quality Monitoring & Analytics: Automated and real-time monitoring of video distribution networks from content origination to subscribers for any type of video delivery service.
• Scalable, Powerful Cloud Solutions: Cloud-native video processing and media processing tools built on the same powerful technology as Telestream’s Vantage platform.
• Production and Streaming: Professional live streaming software for anyone, anywhere.
• Content Management: Enabling organizations to efficiently locate, access and manage all media assets across multiple locations through a single pane of glass with Diva.

NEW YORK & STAMFORD, Conn.—AMC Networks and Charter Communications have announced they have agreed to an early renewal of their distribution agreement that will allow Charter to carry AMC Networks' portfolio of linear cable networks for multiple years to come. 

As part of Charter's strategy of including programmer streaming apps in the cable bundle to enhance the value proposition, the ad-supported version of AMC Networks' direct-to-consumer streaming service AMC+ will also be included at no additional cost to Charter's Spectrum TV Select customers. 

Additionally, Charter will make AMC+ available for purchase to its millions of Internet-only customers. 

"This agreement with AMC Networks supports our goal of enhancing the value and variety of premium entertainment content available to our customers," said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president, programming acquisition for Charter, which operates the Spectrum brand of video and connectivity services. "The addition of AMC+ at no extra cost for our TV Select customers builds on our new distribution framework, which this year alone has included the addition of Paramount+ Essential, ViX Premium with Ads, Disney+ and ESPN+. We appreciate AMC Networks' partnership in reaching a distribution agreement that benefits our mutual customers and helps transform the video industry." 

With the agreement, Spectrum video customers will continue to enjoy access to AMC Networks' cable portfolio, including AMC, BBC America, IFC, SundanceTV and We TV. 

With the addition of AMC+, Charter, through its programming deals, will be providing its Spectrum TV Select Plus customers more than $40/month in retail value for streaming apps, and over $30/month in retail value for Spectrum TV Select/Select Signature customers, the pay TV operator said.

AMC+ is a premium streaming bundle featuring world-class originals, award-winning series and exclusive movies. The service includes same-day access to all original AMC series and full access to Shudder, Sundance Now and IFC Films Unlimited.

"This early, multi-year agreement between Charter and AMC Networks ensures Spectrum TV customers will continue to have access to our high-quality original programming however they prefer to watch it, including through the ad-supported version of AMC+," said Kim Kelleher, chief commercial officer of AMC Networks. "Charter has been a long-time partner, and this agreement reflects our strong and mutually beneficial relationship and commitment to viewers." 

WALTHAM, Mass.—Latin American news, sports and entertainment network RCN Colombia has deployed Zixi to distribute premium content to affiliates across the United States.

The broadcaster has seen a significant surge in demand from the United States as interest in Spanish-language content grows. RCN's mission is to inform, entertain and connect viewers with content that reflects the culture and values of Latin America, Zixi said.

Integrating Zixi into its operations has enabled RCN to streamline content distribution, eliminating the need for traditional satellite and fiber infrastructure. Using Zixi-as-a-Service (ZaaS), RCN has transitioned to a cost-effective cloud infrastructure while maintaining the reliability traditionally associated with satellite delivery, it said.

Zixi Broadcaster serves as the bridge for content from on-premises sources to the cloud. Within the cloud environment, the Zixi Software-Defined Video Platform (SDVP) processes and distributes content to affiliates, all managed by ZEN Master, the cloud control plane that ensures operational efficiency and end-to-end visibility, it said.

With the shift to IP distribution enabled by Zixi's SDVP, the new system not only accelerates the onboarding of new affiliates but also improves operational agility and reduces costs. By replacing satellite farms with streamlined on-premises servers and leveraging the Zixi Enabled Network, RCN can deliver its content to new markets and explore additional revenue streams without significant upfront infrastructure costs, it said.

"The United States is seeing a significant rise in demand for high-quality Latin American programming, and RCN Colombia, with its outstanding lineup, is well-positioned to meet that demand. However, traditional satellite workflows were not sufficient to scale distribution efficiently," said Omar Silva, Telecoms Director at RCN. "Zixi provides the flexibility and scalability RCN needs while keeping costs low and simplifying the process with its comprehensive solution."

Zixi will exhibit at IBC 2024, Sept. 13-16, at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center.

See Zixi at IBC 2024 Stand 5.A85.

To schedule a meeting at IBC 2024, visit the company’s website.

SAN JOSE, Calif. —Harmonic has announced that Vivo Worldwide Productions is using Harmonic's comprehensive playout and distribution solutions at Caliente TV, a new sports TV channel in Mexico. 

In the deployment, Harmonic’s VOS360 Media SaaS and ProView IRD and stream processor are being used to simplify all stages of media processing, playout and distribution to affiliates and partners.

"Caliente tasked us with rapidly launching its new linear channel, which ignited our search for a flexible video platform," said Juan Carlos Velazquez, director of Vivo Worldwide Productions. "Harmonic's team of experts exceeded our expectations, enabling us to deploy Caliente TV within two weeks. The Harmonic solution streamlines the full playout to distribution workflow, empowering Caliente TV to focus on reinventing sports coverage. Adopting Harmonic's SaaS solution gives us the flexibility to easily add extra channels and more cutting-edge graphics in the future."

The comprehensive offering from Harmonic provides Caliente TV with a powerful solution for its video workflows, the companies said. 

The cloud-based VOS360 platform unifies the entire media processing chain for Caliente TV, including playout, advanced graphics, transcoding and SRT distribution to leading Mexican pay-TV operators. The VOS360 Media SaaS is based on a flexible business model that allows Caliente TV to only pay for what they use. Harmonic's ProView IRD and stream processor supports the reception of broadcast-quality video over the internet, simplifying implementation.

"Vivo Worldwide Productions is a powerhouse for producing live sports content in Mexico, and we're thrilled to have them as a customer," said Gil Rudge, senior vice president, products and America sales, video business at Harmonic. "As one of the only technology providers that offers a complete solution for media processing, playout and distribution, Harmonic is enabling Caliente TV to deliver top-notch live sports viewing experiences with unparalleled agility, resiliency, video quality, security and scalability. Using our award-winning VOS360 Media SaaS and ProView 8100 IRD, Caliente TV can bring exceptional video quality and advanced graphics to its new sports TV channel."

Further information about Harmonic and the company's solutions is available at www.harmonicinc.com. 

Add Charter to the growing list of MVPDs offering free subscriptions to premium streaming services to stem the tide of cord-cutting. 

Paramount Global and Charter Communications announced this week that they have inked a new carriage deal that will include a subscription to Paramount+’s ad-supported streaming service at no extra charge. 

Later this year, Paramount+ Essential and BET+ Essential will be made available at no additional cost to all Spectrum TV Select packages and Mi Plan Latino customers through the Xumo Stream Box or any other Paramount+ supported device, and the Paramount+ with Showtime plan will continue to be received at no cost by all of Spectrum's Paramount+ with Showtime linear customers as well.

Spectrum customers that have Paramount+ Essential included will be offered the opportunity to upgrade to the ad-free version of Paramount+ with Showtime later this year.  Charter says it will also make Paramount's direct-to-consumer products available for purchase to its millions of Internet-only customers.

The offer is part of a multi-year distribution agreement that will see Paramount's full portfolio of linear cable networks and CBS owned-and-operated broadcast stations carried on Charter’s Spectrum service, the nation’s largest, with more than 32 million subscribers in 41 states.

Both companies are eager to attract and retain new subscribers with Charter reporting a loss of 405,000 customers to its Spectrum video service in the first quarter of 2024 and Paramount, which is up for sale amid concerns (among others) that its streaming service is less able to compete in a crowded marketplace. 

"From the outset, Paramount has embraced Charter's goal of evolving the video distribution model, and we have appreciated their willingness to collaborate on a solution that benefits our mutual customers and the video industry as a whole," said Tom Montemagno, Executive Vice President, Programming Acquisition for Charter, which operates the Spectrum brand of video and connectivity services. "Continuing to build on our new distribution framework with the addition of Paramount+ Essential and BET+ Essential, joining the Paramount+ with Showtime service for Paramount+ with Showtime linear customers and others like Disney+, ESPN+, ViX, Max for HBO customers, Tennis Channel Plus, and numerous regional sports networks' direct-to-consumer apps for customers of our regional sports networks, Spectrum continues to transform the cable bundle to become the best destination and value for video customers and we expect to continue to add more enhancements like this in the near future."

"We are very pleased to renew and expand our long-standing partnership with Charter to provide continued access to Paramount's leading portfolio of broadcast, entertainment, news and sports brands," said Ray Hopkins, President of U.S. Networks Distribution at Paramount. "This innovative deal celebrates our mutual commitment to deliver flexibility, choice and value for audiences everywhere, and we look forward to bringing even more of our fan-favorite programming to Spectrum customers through our direct-to-consumer streaming services for the first time."

Charter is just the latest in the recent trend of cable operators attempting to reduce churn by adding streaming subscriptions to cable TV services. Comcast announced last week that it will begin offering a “streaming bundle” of Peacock, Netflix and Apple TV for $15 a month to its existing Xfinity internet and TV customers.

CINCINNATI—The E.W. Scripps Company has named Robin Davis as its senior vice president, chief distribution officer. 

In the new role, she oversees the team responsible for managing distribution across numerous platforms, including cable, satellite and virtual carriers as well as multicast spectrum. Davis has been serving as the interim head of distribution since February.

Davis has been with Scripps since 2005, holding a variety of strategy and finance leadership positions. Her most recent role was senior vice president for strategy, planning and development, where she was responsible for implementing growth strategies across the business as well as overseeing program management and change management. She also has led corporate development for Scripps.

"Robin is an outstanding media executive with all of the skills to lead our distribution strategy," said Adam Symson, Scripps president and CEO. "Her thorough grasp of our business, the evolving television marketplace and the opportunities we see ahead give me great confidence that she will maximize the value of our distribution platforms."

Davis began her Scripps career as controller for the former newspaper division, then became vice president of finance and development for the division before moving into strategy and corporate development.

Her work leading mergers and acquisitions helped to grow Scripps' local television station portfolio from 10 stations in nine markets in 2010 to its current size of more than 60 stations in 40+ markets. She also helped lead the acquisitions of Newsy in 2014, Journal Communications in 2015, Katz Networks in 2017 and ION in 2021. Following the ION acquisition, she helped establish the Scripps Networks division as its vice president of strategy, planning and development.  

