MediaTech Spotlight: Cloud as a Driver of Change

MediaTech Radar

August

MediaTech Radar has become a monthly newsletter, previously issued bi-weekly. This edition of the newsletter is produced by IABM’s Senior Analyst Olga Nevinchana. It focuses on a spotlight topic in MediaTech and reflects on a series of past, present, and future business developments in the industry. In this edition, our spotlight topic is Cloud as a Driver of Change.

MediaTech Spotlight: Cloud as a Driver of Change

A spotlight topic in MediaTech.

Last week, IABM published two new reports, both largely focused on Cloud. With the M&E industry moving towards SaaS and cloud operating platforms, the adoption of Cloud infrastructure became a major driver of investment in different segments of the content supply chain, particularly in producing, storing, managing, and distributing content. For example, content management it resulted in the growing demand for cloud-based AI/ML-powered MAMs and orchestration solutions, as discussed in detail in our new edition of the Content Management & Support report.
Widespread Cloud adoption enabled the deployment of other technologies, such as Remote Production (driven by COVID), AI/ML (driven by the need for automation and interactivity), and OTT (driven by changing viewing habits), fueling investment in cloud computing, SaaS, and outsourced software development.
Our new edition of the Cloud report contains data supporting the thesis about hybrid cloud being, for many companies, a transitional stage on the way to public cloud.
Given the increasing fragmentation of viewership across streaming platforms and devices, cloud facilitates multi-platform content delivery and interactivity, particularly with the media industry converging with gaming, betting, and social media. For example, as mentioned in our recent APAC regional report, mobile remains the primary viewing platform for online video in the region.

MediaTech Watchlist: Crypto Payments, Streaming, and more…

A watchlist of selected past, present and future business developments in MediaTech.

TVTechnology published an interesting article looking at the increasing interest and investment of media businesses in crypto payments. This is at odds with the recent crash in crypto markets, which saw major currencies such as Bitcoin or Ether lose much of their values in a very short period of time. Aside from the benefit of streamlining media payment methods through smart contracts, the article cites the peculiar business model adopted by Rewarded TV. Rewarded TV is a streaming platform offering free content and rewarding its users with cryptocurrency for watching it. Perhaps more interestingly, the service rewards users for content engagement activities such as: “sharing a specific piece of content or creating a playlist featuring certain movies or shows”. Despite the buzz circling crypto, I believe that we should not underestimate the potential benefits to viewer engagement through gamification offered by Web3 technology, which may unlock new business models the industry needs.
MEDIAGENIX acquired Spanish MediaTech business BeBanjo in July 2022. According to the press release announcing the deal: “The acquisition generates a broad solution portfolio combining the WHATS’ON Media Business Management Platform with BeBanjo’s best-of-breed Movida VOD-first solution.”

At the end of July 2022, Kaltura received an acquisition offer from K1 Investment Management-owned education software maker Panopto at a $383 million valuation – the third proposal over the last two months, increasing the bid. This offer was followed by an announcement about Kaltura’s reorganization plan at its Q2 2022 Earning Call: “Given the macroeconomic outlook, we are implementing a cost-reduction and reorganization plan that includes, among other things, downsizing approximately 10% of our employee base. Our reorganization plan is heavily focused on realigning our operations to further increase efficiency and productivity. We believe this necessary action will accelerate our return to the profitable growth that we achieved in previous years.”
At the end of July, the F.T.C filed for a highly unusual antitrust lawsuit against Meta with the aim of blocking the company from buying a virtual reality company Within as part of Meta’s transition to the metaverse. The F.T.C. argued that Meta could have chosen to compete with Within instead of buying it. It is considered to be first of a kind antitrust case against acquisition of a start-up company in emerging tech area rather than against merging of large companies in large markets.
Netflix lost subscribers for two quarters in a row in Q2 2022, mainly due to its core markets of the U.S. and Canada, while other streaming platforms, such as Paramount+, continue to grow viewership. To address the decline in viewership that started in Q1, Netflix partnered with Microsoft in July to create a cheaper ad-supported offering.
NBCU will close its Olympic Channel in September 2022. This is consistent with NBCU’s intention to gradually move most programming to its streaming service Peacock, as highlighted by the words in the press release: “In order to best reach our target audiences, we are re-evaluating our programming distribution strategy.” This is also consistent with other broadcasters such as Disney shutting down linear sports channels to move content to streaming platforms.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have information/ideas you’d like to share, please get in touch with us.

Olga Nevinchana

Senior Analyst

IABM

MediaTech Spotlight: CES 2023

MediaTech Radar

January

MediaTech Radar is a monthly newsletter put together by IABM’s Head of Knowledge Lorenzo Zanni. It focuses on a spotlight topic in MediaTech and reflects on a series of past, present, and future business developments in the industry. In this edition, our spotlight topic is CES 2023.

MediaTech Spotlight: CES 2023

A spotlight topic in MediaTech.

