VIENNA, Austria—NAGRA, a provider of content protection and security solutions, is integrating Bitmovin’s Player with its streaming security and consumer engagement solutions including OpenTV Video Platform. The partnership empowers NAGRA to offer enhanced video streaming capabilities to its media, entertainment, and sports customer base through a fully customizable white-label solution, the companies said.

“NAGRA is an undisputed leader in media technology solutions, and it’s a huge honor that the Bitmovin Player will be integrated into its product suite as part of its solution partner ecosystem to help power world-class streaming solutions for service providers and content owners globally,” said Stefan Lederer, CEO and co-founder of Bitmovin.

Bitmovin’s player includes features like advertising support, low-latency streaming, and DRM. NAGRA says it will also benefit from the Bitmovin Player’s extensive device reach, including its ability to quickly deploy on new devices and platforms such as smart TVs.

“The Bitmovin Player is market-leading, and we are impressed with its playback quality, device reach, ability to scale at speed, and the range of features it offers, all of which match the quality of NAGRA’s solutions,” Stephane Le Dreau, SVP, Global Products & Partnerships at NAGRA. “This key addition to our solution partner ecosystem will ensure we can deliver a comprehensive, high-quality, and secure experience to our customers and their millions of viewers.”

PHOENIX—Even while content providers, pay-TV operators and telcos grapple daily with the consequences of COVID-19, they must find a way to build responses that address staffing, call center management, customers with overdue bills and a host of other critical issues—all while flying blind because of the unprecedented nature of the pandemic, according to a white paper released today by NAGRA Kudelski.

The paper, “Shaping Post-COVID Resilience for the Premium Content, Pay-TV and Telco Businesses,” draws on information gleaned from customers of NAGRA Insight, the company’s software-as-a-service platform leveraging big data and AI to identify the individual behavior of TV viewers.   

Decision-making in this environment is difficult because the COVID pandemic has “no previous reference” with which to compare and make decisions against, says the white paper.

“The only solution is to build a new reference on the fly and extrapolate from it, or move forward by trial and error, and adapt strategies along the way,” it says.

The 14-page document advises readers to “go back to basics” by following three rules when staging a recovery for the business consequences of the virus, including using “up-to-date, real-time data,”  “adopting an industry-specific response” and updating and adapting more frequently.

It counsels businesses to identify which of three phases—stabilize, back to work or grow—they are in and use the correct response for each. It chronicles the four main challenges businesses must address during each phase, including how decisions are made, how businesses work, how they engage customers and how they drive and accelerate transformation.

The paper also offers a discussion of how NAGRA Insight can help businesses overcome these challenges by assisting them in building decision-making scenarios, acquiring personalized recommendations on a per-subscriber basis, accessing relevant data and monitoring the effect of initiatives.

It concludes with examples of how major operators around the world have benefited by using the NAGRA Insight solution.

To download a copy of the white paper, visit the company’s website. 

CHESEAUX, Switzerland & PHOENIX—Nagr has released a new forensic watermarking plug-in for editing and collaboration workflows on Avid’s Media Composer video editing software. The content protection and multiscreen TV solutions provider says the NexGuard Plug-In for Editing Software allows studios, content owners and post-production houses to ensure protection when sharing pre-release content.

The integration between Nagra and Avid is designed to simplify the watermarking process within the editing software, while providing traceability and a deterrent against leaks. Media Composer is the first non-linear editing software to be integrated with the Nagra plug-in.

The plug-in works as a simple video filter, able to easily add a unique forensic watermark that is imperceptible, per Nagra, to each copy of the content exported from the non-linear editing software, regardless of input and output file formats.

NexGuard Plug-in for Editing Software is supported by the NexGuard Detection Service, a cloud-based, automated forensic watermark detection service.

For more information, visit Nagra’s virtual NAB showcase. 

CHESEAUX, Switzerland & PHOENIX—Senior executives of leading pay-TV providers, broadcasters, OTT services and rights holders are cautiously optimistic about the ability of pay-TV providers to adapt in an era of rapid changes, according to a report released this week.

