Outstanding innovation across the BaM Content Chain
The winners of IABM’s BaM Awards® were announced on 16 April during NAB Show 2024. The BaM Awards® celebrate outstanding technological innovations that deliver real business and creative benefits. The winners, across nine categories described by the BaM Content Chain®, as well as a tenth category recognizing an outstanding project, collaboration, event or other innovation, were selected from an initial 130+ entries. The judging was carried out by a panel of 40 non-affiliated, expert judges, each with specialist expertise in one or more of the awards categories.
Stan Moote, CTO at IABM, who chaired the judging panel said, “We had a very broad range of entries for this NAB Show edition of the BaM Awards®, stretching across live operations and new business ideas right through to supporting activities. Such was their quality, the judges had a really tough task selecting the final winners; one of the judges said, ‘This is probably the closest category I’ve ever had to judge with BaM, every entry could be the winner’. Others made comments such as ‘game changer’ and ‘product of the year’, reflecting the extraordinary level of innovation that is evident. The MediaTech industry continues to push back the boundaries of what’s possible as well as continually improving the efficiency of media operations – a must-have in today’s challenging market conditions.”
The winners are listed below by category, with the judges’ comments appended.
Create
Pixellot – Pixellot Show S3 AI-automated camera for streaming sports
“Very innovative and complete solution – literally a game-changer. The algorithms for different sports are fascinating. This AI camera takes sports coverage to the next level…and has potential beyond sport too. Its powerful combination of features makes it attractive and full of innovation. Well done.”
Produce
id3as – Norsk low-code SDK
“This is a very compelling approach to handling video in an IP/SDK environment…this product will make a huge difference to those facilities where ideas for a streaming channel would be difficult to afford or to explain to a vendor to create. This toolkit is well thought through and uses a common approach and terminology – such that operational people would be able to come up with and design viable workflows.”
Manage
Perifery – ICE Intelligent Content Engine
“This entry stands out as the most pioneering and all-encompassing of the year. Offering flawless integration with both S3-compatible cloud services and on-site content, it streamlines workflow and automates the generation of metadata. This revolutionizes the way files are searched, shifting the focus to the content itself, and skillfully tackles key obstacles in media content management through its sophisticated, user-focused design.”
Publish
Comcast Technology Solutions and Sky – CTS Managed Channel Origination, powered by Sky
“CTS MCO provides an end-to-end solution. This highly evolved, scalable platform uses the best industry practice for developing SaaS solutions in the media playout sector. Embracing automation, deploying quickly and keeping on top of patching has altogether improved service reliability and security whilst in parallel reducing support costs.”
Monetize
Broadpeak – Click2 interactive advertising feature
“An innovative application that drives viewers into a more shoppable experience…there is huge room for growth in this area… more intuitive, faster and easier to interact with and incorporating not only advertising products but potentially recognizing product placement. This is an interesting evolution in the interactive advertising arena.”
Consume
Quickplay – Quickplay Media Companion
“With the plethora of content available, an intelligent, AI-driven search capability will be very much welcomed by consumers.”
Connect
Riedel Communications – MediorNet HorizoN
“As local broadcasters follow the footsteps of early adopters migrating from SDI to IP-based workflows, SDI to IP gateways serve as pivotal tools facilitating a seamless transition. These gateways enable a phased approach, bridging the gap between legacy equipment and ST 2110 networks. A potential Swiss Army Knife for those on the journey to IP but without the rare advantage of a greenfield starting point.”
Store
Hammerspace – Global Data Environment software
“Hammerspace brings innovation to the storage world, not for innovation’s sake, but to be of real use in bringing sanity to the messy real-life world of legacy and atomized reality of collaborative working across multiple sites, technologies and standards. What I particularly liked was that it was non-invasive and low-touch to implement but had a dramatic impact on the user experience – stability, reliability and performance across a mixed storage estate.”
Support
Skyline Communications – dataminer.MediaOps harmonizing ICT and media
“Groundbreaking integration of media and ICT, offering a comprehensive inventory management system that spans technology, operational resources, and more. Its ability to automate and orchestrate workflows represents a leap forward in efficiency and cost-effectiveness, challenging traditional operational silos…it helps ‘automate the automation’ by aggregating various disparate workflows from different sources.”
Project, collaboration, event or other innovation
BBC and Neutral Wireless, supported by LiveU, Haivision, Sony, Amarisoft, AW2S and Alpha Wireless – World’s largest pop-up private 5G standalone network deployed to connect news contributions at the Coronation of HM King Charles III
“This project demonstrated the very best in technical collaboration and problem solving to meet the needs of broadcasters to solve a very real problem around access to reliable spectrum and bandwidth for important events. The detailed planning and proof of concept work was a great foundation for the live use of the technology in a real environment…a future pathway to a very agile approach in deploying non-public networks for events such as this.”
The NAB Show 2024 BaM Awards® winners are automatically shortlisted for IABM’s prestigious Peter Wayne Golden BaM Award®, with the winner announced in December 2024.
About IABM:
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IABM is the authoritative voice of the broadcast and media technology supply industry worldwide. Its wide range of services to members encompasses market research and intelligence, training, expert representation at standards bodies and broadcasting unions, executive networking opportunities, and preferential purchasing. A presence at every major broadcast tradeshow, IABM also provides a valuable channel for communication among broadcast manufacturers, government, and regulatory bodies. Additional IABM activities include awards programs for innovation and scholarships designed to stimulate the development of the broadcast and electronic media industries on an international basis. For more information, please visit www.theiabm.org.
