LAS VEGAS—In a move that will notably expand the availability of NextGen TV interactive applications to consumers, Verance has entered into agreements with Sinclair Broadcast Group, Gray Television, Graham Media Group, and Capitol Broadcasting Company to  implement the Verance Aspect audio watermark on stations across the station groups. 

Aspect is Verance’s high-performance implementation of the ATSC open watermarking standards.  The Verance Aspect watermark launches broadcast applications by carrying metadata and triggers  associated with NextGen Broadcast experiences through all distribution paths (including ATSC 1.0 over-the-air, ATSC 3.0 over-the-air, cable/satellite, and over-the-top services) to reach 100% of  connected televisions. Without the Verance Aspect watermark, approximately 80% of households are  unable to receive NextGen capabilities.  

As a result of the implementation, each  of the broadcaster’s NextGen Broadcast (ATSC 3.0) applications, which offer the opportunity to drive  new business models and revenue through interactive applications, can now reach up to five times the  number of homes by specifically enabling all homes that receive their television signals through the  NextGen TV’s HDMI connection via a cable/satellite set top box or media adapter.  

This announcement of major broadcaster agreements builds on the momentum that Verance  announced at NAB last April that LG Electronics was the first television manufacturer to implement  ATSC 3.0 watermark detection on NextGen TVs. Verance expects additional television manufacturers  to follow in LG’s footsteps. 

“Bringing Verance’s Aspect watermarking to all of our stations accelerates our NextGen Broadcast  applications strategy to better understand our viewers and to provide them with personalized  broadcast experiences,” said Mike Kralec, CTO, Sinclair Broadcast Group. “We believe that Verance’s  watermarking technology substantially enhances use of the NextGen Broadcast standard that we hope  that all the television manufacturers will adopt quickly.” 

A demonstration of the Verance Aspect watermark application will be on display at the NAB Show in  Las Vegas, April 16-19. As part of the ATSC Booth (#W3443), Sinclair will be showing how viewers can  have access to Broadcast App functionality by embedding the watermark in the audio signal that  launches the interactive experience on a NextGen TV for any pay TV or ATSC 1.0 over-the-air  viewer. The Broadcast App is then available to all NextGen T viewers who want to take advantage of  this new capability, regardless of how they receive the TV signal, gaining access to both broadcast and  broadband content. 

“NextGen TV is a game changer for broadcast television, and it is exciting to see interactive experiences  powered by Verance watermarking on Gray’s stations,” said David Burke, senior vice president and CTO of Gray Television. “With Verance watermarking, Gray can now proceed with confidence, knowing that  our applications can be received by the largest number of viewers across all of our signals and can help  Gray with our business objectives.” 

“Verance’s Aspect watermarking will enable Graham to reach our HDMI viewers with interactive  experiences,“ said Anthony Plosz, vice president and CTO, Graham Media Group. “This capability enables Graham  and other broadcasters to better understand and serve our audiences and to better support our  NextGen TV business opportunities.” 

“We are excited to rollout Verance’s Aspect watermarking across our stations to help drive the  distribution of our NextGen TV apps to a larger audience and to allow us to bring new NextGen  experiences to our viewers,“ said Peter Sockett, director of engineering and operations, Capitol Broadcasting Company. “This opportunity will help us to better scale the broadcaster application  opportunity.” 

“Sinclair, Gray, Graham, and Capitol are at the forefront of a broadcaster movement to establish a direct  connection with their viewers to drive engagement and revenue, and Verance is excited to have these  innovative broadcasters as partners. As interactive applications deploy across the United States with the  broader deployment of NextGen TV, we are excited for enhanced viewing experiences, such as sports  betting and dynamic advertising, that drive new revenue opportunities for broadcasters,” said Nil Shah, CEO of Verance.

OTTAWA, Canada—Ross Video and Verance have announced that Verance Aspect watermarking is now available in the Ross Video software media processing platform (softGear). 

