Harmonic’s Cloud Set to Reign on Video Services

Harmonic press conference
From left: Gil Rudge, Harmonic; Dave Schafer, Madison Square Garden Entertainment Group; Jean Macher and Rob Gambino, Harmonic; and Dennis Klas, Heartland Video Systems (Image credit: Future)

Harmonic’s broadband segment is on quite a roll, with the San Jose, California-based software company’s sticky network virtualization products currently all the rage among larger cable operators including Comcast and Charter Communications.

Harmonic’s broadband product sales were up nearly 38 percent year over year in Q4 to $96 million. Harmonic’s share price has nearly doubled on the Nasdaq over the past year.

During a press conference Harmonic made a similar case of pending disruption and innovation for the video business — specifically the area of sports streaming — with a half-hour presentation of its cloud-based VOS360 video software-as-a-service (SaaS) product.

Harmonic’s Senior VP of Video Products, Gil Rudge, led a panel discussion featuring not only several other top video-product executives from the company, but also Dave Schafer, senior VP of product, technology and operations for Madison Square Garden Entertainment Group, which is launching its regional sports network over-the-top and direct-to-consumer with the introduction of MSG Plus this summer.

“We’re knee-deep in the product build right now, said Schafer, who specifically noted the flexibility of new VOS360 monetization features. This flexibility will allow MSG Plus operators to explore new business opportunities including paid program sponsorship.

“Monetization features are very important to us,” Schafer added. “We’re trying to explore what we can do beyond subscription revenue.”