IABM has today released a comprehensive report on the 2023 CES event, focusing on news and developments relevant to the Broadcast, Media and Entertainment industry. The full report can be read <<here>>. What follows is a brief summary of its key findings.
Attendance: attendance at CES 2023 is reported as 115,000 – nearly three times the 2022 visitor number and is forecast to return to near-pre-pandemic levels (160,000+) in 2024. This reflects the trend first seen at IBC 2022 – a return to in-person events is clearly welcomed by many. A change in exhibition strategy, also first seen at IBC 2022, was evident – there was overall less product on show with more emphasis on face-to-face interactions.
Smart TV: Smart TVs were front and center – external device developments were notably absent. This indicates an acceleration of the Smart TV platform race over the next few years, and advertisers, data users and Smart TV app developers will need to engage with a wider range of Smart TV platforms. Smart TV displays showed only incremental developments, though AI-driven automation of picture quality and modes is making its presence felt. Screen size and picture quality continue to be the key features to attract consumers.
Audio: particularly delivered by soundbars – has become a differentiator for consumers, with developments on show at CES in discrete or virtualized audio channels and positional audio capabilities at the forefront to deliver a more engaging experience.
Cloud gaming: constrained consumer spending may drive increased trial and subscription of cloud gaming services in the face of high entry costs of current-gen game consoles.

AR/SR/VR: the technology has not yet reached mass adoption, with the gaming audience still the primary market in the consumer sector. Metaverse applications in retail, education and enterprise are however continuing to grow.
OTT: very limited announcements; expect these to come at NAB Show and IBC later in the year.

MediaTech Watchlist: Content Investment, Virtual Production, Cinema and more…

A watchlist of selected past, present and future business developments in MediaTech.

According to Ampere Analysis, global content investment will significantly slowdown in 2023 due to the darkening macroeconomic outlook – though it is still expected to grow by 2%. As a testament to this trend, content owners are clamping down on renewing programming with Netflix controversially cancelling popular shows just released such as 1899.

A report by Altman Solomon shows that the popularity of virtual production continues to grow, though skills shortages still hinder its progress.
Global box office revenues significantly recovered in 2022, though are still 35% behind the average of the last three pre-pandemic years (2017-2019).
The UK government has abandoned plans to privatise Channel 4, though it may be given more commercial flexibility in the future, including the ability to produce and own content.
S&P data shows that tech deals made globally in 2022 declined by 25.7% from the record $786 billion M&A activity seen in 2021, though the 2022 figure was still the fourth highest total in the history of the industry. The selloff in tech stocks caused by a gloomier macroeconomic outlook was the main driver behind the decline.
A survey by Accenture reiterates consumers’ preference for aggregated entertainment experiences. 41% said they would pay for an all-in-one platform for their entertainment services with 61% reporting that they want the ability to share their streaming profiles across platforms to allow for better personalisation.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have information/ideas you’d like to share, please get in touch with us.

Lorenzo Zanni

Head of Knowledge

IABM

MediaTech Spotlight: ISE 2023

MediaTech Radar

February

MediaTech Spotlight: ISE 2023

A spotlight topic in MediaTech.

I attended Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2023 on 31 January and 1 February 2023, as the show returned to its usual dates – it was held in May last year. This event is always a good mirror of MediaTech convergence as it features the application of various audio-visual (AV) technologies in multiple non-media industries such as corporate and education.
Attendance: ISE attendance was 58.1K, up by 33% from last year. The show looked very busy, particularly on Wednesday when crowds queued for 30-60 mins to enter the venue – this was one of the major pain points in an otherwise good experience for visitors.
Location: Anecdotal feedback on the location was overwhelmingly positive. Most seemed to be happy about staying in Barcelona as well (I certainly was, as it meant no travel for me), particularly as everyone was provided with a free transport ticket to easily move around the city (a sustainable choice as well).
Exhibition: The exhibition was organized in different Technology Zones as last year, with technology used in specific sectors grouped in the same hall. Hall 2 and 3, dedicated to Residential & Smart Building and Multi-Technology respectively, were arguably the busiest halls. If I had to create a word cloud based on the messages I saw in these two halls, it would have the word “hybrid” standing out from the others.
Trends: I believe that the drivers of ISE attendance are here to stay. As I highlighted in my presentation on MediaTech Convergence delivered in the Content Production & Distribution Summit at the event, trends such as the continuation of hybrid experiences and the increasing use of video in corporate communications are catalysts for convergence. And by this, I mean convergence between non-media technology and MediaTech. There were more signs of this at the show – including the launch of the Content Production & Distribution Summit exploring this trend.

MediaTech Watchlist: Disney, Backlight, Gen Z and more…

A watchlist of selected past, present and future business developments in MediaTech.