Ross Video’s softGear provides broadcasters with the flexibility to adapt to changing  programming needs through media processing microservices. The integration of the Verance  Aspect watermark into the Broadcast Audio Processor based on the softGear platform will  provide Aspect watermarking to a variety of television outlets, the companies reported. 

The Aspect watermark works in both today’s 1.0 and tomorrow’s 3.0 broadcast environments  and was selected to be part of the NextGen TV standard as a way to extend and maximize the  reach of interactive television services in broadcast television. 

Without the Aspect watermark, NextGen applications can only reach the 20% of households that receive signals over the air. With the Aspect watermark, NextGen applications can reach 100% of households, the companies said. 

For the same reason, the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband Television Association (HbbTV) adopted watermarking into its Phase 2 Application Discovery over Broadband specification published in September  2019. 

By deploying Aspect within the softGear platform, programmers are able to activate interactive  services through all distribution paths (including ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 over-the-air, cable/satellite,  and over-the-top services) to reach 100% of smart televisions. Without the watermark, 80% of  households are unable to receive these capabilities. 

“We are thrilled to announce that our Broadcast Audio Processor and softGear platform will  support the Verance Aspect Watermark,” says Wojtek Tryc, director, TPM softGear, Ross Video.  “Our partnership with Verance unlocks new opportunities for broadcasters to deliver new  compelling features to NextGen TV customers.” 

“Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to delivering innovative solutions that  drive revenue and viewer engagement in today’s and tomorrow’s broadcast environments,”  explained Nil Shah, CEO, Verance. “We are excited to partner with Ross Video and are pleased  to expand our product suite and support our partners as they transition to NextGen TV.”

CLEVELAND & SAN DIEGO—The Telos Alliance and Verance have announced Verance’s Aspect watermarking is now available in Linear Acoustic’s LA-5300 Broadcast Audio Processor, designed specifically for ATSC 3.0 broadcast use.

The LA-5300 provides loudness control, upmixing, Dolby AC-4 decoding and encoding, bitstream analysis and monitoring for NextGen TV audio applications.

“The transition to ATSC 3.0 is an exciting time for TV content creators, distributors and broadcasters, but as with any change of this magnitude, it will present challenges as well as opportunities,” says John Schur, president, Telos Alliance Solutions Group.

“By expanding our partnership with Verance beyond the Linear Acoustic AERO.100, 2000 and 8000 to include the LA-5300, our partners now have a full range of products for the delivery of compelling new consumer features.” 

The LA-5300 audio processor can handle up to four programs, which means it can provide unique encoded streams for the main program audio, SAP and video descriptive services in a 1RU form factor.

The Verance Aspect watermark works for both ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 broadcast environments. It was selected as part of the 3.0 standard to maximize the reach of interactive TV services in broadcast television, the company said. 

The Hybrid Broadcast Broadband Television Association (HbbTV) adopted ATSC 3.0 watermarking into its Phase 2 Application Discovery over Broadband specification, which was published in September 2019.

The availability of Aspect in the LA-5300 processor allows programmers to activate interactive services, including addressable advertising, fantasy/predictive gaming and sports betting within Aspect-enabled smart televisions across all distribution paths, said Verance.

“Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to delivering innovative solutions that drive revenue and viewer engagement in today’s and tomorrow’s broadcast environments,” explained Nil Shah, CEO of Verance. “We have a longstanding and successful partnership with Telos Alliance and are pleased to expand our product suite and support our partners as they transition to NextGen TV.” 

For more information, visit www.telosalliance.com/linear.

SAN DIEGO—Video watermarking is now a capability of Verance’s Aspect platform, the company announced. Based on the commercial implementation of the ATSC video watermarking specification, the Aspect platform now supports both audio and video watermarks for multiple standards and works in the ATSC 1.0 broadcast environment.