Before joining Scripps, Davis was vice president and CFO of Pulitzer Newspapers, Inc., and manager of financial reporting for Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. She began her career at Deloitte.

She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Saint Louis University and is a certified public accountant. She is a past board member of the Inland Press Association, the Inland Press Foundation, the International FOP Association, the Scripps Howard Foundation, 4C for Children and Pioneer News Group. 

Davis serves on the Selection Advisory Council of GreenLight Fund Cincinnati and was recently elected to serve as a director of Highlights for Children, a mission-driven company focused on helping children become their best selves.

DirecTV continues to add CW affiliates to its streaming line-up, with the addition of four stations owned by Gray Television. 

The four most recent additions are: 

• In Charleston-Huntington, W.V., the Gray-owned CW affiliate WQCW on channel 30. 
• In Madison, Wisc., the Gray-owned CW affiliate WMTV-D2 on channel 15. 
• In Springfield, Mo., the Gray-owned CW affiliate KYCW-LD on channel 25.
• In Wichita-Hutchinson, Kan., the Gray-owned CW affiliate KSCW on channel 33.

The additions follows a recent deal to add CW stations. In April, DirecTV Stream added more local CW stations for its streaming customers in Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Hartford-New Haven Conn., Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle. 

MIAMI and STAMFORD, Conn.—TelevisaUnivision and Charter Communications, Inc. have announced a multi-year agreement to extend and expand their partnership with distribution for linear networks and the launch of a new streaming service. 

In a move that highlights the growing importance of streaming services in distribution deals between programmers and MVPDs, TelevisaUnivision will create a new ad-supported premium subscription version of ViX, set to launch later this year. It will be available at no additional cost to Spectrum customers who receive TelevisaUnivision channels as part of their Spectrum TV Select or Mi Plan Latino packages.

In addition, Carter reported that TelevisaUnivision's U.S. channels will be included as an integral launch partner in a new low-cost Spanish-language internet-delivered video package that Spectrum will launch in the coming months.

"We're pleased to enter into an innovative deal with Charter that underscores a shared commitment to the growing Hispanic market and prioritizes their needs and interests, ensuring TelevisaUnivision's leading content remains available to viewers for years to come," said Mike Angus, executive vice president, global distribution and streaming partnerships at TelevisaUnivision. "This deal demonstrates the value we can deliver to our partners and consumers by continuing to invest in both the linear and streaming platforms to create a complementary Spanish-language content ecosystem."

"We appreciate TelevisaUnivision's willingness to fully support our new distribution framework, which is good for customers and a significant step forward for the video ecosystem," said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president, programming acquisition for Charter. "With this agreement, our customers will continue to enjoy access to TelevisaUnivision's extensive Spanish-language programming, including entertainment and live sports, across multiple platforms. This furthers our goal of providing value to customers by including streaming apps with Spectrum services."

ViX's "Premium with Ads" offering will give viewers access to the entire ViX Premium content offering, including exclusive original series, novelas, comedies, movies, thousands of live exclusive soccer matches and tens of thousands of hours of library content with a moderate advertising load. The combination of ViX's premium streaming programming with TelevisaUnivision's market leading linear channels will be available to Spectrum customers at no incremental cost.

In addition to giving Spectrum customers access to the forthcoming ad-supported premium version of ViX, the agreement enhances Charter's flexibility to offer its video customers high-value linear and over-the-top TV packages, Charter said. 

This flexibility will allow Charter to include TelevisaUnivision's U.S. channels in a new, low-cost Spanish-language internet-delivered video package that Spectrum plans to launch in the coming months.

Spectrum provides customers with access to TelevisaUnivision's networks, including Univision, UniMás, Galavisión, TL Novelas, TUDN, FOROtv, Bandamax, De Película, De Película Clasico, Telehit and Telehit Música.

HUNT VALLEY, Md.—Sinclair, Inc. has announced that the company has reached a comprehensive multi-year distribution agreement with Verizon for carriage of its stations and networks on FiOS TV. 

The agreement covers local television stations in 10 markets, the Tennis Channel and YES Network.

“We are pleased to have reached a renewal agreement with Verizon without any disruption in service to viewers, keeping our best-in class news, sports and entertainment content available on the platform for years to come,” said Will Bell, Sinclair’s senior vice president and head of distribution and network relations in a statement regarding the agreement.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

IRVING, Texas—Nexstar Media Group and FuboTV have announced that they have reached a new comprehensive multi-year distribution  agreement covering 89 Nexstar-owned local TV stations. 

The stations are affiliated with The CW Network, MyNetworkTV,  ABC, and independents, including 37 CW Network affiliates, 25 MyNetworkTV affiliates, 23 ABC affiliates,  and four independent television stations. 

The agreement also extends Fubo’s carriage of Nexstar’s national  cable news network, NewsNation. 

Financial terms were not disclosed. 

LUXEMBOURG—SES has announced a renewal of its agreement with the National Football League (NFL) to deliver NFL game content to over 35 broadcast partners across Europe, Asia, North and South America. 

Under the agreement, SES will provide a unique combination of IP-based transport protocol (SRT) and its global satellite fleet to seamlessly deliver all game content. 

This distribution infrastructure includes the addition of the recently launched content orchestration platform, SES SCORE, and SES’s new ASTRA 1 Sports platform in Europe, with renewed prime satellite capacity for Americas (SES-14) and Asia to distribute over 150 upcoming games. The NFL has an option to add more games in the future. 

SES has worked with the NFL since 2005, and currently offers five simultaneous feeds for NFL games across its global content delivery network, with the ability to expand to 14 feeds if needed.

“We are delighted to continue our partnership with the NFL as they again put trust in our hybrid delivery model, utilizing our satellite network paired with extensive terrestrial infrastructure,” said Michele Gosetti, head of sales, sports and events at SES. “Our track record with the NFL spans nearly 20 years, and as the league expands into more international markets, we have both the infrastructure and innovative video capabilities to meet their needs today and in the future.”

“The NFL is committed to reaching more fans around the world through both live events and expanded broadcast engagements, including the NFL International Series, and making our games and content available in more countries via a growing ecosystem of broadcast technologies,” said Jeffrey Lombardi, senior director, international production operations at the NFL. “Thanks to the strong hybrid delivery model SES offers us, we are able to provide game content to more people and places around the world with the quality and reliability that ensures an enjoyable fan experience.”

SES has a long history of providing satellite-based sports content for the world’s largest and most prestigious single-day and multi-day sporting events, broadcasting more than 700 hours of premium sports and live events each day, the company said. 

NEW YORK—The Fox Weather has inked new distribution deals with Samsung TV Plus and Cox that will expand the reach of the free ad-supported service to millions of new viewers. 

“As the fastest growing weather service in the country, we look forward to welcoming Samsung TV Plus users and Cox subscribers to Fox Weather’s innovative, best-in-class service,” president, Sharri Berg said in a statement. 

Starting August 23rd, Fox Weather will be available on Samsung TV Plus, Samsung’s free ad-supported TV (FAST) and video-on-demand (AVOD) service. Viewers with a 2016 or later Samsung Smart TV will be able to access the comprehensive weather service on channel 1010. It will also be made available on Samsung Galaxy devices, Samsung Smart Monitors, Samsung Family Hub and the web.

The new distribution agreement with Cox means that Cox Contour TV customers now have access to Fox Weather through Cox’s Expanded Basic package in several markets, including Las Vegas, Cleveland and Phoenix among others. This will add 1.7 million subscribers to Fox Weather’s distribution base. 

Since launching in October 2021, Fox Weather has added a number of distribution partners including Verizon Fios, The Roku Channel, fuboTV, YouTube TV, Fire TV Channels, Optimum, Spectrum, LG Channels, DirecTV Stream, Xumo Play, WOW!, Vidgo, TuneIn, Plex and Astound Broadband. The service continues to be available through Fox Television Station Diginets in top markets including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, among others.

Weigel Broadcasting and DirecTV have announced a distribution deal that will make Weigel’s flagship network, MeTV, available nationwide on DirecTV and DirecTV Stream. 

Starting June 10, MeTV became available in HD on both DirecTV and DirecTV Stream (Ch. 77) for customers with the Choice and above packages. MeTV has been available to U-verse homes since its December 2012 debut (Ch. 136) and added HD coverage three years later (Ch. 1136).

“MeTV is ‘Memorable Entertainment Television,’ making it a uniquely valuable addition to the DirecTV channel lineup nationwide,” said Neal Sabin, vice-chairman of Weigel Broadcasting Co. “We couldn’t be happier to seal this deal which allows us to add MeTV beyond the existing markets and deliver some of the most cherished and timeless television ever made to DirecTV subscribers coast-to-coast.”

“This agreement provides Weigel additional reach to grow its viewership and sponsors, while furthering DirecTV’s national and local programming interests,” added Linda Burakoff, senior vice president of content and programming at DirecTV. “We continue to work creatively, and respectfully, with Weigel and other broadcasters to identify our mutual priorities, and then develop them together to expand our customers, sponsors and future prospects.”

SOUTH BEND, Ind.—FETV (Family Entertainment Television) has announced that it has launched in nearly 11 million households with the nation's largest cable TV provider.

The launch on Comcast boosts the service to over 50 million subs. 

"We are thrilled to expand our distribution above 50 million subscribers, bringing our family-friendly content to millions more households," said Cara Conte, senior vice president of affiliate sales. "FETV entertains our audience with quality TV shows and movies, and we are excited to reach more viewers with our slate of beloved programming."

FETV's lineup features popular television series such as "Perry Mason," "Emergency!," "Leave It to Beaver," and "Rawhide," as well as films.

FETV, citing Nielsen, also reported that its L+3 (live plus 3 days) coverage ratings in the 25-54 demographic increased 42% season-to-date in Total Day compared to the 2020-21 season.

LOS ANGELES—Globecast has been selected by the Classic Arts Showcase to provide playout, linear satellite distribution, VOD and streaming services for cultural content that is available to more than 65 million homes.

Classic Arts Showcase is a 24-hour programming service offered through local public service channels, cable and broadcast stations, as well as online. Globecast is providing HD network origination, cloud-based library storage, uplink of the channel to satellite, VOD and streaming services. The channel originates from a broadcast facility in Culver City, Calif., and is uplinked and streamed from there as well.

