Unlike more traditional industries with legacy infrastructures, such as finance or healthcare, the media and entertainment industry has always been able to adapt quickly during periods of rapid change. However, the past decade has seen a dramatic change in the way film, TV, music and gaming are consumed. The rise of on-demand services means entertainment providers have had to rethink the way they deliver content in a seamless way. And the resulting wealth of data created, as a result of these new delivery methods, have opened up tremendous opportunities.

Data is central to this new era of entertainment. Industry leaders, such as Netflix, are making use of data to deliver standout customer service across different platforms and are reaping the rewards: the business currently boasts more than 150 million paying subscribers. As a result, long-standing industry behemoths such as Disney, Apple and Amazon are in constant competition to enhance their streaming offerings.

Newer players in the market like Hulu often have a more agile, data-driven approach, while more established businesses may have to manage data across multiple locations and business silos. These differing approaches may be a result of the fact that according to DataAge 2025, an IDC report sponsored by Seagate, 42% of media and entertainment companies lack a solid understanding of how best to adapt to the impending data-led future. There’s room for improvement across the wider industry and unlocking the value of this data is crucial to their future success.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE TAKING

With “YouTubers” regularly racking up more views than traditional TV programs and Twitch reporting that more than 15 million people spend an average of 95 minutes on the platform per day, multiplatform streaming services have become the norm. Distinguishing your brand and breaking through the noise to grab consumers’ attention has become a key challenge for media companies.

But, with data being the enabler for success in this forward-thinking industry, implementing a reliable data management infrastructure is a crucial first step for media companies to keep up with new competitors. According to IDC, from 2010 to 2018 data produced by the media and entertainment industry grew at a 43% compound annual rate, far beyond the growth rate of all other industries in the study.

To address this significant growth, investment in cloud-based infrastructure is vital. An open, cloud-based approach will enable businesses to remove silos across the organization, better identify new opportunities to capture, create, distribute and manage data more efficiently and translate that data into improved customer experiences.

DEVELOPING CONTENT USING DATA

Building a proper centralized infrastructure to handle all that data is only the first part of the journey. Adopting a data-led approach means that content creators, and the businesses commissioning and funding new content, have a vast range of new information at their fingertips, which they can use to make decisions.

Standard metrics, such as views, location and engagement time, are now supplemented with more in-depth and creative measures. For example, Netflix reports that 80% of users follow recommendations driven by algorithmic data analysis. Information such as when a viewer fast forwards through a scene, or what genre of content a user responds to, can be used to create more personalized customer experiences and drive overall engagement and brand loyalty. Investing in data collection technologies is the best way of making this happen. The media and entertainment sector needs to think creatively, anticipate new data sources and incorporate them into decision-making on an ongoing basis.

PRIVACY IS PARAMOUNT

Data collection and privacy has never been a more sensitive topic. As media and entertainment companies look to use data to innovate, they must always be mindful of protecting their customers’ personal information. Industry leaders face steep consequences in the event of any breach, for example in 2017, HBO suffered from a high-profile cyber-attack. The hackers threatened to release vital information about popular programs, which could have had a significant impact on future revenues. While the attack did not expose customer information, any cyber-attack comes with real reputational concerns.

On top of this, the media and entertainment sector is uniquely vulnerable to cybercrime. High-profile products, services that reach millions of consumers, complex production processes and extensive use of third-party vendors collectively to create a high-risk environment. The industry needs to invest in going beyond traditional security practices to counteract the risks. New types of customer data mean require new security and privacy technologies such as AI and automation, which can be used to spot potential attacks much sooner and take proactive measures to prevent them.

LEADING THE WAY

Moving forward, it is vital that incumbent media and entertainment companies consider and act on data if they want to maintain the position against upstart players and disruptors. A good data management infrastructure, with security baked in from the start, will enable these businesses to create, distribute and measure the success of their content more effectively. The businesses that embrace and invest in this approach now, will lead the way for the future.