Verance says that the audio and video watermarking technology of Aspect enables users to activate Dynamic Ad Insertion across all devices and distribution paths; it has 100% positive identification of live and time-shifted content, able to distinguish between DVR playback and VOD; frame-accurate timing; tuned to be invisible to the viewer; and interoperable with existing and future DAI services, including ATSC, HbbTV/DVB-Targeted advertising and Project OAR.

Both the audio and video watermarks allow information required for DAI activation in a TV set to pass through distribution environments with ease, including over HDMI links and through existing distribution equipment and set-top boxes.

Aspect also allows for the video watermark to complement the audio watermark even when special features for DVR and VOD are deployed. For instance, Verance says that in instances of fast-forwarding or rewinding when the audio is muted, the video watermark allows TVs to capture station identifier and time code information and insert a replacement ad with frame-level accuracy.

Verance will showcase its video and audio watermarking technology at CES 2020, which takes place in Las Vegas, Jan. 7-10.

SAN DIEGO—As part of the company’s efforts related to advanced emergency alerting (AEA), Verance has announced that it has officially joined the Advanced Warning and Response Network (AWARN) Alliance. This voluntary, international coalition of technology firms and trade associations work to utilize NEXTGEN TV for AEA and post-alert news and information.

What Verance says it expects to contribute to AEA technology that already assists with providing videos, images, maps and real-time updates is its Aspect watermarking platform, which ensures that metadata and triggers associated with next-gen experiences like AEA can reach 100% of connected TVs across all distribution paths, including ATSC 1.0, 3.0, over-the-air, cable, satellite and OTT services.

“On behalf of our coalition, I am very happy to welcome Verance to the AWARN Alliance,” said John Lawson, AWARN executive director. “Aspect watermarking can play a vital role in fulfilling our mission to deliver AEA to the widest possible audience and enable more lives to be saved during emergency situations.”

Richard Glosser, Verance’s head of business development added: “The power of our combined technologies ensures that critical alerts and ongoing information will reach the right households at the right time, including in today’s ATSC 1.0 broadcast environment.”

SAN DIEGO—As part of relationships with News-Press & Gazette Broadcasting, the National Association of Broadcasters and Pearl TV, broadcasters in Santa Barbara, Calif., Cleveland and Phoenix are deploying the Verance Aspect watermark, per Verance Corporation.

The Verance Aspect is designed to give broadcasters two-way connections, census-like audience measurement and household-level addressability, allowing for greater interactivity and personalization. Verance states that Aspect enables these capabilities to reach 100 percent of TVs across all distribution paths, including ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0.

News-Press & Gazette’s KSBB-TV in Santa Barbara included Aspect in February 2019 within the NAB-led ATSC 3.0 interoperability test at the station. Based on the successful embedding and detection of Aspect within the test, the watermark will continue to be embedded by KSBB moving forward.

In Cleveland, the Tribune Media-owned WJW is incorporating the Aspect watermark in an ATSC 3.0 test led by the NAB and Consumer Technology Association. This test is to establish proof of concept for various ATSC 3.0 elements and act as an incubator for new products and services based on the Next Gen TV standard.

In addition, Pearl TV’s Phoenix Model Market testing ATSC 3.0 has embedded Aspect as part of the development of basic TV service, automotive use cases and ongoing consumer testing.

“The rapid increase in Aspect deployment across the country is a clear indicator that broadcasters are eager to level the playing field with digital platforms,” said Nil Shah, Verance’s chief executive officer.

For a comprehensive source of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see ourATSC3 silo.

SAN DIEGO—LG Electronics has completed initial field testing of Verance Corp.’s Aspect audio watermarking technology integrated along with its own webOS Smart TV operating system into LG televisions used in Phoenix as part of an ongoing watermarking technology trial, Verance announced today.

The tests were done in conjunction with ATSC 1.0 transmissions from NBC and Fox stations in the market with Aspect included; however, the same watermarking technology is specified as the audio watermark that will enable audience measurement, interactivity and personalization as part of the ATSC 3.0 next-gen television standard.