Classic Arts Showcase delivers its content to Globecast over the public internet. Globecast then automatically monitors it for technical quality, timing and missing content, verifying all content against the playlist. The channel is then uplinked in HD to satellite for onwards distribution.

Globecast also encodes selected content for Classic Arts Showcase’s VOD offering. The linear channel is also encoded and supplied to the Class Arts Showcase website via CDN to end users.

James D. Rigler, president at Classic Arts Showcase, says that they are pleased with the services that Globecast has put together.

COVID-19 has compelled broadcasters to use home-based workers extensively. In doing so, both sides have had to endure lower-quality performance and productivity in content creation, plus the reduced capabilities available to home-based users compared to those working in production centers and studios. 

These problems have arisen because a typical broadcaster’s network infrastructure was never designed to serve so many remote connections and functions. Add the inferior cybersecurity available to home-based users (and the incursion risks this poses to broadcasters), and working from home has been a necessary workaround at best.

Fortunately, there is an available, feasible, and affordable IT solution to all of these problems. It is the innately secure communications protocol known as Teradici PC-over-IP (Teradici PCoIP). 

In place of traditional two-way data communications, Teradici PCoIP compresses, encrypts and transmits only video pixels from the broadcaster to home-based/remote users. The actual file remains within the broadcaster’s domain, with any interactions going through a secure interface that keeps the content safe. 

On the home workers’ display screens, everything looks the same. The video quality is lossless and color accurate, while the entire experience of connecting from any remote location via PCoIP looks and feels like using a conventional computer at work. Video editing performance is unaffected because Teradici PCoIP technology can deliver full-motion video up to 4K at high frame rates to home-based/remote computers.

Teradici PCoIP has been adopted by many industry players including Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) of Star Wars fame. Because PCoIP sends pixels rather than complete files, its bandwidth requirements are relatively small. This is why ILM uses PCoIP to share dailies between its San Francisco headquarters and collaborators worldwide. Doing so avoids sending proprietary video files as large as 100GB or larger over the internet.

On August 11, 2020 at 2pm eastern, Teradici Technical Marketing Principal Ian Main will share how Teradici PCoIP (and other Teradici products) can provide broadcasters and their home-based workers with a secure, efficient, and scalable virtual work environment. He will also detail how ILM and other users are using PCoIP today, and how easily broadcasters can implement PCoIP in their own IT infrastructures.

To register click here.

LUXEMBOURG—SES has been selected by BBC Studios (BBCS) and its subsidiary UKTV to manage the playout and distribution of more than 50 linear channels, as well as their associated video on demand services via a new multi-year agreement.

SES will now provide playout, content processing, distribution and VOD services for the delivery of BBCS and UKTV content to affiliates across the globe and in the U.K. The services will be based on SES’s European global delivery services—technical playout infrastructure will be provided from SES’s new London facility; the company’s Munich playout facility will oversee operational management.

“Our London and Munich service delivery approach is specially crafted so that broadcasters and production houses like BBCS and UKTV can focus on producing great content while we take care of the content preparation, playout and delivery,” said Steve Collar, CEO of SES. “This dual facility approach is fundamental to our success in ensuring that we have always-on, fully backed-up content delivery services and will enable us to provide the highest quality of service for BBCS.”

“By selecting SES, we believe we have found a partner that is committed to delivering innovation and can meet our business needs going into the future,” added Marcus Arthur, president, U.K., Ireland BBC Studios & CEO UKTV.

The deal is said to also build on BBCS and UKTV’s desire for cloud innovation in the media industry, per SES’s announcement.

For more information, visit www.ses.com. 

LOS ANGELES—NFL Media and Dish have been apparently punted for the time being on a new distribution agreement, because as of 9 p.m. ET on June 18, the NFL Network and NFL RedZone have been blacked out for Dish and Sling TV subscribers.

In a press release, NFL Media said that it had offered a deal that it described as “consistent with other distributors,” but Dish did not agree to it. NFL Media says it remains committed to negotiations.

Dish has not released an official statement on the situation.

The NFL regular season is slated to begin in September. NFL Network, in addition to providing coverage on all preseason games, will have its own slate of exclusive games throughout the season. It also has original programming like “NFL GameDay Morning,” “Good Morning Football,” “NFL Total Access” and legacy content from the NFL Films archive.

NFL RedZone, meanwhile, provides content from all regular season games, switching between different broadcasts when exciting plays are happening.

The NFL highlighted that it currently has distribution deals in place with most major broadcasters, including DirecTV, Comcast, Charter, Verizon and more.

COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN Global has launched a new terrestrial IP-based video distribution as an alternative to satellite distribution, the LTN Wave. 

LTN Wave offers users the benefits of IP distribution while allowing them to maintain existing satellite-driven workflows, thus enabling a seamless integration of the two. LTN Wave makes it possible to replace satellite use completely, add a secondary path for hybrid distribution or implement backhaul, said LTN.

Powering the new offering are LTN Global’s state-of-the-art IP-based video workflow solutions that provide reliable, efficient content transport from sources to destinations via LTN’s fully managed and highly secure network, the company said.

“There are a number of challenges in the marketplace right now pushing channel owners to explore alternatives to satellite distribution, which can be a daunting prospect,” said Michal Miskin-Amir, general manager of the Transport Division at LTN Global.

“We know that ripping and replacing satellite infrastructure wholesale simply isn’t practical as networks look to reduce the risk associated with maintaining a portfolio of channels heavily reliant on C-band satellite. LTN Wave is the perfect solution for seamlessly bridging the transition from satellite to IP.”

LTN Wave is able to reach any destination or location, whether through direct connection to the LTN Network, handoffs with public cloud networks, such as AWS and Azure, or connections to private data centers, the company said.

The LTN transport network powering LTN Wave relies on a backbone of expertly engineered protocols for Dynamic Multi-Carrier routing and Rapid Error Recovery. As a private network with multiple underlying ISP carriers, it is able to circumvent public internet congestion. The network intelligently picks the optimal path for video transmission to guarantee fixed delay and eliminate packet loss and jitter, it said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

Globecast, the global solutions provider for media, has further strengthened its management team in Asia with the appointment of Tan See Chai as Head of Sales – Distribution.  

Beginning at the start of January 2020 and based in Singapore, See Chai will report to Shakunt Malhotra, Globecast Asia MD. See Chai is responsible for sales of Globecast’s permanent distribution services to broadcasters, cable operators, news agencies, corporations as well as other relevant organisations across Asia and Asia-Pacific. This will include identifying and pursuing new business as well as maintaining and growing relationships with existing customers.  

Malhotra said, “We are pleased to welcome Tan to this important role. He has huge experience across the satellite industry, in particular, and this will come to the fore in this multifaceted position. As well as liaising with new and existing customers, he will also work closely with our Singapore-based operations and engineering group – where one of our three global Media Centers is located – as well as liaising with key personnel in other Global Business Units located around the world.” 

See Chai has over 25 years’ experience in the industry and was most recently Director of Sales with Telesat, a position he held for the past 30 months. In that role he was responsible for major satellite capacity sales across the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to that, he held a range of positions with Globecast, the last as Senior Director of Sales – Head of Occasional Services for Asia, a job he held for five years. He has also worked for Verestar and Echostar International, among others.  

See Chai said, “I’m genuinely excited to be appointed to this important position with my extensive experience across the industry being recognised as being invaluable to the role. I already have extensive experience with the company and I look forward to helping Globecast attain further growth across its distribution business.” 

Media Asset Management (MAM) systems must undergo a fundamental transformation from simply a repository for audio, video, graphics, animations and associated metadata to an intelligent content factory that enables Media & Entertainment companies to streamline content production and distribution, says Bea Alonso, director, product marketing at Dalet.

“Content owners and distributors face a daunting challenge as their media supply chain is under strain to keep pace with their desire to exploit new markets and distribute content quickly and efficiently,” says Alonso.

Alonso, along with Luc Comeau, market director, MAM, at Dalet, will present their views during a TVTechnology webinar, Nov. 20 at Noon EDT. The hour long event, “How to implement an Intelligent Content Media Platform,” will examine how MAM technology can be leveraged to manage content production and distribution workflows to meet today’s new distribution demands while reducing labor costs and maximizing return on investment (ROI).

A major impediment holding M&E companies back from fully capitalizing on new distribution opportunities is their existing workflows, says Comeau. “Often M&E businesses find themselves with multiple departments acquiring and producing content in different formats, storage that is disconnected and geographically diverse and a lack of searchable metadata. Further, their content import workflows are disjointed, downstream distribution workflows are paltry or non-existent and there is limited visibility into content consumption and distribution.”

MAM technology holds the key to solving these issues by transforming existing workflows into an intelligent content factory tuned to choreograph the distribution of content to multiple platforms—one that leverages component-based workflows to maximize efficiency and ROI for M&E businesses, whether they are distributing their content to other businesses or directly to consumers, says Comeau.

The webinar, moderated by TVTechnology Editor-in-Chief Tom Butts, will also examine the questions of whether there is a business case to be made for investing in multi-platform distribution automation as well as where the ROI is in multiplatform distribution. There also will be the chance for those attending the webinar to have their questions answered.

Registration is currently open for the webinar. Simply click on the link and register.

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BURLINGTON, Mass.—The rise of social media, digital and smartphones as go-to sources of news and information for millions of consumers is transforming how broadcasters view their role as a critical source of news, weather and sports, says Ray Thompson, director of Market Solutions, Broadcast & Media at Avid.

“Just repurposing stories that go out over traditional OTA [over-the-air] broadcast won’t cut it,” he says Thompson. “Having a social/digital strategy is a requirement as data shows more and more people rely on mobile and social platforms for their news/sports source.”

To register for the “Social Media Platforms –Profit or Problems” webinar, Nov. 21, click here.

Thompson and Craig Wilson, product evangelist, Broadcast & Media at Avid, will present their perspectives on the evolution of TV newsrooms as they leverage social, digital and mobile Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. EDT during the “Social Media Platforms –Profit or Problems” TVTechnology webinar, sponsored by Avid Technology. (Full disclosure: I am moderating this hour-long webinar.)

In the past, journalists focused their efforts on creating news stories for TV or one particular news show or bulletin with specific deadlines, says Wilson. “Now they need to be able to produce across many platforms and meet almost instant deadlines.”

