NAIROBI, Kenya—While the pandemic appears to be in the rearview mirror, it clearly disrupted normal operations and workflows of broadcasters and media enterprises around the world.

Those media organizations that succeeded found new approaches to deliver their content. One of those success stories is Akili Networks, which launched what has become a wildly successful youth network.

Since March 2020, Akili Kids! has broadcast more than 1 million video files via the networks’ Cloud2TV virtual channel playout system from PlayBox Neo, the company said.

Akili Kids!, a fast-paced entertainment and educational TV network, serves about 1.2 million children with its programming every 30 minutes. Cloud2TV delivers a mix of over 650 video files every day for Akili Kids!. 

With Cloud2TV and two PlayBox Neo servers at a Nairobi data center that provide secure Internet access, the network feeds over-the-air transmitters throughout the country. Content is uploaded to the playout servers from Nairobi and New York via internet, it said.

Cloud2TV's remote upload and management capabilities allowed employees to work from home and keep the network on the air. During the pandemic, Akili Network’s scheduling and traffic teams had to access the system from home, often with low bandwidth connections to build broadcast playlists, PlayBox Neo said.

Editors and program coordinators frequently had to use internet connections with heavy traffic to upload commercials, promos and content. Large content files, command and control and QC came from New York. Cloud2TV's remote upload and management capabilities enabled the network to overcome the internet challenges and continues to deliver operational efficiency and flexibility, it said.

The network receives media files in a variety of formats, including NTSC and PAL—with differing frame rates—for broadcast. The PlayBox Neo servers encode media files on the fly for over-the-air broadcast via Kenya’s 50MHz-based PAL/DVB-T2-based terrestrial broadcast infrastructure. 

“We’ve reduced our costs considerably because we don’t need to transcode before playout,” said Akili Networks CTO Vincent Grosso. “Our PlayBox server plays out multiple video and audio formats into a single, seamless PAL 50 frame per second stream to the transmitters. That’s been a huge benefit for Akili these last four years.”

The PlayBox server transcoder also plays a critical role in supporting Akili’s programming mix. It can handle a wide variety of containers and file formats, including MPG PS/TS, MXF, QT, AVI, MP4, GXF, MPG2, H.264, ProRes, DNX HD and MJPEG, it said.

“With our schedule of fast-paced promotions, educational TV clips, marketing messages and commercials, sometimes video files are switched every 12 to 30 seconds,” said Grosso.

Akili uploads targeted promos every day commemorating local holidays and events. Customized clips are also edited daily. An original series called “Birthday Blast” mentions by name hundreds of kids each week celebrating their birthday. 

“Their [Akili Kids!’s] launch was at the at the beginning of the pandemic, many of their operations staff were new to broadcast TV and the country’s IP infrastructure is less than ideal in spots,” said Van Duke, Playbox Neo director of U.S. operations. “And they are now the number one kids’ station in Kenya with a unique blend of dynamic programming. We look forward to seeing what the next four years will bring.”

More information is available on the company’s website. 

The media landscape is evolving rapidly before our eyes. A sea change has taken hold in many areas, perhaps none more so than in cable television. As a result of frustration over cable and satellite customer service and costs, many TV viewers have "cut the cord," meaning they choose to watch TV programs via other options.

Over the past eight years, cord-cutting has increased by 48%, with 14% of all households now fully removed from cable contracts. And the amount of cord-cutters only seems to be increasing; in Q3 of last year alone, nearly 1.2 million people defected. Traditional television is on a fast track to the media morgue. In a progressively virtual world, video content providers will need to adapt in order to stay alive in an increasingly competitive market.

THE OPPORTUNITY OF DYING MEDIA MODELS

One of the main reasons that cable viewership is dying is because of the low popularity of cable companies. High cost, poor customer service and a lack of value for money have been cited as factors resulting in customers losing faith in traditional cable companies.

Over-the-top (OTT) video media providers have seized the opportunity. With a la carte video options, consumers are able to choose the exact content they desire without having to sign lengthy contracts. Even established television networks are beginning to offer their services online. HBO, the longtime stalwart of premium cable, successfully launched its standalone service HBO Now in 2015, giving cord-cutters easy access to cutting-edge television programs.

With traditional television-viewing declining, cable companies have begun to adapt to the new media climate by developing their own streaming services. With enormous amounts of capital to spend, telecommunications networks are beginning to fill their arsenal with the most prestigious content providers. Already, NBCUniversal, Disney and Apple have announced plans to create their own streaming services with original content. AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner shows a clear commitment to providing top-of-the-line programming to compete with the growing quality of original content on Netflix and Hulu. With the luxury of already owning premium commodities such as Marvel and Star Wars, Disney’s long awaited streaming service should immediately become competitive.