“We see these early Aspect field tests paving the way for the U.S launch of ATSC 3.0 Smart TVs and broadcasts following the recent FCC action approving voluntary implementation of next-gen TV,” said Nil Shah, Verance CEO, in a press release announcing the LG test completion.

In May 2017, SmithGeiger released the results of a study commissioned by Verance showing that consumers are willing to pay higher prices and speed up their purchase plans for new internet-connected televisions to gain access to the interactive and personalized viewing options made possible by the ATSC 3.0 and Aspect.

More information is available on the Verance website. 

SAN DIEGO & HSINCHU, TAIWAN—MediaTek, a fabless IC design company providing product for smart TV manufacturers, is the first SoC (system on chip) firm to have completed evaluation tests of Verance Aspect audio watermarking, part of the newly adopted ATSC 3.0 standard, Verance said today.

Next month at the 2018 International CES in Las Vegas, the companies will conduct joint demos of MediaTek’s digital TV platforms integrated with the Verance watermark technology.

MediaTek’s “embrace of Aspect will serve as a driving market force for smart television manufacturers to achieve next-gen TV functionality in both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 environments,” said Verance CEO Nil Shah in a press release. The Aspect audio watermark will play a key role in the personalized, interactive aspects of ATSC 3.0 as well as equip broadcasters with more options for ascertaining audience metrics.

Verance is working on go-to-market partnerships with CE companies and chip makers. As part of its strategy, the company hired Eric Anderson in September as SVP and Chief Partnership Officer, Verance said. Before joining Verance, Anderson worked for Gracenote where he led product development for smart TVs as well as broadcasters, networks, brands and cable services.

More information is available on the Verance website.

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.

LEAWOOD, KAN.—While TV broadcasters in Phoenix announced earlier this month their plans to deploy ATSC 3.0 by spring 2018 to serve as a model for peers around the country, they along with broadcasters in Orlando, Fla., Montgomery, Ala., and Hartford, Conn., are already testing an audio watermarking technology that will play an important role in audience measurement, personalization and interactivity for next-gen TV.

That technology, Verance’s Aspect, is the underlying technology behind ATSC 3.0’s audio watermarking standard. It also can be integrated into legacy ATSC 1.0 transmission as is the case in today’s test markets.

“For the past six or seven months, we have had watermark readers in the market with between 300 and 400 households,” says Nil Shah, company CEO.

Pearl TV members, NBC Universal, NBC Connecticut, Univision and Fox Television Stations participating in the test are embedding their programing with the watermark for the readers to capture. Third-party demographic data is then appended to the captured watermark data to “provide a robust set of reports” to participating stations, says Shah.

For the trial, the watermark receivers are standalone devices, but ultimately the goal is see the technology incorporated into the design of new televisions, he adds.

Interest from the CE community has grown in Verance Aspect since the company in May released the findings of research put together by SmithGeiger. The researchers found consumers say they will spend as much as $200 more for sets with ATSC 3.0 features—especially interactivity, which is driven by Aspect—as well as accelerate their purchase plans for next-gen TVs.

“We have seen a lot of interest from television manufacturers to incorporate the technology now into their sets so they can start delivering the benefits that are contemplated for 3.0 but deliver those benefits earlier [via ATSC 1.0 with the watermark],” said Shah.

While the FCC vote this month to authorize ATSC 3.0 is welcomed news, Shah reiterated that uptake of the audio watermarking technology is not predicated on the action.

“The standard creates a pretext for eventual adoption, but we are seeing broadcasters and television manufacturers already make movement towards using the technology and implementing it today,” said Shah. “The FCC vote didn’t really change that calculus and that dynamic.”

For the moment, the ongoing trial of Verance Aspect has been focused on audience measurement. However, subsequent iterations could see interactivity and delivery of personalized TV added to the test, he added.

For a comprehensive list of TV Technology’s ATSC 3.0 coverage, see our ATSC3 silo.