No longer do journalists hold stories till airtime. Today, they are looking to publish as soon as they have information and then refine and update the story throughout the day as well as produce a package for the evening news, says Wilson.

As a consequence, workflows and the thinking of journalists and news managers are changing in newsrooms. “Journalists now have lots of competing demands for their time, and it requires a new, creative mindset to deliver throughout the day on these platforms and then on-air,” adds Wilson.

One workflow strategy that’s popular among stations is merging traditional TV news teams with digital/social media teams into a single unit. “Even if they are not merged, stations want them to collaborate and to be as efficient as possible so they can pool their resources and deliver the biggest bang for their buck in terms of content production,” adds Wilson.

While disruptive to traditional TV newsroom workflows, these new platforms offer broadcasters that leverage their full potential benefits that extend far beyond bringing news to consumers faster, says Thompson.

“As producers develop content, they may be publishing to different social, web and app platforms that are built to cater to different demographics,” he says. “This can help stations realize higher ad rates and higher CPMs as the ads served are easier to deliver to a specific audience and demographic group.”

The availability of analytics about consumers of news on these social and digital platforms enables broadcasters and other content creators to deliver metrics to ad buyers looking to reach different groups with ads, he says.

“To be successful, content creators and publishers must deliver a TV-like experience –meaning no buffering—to any device, anywhere, anytime, then measure both the network –meaning reliability--and the playback, including who is watching, for how long and potentially where, and last but not least, develop a more catered experience based on the types of content and shows a user is watching,” says Thompson.

To register for the “Social Media Platforms –Profit or Problems” webinar, Nov. 21, click here.

NEW YORK—Ten years ago, few might have been able to predict the dominance of Netflix and other streaming services, not to mention that networks and studios would launch their own platforms where they would exclusively show original programming, but here we are. Now, industry forecasters wonder just how far people’s preference for these types of services and other non-traditional offerings will go.

Deloitte recognizes that in this rapidly changing world, trying to make an accurate prediction is difficult. So instead, in a new study, Deloitte lays out four possible scenarios of what the TV and video industry could look like in 2030.

The first scenario is what Deloitte calls “Universal Supermarkets.” This would see a few global digital platform companies assuming the lead roles in aggregation and distribution from national broadcasters. Similar to large supermarkets, digital platform companies would offer global and national content, with differentions coming from exclusive productions and sports rights.

In this scenario, broadcasters would still have a place in the industry as providers of localized content, including news. Other details involved with this scenario include the further development of AI to help with user-specific content selection and digital platforms use direct models of ad trading, which cut off broadcasters from revenue shares.

“Content Endgame” is another scenario that would have content owners emerge as the leaders, withdrawing and withholding content from digital platform companies to distribute on their own channels, establishing direct consumer relationships.

Deloitte describes this scenario as one where “variety of content has decreased, but the quality of global productions has reached new dimensions.” Broadcasters remain as they have shifted their focus entirely to the creation of strong local formats, supplying their productions to the big content owners. Digital platform companies, however, have been pigeonholed as strictly distribution channels focused on technical delivery. In this situation, consumers are paying for their preferred content, not a specific platform.

Then there is “Revenge of the Broadcasters.” Here, national broadcasters have successfully made their digital transformation to secure their place in the TV and video ecosystem, creating digital platforms that support direct customer relationships and deliver on-demand content. Broadcasters would employ new services like targeted advertising and recommendation functions, as well.

Digital platform companies would still exist in this scenario, with national broadcasters focusing on local quality content and digital platforms taking care of global productions and blockbusters. This would still allow for viewers to choose between linear and non-linear content from global or national sources.

The final scenario is called “Lost in Diversity,” where a diverse ecosystem has developed with no dominant method. This would feature a variety of distribution platforms with steady turnover of who is impacting the market and a richness of content. There would be partnerships between global and local players, while also having a distinction between content production and distribution.

“Everyone does everything in this scenario,” Deloitte wrote, with consumers only being loyal to content, not any specific platform. This allows broadcasters to generate revenue in a number of different ways, keeping them largely independent.

Overall, Deloitte’s scenarios paint a picture of digital platform companies being the major disruptors in the industry, while broadcasters and content producers face the most potential change. They argue that broadcasters and content producers can’t rely on their current market positions. Instead, they need to be open in creating alliances, even with direct competitors. Investment in technological skills will also be critical.

The full Deloitte study is available here.

NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES—Fox and Charter Communications have announced they’ve reached a long-term distribution agreement that will keep Fox’s entertainment, news and sports programs on Charter-owned stations. As part of the agreement, the two sides will also cooperate on policy to protect content against piracy.

Covered in the renewal are the distribution of Fox TV stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network and Fox Deportes, as well as video on-demand and TV Everywhere for those networks.

“This agreement allows continued access to all of the Fox programming for our customers and Fox viewers, but it will also amplify our mutual efforts to address piracy and abusive password sharing issues,” said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president of programming acquisition with Charter. “We appreciate Fox’s desire to further collaborate as the video landscape continues to evolve.”

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd., (MEASAT), in partnership with Globecast, has announced today that BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC, has renewed its agreement to distribute its BBC channels across Asia via the MEASAT-3 satellite.

“We are delighted to continue the partnership with Globecast, supporting BBC Studio’s channel distribution across Asia,” said Yau Chyong Lim, Chief Operating Officer, MEASAT. “This service extension with MEASAT and Globecast shows the strength of our 91.5°E video neighbourhood for broadcasters.”  

The channels include BBC Earth HD, which inspires audiences by sharing the incredible wonders of the universe; CBeebies HD, which provides pre-school age programming to encourage learning through play; and BBC Lifestyle Asia, which provides a wealth of inspiration for home, family and life.  

Globecast provides MEASAT satellite capacity, ground and uplink services to BBC Studios, carrying these channels to viewers across the Asian market. 

Shakunt Malhotra, Managing Director, Globecast, said, “We have a longstanding, productive partnership with MEASAT in Asia, delivering channels across the region and we are pleased that BBC Studios has chosen to renew their services with us.” 

“With MEASAT and Globecast, we have found strong and reliable partners for the distribution of BBC channels into Asia,” said Shad Hashmi, SVP, BBC Studios. “MEASAT and Globecast have addressed our business needs and we look forward to continue partnering with them in the years to come.”  

MEASAT-3 is collocated with the MEASAT-3a and MEASAT-3b satellites at Asia’s prime video hot slot of 91.5°E. The three satellites form the region’s strongest video neighbourhood, providing UHD, HD and SD channels across Asia, Australia, East Africa and Eastern Europe. The MEASAT fleet will be further strengthened with the addition of MEASAT-3d in 2021.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Despite differences in features and distinctions in functionality, the technology at the center of digital content management is aiming for one clear, single goal: To give media companies the ability to thrive amongst the myriad disruptions our industry is experiencing.

Today, the second screen has morphed into the first screen. And now that consumers are calling the shots when it comes to watching whenever and wherever they choose, technology central to content creation and management has to lead the way.

It’s a challenge for us all, but also an opportunity, said Ray Thompson, director of broadcast and media solutions marketing at Avid.

CREATING OPPORTUNITIES

A key opportunity is to find a better way to monetize the connections that are happening on those small screens, especially on social media. According to a recent Pew Research Center report, about two-thirds of Americans today get news from social media outlets. A majority of those Americans cite convenience as a key reason why they consume news from social media sites. Another key reason behind social media’s popularity: speed of delivery.

That’s what led companies like Avid to introduce solutions like MediaCentral | Publisher, a new SaaS offering designed to increase viewership and engagement across social media and digital OTT platforms for news and sports.

“With [this solution] Avid has significantly improved our customers’ ability to be first to deliver news on digital platforms,” Thompson said. The company has partnered with Wildmoka, a French software company, on this particular MediaCentral solution.

In today’s day and age, being first matters. Being first to deliver content to readers not only improves their ability to engage viewers, but it also drives consumers to their digital platforms and increases digital revenue, Thompson said.

This SaaS offering provides auto transcoding, which means media companies do not have to set up separate rendering farms for transcoding. “Once the content is in the cloud, they can do things like resize the aspect ratio of content, add graphics for different mobile platforms and customize branding,” Thompson said. MediaCentral users can log content, search for and access media, create a highlight sequence in the timeline, and then publish across social and digital platforms.

Another clear goal for media companies: engagement.

The Pew Research report found that 43 percent of those consumers surveyed use social media sites as a pathway to news, with Facebook, YouTube and Twitter leading the way. From there, consumers are often linked directly to a content creators’ news site and conversely connected to pre-, mid- and post-news ads as a way to more meaningfully direct advertising to viewers.

“Customers [are] learning that they need to be first and they need to really go viral,” Thompson said. “They become a source for breaking that news. They can do that and can drive views and drive traffic to their own ads.”

Helping media companies address that new business reality is a key goal. At the recent 2019 IBC show in Amsterdam, a number of technology firms showcased improved content creation toolsets designed to help customers deal with increasingly complex issues such as workflow and business opportunities.

Primestream, for one, highlighted its new Creative Extensions solution, which connects video, graphics and visual FX teams with tools to locate, manage and import assets and projects from within the NLE, making it so that users never need to leave their Adobe Photoshop, After Effects or Apple Final Cut Pro X systems when creating and managing content.

Others like Vizrt are introducing software-defined visual storytelling platforms designed to revolutionize how virtual studio sets and augmented reality graphics are designed and combined with live video. At IBC, Vizrt introduced Viz Engine 4, a graphics engine and video compositing platform for live video productions. The system handles graphics creation, virtual environment development, augmented reality control system and template-driven workflows for storytelling flexibility.

“For us at Vizrt, the key qualities that our customers are looking for [when it comes to content creation and distribution] are led by a director-based user interface that removes layers of complexity and gives the optimum ability for quick reactions, better storytelling and [the ability] to execute a complex error-free production,” said Víctor Josué Quintana Ramos, technical sales specialist for Vizrt.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

As the industry looks past storytelling and toward the challenges of improving content management workflow, the promise of AI appears again and again.

“Artificial intelligence provides the opportunity to systematically learn about the content the data represents and use that knowledge to make better, more efficient decisions about the workflow,” said Namdev Lisman, executive vice president of Primestream.

The newest version of the company’s Elastic Data Viewer, which was shown at IBC, is a solution that integrates with AI platforms in an effort to enrich content with facial and object recognition, speech-to-text transcription and sentiment analysis, he said.