Disney announced that it would cut 7,000 jobs in February as part of a $5.5bn cost-cutting initiative. Disney’s shares jumped 9% in after-hours trading after the news as the company beat its profitability target, cutting losses by about $400m to $1.1bn, even though Disney+ shed 2.4m subscribers. This is a sign of the changing times in streaming valuations, with the focus moving from subscriber growth to profits due to a darkened macroeconomic outlook.
I talked about Backlight’s investment in MediaTech last year. The company announced a reorganization of its portfolio in two divisions in February: Backlight Creative (featuring iconik, ftrack and Celtx product lines) and Backlight Streaming (featuring Wildmoka and Zype solutions). According to the press release: “Backlight’s new divisional structure aligns complementary teams and products around shared target markets, media workflows and customers,” which suggests a deeper integration of businesses previously run as independent units – see this interview I did last year with Backlight/Wildmoka for some more background on this.
New data from Hub Entertainment Research sheds additional light on Gen Z’s viewing habits. TV viewing among this cohort of viewers represents only 17% of their total screen time – this figure rises to 43% for 35+ viewers. Moreover, they spend more than twice that time on gaming and non-premium video content (e.g., YouTube) combined.

Media businesses have continued to focus on interactivity in response to these viewing habits. In one of the latest initiatives, Peacock rolled out a ‘Watch With’ feature that “allows fans to stream and watch special episodes alongside their favorite talent, with real time reactions, live commentary, and unfiltered Q&A.”
According to recent research conducted by Antenna, only 0.1% of Netflix’s US subscribers moved to its ad-supported tier in November 2022, with only 9% of new signups choosing it over the ad-free option. This data is mostly in line with the modest uptake experienced by HBO Max in June 2021, as noted by Antenna.
This TVBEurope article is an interesting roundup of views on the outlook for MediaTech in 2023.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have information/ideas you’d like to share, please get in touch with us.

Lorenzo Zanni

Head of Knowledge

IABM

MediaTech Spotlight: Blockchain

MediaTech Radar

December 2022

MediaTech Spotlight: Blockchain

A spotlight topic in MediaTech.

IABM has just published a report analysing the adoption of blockchain in the broadcast & media industry. Below, I have included some of the main highlights of the report.
Blockchain adoption in the sector has grown significantly from 4% during the pandemic to 16% post-pandemic (2021-2022).
IABM data also shows that while blockchain is/can be deployed throughout the content supply chain, most use cases are in Monetize and Produce.
In content creation and production, blockchain gives content creators more control over their digital assets. Deployment areas in these segments include activities such as verifying user-generated content and combating fake news.
In content monetization, blockchain allows for content optimization through data analytics.

In content delivery, blockchain-based decentralized CDNs allow content providers to spread the downtime risk across network nodes run by independent companies and optimize storage space by utilizing the shared unused storage.

MediaTech Watchlist: Disney, Sustainability, Amagi and more…

A watchlist of selected past, present and future business developments in MediaTech.

Disney brought back Bob Iger as CEO of the company after Bob Chapek was ousted in a resounding move. Chapek’s departure was due to a mixture of factors including the company’s worsening financial performance, his focus on cost-cutting, his handling of the creative side of the business and his response to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Although Iger promised to put decision-making back in the hands of creative departments in a note to staff, he also highlighted that Disney’s focus should remain on cutting costs to make sure that the profitability targets in the streaming division are met. Consistent with this, he confirmed Chapek’s hiring freeze.
In this TVBEurope article, BBC Studios’ Head of Sustainability Sally Mills spoke about the importance of working with MediaTech suppliers on sustainability: “We need to work closely with our suppliers to make sure they’re on the same journey as us. That means looking at working with them not just in relation to what their sustainability strategy is, do they have science-based targets, are they looking to decarbonise, but also looking at the products that they supply.” This is consistent with sustainability becoming a more important factor influencing MediaTech purchasing decisions.

In November, Amagi announced that it had raised over $100m in funding from equity firm General Atlantic. The company’s CEO and co-founder Baskar Subramanian said that the funding will allow the business to develop: “futuristic technology solutions that can help media companies deliver premium personalised content and engaging advertising experiences to their consumers.” Amagi also acquired Streamwise later in November. Streamwise focuses on: “automating and standardising data collection across streaming platforms.”
Digital TV Research predicts that AVOD revenues will grow more than SVOD revenues by 2028. This is on the back of major streamers’ focus on AVOD to alleviate the impact of churn.
Netflix opened five more studios at its Tres Cantos production hub in Madrid while Sky opened an innovation centre housing 600 tech staff.
Roku cut about 200 staff in November, consistent with the slowdown in the wider technology sector reported by our State of MediaTech report.

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have information/ideas you’d like to share, please get in touch with us.

Lorenzo Zanni

Head of Knowledge

IABM

MediaTech Spotlight: MediaTech Disconnects

MediaTech Radar

November 2022

MediaTech Spotlight: MediaTech Disconnects

A spotlight topic in MediaTech.