Ted Oade is a director of Product Marketing at Seagate Technology for B2B products, the company’s multi-billion-dollar Enterprise, NAS and Surveillance lines. He is a veteran of the IT industry having played a wide variety of roles across marketing, product management, corporate strategy, operations and sales. He has the unusual distinction of being a non-engineer who was awarded several storage system patents. Ted lives, works and plays in Northern Colorado—the Rocky Mountains’ version of the Silicon Valley.

PORTLAND, Ore.—Users can now package, encrypt on-demand video the same way they would live video via the AWS Elemental MediaPackage.

Using MediaPackage’s just-in-time feature, users can package file-based video and live video to multiple distribution formats and protect content with multiple digital rights management standards, allowing video to be available on different playback devices.

An adaptive bitrate (ABR) video asset can be ingested into a MediaPackage VOD packaging group. As a result, a single ABR can be viewed on connected TVs, mobile phones, computers, tablets and game consoles. Configurations can also be updated to extend the range of supported devices without having to transcode video again.

Just-in-time packaging for VOD is now available in all AWS regions were AWS Elemental MediaPackage is available.

Portland, Oregon, USA – March 27, 2019 – Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company, today announced the Secure Packager and Encoder Key Exchange (SPEKE), an open, extensible API specification developed to streamline integration of Digital Rights Management (DRM) with encoders, transcoders, and origin servers (encryptors).

Until recently, most integrations required a custom API for each DRM solutions provider and each encryptor, which proved costly and time consuming, and often delayed the launch of new services. SPEKE solves these challenges by providing a standardized method for key exchange between encryptors and DRM systems. It also enables customers to use SPEKE-enabled key servers or encryptors in on-premises, cloud, or hybrid infrastructures. SPEKE is designed for both live and on-demand media workflows.

Built on the DASH Industry Forum’s Content Protection Information Exchange Format (CPIX) standard for key exchange, SPEKE provides a universal, secure way for SPEKE-enabled key servers and encryptors to encrypt content. An API specification supports HLS, MSS and DASH packaging as well as standard DRM platforms, including Apple FairPlay Streaming, Microsoft PlayReady, Google Widevine, AES-128, and proprietary DRMs.

Multiple APN partners already have implemented SPEKE, including AWS, Axinom, castLabs, EZDRM, INKA Entworks, Insys Video Technologies, Intertrust Technologies, Irdeto, Kaltura, NAGRA, NEXTSCAPE, Verimatrix, Viaccess-Orca, VUALTO, and WebStream.

“SPEKE is an exciting development for our industry. Building on the CPIX API, it further improves operational efficiencies and reduces both the time and costs involved in launching OTT services,” said Will Law, founding board member and Vice-Chairman, DASH Industry Forum.

“Prior to SPEKE, integration required a custom API tailored to each DRM solutions provider and each individual encoder, transcoder, and packager,” said Michael Callahan, Head of Media Solutions Marketing at AWS Elemental. “This often resulted in delayed new service launches for customers. SPEKE simplifies DRM integration to a single secure API. Any SPEKE-enabled DRM key server works with any SPEKE-enabled encryptor out of the box without the need for proprietary integration.”

To learn more about how to encrypt live or on-demand media workflows using SPEKE-enabled integrations, please visit the AWS Elemental SPEKE solutions page.

MONTREAL—With on-demand viewing becoming a bigger trend, Grass Valley has announced the release of its iTX On-Demand platform. This video-on-demand (VOD)/OTT system automates the VOD process with the goal of reducing prep time for both pre-recorded and live productions; the system is available as an option with GV’s iTX Integrated Playout platform or third-party playout systems.

The iTX system contains all the assets for VOD work orders, allowing tasks to be automatically performed in parallel with linear production workflow. This includes adding or removing commercials, promotions and programming, inserting dedicated branding, watermarks and captioning. Broadcast masters are then transcoded to create different VOD versions in parallel, with specific metadata for different platforms.