“For decades, media content has been a hand-crafted product, relying heavily on skilled artists and craftspeople to use their time and talents for every step—even the trivial, mundane and repetitive steps,” he said. AI is now offering similar productivity opportunities. While media management has previously been about collecting, tracking and utilizing information about data files, any information about the content in those files relied on some level of human interaction—including the time and potential for error that comes along with it, Lisman said.

Primestream is using AI to provide media companies a means of using AI metadata as a driver of workflow activity, Lisman said.

“And the more we know about the content, the more efficient we can make the workflow,” he said. “This is the greatest benefit of AI in media production: using compute power to discover useful, interesting or necessary moments in content, and freeing up humans to make better decisions about what happens next.”

One successful project scenario occurred when AI was used in the video production department for the Organization of American States (OAS). AI technology was used to recognize every representative speaker within any video generated from any OAS session. Audio content would be concurrently transcribed from multiple languages and then redelivered to 35 OAS member countries, which includes every country in the Americas.

“This is a significant improvement over the previous manual process, which could take up to 30 days to accomplish the same tasks,” Lisman said.

Integrating AI is also a priority for Vizrt, which moved to keep its Viz Engine 4 an open, collaborative system. “What this brings to the table to the vast community of developers and designers are … the possibilities of using physics and using AI in the gaming engine,” said Gerhard Lang, CTO of Vizrt.

A number of other technology companies are also redoubling their efforts to focus on review and quality control technologies. That was the thinking behind Telestream’s new tools for live streaming of events and sports and how media companies can monitor quality at each point in the distribution pipeline.

The company showcased the newest version of its OptiQ Monitor at IBC, a quality of service and experience measuring system that can be inserted virtually in the media distribution pipeline for live streaming. The OptiQ framework includes the OptiQ Channel, an integrated monitoring system. Conversely, the new OptiQ Monitor works within any public cloud data center, allowing a customer to specify the type of monitoring probes needed in that data center. According to Primestream, the system begins QoS and QoE monitoring of a customer’s live streaming channels and gives that user the ability to observe how their CDNs are performing across multiple geographies.

Most importantly, the system allows a company to pinpoint degraded performance and take steps to improve it before a viewer gets distracted and stops watching.

“[The system] provides real-time identification of critical delivery faults like CDN cache performance issues, missing ABR variants, content availability problems, live content quality measurement and compliance,” said Ken Haren, director of product management at Telestream.

“This delivers live visibility into what may be impacting audience engagement concurrently across many regions—pinpointing degraded performance and remediation steps before viewers tune out,” he said.

That same goal was in place for Primestream with the release of ReviewHUB, a solution that shares and collects feedback on media across an organization and with external collaborators. The system uses privacy controls like watermarking, password protection and time specific expiration, and integrates those within the ReviewHUB platform.

As content creator continue to search for the best pathways to thrive in today’s fractured media market, technology is providing answers in the form of AI integrations, QoS monitoring, SaaS offerings and software-defined virtual storytelling. Yes, consumers are now calling the shots when it comes to when and where to watch. But today’s content creation and management technology is helping to lead the way.

Audiences are gobbling up TV shows at staggering speeds. That’s thanks to the ever-multiplying number of screens in their homes, the explosive growth of OTT video services and the proliferation of devices that allow on-demand access to streaming content. These viewers—so hungry for content that they’ve earned the moniker “binge-watchers”—aren’t letting up in their desire for fresh shows. As a result, the pressure is heavy on TV production houses to churn out blockbuster-caliber series.

The pace of original content is already light-years ahead of where it was even a decade ago. In 2018, FX networks put the number of original, scripted series across the industry at nearly 500. That number has climbed every year for nearly a decade, and will likely continue to balloon with the entrance of Disney, Apple and WarnerMedia into the streaming game.

If this growth stalls or plateaus, it’s not because budgets are shrinking. In 2018, Netflix alone spent $12 billion on new content, according to Variety, and is projected to spend $15 billion this year. If there is a limiting factor in scaling original content output to match audiences’ appetites, it’s the outdated technology and processes used by production houses. Complex and costly on-premise servers, bottlenecks in the editing workflow and global distribution challenges strain budgets and create long gaps between seasons. These challenges will inevitably ratchet up the pressure from both audiences and networks.

However, a solution exists—if production houses are willing to re-think the way they define studios and the processes that drive them. The future of production is a “studio in the cloud,” where many of the traditional post-production activities exist in a decentralized, streamlined environment. Resource-heavy tasks like editing, color grading, sound sweetening and mixing can all begin immediately, and in some cases concurrently, with cloud-based studios that allow for immediate uploading of footage. Further, cloud-based platforms can speed up the packaging of final products for distribution, streamlining processes like region-specific versioning and adding subtitles. The ultimate result is a significant reduction in server costs, improved download/upload speeds and a greatly reduced timeline to global distribution.

THE ADVANTAGES OF A CLOUD-BASED STUDIO

Today’s TV blockbusters have taken on a life of their own. Take "Game of Thrones." No matter how divided opinions may have been on the final season, there’s no denying the series’ pursuit of technical perfection (except for that rogue coffee cup). However, the labor of love from the show’s creators and crew often riled die-hard fans—there was a span of 18 months between seasons 7 and 8. The production was so ambitious that it warranted a behind-the-scenes documentary created with more than 950 hours of on-set footage. Much of this inside look revealed the pain points faced by modern production houses, as well as opportunities for cloud-based studios to help bring "Game of Thrones"-size epics to the screen more efficiently.

● Streamlined workflows

Cloud-based studios are the “breaker of chains” for any professional who works in an editing bay. Cloud platforms can serve up footage from the set to post-production teams around the world, allowing tasks to be completed simultaneously and eliminating the need for many complicated and expensive on-premise servers. Systems like these can also make the handoff of content between teams much more seamless, giving everyone involved peace of mind that they are working on the most current versions of the footage.

● Reduction in cost

Storing and sharing the massive amount of footage needed to produce modern TV series isn’t just a pain point in the workflow process—it also creates a strain on budget. Migrating footage and workflows to the cloud can significantly reduce technical costs in post-production. Because the cloud allows work to be done anywhere in the world, travel and logistics costs for editing shrink, while the talent pool grows—globally accessible footage means top professionals from every continent can become part of the team without having to be on set.

HOW CLOUD-NATIVE TECHNOLOGIES ARE REDUCING PRODUCTION COSTS

While a completely cloud-based production operation is still being realized, technology solutions are already reducing the time between a director declaring a wrap and a viewer tapping “play” on a new episode.

Component-based workflows through innovative packaging formats like the Interoperable Master Format (IMF) are helping accelerate distribution timelines. IMF helps speed up global distribution by reducing the number of files needed to compile region-specific releases, prepare existing content for a larger release and optimize releases for multiple channel partners.

IMF also eliminates the need for an individual media file for each channel or geographic location—it allows for a single master file package to be adapted to a variety of needs. Within this package exists the audio, subtitles, packaging data and more—combined as a composition playlist (CPL) that allows content distributors to make changes to individual components without altering the master file. This means fewer errors and more flexible versioning at a lower cost.

More players in the streaming space means the never-ending hunger for original content will give a competitive advantage to the production houses who can capitalize on quick, quality turnaround of original content. Production houses that rethink their concept of the studio, and invest in technology to make this vision a reality, will reduce costs and speed the time of their content to release. A “studio in the cloud” unlocks a future where post-production is less focused on logistics and IT and more time pursuing perfection in the creative elements of work.

Dan Goman is the CEO of Ownzones.

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

BERKLEY, Calif.—A Berkeley, California-based startup says it has a new way to distribute streaming video that eliminates the need for traditional video encoding and content delivery networks (CDNs).

Eluvio was founded by Michelle Munson, a Cambridge-trained software engineer and IBM veteran. The company’s patent-pending “Content Fabric” architecture is a global software overlay network that enables just-in-time video distribution—stream or download file—directly from the source.

The system, Eluvio says, eliminates the need to create additional copies of files used in distribution networks or storage facilities using a novel representation of media and data protocol implemented in a blockchain network to create a direct-to-consumer media distribution network.

MGM is using the Eluvio Content Fabric for global streaming to web, mobile and TV Everywhere audiences of certain properties, including transcoding, multiformat encryption and DRM, access control and audience reporting.

“The economics of today’s video ecosystem is defined and hampered by yesterday’s technologies, and we aim to change that,” said Munson, who serves as CEO and co-founder of Eluvio. “The Eluvio Content Fabric enables content owners to manage and distribute video and large form content in ways never before possible, opening publishers to more direct monetization opportunities, and reducing costs by minimizing core bandwidth and storage, and radically streamlining the traditional media distribution workflow.”

Munson is introducing Eluvio alongside her co-founder, Serban Simu, at IBC in Amsterdam. In 2003, Munson and Simu also founded Aspera, which invented the FASP fast file transport protocol. Aspera was acquired by IBM in 2017. 

BURBANK, Calif.—The Walt Disney Company and Charter Communications have come to terms on a new multi-year distribution agreement that will continue to provide Disney’s TV content to Charter’s Spectrum customers, as well as expand its offerings with new channels and potential access to streaming services.

Through the agreement, Spectrum customers will continue to have access to ABC, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, ESPNNews, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Bases Loaded, SEC Network, Longhorn Network and FX, FXX, FXM, Fox Life, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo and BabyTV, all of which were brought under the Disney banner during the recent Fox acquisition.

Spectrum customers will also receive the new ACC Network channel when it becomes available on Aug. 22.

Also discussed within the agreement was the potential for Charter to distribute Disney’s streaming services, which include Hulu, ESPN+ and the upcoming Disney+, and collaborations between the two companies to work on issues like piracy mitigation, unauthorized access and password sharing.

“This agreement will allow Spectrum to continue delivering to its customers popular Disney content, makes possible future distribution by Spectrum of Disney streaming services, and will begin an important collaborative effort to address significant issue of piracy mitigation,” said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president of Programming Acquisition for Charter.

The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Content originators and owners increasingly find their content distribution workflows being siloed as they prepare content for a diverse array of delivery platforms. The eBook “Managing Content Distribution in a Time of Flux” confronts the problem of prepping content for different distributors and looks at a strategy that relieves the headaches for in-house staff.