IABM’s BaM Live London™ 2022 will take place on 1st December in the Park Plaza Victoria Hotel and will focus on “Closing the disconnects in MediaTech.” We will examine disconnects between demand and supply of MediaTech with speakers from both sides of the industry. Below, I have tried to distil some thoughts and insights on the disconnects we are going to cover (in the chronological order of the day) to provide a preview to readers:
Sourcing (In or Out?): This session will focus on the perennial sourcing dilemmas between insourcing and outsourcing as well as between best-of-breed and end-to-end. These two dilemmas are often related as the preference for best-of-breed tech is a significant driver of insourcing investment at media businesses. IABM research shows that insourcing investment by media businesses has grown in the last two years. Is this the new normal in an industry increasingly dominated by as-a-service technology?
Standardization (Structure or Chaos?): As the speed of change increases, many media businesses we talk to have lamented that this has severely outpaced the speed of standards development. One told us: “Standards are great, but they often take years by which point we've often moved on as a company because we need things quicker.” Others point out that many standards are now outside the control of the industry, which should get used to chaos. However, the need for interoperability is not going away. Do we need to rethink standards?
Buying (Native or Washed?): This session will focus on the motivations behind technology investments. Are these being communicated to suppliers effectively? Or are suppliers failing to communicate their message to buyers? The industry still seems disconnected on the adoption of cloud operating models, a mantra for some though a threat for others. Sustainability is rising in buyers’ agenda though are suppliers’ solutions meeting their needs? Not to mention AI/ML: is the industry really investing in it as much as it talks about it?
Transformation (Evolution or Revolution?): The last session of the day will focus on business transformation, and the importance that people (skills and culture) play in enabling it. Why is talent scarcity a rising issue affecting MediaTech? What skills does the industry need and how can it attract them effectively? And what about culture: does the industry need to borrow values from the “move fast and break things” digital mentality or should it evolve towards digital clinging to its traditional mindset?

MediaTech Watchlist: M&E Skills, Virtual Production, Newsbridge and more…

A watchlist of selected past, present and future business developments in MediaTech.

This interesting Financial Times article (requires subscription) focuses on skills shortages in the film and television industry in the UK. As the sector is mostly freelance-driven and dependent on job seekers’ personal networks, it is struggling to attract talent from outside despite the allure of creative storytelling. The article also cites working culture as another big issue disincentivizing younger generations to enter the industry. Consistent with this, behaviours such as bullying and propensity to do long hours have persisted since the pre-pandemic period according to the latest Looking Glass Survey. These are indeed all variables to consider for employers in the sector when trying to facilitate the influx of new talent in the industry. IABM will focus on skills and culture in MediaTech in the Transformation session at BaM Live London™ 2022.
A new £25.2m virtual production studio is set to open in Belfast in 2024. The 57,000 sq ft building is yet another sign that investment in virtual production is on the rise, as reported by one of our previous newsletters. IABM published a Briefing focused on virtual production in October 2022.
Newsbridge raised €7m in Series A funding to continue its expansion in the US and focus on recruiting top AI/ML talent. Newsbridge has stated that it has doubled its recurring revenues in the last 12 months with new customers including some European football clubs.

The plan to merge TF1 and M6 in the French market was abandoned in mid-September amid competition concerns. German media group Bertelsmann initially searched for new buyers but then called off the sale of M6.
In a previous newsletter, we talked about the growth of the Creator Economy and its implications on MediaTech, which were also covered in one of our Briefings. As part of the briefing, we argued that the growth of the Creator Economy “might lead distribution platforms to increasingly compete for talent through better monetization tools.” Social distribution platforms such as TikTok have indeed gone beyond that, starting to pay creators directly to lure them in, and putting pressure on platforms such as Patreon that provide them the tools for fan engagement and monetization. This, along with the retreat from investment in tech stocks mentioned earlier, led Patreon to cut 17% of its staff in September 2022. If you are interested in the Creator Economy as I am, do watch my interview with Patreon at IBC 2022.
In September 2022, ProSiebenSat.1 Group announced it would acquire the remaining 50% of Joyn, a German streaming service, from Warner Bros Discovery. ProSieben plans to: “place a sharper focus on interaction with and between users and community management. Therefore, we are integrating our streaming platform more closely with our influencer business and our brands from the Dating & Video and Commerce & Ventures segments.”

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If there are topics you would like me to cover or have information/ideas you'd like to share, please get in touch with us.

Lorenzo Zanni

Head of Knowledge

IABM

Media Tech Intelligence Briefing: CES 2023 Report

CES, the Consumer Technology Association’s monolithic annual show in Las Vegas, made a strong return to form this year after two difficult years affected by the pandemic. 2023 attendance reached 115K attendees, a strong step towards the 160-170K averages prior to the pandemic and a surpassing of expectations given a lacklustre 40K attendees in 2021 during the COVID-19 Omicron surge.