The process can be started in advance for pre-recorded shows, which allows broadcasters to publish content to multiple platforms in advance of playout. For live shows, broadcasters can generate on-demand versions as the show is airing, according to GV.

GV will showcase the iTX On-Demand platform at its NAB Show booth, SL106.

NEW YORK—On any given day, I encounter some version of truly remarkable statistics about the rise of video on-demand as a percentage of the total amount of viewing. At the recent NextTV Summit ,Jay Samit of Seachange proclaimed that 50 percent of all U.S. viewing is now on-demand.

Perhaps more sobering and relevant to broadcasters is this from Needham: revenue paid to U.S. TV content companies per person per hour is $0.30 by the linear TV ecosystem, $0.11 by Netflix globally, $0.03 by YouTube.

These numbers are important when we consider the increasing price content producers are paying to support other platforms. The companies producing content for these multiple viewing streams face a growing challenge in the form of operational costs.

What I found most compelling was subsequent discussion at NextTV that swirled around the fact that the effort of meeting the vast number of permutations needed to support on-demand was absorbing a rapidly increasing amount of the finite resources of production departments. For someone who worries about budgets and workflows, this is something worth digging into, especially when on-demand revenue remains starkly lower than linear. It suggests imbalance between resource expenditure and return.

ADAPTING TO ON-DEMAND OFFERINGS
This is a tricky thing. There is a lot of pressure to expand on-demand offerings. I believe the solution to maintaining balance is not so much a technology challenge, but rather a need to be more prepared to operate the content business with a nonlinear mindset. Take one example; I recently watched as an experience team at a well established TV broadcast company struggled with closed captioning. Closed captioning! This is something that had been essentially solved for decades.

Why did they struggle? It was not for lack of technology, lack of intelligence, or lack of skill. The simple truth is that their recent-vintage workflows were founded in the not at all distant past on linear principles of live production. The workflow for closed captions in linear does not readily translate to a nonlinear production model. Edit a linear file and your CC no longer matches.

The challenge is that the team is being asked to deliver the same show, intact and with all its features, from within a linear workflow but packaged for on-demand viewing. The solutions for serving the nonlinear demand had been grafted on to that linear base. Their people have not generally dealt with both. Live has been linear and post-produced shows have been nonlinear.

Not everyone will encounter this particular issue. Some vendors have built a feature into recent versions of their edit products that solve this issue, although it is by no means commonplace. Many, if not most, broadcasters will at some point encounter a problem of this type at some point in the near future.

MANAGING CHANGE
The issue is not one of technology. What is missing is operational leadership. Producers, control room crews, editors, talent, and engineers are really good at doing the same routine everyday, but less effective at managing change. Nor is it reasonable to expect them to. What’s needed is someone with the vision to aggregate all the requirements—both today’s and tomorrow’s—and then put operational processes in-place to support them. Content producers need to be more productive with the resources they have in order for the balance sheet to make sense.

Businesses thrive on predictability. Therefore they fail to designate or hire operational management. This deficiency significantly impacts the ability for the company to respond to change and anticipate new requirements in a shifting landscape.

When you build a business expecting things to pretty much be the same each day, you don’t feel compelled to pay for a “change management” specialist.

But that’s the catch. In this new environment, businesses should be looking to make change all the time. The drain on production resources caused by the need to support a shifting landscape of delivery formats reflects a need for greater operational efficiency and productivity. All those formats are an expensive proposition, but with some organization and pre-planning, processes can be consolidated so that supporting new flavors doesn’t have to mean more work.The opportunity to change is ever-present if a business is willing to look for it. New markets, smoother operations, enhanced productivity are the keys to maintaining and growing today’s media business. You simply cannot get there without change-agents pushing for those benefits.

Managing this change and maximizing productivity requires someone with a foot in both the steady linear and shifting nonlinear domains. Whether you call it an operational manager or a change manager, hire the person to your staff or retain an outside expert, having someone keeping an eye on your production balance will be essential to maintaining your bottom line balance.