Discover:

-Why different distributors –whether they’re direct-to-consumer cable syndication, digital or international—have different content specifications

-How content prep silos are a workable solution that impedes content prep efficiency 

-Content prep and supply chain management that allows content owners and originators to reclaim workflow efficiency

-How context-aware workflows are a great way to relieve the burden of versioning content

Click here to download.

Arabsat is pleased to announce that Canal Algerie is now available on Arabsat-5C, the leading Arabic satellite platform for Direct-To-Home services over Africa.

Canal Algerie is an Algerian French-speaking public television channel, owned by EPTV (Algerian Public Television), who also owns A3 (available on BADR-6), Terrestrial TV, Tamazight TV and Coran TV. Canal Algerie broadcasts its programs 24/7 via different platforms all over the world.

Globecast is expanding its longstanding relationship with Arabsat, providing the technical broadcast solutions needed to deliver Canal Algerie across Africa. Arabsat-5C at 20° East is designed to serve the African market, matching the specific technical requirements with the growing demand across the continent. Arabsat -5C has a huge footprint, equipped with an innovative, powerful C-band beam which covers 100 per cent of African satellite TV households and needs only the minimum required dish size to receive its channels.

This new broadcast of Canal Algérie is part of the commercial contract between Télédiffusion d'Algérie, the Algerian public TV and radio broadcasting operator and Globecast.

Giorgio Giacomini, MD of Globecast in the Middle East, said, “We have a longstanding and very successful relationship with Arabsat. We are perfectly positioned to both launch new channels and expand the reach of existing channels, providing cost-effective end-to-end services to do so.”

“The launch of Canal Algerie on Arabsat-5C comes as part of our core mission to connect Arabic societies across the world; we provide African, Arab and Islamic communities with the largest possible choice of Free-To-Air TV channels in Africa,” says Khalid Balkheyour, Arabsat president & CEO.

“Furthermore, the broadcasting of Canal Algerie via Arabsat-5C, highlights the continued successful Arabsat and Globecast partnership. This is expanding across additional territories beyond MENA, helping grow the reach of the existing Direct-to-Home portfolio of channels active on Arabsat-5C, and supporting the addition of more leading channels on Arabsat-5C in the very near future.” 

Petaluma, Calif. — Point Source Audio (PSA) announced that it has appointed China’s EAD and South Korea’s Capstone Pro to be distribution partners for its SERIES8 and EMBRACE™ microphones as well as its CM-i series of patented in-ear headsets. The appointments come on the back of an expansion effort in response to increased sales and product awareness outside of the USA for Point Source Audio. These partnerships further expand the company’s worldwide reach, which now includes international partners in the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan Italy, Norway, Finland and France, among others.

“We’re excited to be working with both Capstone Pro and EAD,” said James Lamb, President of Point Source Audio. “The creative community in these regions is massive and our products fit their needs. Our goal is to continuously improve our customers’ experience around the world in every aspect and we are confident that our new partners will help achieve that.”

Integral to achieving this growth trajectory in the Asia Pacific region is also the appointment of AS Audio APAC Pte. Ltd. as the manufacturer’s representative in the territory. Based in Singapore, the company, led by Alex Schloesser, will support the Asia Pacific business and develop its distribution network. AS Audio will also handle all technical and sales support for Point Source Audio throughout the APAC region.

Schloesser comments, “Developing and growing the PSA business is a rewarding and enjoyable task. Wherever we take the products, they shine and stand their ground with the competition. I very much look forward to be taking PSA into APAC.”

Point Source Audio is a manufacturer of specialty sub-miniature body-worn style microphones and patented lavalier mounting systems specifically designed for theatre applications. The company creates value-added solutions through intelligent designs, driven by market demand — examples include their IP 57 rated waterproof models and unique headsets which retain the position of the microphone capsule regardless of performer activity.

About EAD
Established in 1997, Guangzhou Donghui Digital Technology Development Co, Ltd is a professional audio and video integrator and distribution company. The company is headquartered in Hong Kong with branches in Guangzhou and Beijing. For more information, visit their website at www.ead.cn.

About Capstone Pro
CAPSTONE PRO, led by founders Kevin Kim and Jesse Park, both veterans of the professional audio industry, was established in 2018. The company distributes pro audio brands including Point Source Audio throughout Korea. For more information visit their website at www.capstonepro.co.kr.

About Point Source Audio
Point Source Audio (@PSA_audio) manufactures and distributes worldwide their SERIES8, EMBRACE, and CONFIDENCE collection of miniature microphones—a unique line of headset, earworn and earmounted microphones known for their robust bendable boom and waterproof features. The company also holds two patents for the EMBRACE concealable microphone as well as the patent for the world’s first modular in-ear comms headset that is supporting the hearing health for audio, lighting and camera techs using headsets everywhere from sports to space. Founded in 2004, Point Source Audio is headquartered in Petaluma, Calif. For more information call (415) 226-1122 or visit www.point-sourceaudio.com. Follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PSA_audio.

It works in gaming, it works in retail. Heck, it even works when it comes to M&Ms.

Study after study proves that a major key to success in 2018 is customization.

Yet for one European news media service, an inflexible legacy distribution system was blocking the way to such customization.

That was the reality that Euronews was facing. A pan-European news organization with multiculturalism at the heart of its DNA, Euronews was founded nearly 25 years ago by 10 European public broadcasters looking to cover world news from a European perspective in multiple languages 24/7. But this network — seen as groundbreaking when it launched in 1993 — was being held back by an inability to adapt programming to the specific needs of individual countries.

So this pioneering broadcaster began searching for an answer to two key questions.

•How does a multilingual broadcaster better serve a segmented audience in the wildly diverse digital environment of 2018?

•How does one better reach an audience while juggling complex multilingual content production on one hand and managing intricate multiplatform distribution on the other?

In other words, how do you reach an Italian teenager surfing on her mobile phone while simultaneously connecting with a 70-year-old multilingual professor looking for over-the-air breaking news in Ukrainian?

Connecting with Audience via Customization

“We have been operating a ‘one size fits all’ policy since launch because that was the limit of the software we were using,” said Duncan Hooper, digital editor in chief for Euronews. “We found that we could no longer take our brand or product further so we [made a change] to help us break out of those limits and to create a specific identity for each channel with content customized for each audience.”

For Euronews, now the continent’s biggest news channel, that change came in the form of a new broadcast infrastructure with customization at its center.

The result: weeks after the launch, Euronews was already producing more than double the amount of television content that it did under its legacy infrastructure. Additionally, by synchronizing the production of content between its television and digital platforms, Euronews is now producing 20% more content for their digital channels and managed to grow traffic to their website by 66% since the beginning of 2018.

For Euronews, the answer came in the form of a new production and distribution platform that allowed it to transition from a single multi-language channel to 12 separate cross-platform channels that can now be individually tailored to local audiences.

After its installation in fall 2017, Euronews is now generating adapted content with enhanced graphics across TV, social media and the web. The broadcaster is able to set up a separate identity for each of its language channels and deliver pictures and graphics in different languages for audiences in 165 countries.

Journalists and other editorial and creative personnel have more individual control over their content. Under the new system, journalists can now access any video, graphic or script created by another reporter and directly customize that content on the platform. Collaboration between departments is proving to be seamless.

“Journalists can collaborate better, share content seamlessly, and transform an original story with minimal effort to adapt it for each language and audience,” said Francois Schmitt, Euronews COO.

And dependency on technicians is reduced. Using this new system, Euronews can now store all assets in a single, unified environment, which allows for a smooth, automated flow of content from ingest to output.

Now, the 500 users that work at Euronews offices in Athens, Brussels, Budapest and Lyon are connected and collaborating on a single platform. The solution — called Dalet Unified News Operations — handles production, orchestration and delivery of stories in a way that was not possible for Euronews a year ago.

Euronews is now able to adapt its output to the needs of the consumers it serves, “empowering the uniqueness of our multiculturalism,” said Michael Peters, CEO of Euronews. The new production platform is transforming Euronews into a robust, agile and innovative organization, he said.

“[We are becoming] the first glocal news brand by reinventing our approach to broadcast journalism from production to distribution,” he said.

Detractors said Euronews’ multiplex approach to news coverage lacked the ability to adapt programming to the specific needs of individual countries. That’s no longer the case. Now, Euronews is producing double the amount of television content that it did under its outdated infrastructure. By synchronizing the production of content between its TV and digital platforms, Euronews is producing 20 percent more digital platform content than before the adoption of the Unified News Operations solution.

“The most positive thing about the Dalet system for all the journalists has been their empowerment,” Hooper said. “They are no longer reliant on other people to make things happen since they can create content and publish online, on social and on TV. They then have the power to adapt the content to tell the story that they want to tell rather than having to tell the same on each platform regardless of language.”

“[This technology] has enabled us to give more individuality to our storytelling.”

Euronews’ strategic transformation project has been nominated for an Innovation Award at IBC 2018. Lauded as one of the most coveted awards in the media industry, the competition celebrates technical and creative excellence, acknowledging collaboration between organizations like Euronews and Dalet to achieve clever and innovative solutions for real business challenges.

Arnaud Elnecave is vice president of marketing for Dalet. 

Additional Resources

Euronews Customer Story— The world's first "Glocal" Media: a strategic transformation with Dalet

Dalet Unified News Operations Solution — Discover Dalet’s story-centric, integrated news production and delivery solution for TV, radio, web and social

Dalet, a leading provider of solutions and services for broadcasters and content professionals, announced today it will showcase at NAB 2018 (booth SL8010) new capabilities for producers and journalists to tackle the rapidly growing role of social media in the newsroom. “Reuters Institute Digital News Report * stated that in 2017 more than 51% of those sampled (in the US) get news via social media networks. This was up five percentage points from 2016 and twice as many from 2013,” explains Arnaud Elnecave, vice president of marketing at Dalet. “In order to keep pace with today’s hyper-active non-stop news cycle and audiences’ desire for new forms of content interactions, Dalet hasinterwovensocial media functions into every facet of the newsroom. From using social media as a source, all the way to engaging audiences in complementary experiences, this new suite tools have been designed for publishers to very simply and effectively treat social media as an integrated part of their overall day to day operations, alongside traditional outlets.”