A number of macro factors loomed over consumers and the industry coming into this year’s show. A cooling global economy, slowing consumer spending due to inflation concerns, and supply chain constraints over the last two years were all question marks affecting outlooks for the CE industry – as well as expectations for this year’s CES.

This report focuses on news and developments relevant to the Broadcast, Media and Entertainment industry.

View the interactive report below, or click here to access the pdf.

Red Hat – Introducing a new IABM member

Red Hat began by providing software to run on Linux about 30 years ago. As the largest open-source company in the world, we believe using an open source development model helps create more stable, secure, and innovative technologies. Our portfolio is broader, including hybrid cloud infrastructure, middleware, agile integration, cloud-native development, and management and automation solutions for service providers.

The industry is evolving, and that means new opportunities like expanding use cases that create new revenue streams. Emerging technology solutions offer advantages like building more agile networks, improving customer experiences, and finding innovative ways to deploy content. Here’s the hard part, in a fiercely competitive market, where non-traditional players are taking market share: how do you transition to a cloud-native strategy and forward-looking edge computing model supported by automated, software-defined networking? That is not a simple undertaking; it requires innovation and transformation at a pace that works for the entire enterprise.

Red Hat has worked with CableLabs to implement the CableLabs 10G Lab, facilitating the service provider’s relentless “innovation journey” and conquering technical and logistical challenges while leading the industry forward. Additionally, it embraces open and co-compatible configurations to provide a successful proof of concept (POC) and vendor collaboration.

Participants have the ability to deploy instances of 5G, DOCSIS, and other applications at the edge, with vendors configuring their cloud-native 5G network stacks into a multi-tenant, converged, private cloud setting. These initial steps serve as both the catalyst — and the realization — towards the end goal of enabling any workload to be co-located on an infrastructure serving the application in the optimal way. In addition, 5G and hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) are co-located and running as containers on shared infrastructure managed by a common management layer, resulting in benefits including:

Reducing operating expenses, including power consumption and capital expenses

Eliminating over-provisioned environments, matching resources to demand and scaling to optimize the network

Automating service deployment, faster provisioning, and reducing errors

Creating dynamic, customized network topologies, multiple geographies, reducing latency

Contributing is the deployment of Red Hat OpenShift, the industry’s leading enterprise Kubernetes platform, which allows a high degree of flexibility and functionality without the underlying limitations associated with vendor lock-in. Decoupling the network software from proprietary hardware increases the cadence of system upgrades, reducing the time to market for new capabilities and optimizations.

Source: CableLabs: Driving 5G and HFC Convergence with Multi-Tenancy at the Edge May 5, 2022 https://www.cablelabs.com/blog/multi-tenancy-at-the-edge

The 10G Lab is intended to align with the following goals:

Provide a foundation for convergence-related activities, including executing use cases

Provide an environment for hosting the 5G challenge and other interoperability events

Leverage the POC demonstrations as part of CableLabs’ innovation initiatives

Other goals include using learnings to enhance security, optimizing network configurations, balancing resource allocations, enabling performance settings, and easing the management of multiple applications on shared infrastructure. Looking ahead, CableLabs plans to expand the capabilities of the 10G Lab with open source 5G cores and vRAN solutions, as well as a virtual converged cable access platform (vCCAP).

The management of separate wireline/wireless access networks with overlapping capabilities are inefficient and costly, and limits the types of services that operators will be able to provide in the future. The desire to deploy systems into shared infrastructure has been answered within the CableLabs 10G Lab.

For a successful “innovation journey,” Red Hat’s partner ecosystem is an integral part of how Red Hat develops and delivers business and technical value to customers. Our extensive ecosystem of certified partners offers solutions for data over cable service interface specifications (DOCSIS) and cable modem termination system (CMTS) providing choice, flexibility, and agility. The community can help solve customer challenges, build integrated solutions, and establish/grow relationships all built around Red Hat's world-leading enterprise open-source solutions. Red Hat works together with industry groups like CableLabs and The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) to push the boundaries of technology in cable and media. Ongoing contributions in upstream open-source communities, including Kubernetes, OpenStack, and Fedora, and the experience of working with hardware acceleration partners positions Red Hat to identify how open source solutions can be applied to industry challenges, laying the foundation for further innovation.

We invite you to learn more about the CableLabs 10G Lab and multi-tenancy at the edge, in the recently published whitepaper, “Best Practices for Deploying 5G into a Shared Environment”.

Learn more about its telecom/media/entertainment (TME) solutions, OpenShift and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform.

DW Innovation – Towards Trustworthy AI in Media Tools

Birgit Gray

Innovation Manager

Broadcasters and media companies are implementing technologies powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) across the value chain. We see countless use cases for AI based automation or support and new opportunities keep emerging. So far, the focus has been on the usefulness of AI systems in terms of accuracy and performance in relation to a specific task. This is now changing with a wider uptake of AI, new capabilities for ML and public debates on this technology.