Another opportunity lies in enhancing its set-top box production (STB). STBs may seem like a dated tech, and yet the market is expected to be worth over $46 billion in 2027. Demand for HD STBs is abundant in order to access the full potential of 4K televisions, but as traditional cable STBs decline in popularity, investing in OTT-device STBs could prove a fruitful opportunity.

Telecommunications companies need to also look at OTT services for the ways in which they view advertising. By shifting from broadcast television to OTT devices, companies can spend advertising money more efficiently. With intelligent audience platforms such as TruOptik, advertisements are able to have shorter, better-targeted ads that customers don’t mind watching and companies don’t mind paying more for. In short, it’s a win-win for both sides, the mythical “Holy Grail” of advertising. However, there is yet to be any evidence that this lofty goal is achievable.

LESSONS FROM THE MUSIC REVOLUTION

Apple officially marked its intent to join the streaming arms race with Apple TV Plus set to be released this fall. In fact, the battle between Netflix and Apple has already begun. With a preemptive strike, Netflix recently dropped Airplay support from its app, while Netflix remains conspicuously absent from the Apple TV service. But in this current hypercompetitive video media climate, Apple may have a secret weapon: a roadmap of past success with iTunes.

In 2003, Apple faced a similar crossroads. iTunes began in 2001 as a media player to pair with the nascent iPod. With the release of the iTunes Store in 2003, it quickly became the premier music marketplace in the world. At its height, over two-thirds of all music purchases were made through the iTunes Store. Considering the sheer ubiquitousness of iTunes in the music industry today, it’s strange to think of its launch as an ambitious move.

The rise of peer-to-peer (P2P) music sharing sites such as Napster and Limewire had decimated CD sales by making pirated music accessible to anyone with a simple download. The music industry was in a crisis—or as Apple CEO Steve Jobs put it, a revolution. The stage was set for a kind of “cord-cutting” of the music industry that mirrors what’s happening with TV today.

Apple noticed this disconnect between consumers and record labels, and sought to develop a means to bridge the gap between the two. The iTunes Store aimed to address the concerns of consumers who wanted easier access, flexibility and lower costs without sacrificing quality in their music selection.

To address these issues, Apple made sure that they had top-of-the-line premium content for users to purchase. They secured contracts with some of the biggest record labels—Universal Music Group, Warner and Sony to name a few—and launched with 200,000 songs available to download. They set the price per song at a strict 99 cents, allowing customers to pick and choose whichever tracks they desired. And those who had previously pirated their music were able to experience the same ease of access with a simple click of a button. Demand picked up immediately, with a monumental one million songs sold within the first week. Later that year, iTunes Store was released for Windows, and Apple would continue its ascendency to a global juggernaut in music.

The climate for Apple TV Plus isn’t identical to what it was for iTunes: Rather than being bold new explorers in an emerging industry, they will enter a video media world with hordes of competition eager to see them fail. But by using the same strategies employed in the creation of iTunes, Apple TV has a blueprint for success.

Without the partnerships with major record labels, there is little chance that the iTunes store would have gotten off the ground as smoothly as they did. In a video media world where Netflix is winning Oscars, quality content is perhaps the most critical element. With confirmed original content from established stars such as Oprah, Steven Spielberg and M. Night Shyamalan, Apple is once again aiming to provide quality programming from the jump.

Apple can also imitate the ease of access for its customers that it executed with iTunes. iTunes optimized the process by allowing for consumers to choose songs or albums at the click of a button. Apple doesn’t seem to be giving this the full care it deserves in its video streaming, however. With Apple Plus TV, customers are able to access it in 100 plus countries, but crucially, its not compatible with Android or Microsoft devices. In order to fully reach its potential, access to this market is critical.

Another reason for the success of iTunes is its low price. When attempting to compete with pirated music, having a low price for music was essential. This is also the case in the hypercompetitive environment of video media. Apple has been tight-lipped about the cost of their service, while it did announce that there wouldn’t be any ads playing before the content. If Apple chooses to have a lower price than its competitors, it could prove to be game-changing.

Most companies probably will not survive the evolving media landscape if they take an insular approach to addressing changing consumer needs. They’ll have to look beyond themselves: whether that means embracing new revenue models, new technologies or perhaps new partners they didn’t know they would have. The challenge is a steep one, but it can be solved with always having the customer at the top of the mind.

Javier Brugues, is the director of Business Development atintive.com.