Powered by the Dalet Galaxy five Media Asset Management, Workflow Orchestration and Editorial platform, the newly revved Dalet Social Media Framework enables editorial teams to harvest, aggregate, analyze, produce and deliver fast-paced news to social media networks, while the rest of the platform helps free up editorial time by further automating business as usual for the more traditional outlets. New Dalet Social Framework capabilities available with the Dalet Galaxy five release and shown at NAB 2018 include:

• Aggregator: This new feature offers a friendly and efficient UI to use social threads as news sources. Journalists can simply subscribe to topics they need to follow. The module automatically aggregates and displays matching threads.
  
• Track story popularity: Real-time engagement data presented in familiar social media style data lets journalists know how their posts are performing with audiences and assists in gauging new story angles.
  
• Support for Facebook business pages: In addition to the ability to publish to Facebook personal accounts, journalists can now publish to business pages with full control over draft or as a final post.
  
• Advanced social media staging: The new feature allows to time and schedule posts either solo or alongside a developing story (before, during and after a story airs). It also includes the ability to submit and approve social media stories.
  
• Emoji library: A 6,000 character Emoji library used by Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat communicators is now part of the Dalet Social Media Framework.

News Production, Creation and Distribution for a Multimedia World

The flexible Dalet Galaxy five platform allows news operations to either distribute to social media via a traditional CMS integration or to connect directly to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. This increases the speed in which news is delivered to a global audience and gives journalists full control over their news engagement with the audience.

For more information on Dalet Social Media Framework, please visit http://www.dalet.com/solutions/social-media-framework.

* N. Newman, R. Fletcher, A. Kalogeropoulos, D. A. L. Levy, R. Kleis Nielsen (2017). Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2017. Retrieved from this link on April 4th, 2018.

Schedule a Private Press Briefing with Dalet at NAB 2018

Members of the NAB registered press are invited to request a private press briefing with Dalet at NAB 2018. For more information, please contact Alex Molina at alex@zazilmediagroup.com.

About Dalet Digital Media Systems

Dalet solutions and services enable media organizations to create, manage and distribute content faster and more efficiently, fully maximizing the value of assets. Dalet products are built on three distinct platforms that, when combined, form versatile business solutions that power end-to-end workflows for news, sports, program preparation, production, archive and radio. Individually, Dalet platforms and products offer targeted applications with key capabilities to address critical media workflow functions such as ingest, QC, edit, transcode and multiplatform distribution.

The foundation for Dalet productivity-enhancing workflow solutions, Dalet Galaxy is the enterprise Media Asset Management (MAM) & Orchestration platform that unifies the content chain by managing assets, metadata, workflows and processes across multiple and diverse production and distribution systems. Specially tailored for news and media workflows, this unique technology platform helps broadcasters and media professionals increase productivity while providing operational and business visibility.

Dalet AmberFin is the high-quality, scalable transcoding platform with fully integrated ingest, mastering, QC and review functionalities, enabling facilities to make great pictures in a scalable, reliable and interoperable way. Addressing the demanding needs of studio production, multi-camera ingest, sports logging and highlights production, the innovative Dalet Brio video server platform combines density and cost-effectiveness with high reliability. Adopted by leading broadcasters, Dalet Cube is a suite of applications to create, manage and deliver graphics in a newsroom scenario.

Dalet supports customers from the initial planning stages to well beyond project execution. Our global presence includes 17 offices strategically located throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, North America and South America, and a network of more than 60 professional partners serving 87 countries worldwide. This collective experience and knowledge enables our customers to realize potential increases in productivity, efficiency and value of their assets.

The comprehensive Dalet Care program ensures deployments remain up and running with 24/7 support 365 days a year.

Dalet systems are used around the world by many thousands of individual users at hundreds of TV and Radio content producers, including public broadcasters (ABS-CBN, BBC, CBC, DR, FMM, France TV, RAI, RFI, Russia Today, RT Malaysia, VOA), commercial networks and operators (Canal+, FOX, eTV, MBC Dubai, MediaCorp, Mediaset, Orange, Time Warner Cable, Warner Bros, Sirius XM Radio), and government organizations (Canadian House of Commons, Australian Parliament and UK Parliament).

Dalet is traded on the NYSE-EURONEXT stock exchange (Eurolist C): ISIN: FR0011026749, Bloomberg DLT:FP, Reuters: DALE.PA.

Dalet® is a registered trademark of Dalet Digital Media Systems. All other products and trademarks mentioned herein belong to their respective owners.

ATSC 3.0 continues its march toward acceptance as the television transmission standard in the U.S., with many products boasting of compatibility. In addition to ATSC 3.0 getting nods of approval by both the FCC and industry groups, the television repack continues apace, and that is also driving development of new products.

TRANSMITTERS

GATESAIR will highlight its Maxiva VAXTE air-cooled transmitter, for Band III and low-band VHF, with support for power levels up to 38kW. The VAXTE is driven by the XTE software-defined exciter featuring real-time adaptive correction and ATSC 3.0 capability.

HITACHI-COMARK will show its E-Compact transmitter, optimized for the US repack market in ATSC 1.0 and upgradeable to 3.0, with power output as high as 10 kW. Also on display will be the EXACT-V2 DTV exciter that allows easy migration from ATSC 1.0 to 3.0 with a simple license upgrade.

ROHDE & SCHWARZ will show the THU9evo high-power transmitter that provides broadcasters a scalable upgrade path to ATSC 3.0. The THU9evo delivers maximum energy savings even during channel changes and output power adjustment.

TEAMCAST will feature the latest version of its Vortex II exciter for ATSC 3.0, now featuring layered division multiplexing to provide greater data bandwidth for conditions with an outdoor antenna, while maintaining a robust core signal for mobile and challenging reception.

ANTENNAS

ALDENA will feature its UHF antenna line that includes broadband panel antennas (horizontal, vertical, circular, slant or elliptical polarization) and super-turnstile antennas.

ALIVE TELECOM will show its slot, panel and pylon antennas, available for both VHF and UHF applications. The company’s antennas support low-, medium-and high-power transmitters, with coax input sizes up to 6 1/8-inch.

DIELECTRIC will spotlight its TFU-WB low-cost, side-mount, UHF broadband pylon-type antenna designed for higher voltage handling capabilities that also offers 75 percent less wind-load, lower overall weight and greater cost-efficiency compared with UHF panel antennas.

RFS will show a range of antennas that are frequency- and polarization-agile, including its SBB series of wideband slot antennas and PEP Lite antennas that provide both low wind-load and allow operation on any UHF channel.

COMPONENTS

BURK TECHNOLOGY will show its Arcturus product line of RF protection components, suitable for complex RF plants that include antennas, transmission lines and RF combiner systems.

ERI will introduce a line of adjustable coaxial directional couplers that feature externally terminated sample ports and are available as 3 1/8-inch, 4 1/16-inch and 6 1/8-inch sizes with one-to-four sampling ports.

SATELLITE, MICROWAVEAND REMOTE

In the past 10 years, the growth of IP technology and cellular networks created a revolution in how signals are sent from a remote camera back to the studio. Where you once had dedicated lines (expensive), satellite feeds (expensive) and microwave links (expensive), now relatively cheap internet service or cellular wireless links can do the same with much more flexibility at a tiny fraction of the price.

We’re almost at the point where a well-equipped cell phone and a solid 4G wireless connection can do most of what it used to take a microwave truck to do. And it doesn’t require a license… or insurance.

MICROWAVE

AMT will feature the StreetNode portable LTE camera transmitter and SkyNode helicopter transmitter for its ENGenesis LTE microwave system.

BMS will discuss the MTxx24VHD unmanned COFDM microwave link that offers low-latency wireless HD video in a small, light footprint targeted at UAVs and other unmanned systems. The MTxx24VHD provides secure HD video transmission using AES encryption and H.264 compression.

IMT, which recently acquired satellite equipment manufacturer Vislink, will show its HCAM 4K HEVC camera transmitter. Targeted at broadcast, sports and event production, HCAM supports IFB audio and remote camera control.

MARSHALL ELECTRONICS and IMT will show their combined wireless video solution for live broadcasts and sporting events. The integrated bundles include one of IMT’s ultra-miniature wireless video systems (IMTDragonFly or MicroLite 2 HD COFDM wireless video transmitter), as well as a Marshall Mini-Broadcast POV camera such as the CV502.

MOSELEY will show its mobile and fixed microwave line, including the DTV Link- A STL systems. The DTV Link-A works in any microwave band from 1.5 GHz to 13 GHz and it can carry data loads as high as 155 Mbps.

VIDOVATION will demonstrate ABonAir’s AB512 radio system. Built on a bidirectional radio channel between transmitter and receiver, ABonAir’s wireless video links acknowledge the correct acceptance of each group of pixels with only a 7ms delay for applications in which latency of 2-6 frames or 30-90 ms is unacceptable.

CELLULAR

COMREX will showcase LiveShot, which delivers live, two-way HD video and audio over a range of IP networks at latencies as low as less than 200mS.

DEJERO will feature CellSat, a system that works with the company’s EnGo mobile encoder to combine cellular networks with Intelsat satellite connectivity, increasing reliability and coverage. CellSat simplifies transmission using multiple connection paths so field crews can capture live news and events with confidence.

LIVEU will highlight its flagship LU600 portable transmission solution with the HEVC Pro card. Combined with the 4K HEVC Pro card, the LU600 allows broadcasters and content creators to benefit from high video performance and bandwidth efficiency in a small package.

TVU NETWORKS will introduce TVU Timelock, which enables remote events to be produced from a control room in a separate location. With the solution, TVU transmitters can synchronize together at a set latency, allowing mobile and wireless at-home/REMI prodocutions without being tethered. Also new is the TVU Transcriber, an AI-based audio-to-text transcribing service that uses voice recognition technology. The company will also introduce improvements to its existing line of IP video workflow solutions, with enhancements to its video acquisition, transmission, production, distribution and management technologies.

IP & STREAMING

AKAMAI will showcase its liveOrigin platform, which combines broadcast-quality ingestion, low-latency, a “self-healing” network and performance monitoring/reporting to support the same level of quality for live and linear video streaming that’s expected of traditional broadcast TV. Akamai is complementing its delivery capabilities with demonstrations of its Broadcast Operations Control Center (BOCC) and its Broadcast Operations Support System (BOSS), media analytics tools that are designed to provide operational insight and telemetry from origin to viewer, offering control of and visibility into video operations and performance.