Birgit Gray from DW Innovation provides insight into Responsible AI and shares her activities in the AI4Media project related to making AI components in media tools more trustworthy.

Moving from AI to Responsible AI

Many media organisations now look at AI related risks, concerns of staff, acceptance levels and the degree of trust into outcomes or predictions. As in other industries, they might publish corporate AI guidelines or ethical principles for the use of AI in their organisation. Globally, there is dynamic development in the field of Responsible and Trustworthy AI, going beyond accuracy with dimensions such as Fairness, Privacy, Explainability, Robustness, Security, Transparency and Governance. In addition, specific AI regulation is emerging, for example the planned AI Act by the European Commission. While the principles of responsible AI seem to be well established, their implementation in AI systems and services remains complex and challenging.

External AI Components

Media companies can be both: AI system developer and user of AI systems from third parties. When creating their own AI systems, they are in control of implementing aspects of responsible and trustworthy AI as required. This is different when deploying AI-powered media systems, content support tools or services that are provided and/or operated by external technology providers. AI related documentation may not be sufficient to judge if and to what extent the dimensions of trustworthy AI have been considered. This can leave AI related managers with a set of unanswered questions, for example, in relation to compliance with their corporate AI guidelines. Further, end users of AI driven support tools, such as journalists, might not easily trust the outcomes of an AI service or functionality.

Exploring Trustworthy AI Components in the AI4Media Project

With 30 European partners from the media industry, research institutes, academia, and a growing network of stakeholders, the EU co-funded AI4Media research project has several dimensions: it conducts advanced research into AI technologies related to the media industry, develops Trustworthy AI tools, integrates research outcomes in seven media related use cases, analyses the social and legal aspects of AI in Media, runs a funding programme for applied AI initiatives and establishes the AI Doctoral Academy AIDA.

Deutsche Welle (DW) runs one of the practical use cases in this project together with ATC iLab. Based on our requirements, we received a set of advanced AI functionalities from two of the project’s research partners: The MeVer Group at CERTH-ITI and Fraunhofer IDMT. These were integrated for testing and refinement into our Truly Media platform for content verification, which has been jointly developed by DW and ATC iLab and is operated by ATC.

These new AI components are designed to support users of the tool, journalists, and verification experts, with specific workflow tasks such as detecting deepfakes, synthetic audio, manipulation in photos or copy-move forgery in audio files. The AI services can help users in this complex, manual process by giving predictions or pointing to areas on which to focus human analysis. The final decision, whether a content item is synthetically generated or manipulated, remains with the human analyst.

For this reason, it is important that the end user of the media tool understands and trusts the outcome/prediction of an AI service that has been integrated into our tool. In addition, managers are interested in evaluating aspects of responsible AI, also in the context of organisational strategic AI guidelines (Governance). For one of the new AI services, the Deepfake Detection Service from CERTH-ITI, DW developed specific requirements for Trustworthy AI to address the above issues. Firstly, to obtain Transparency information for the AI component, e.g., related to the AI model, intended use or datasets. Secondly, to gain an understanding of the Robustness of the function in the event of any malicious adversarial attack performed on the machine learning model. Further, we needed information to what extent general responsible AI issues had been considered by the creators of the component.

How we Enhanced the Transparency of an AI Component

Transparency of an AI component can be achieved with the provision of a Model Card, a Fact Sheet or similar detailed documentation that is not always available for AI services. This gives descriptive transparency information and is not to be mixed up with the algorithmic improvement of the Explainability of an underlying Neural Network.

For the Deepfake Detection Service, DW opted for the Model Card approach, which was originally proposed in a paper by Margaret Mitchell and has since gained popularity in the AI community. It follows a structured approach to transparency information provision, including Model Details, Intended Use, Relevant Factors, Metrics, Evaluation/Training Data, Quantitative Analyses, Ethical Considerations and Caveats/Recommendations. Following the request from DW, the creator of the Deepfake Detection Service, CERTH-ITI, developed a two-page Model Card containing the above information. This document gives AI technology managers a much better understanding of the component developer, the intended purpose of the function, the scope and limitations, the types of datasets involved and its performance level. Such knowledge is relevant for a functional review as well as for assessing compliance with Responsible AI guidelines.

How we Evaluated the Robustness of an AI Component

The evaluation of Robustness relates to the overall resilience of an AI model against various forms of attacks. For example, an adversary could obtain access to the deployed model of the component and perform very minor imperceptible alterations to the input data to significantly reduce the accuracy of such a model.

While requested by DW as the user of the Deepfake Detection component, the algorithmic evaluation of its robustness was achieved through close cooperation between the component provider (CERTH-ITI) and the expert partner in AI4Media for algorithmic robustness technologies (IBM Research Europe - Dublin). Using the open source Adversarial Robustness Toolbox (ART), CERTH-ITI and IBM evaluated the performance of the Deepfake Detection service by deliberately applying adversarial attacks on the Deepfake Detection component’s AI model.