The report, the U.S. edition of the “2019 Pay-TV Innovation Forum” from content protection and multiscreen TV solution provider NAGRA and international research and strategy consultancy MTM, examines insights gleaned from a seminar held earlier this summer in New York City.

“The 2019 U.S. edition of the ‘Pay-TV Innovation Forum’ showcases the massive opportunity available for industry players who can understand current market dynamics and implement the right strategies to remain competitive in today’s and tomorrow’s U.S. media and entertainment space,” said Simon Trudelle, senior director, product marketing at NAGRA.

During the seminar, the executives discussed the challenges, opportunities and priorities facing the U.S. pay-TV market.

According to the report, many of the executives are optimistic about the future commercial prospects for pay-TV in the U.S. However, some expressed caution stemming from anticipated growing pricing pressure, declining margins, fragmented distribution and greater competition.

The executives identified pay-TV providers’ main priority as re-addressing their role as aggregators and creating packages with greater appeal to younger customers.

The report also documents a mixed bag when it comes to how these executives view OTT services. Many see OTT as just another category of content to be aggregated and offered to pay-TV subscribers, while others view the availability of Disney+, priced competitively in a bundle with Hulu and ESPN+, as a possible existential threat to traditional pay-TV.

There was the notion among many seminar participants that some pay-TV packages may look like an increasingly good value to consumers when compared to the cost of subscribing to multiple direct-to-consumer (DTC) OTT services.

Many participants expect traditional pay-TV packages to be altered significantly. Fewer linear channels and a greater range of prices and packages are anticipated. These changes will require content providers to adapt their distribution strategies.

The executives also expressed their opinion that the industry is nearing the highpoint in content investment. There is a growing concern about the number of shows being produced.

Over the next few years, the highest priority of content providers will be transitioning to a more diverse distribution ecosystem. They must find a way to launch new DTC offerings to garner new revenue streams while protecting traditional, existing revenue sources.

The executives also agreed that connected platforms are creating opportunities for new entrants and aggregators. However, some believe streaming growth will slow in coming years as pay-TV providers reinvent their offerings and more streaming platforms launch. The result will be a fragmenting market.

Others see greater adoption of connected platforms as the genesis of a new wave of gatekeepers and aggregators.

Growing connectivity may prove to be a double-edged sword as it relates to content piracy, some argued. With more connected platforms may come greater focus from pirates on OTT services, some said.

“Most major U.S. companies are well advanced in developing their strategies, placing big bets on the future and rolling out new offerings—but there are lots of uncertainties ahead. The decade ahead promises to be a fascinating period for the industry,” said Jon Watts, managing partner at MTM.

A copy of the report is available online for download. Registration is required.

Much like the rest of the pay-TV industry, user interfaces are in a state of flux.

After Apple CEO Tim Cook claimed that the "future of TV is apps", the industry initially followed suit by making many interfaces (UIs) app-based. But with so many UIs now resembling smartphones, users are finding it increasingly difficult to navigate the converged TV landscape. Wading through multiple services and content sources on one UI can be confusing and even frustrating.

An alternative to the app-based UI is the more traditional electronic programming guide (EPG) format–an interface familiar to many who still consume content in a linear fashion. But for pay-TV providers looking to develop a UI that creates a happy medium and satisfies every user that might pick up the TV remote, there are two elements they need to consider.

First of all, UIs need to create effortless, stress-free consumption.

Consider this: The average user is confronted with myriad services when they switch on – from Netflix and linear broadcasting to VoD services and YouTube. All of this combines to create a labyrinth of menus across multiple apps and services. Users need to be able to switch between these services effortlessly with a simple, uncluttered and engaging interface that doesn't overwhelm them with options. At the same time, UIs also need to create a bridge between content silos – searching for one particular piece of content shouldn't entail accessing multiple apps.