ARTEL will feature its DigiLink line of IP distribution products, including the DL4360x modular 3RU 12-slot chassis that can support multiple channels of video and Ethernet traffic.

DVEO will highlight the T-Mux IP/IP multiport multiplexer/demultiplexer that is used to combine or uncombine any number of incoming MPEG-2/H.264 IP transport streams, SPTS or MPTS.

SIGNAL TRANSPORT

BARNFIND will introduce the BTF1-41 series, the company’s first signal transport product with 12GB capacity and built-in SDI to IP. The series will use the BarnStudio control system and offer the same third-party control as the existing BarnOne 3G system.

CAMPLEX will highlight its Fiber Multiplexer and Demultiplexer series that allows a single fiber to add channels that save space and the expense of deploying new fiber. The new line is available in a choice of models offering a variety of channels and wavelengths.

COBALT DIGITAL will debut the 9414DAEO/OE-12G multichannel fiber extension cards that can transport 12G-SDI video over optical cable. The 9414DAEO/OE-12G installs in an openGear frame that can hold up to 10 cards, providing 20 channels of 12G transport.

COMREX will debut EarShot, which provides telephone-based live studio program and IFB audio to field-based remote broadcasts. Up to 30 users can listen to program or IFB feeds by calling into EarShot with a mobile phone, and EarShot can handle up to four program feeds, or two IFB feeds.

MULTIDYNE will debut the latest version of its SilverBack signal transport system: Silverback-12G, which provides a full-bandwidth fiber-optic link between two cameras and a production truck or control room. The company will also showcase the VF-9000, which addresses the growing need for higher signal density, format flexibility and operational versatility in a fiber transport frame and is available in 18- and 36-channel versions.

CABLE, FIBER & CONNECTORS

Now that production and editing in 4K is common and virtually no more expensive than HD, cables, connectors, patch panels and terminal gear is increasingly built to support uncompressed 4K transmission. If you are putting new cable and infrastructure into a facility, it makes sense to future-proof it by going the 4K route (also known as “12G”). Expect to see lots of 12G fiber and cabling solutions at the 2018 NAB Show.

CABLE

BELDEN will feature its new 4694R RG6 precision video coax designed for 4K indoor riser applications. Rated out to 12 GHz, 4694R meets SMPTE 2082-1 (12 Gbps) and SMPTE 2081-1 (6 Gbps), as well as HD-SDI.

CLARK WIRE & CABLE will show its RCC2V2A1C6HDE hybrid A/V multi-core cable with RG-6, audio and Cat-6 data strands for remote production and ENG applications.

SOMMER CABLE will highlight its composite cables for 4K and 8K, such as the Transit MC 3202 HD combo cable. The MC 3202 has three 75-Ohm coax strands, two 16A WG power strands and two balanced audio strands for digital audio.

FIBER

APANTAC will display its SFP-FIB-SDI-CONV-Tx/Rx transmitter/receiver pair that will transmit a 1080p 3G video signal up to 10 km using a ST-terminated single-mode fiber. The units provide re-clocking to ensure clean signals.

ARTEL will highlight its new InfinityLink ATSC 3.0 fiber-based transition solution that provides SDI/ASI connection from the studio to the transmitter tower. Barnfind will roll out its CAM-CCU transport solution that supports up to 18 cameras on a single fiber for bidirectional traffic over long distances.

CAMPLEX will debut a new 24-channel, small-diameter tactical fiber cable series for harsh environments where size and weight are a concern. The singlemode fiber-optic cable with polyurethane jacket can be used for temporary deployment directly on the ground in all terrains. They are available with LC, SC or ST connectors and in a variety of lengths. Camplex will also spotlight its HF-FCFF-CM-T SMPTE fiber tactical hybrid camera cables that meet SMPTE 304M and 311M standards. Terminated with Canare FCFA to FCMA connectors, the lightweight cables are designed with an abrasion-resistant polyurethane jacket targeted at temporary installation where quick retrieval and recurrent use is necessary.

GRASS VALLEY will show off its Viper family of fiber-optic connectivity product, including the Viper 1 that provides two-way video, audio, intercom and data transport.

LINK ELECTRONICS will spotlight the PFO-100-T&R, a compact 3G/HD/SD-SDI or ASI fiber optics transmission system. The unit can be ordered with either single- or multimode fiber capability, and the system a built-in equalizer, cable driver and re-clocker.

MULTIDYNE will feature its LightCube fiber-optic system that supports up to 80 HD-SDI signal paths and 225 AES audio channels. Built in a 14-inch cube, LightCube also carries Ethernet, serial data, IFB and intercom.

OPTICAL CABLE CORP. will feature its extensive line of SMPTE 311 composite cable that includes both fiber and copper strands in the same jacket.

STUDIO TECHNOLOGIES will discuss its Live-Link Mini remote camera interface system that offers one 3G-SDI path in each direction, an integrated party-line and four-wire intercom support, and line-level and powered talent cueing (IFB). The units interconnect through one single-mode fiber for quick field deployment.

SWIT ELECTRONICS will show its S-4607 bi-directional SDI optical converter, which provides a two-way HD-SDI link in a single box. The S-4607 uses single-mode fiber for distances up to 20 km.

CONNECTORS

LEMO will debut a 3GHz 75-Ohm coaxial contact that can be used in various broadcast connector configurations and combines multiple HD-SDI BNC connectors into one. It is well suited for 3x coaxial (HD), 4x coaxial (4K) and 10x coaxial (8K) applications taking multiple HD-SDI BNC type connectors into one integrated connector.

NEMAL will have its extensive line of audio, video and fiber-optic connectors on display, including multi-pin audio snake connectors such as the DT12 37-pin cable mount connector. DT12 cable-mount male connectors are available in either standard or steel-insert versions and come standard with a 6-inch strain relief.

NEUTRIK will feature its rearTwist UHD-BNC connector designed for video service up to 8K. The rearTwist UHD-BNC provides precision 75-Ohm impedance that minimizes return loss and maximizes signal flow.

SAM WOO ELECTRONICS will show its ranage of conectors, including 75-Ohm BNC connectors for all popular cable types. The company’s connectors can be specified for operating frequencies as high as 3 GHz.

ASSEMBLIES & ACCESSORIES

BITTREE will introduce the PS96DB25F audio patchbay, a front-programmable model that features 96 TT (bantam) connectors in a 2x48, 1.5RU rackmount formfactor. The PS96DB25i, a 1RU version with the same connectivity, is internally-configurable. Bittree will also show its 12G+ mini-WECO coaxial video patchbay.

CANARE will roll out its 12G-SDI video patchbay, which the company says is the first fully normalled patchbay that does not require patch cords or looping plugs to complete a 12G-SDI signal path.

SWITCHCRAFT will shine the light on its UHD video patching solutions, including the MVP32K1UHD that has mid-size/mini-WECO jacks in a 2x32 configuration that fits in a 1RU patchbay. The MVP-32K1UHD patch bay is rated to work on digital video from SD-HDI to 4K.

WASHINGTON—The first satellite was launched into space by the Soviet Union more than 60 years ago and ever since the technology has been a major factor in the distribution of communications and signals, including for the broadcast industry. However, as IP, OTT and other new forms of distribution continue to emerge and develop, is satellite going to come crashing back down to earth? Not necessarily, according to the panelists of the “Ultra HDTV Live Event and News Broadcasting: The Olympics and Beyond” panel at the Satellite 2018 conference.

The desire and capability to transmit content over IP continues to grow and many are looking toward OTT and other terrestrial services to do so, but according to panelist Antonio Arcidiacono, director of Innovation at Eutelsat S.A., those services don’t have a monopoly on IP. Arcidiacono says that satellites are just as capable of transmitting IP content and without some of the issues that terrestrial services may have.

Latency is one of the big issues when it comes to content, especially live content like sports, where concerns over available bandwidth can create multisecond delays. Arcidiacono says that problem is minimized with satellite, that there is in initial delay of about 120ms as it is being converted, “but once you’ve done this you are blended into the place you should be.”

[Eutelsat Globecast Launching Media Platform Over the Americas]

In sports, this is obviously a big deal. Rudiger Ellis, CEO of Switchboard Live, a video streaming platform, said the goal of every broadcaster is to give their audiences the highest quality content possible, in addition to HD or UHD, for live sports that include the least amount of latency so fans aren’t finding out about a game winning shot on social media before their screen buffers it.

This is why, according to the panel, satellite is still used as a primary source for major sports broadcasts, including the Olympics and the upcoming World Cup. In addition to providing that high-quality content, the panel explained that satellite can also prove to be a more reliable source in areas where bandwidth or other terrestrial signals are harder to access.

Broadcasters are utilizing IP and OTT technology for live productions, but rather than switching over completely, they use a combination of satellite terrestrial technology to ensure that they can deliver the content as reliably and in as many ways as possible.

This philosophy is ranging beyond sports too, as panelist Bart Van Poucke told the panel that Netflix and YouTube have been using satellite technology to help distribute their content to countries with less bandwidth or other connection issues.

So while IP may in fact be the way of the future, satellite isn’t going extinct immediately and Arcidiacono shared his thoughts as to why.

“On one side you have the new world where everything is IP, everything is flexible,” he said. “On the other side you have the legacy, and the legacy takes time before you get rid of the legacy system because people have been building business around it, people have been developing solutions. It’s the same thing on the broadcasting side.”

[Making Over-the-Air TV Cool Again]

There are still a number of new technological developments that will need to be addressed in the coming years that could impact how content is delivered, including the continued rise of UHD, augmented and virtual reality, to a variety and expanding choice of platforms. Even with all the change on the horizon, the panel firmly believes that in the realm of sports broadcasting, satellite will remain in the game for the time being.

LAS VEGAS—A combined effort by Broadpeak and Wyplay is making to look distribution of live TV Everywhere services over managed networks easier. The companies’ joint technology, which will be on display at CES 2017, integrates Broadpeak’s nanoCDN technology with Frog By Wyplay middleware on set-top boxes for multiscreen delivery.

With this new technology, telecom, cable and satellite operators are provided a migration path to a fully converged HTTP video delivery infrastructure. The combination of the technology enables operators to contain bandwidth requirements to only a few megabits per second for live multiscreen delivery. Broadpeak’s nanoCDN can also convert multicast streams into unicast via multicast ABR technology.

CES 2017 will take place from Jan. 5-8 in Las Vegas.