Resulting changes in the performance level of the ML model have been made transparent with a description in the Model Card. This enables comparison to the original performance evaluation results, which were also provided in the Model Card. From a business point of view, this approach allows for an assessment of how secure (and reliable) this AI model is in the context of possible attacks.

Accessible Transparency Information for Different Target Groups

An evaluation of the Model Card revealed that the technical language and AI jargon used are not easily understood by all target groups in a media organisation that require this information. Consequently, DW developed a business-oriented user guide that follows a Q&A format and uses non-technical language. The development of this document required further explanation and input from the AI component provider to achieve a version of the Model Card that is “understandable” by managerial target groups. In cooperation, DW and CERTH-ITI also added further information related to legal, privacy, fairness, explainability, security and sustainability aspects, as well as other social/ethical issues. The aim was to raise awareness for these issues in the context of this functionality and to point out open issues that have recently emerged where the research community is still exploring solutions.

Based on this user guide, DW plans to explore further tailored versions, also for end users of the Truly Media tool for integration into the Truly Media user interface.

Lessons Learned

While responsible AI principles and guidelines are now commonplace, the provision of trustworthy AI systems is at the beginning. Our exploration of trustworthy AI in media tools has shown that giving information about the AI related managerial and user context in a media organisation to AI technology providers is a good starting point. Generally, it may be easier to commence with descriptive transparency information and then move towards more complex algorithmic trustworthy AI improvement if and where required for a given use case (e.g., Fairness, Privacy, Robustness or Explainability). Although instruments like the Model Card provide an essential basis, further effort needs to be made for making trustworthy AI information accessible to different target groups as well as end users of an AI driven tool.

With a view to scaling our explorative work, several questions remain: Which party should provide what kind of responsible AI input, how to organise the process of cooperation between users in a media organisation and external AI component providers, and what is the role of upcoming regulation and certification approaches?

For resources from the AI4Media project, visit the results section on the project’s website, containing White Papers from the use cases, an in-depth report on AI & Media, as well as specific reports on legal, social, and trustworthy AI aspects. The project also provides open data sets and AI components via Europe’s AI-On-Demand Platform.

The OTT market is changing to put local content providers in the driving seat

Romain Rossi

Senior Vice President Commercial, Video Experience, Deltatre

Previously, specialist, regional and niche content providers had very few options when it came to monetizing their content. Try and deliver it themselves, and the results would often mean spiraling costs and limited functionality for their audience. Buddy up with a big player who’ll do the heavy lifting, but realize there is a limit to the rewards they would reap.

But, with the advent of quick-to-launch, cost-effective, end-to-end over-the-top (OTT) platforms, the game has changed. These platforms put content providers and rights holders in the driving seat, able to access data and use it to improve services – without spending a fortune. Most importantly, they’re able to unlock a host of monetization opportunities.

OTT streaming has exploded in recent years. In 2020, the total market was valued at $38.7bn, with projections to reach a staggering $139bn by 2028*. This rapid growth has been driven by several factors, not least including COVID, the acceleration of cord-cutting, growing smart device penetration, and continued investment in 5G. One thing that can’t be ignored is the introduction of new OTT products that make investing in and launching a streaming platform far more accessible than ever before.

Success is no longer tied up with the big players – niche or localized services that cater to a particular audience demographic are becoming prolific, as these players bypass the traditional cable and satellite model and take the direct-to-consumer (D2C) route.

Niche OTT players have much smaller budgets than the likes of international leagues and federations. However, evolutions in OTT technology mean the opportunities for local content providers and niche rights holders to monetize their content are greater than ever before.

friends or football fans watching tv at home

It’s got to be D2C

It might be more of a long-term bet, but the road to financial independence for many niche content providers lies in D2C content.

While a big payday from a streaming giant might tempt many local or niche content providers, it’s important to acknowledge that rights owners don’t need to rely on big tech to move into the OTT space. D2C platforms offer leagues and federations a big opportunity to monetize their own content.

Live footage is a given, but where D2C really comes into its own is the ability to fill the gaps around live matches with original, engaging, and exclusive footage. More than a third** of global sports fans watch non-live content, and programming in the way of player interviews, docuseries, and webinars is the perfect way to give it to them.

Furthermore, selling rights to the likes of Amazon, Apple or tomorrow, Netflix, means giving up some ability to better understand users and maintain an active dialogue with them. As well as the monetization aspect of a D2C platform, the data and insights that can be gained from a content provider’s own customers are second to none when it comes to evolving and improving their offering.

Technology is leveling the playing field in OTT

Traditionally, end-to-end streaming platforms can take a significant period to launch from start to finish – from 6 to 18 months – and their high price tag can mean that niche OTT players are priced out of the D2C game.

