2019 NAB Show Exhibitor Viewpoint: David Cohen—Vice President, Marketing Communications, Grass Valley

TV Technology:What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trend at the  2019 NAB Show?

DAVID COHEN: IP will continue to be a major talking point as we see an uptick in mainstream deployments; this is backed up by the findings in Grass Valley’s recent IP Barometer survey, which confirmed a strong industry desire to invest in open IP-based solutions. The approval last year of ST 2110, based on the work done by AIMS and all its member companies, was really a necessary move to give the industry assured interoperability in IP deployments.

With pressure to produce more content and deliver personalized viewing experiences—compounded by downward pressure on budgets—content owners, broadcasters and media companies are looking for solutions that drive efficiency within their operational workflows. Scalability, flexibility and agility have become key to making fast and smart decisions that will help leverage the opportunities presented by ongoing market evolution. IP enables systems that deliver better operational efficiency.

As the vendor with more open-standard deployments than any other, Grass Valley is a front- runner in IP transition. We deliver fully interoperable end-to-end workflow capabilities that are flexible and tailor-made to meet our customers’ specific needs. Built on standard COTS hardware and switches, our IP solutions enable our customers to benefit from flexible, scalable, format agnostic architecture that gives them the agility to meet the challenges of the current mediascape head on.

The integration of AI into a wide range of broadcast products is also something we expect to see widely demonstrated and talked about at the show. 

Being more efficient is the key to survival and growth, and AI holds significant promise in helping media companies achieve this. With consumers demanding strong, compelling storytelling, customers are turning to AI-based solutions that help reduce time spent on mundane tasks, enabling production teams to focus on impactful, creative activities.

More than that, the enriched information that AI-based solutions can deliver makes it easier for production staff to do their jobs. The ability for systems to analyze data and use it to enhance the quality of content by matching it to a set of criteria has enormous implications.

TVT:What will be your most important product news?

COHEN: Some of our key focus areas for the NAB Show are IP, live production and innovations in media workflows. As the frontrunner in delivering end-to-end, open standards IP solutions, Grass Valley is the only technology partner that provides a glass-to-glass solution that can be tailored to meet our customers’ requirements. We will also clearly underline how end-to-end workflow solutions from Grass Valley enables a smoother purchase process and deployment, allowing customers to get their services running more rapidly.

As consumers expect content anywhere, anytime and on any screen, media organizations must address a range of platforms—both digital and linear. Grass Valley enables assets to be handled more efficiently, seamlessly supporting content production and delivery to multiple platforms, including social media, via a single interface—the key to opening the door for citizen journalists and other content types that deliver a modern “any content, everywhere” scenario.

TVT:How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?

COHEN: The priority for our customers is not just the technology—what media companies want is a partner that understands the industry and the way their organizations operate. Working with a company that has the breadth of solutions as well as deep expertise is central to successful technology deployments.

Grass Valley provides the widest reach and outstanding service; our customers know that they can access the support they need to keep mission critical systems running. The weight of the Belden brand behind us ensures financial stability; customers have the added assurance during the purchase process that their investment is future-protected. This scale underpins the outstanding innovation that is a hallmark of Grass Valley, while our Core Tech initiative ensures a faster time to market and the ability to respond rapidly.

TVT:What is it about the NAB Show that brings you back every year?

COHEN: We go to the NAB Show because that’s where our industry does business. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate to our customers that we’re there for them and, once again, are delivering new innovations that help them create better content, more efficiently than ever.