For the occasions when users don't want to search for themselves, the service needs to be personalized with recommendations based on previous content they enjoyed, along with any other data the provider can use intelligently. This is key to removing stress from the user experience. How many times have you turned on your VoD service, only to be confronted by so many options that you're unable to decide on what you want to watch at all?

And as the range of services on offer continues to grow, UIs should also take heed of emerging design trends – specifically, an emphasis on decluttering and stripping the interface back to its key functionalities (i.e. taking advice from mobile-first design). By ensuring an interface is clear, accessible and simple to navigate, providers can help users enjoy a stress-free service that doesn't overwhelm.

Secondly, UIs need to be adaptable to new forms of content and emerging technologies.

Users are constantly switching services and engaging with new content. Pay-TV providers cannot assume the landscape will remain unchanged and subsequently build a UI that accommodates only today's popular services and apps. The tech landscape is littered with long-forgotten apps and content services, from Blockbuster on Demand to Myspace.

Similarly, UIs should take social media into account. Facebook gets eight billion video views a day and Snapchat gets 10 billion, while the vast majority of Twitter users "love to engage" with video content. It's increasingly clear just how much of a significant video content delivery channel social platforms are. And although some have predicted that Facebook Live will actually compete with and even overtake TV, there is no reason to assume the two cannot, in fact, converge – so long as the user experience is seamless enough to encourage people to use Facebook on their TV, of course.

But it's not just a matter of the content that will be available in the future. UIs must also adapt to new technologies as they continue to emerge. For now, the UI landscape is relatively straightforward – that is, the vast majority are technically graphical user interfaces (GUIs). But beyond that, we face the rising ubiquity and popularity of voice user interfaces (VUIs) – as evidenced by Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana and Amazon's Alexa. Also rising in popularity is virtual reality (VR). How long until these become commonplace interfaces that consumers come to expect from all of their everyday products?

Whatever the future holds for linear broadcasting, VoD services and even social media, providers must ultimately be prepared to expect the unexpected. And while there is no user interface that works for everybody who will ever pick up a remote, give a command to their VUI, or switch on their VR headset, there are two maxims providers should always keep in mind: adaptability and stress-free consumption.

UIs need to incorporate new technologies as much as they learn from the old ones. UIs need to become both cutting-edge and stripped back. And just as importantly, they need to create a bridge between an increasing number of content silos. UIs should be the map that helps guide the consumer to the center of an ever-expanding content maze.

  Anthony Smith-Chaigneau, senior director, product marketing, NAGRA.

This article originally appeared in TVB Europe.   

CHESEAUX, SWITZERLAND—Nagra and Samsung teamed up to make encrypted pay-TV services—ala 4K and HDR—easier available with its TVkey software, which is getting its first commercial deployment with German satellite operator HD+. With the TVkey, consumers are expected to be able to access the 4K and HDR services directly on their TVs without a set-top box or second remote.

The TVkey content security approach meets Hollywood requirements for protection of 4K and HDR content, according to Nagra’s press release.

A promotional effort for the TVkey will allow buyers of compatible Samsung TVs in Germany to receive HD+ TVkey for free by registering on the HD+ website; this also entitles them to a free six-month HD+ subscription.

“By integrating our latest content protection technology alongside open standards, such as USB and HbbTV/HTML5, we not only ensure excellent security, but also deliver a feature-rich, operator-branded user experience directly to the consumer’s TV,” said Pierre Roy, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Digital TV at Nagra.

SAN FRANCISCO—The Kudelski Group announced today that its OpenTV, Inc. and Nagra France SAS subsidiaries have filed a patent infringement suit against Verizon Communications Inc. and its subsidiary AOL Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

The lawsuit alleges that Verizon and AOL infringe seven U.S. patents owned by OpenTV and Nagra France and identifies the infringing products and services as including Verizon’s FiOS TV services, FiOS TV Everywhere services, Verizon’s Redbox Instant and Go90 video services and AOL’s Spot On advertising and streaming video services.