WESTFORD, MASS.—Artel Video Systems has signed on as a partner with Ravenna, a technology platform that serves as a real-time media IP network environment.

ARG Quarra PTP

Artel Vice President of Product Management Rafael Fonseca said that the company’s ARG Quarra PTP switches were specifically designed to work with Ravenna. “In support of other AES67 devices, the ARG Quarra offers switch solutions to end users who are investing in IP media networks and who favor Ravenna technology for implementing AES67,” Fonseca said.

Artel is a provider of multimedia delivery systems.

MUMBAI, INDIA—ZEE Entertainment Enterprise Limited (ZEEL) is taking strides to increase the protection of its playout operations with the addition of a cloud-native disaster recovery system from Imagine Communications. The system is a combination of Imagine’s Versio playout platform and D-Series automation system.

Versio

The Versio system run entirely on commercial off-the-shelf IT platforms and is portable to all deployment environments. Versio works in tandem with the D-Series playout automation system, which provides device control for linear playout channels and manages the movement of file-based media to multiple delivery platforms. The D-Series Remote Schedule Synchronization feature enables both the primary and backup ZEEL sites to run in sync.

ZEEL has deployed the cloud-native system in its DR facility in Mumbai. The site supports 15 ZEE channels running on Hewlett Packard Enterprise servers across a virtual platform that mirrors ZEEL’s main site. Any changes made to the main system are immediately reflected on the DR system.

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LONDON—There are a lot of ways for viewers to watch TV nowadays, whether it be services like Netflix, devices like Roku, or a good old-fashioned cable box. Rather than simply choosing a preferred service, a new report from Ampere Analysis reveals that many consumers are combining services for the most possible coverage.

This bundling of Pay TV, VoD and SVoD services is taking place so consumers can “build their own perfect TV offer,” Ampere described. The survey gathered information from 53,000 internet users in North America and Europe over the last 18 months and discovered more and more of them are customizing their own bundles. At the end of Q1 2017, 40 percent of respondents had built a custom TV bundle, an increase from mid-2015 when that number was 24 percent.

Despite the influx of these new services, cord-cutting has not taken off as much as some have feared with the respondents for the survey. While there has been an increase since 2015 of consumers with just on-demand services (5 percent in 2015, 13 percent in 2017), as well as a decrease in the number of homes that just have a Pay TV service (49 percent to 30 percent), Pay TV remains present in about the same number of homes in some capacity. Approximately 70 percent of homes have just Pay TV or some combination of Pay TV and SVoD services.

“The often-predicted mass cord-cutting from Pay TV, driven by growth of SVoD, has yet to arrive,” said Richard Broughton, research director at Ampere Analysis. “But let’s not get complacent. There are warning signs. Our research has found that consumers who are doubling-up on their TV services, combining their Pay TV service with one or more SVoD services, are twice as likely to be strongly considering leaving their main TV provider in the next six months.”

In the meantime, consumers are spending more money than ever on television services. In North America, the average money spent on subscription television for 12 months in 2016 was $311; this can include services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon, as well as cable and satellite services like Comcast or DirecTV. Ampere reports that this is an increase of $30 per person per year from five years ago. The number is less in Western Europe at $95 per year, but that is still an increase from five years ago from $78.

Netflix and Amazon are the big SVoD players, though many subscribers have at least two services, i.e. in the U.S. four in five Hulu subscribers have Netflix and two thirds have Amazon Prime. Two thirds of Amazon Prime users also subscribe to Netflix in areas like the U.S., Germany and the U.K. The reason for overlap is content, 94 percent of titles are exclusive to a specific service.

“While a degree of cannibalization of subscription TV services is undoubtedly occurring as some customers decide to cut the Pay TV cord, the general trend is more, not less, access to television services,” Broughton reported. “That suggests broadly positive outcomes for content owners and distributors, who can expect greater levels of spending on good quality television content.”

WATERLOO, ONTARIO—Griffin Communications’ coverage of local weather and news can no take place on site thanks to the addition of Dejero mobile transmitter technology.

The Oklahoma-based media company has acquired Dejero’s EnGo and GoBox mobile transmitters to support live broadcasts of news and weather events that take place in the region. The newly installed technology allows that broadcaster to receive a signal in remote locations.

In addition, Dejero’s VSET rack-mounted encoder/transmitter has also been added to Griffin’s newsgathering vehicles. This cloud-managed video platform enables users to broadcast life using bonded cellular, Wi-Fi and portable satellite connections.

Through Dejero’s management system, Griffin Communications is able to set up and manage its equipment, as well as keep track of its data usage from a web browser.

WASHINGTON—The FCC is sticking with most of the stuff on the books with the final version of its catalog of covered expenses in the broadcasters’ transition to new spectrum in the post-incentive auction repack, denying most of the tweaks proposed by commenters. The catalog provides guidance on what will be covered for the $1.75 billion the FCC has to reimburse broadcasters and some cable operators for expenses related to moving new channels or sharing with other stations. The FCC’s Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau cited the flexibility to look at expenses on a case-by-case basis for declining to make many of the changes.

TV Technology’s sister publication B&C has the full story.

FAIRFAX, VA.—The National Wireless Safety Association has announced that it is now offering a pair of industry-wide certification programs for tower technicians: Telecommunications Tower Technician 1 (TTT-1) and Telecommunications Tower Technician 2 (TTT-2). These programs were developed by the NWSA’s Telecommunications Tower Technician Task Force, with the help of the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators.

Candidates for the TTT-1 and TTT-2 certification are required to complete a computer-based written examination and practical examination on their knowledge and skill at each certification level. Once these exams have been passed, candidates will receive a wallet certification card that can be authenticated through the NWSA’s online credential verification database search tool.

The NWSA is currently considering additional certification programs for other positions and topics include antenna and line foreman, certified climber, tower (stacking) foreman, structural modifications foreman, DAS systems, small cell systems, broadcast structures, and outside plant/fiber to the home and business.

For more information on the TTT-1 and TTT-2 certification process, as well as future certification programs, visit www.nws-a.org.