Thankfully for content providers, the tide is beginning to turn. The OTT boom in recent years has seen the advent of several solutions that remove many of the hurdles that have been in place for new players.

Solutions like Deltatre’s new out-of-the-box OTT platform mean that niche OTT players can launch in a matter of weeks as opposed to months. Deltatre's product has a launch time of just 90 days. And, although the customization element in these new technologies isn’t as extensive as a full end-to-end build, they still allow rights holders and content providers to build first-class streaming platforms to monetize their own content.

The out-of-the-box nature of these solutions (which gives much better value for niche OTT platforms) enables experimentation with different types of content that previously would have required significant investment. Where there is content, there is opportunity, and these advances in technology are breaking down the barriers for entry into the OTT market.

There is a large market of specialist, regional, and niche content players that technology vendors have traditionally underserved, and now is the perfect time to utilize new technology to deliver first-class streaming services, drive revenue, and accelerate growth.

* https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/over-the-top-services-market-100506

** https://www.sportico.com/business/commerce/2022/fan-demand-drives-the-change-in-sports-media-consumption-1234669318/

Sustainable Broadcast Transmission

Despite the continuing growth in audiences for streaming content, the established broadcasters remain popular. Indeed, market predictions are that, while streaming services will gain viewers and revenue, traditional linear television will remain stable; Statista even suggests a slight rise in daily viewing hours.

Is terrestrial transmission the best way to deliver television channels? In purely practical terms, yes it is. It ensures everyone in the audience views at exactly the same time, with the minimum of latency. Transmitter networks are well-established, and the technology is mature and extremely reliable.

But today we have to consider sustainability. Television transmitters are noted for being heavy users of power, and not particularly efficient in operation. How does the environmental impact of broadcast television stack up against streaming?

There have been some wildly varying estimates of the carbon cost of streaming recently and it is not easy to identify reliable data. Two promising sources put the CO₂ equivalent of an hour of streaming Netflix at 36g (The Shift Project) or 55g (Carbon Trust).

A legacy television transmitter with a 10kW emitted power and 20% efficiency consumes 50kWh. Our World in Data has a useful chart of the carbon intensity of electricity by country (https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-intensity-electricity). In 2021, it showed wide variations, from 9g CO₂ equivalent per kWh in Sweden to 428g in the UAE; 402g in Germany and 380g in the USA; 265g in the UK and just 67g in nuclear-reliant France.

If we take the UK figure as a rough mean, our transmitter site would produce 13.25kg CO₂ equivalent. Compared to, say, 50g for the streaming service, that is a seemingly disastrous ratio of 265:1.

But, of course, streaming video is a one-to-one connection. If the house next door is watching the same streamed programme at the same time, they are responsible for their own 50g CO₂ equivalent. And a television transmitter is capable of reaching very many more than 265 households – potentially millions - with precisely the same energy consumption.

The first takeaway, then, is that terrestrial television is a very efficient way of delivering content to substantial audiences.

But the legacy transmitter site quoted earlier has an efficiency – the ratio of AC in to radiated power out – of 20%. That really is not very impressive, and it is time to make serious changes to improve the conversion factor.

The next generation of transmitters must focus on optimisation of energy efficiency. There is obviously a direct and significant operational saving if you can reduce the power consumption for the same output quality and coverage, as well as the contribution to sustainability that makes.

New power amplification architectures are now delivering significant improvements in efficiency. These architectures also contribute significantly to resilience, meaning that a transmitter can continue to provide an acceptable output even in the case of partial failure. That means you may not need hot or warm standby electronics, which consume power even though they are not on air.

There is another sustainability issue here, too. New electronic architectures, combined with excellence in physical design to maximise cooling flows and eliminate thermal stress, are more reliable and resilient, which means less emergency maintenance. Add an intelligent control layer which is capable of self-repair and clearly reporting potential problem areas, and there is less need for every transmitter site to be permanently manned, and fewer road journeys with urgent spares are required.

The efficiency of the transmitter site is measured in terms of the ratio of the incoming AC power to the radiated output. That includes all the services of the building as well as the transmitter electronics themselves. Air conditioning is a significant power consumer, and air-cooled transmitters will always need powerful HVAC to take the heat away from the electronics.

Liquid cooling can take the heat not just out of the racks but out of the building where it can be dissipated into the outside environment. This saves an enormous amount of energy for air conditioning, and with that it significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the complete transmitter site.

All of these considerations have led to the TH1 transmitter family from Rohde & Schwarz. The environmental performance will be dependent upon the format and frequency of transmission, but on average it provides 44% energy efficiency (and in some cases as much as 47%).

Going back to our notional 10kW transmitter, it now only needs around 23kW of AC input, so energy costs and carbon outputs are 50% or better than the installed base of transmitters. If we say that the transmitter reaches a million households, then the carbon footprint of each one is a mere 0.006g CO₂ - a very significant boost to environmental performance.

MediaTech Spotlight: Cloud as a Driver of Change