I think most people would agree that we have seen more change in the broadcast industry over the past couple of years than we have for a long time. The accelerated shift to the cloud, transition to more ad-funded services than ever before, coupled with an evolution in consumption trends, are all having an impact throughout the entire industry, changing the way content is produced, managed, and distributed.
This is also causing significant challenges and complexities specifically for playout for a number of reasons.
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Media has come a long way from its traditional production journey. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the previously linear path of content production, transforming the process by creating new efficiencies and allowing content to have a second life beyond its initial creation and broadcast.
With AI’s robust capabilities in tagging, managing, and preparing content, production teams can now maximize content usage while optimizing resources, creating a more reliable flow of content even in times of high demand or disruption. In this article, I’ll delve into the evolving media ecosystem, highlighting the role of AI in content management, monetization, and the industry’s future.
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Streaming might be our favorite pastime, but beneath the surface, it’s a colossal energy-guzzling process that’s taking a toll on our planet.
Today, the average consumer worldwide spends about 19 hours a week streaming video – but this can be much, much higher for some. And with a population of more than 742,200,000, Europeans could have streamed more than 735 billion hours – or 83 million years – of content in 2022 alone!
To put this into perspective, every hour of video streamed emits roughly 55g of CO2e. This would mean that Europeans streaming habits account to roughly 40.4 million metric tons of CO2e in just one year – the equivalent of driving 210 billion km, given the average gas-powered car emits 192g of CO2e per km.
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In the fast-paced landscape of the broadcast and media industries, staying ahead of the technology curve requires adaptability and agility. To overcome the limitations of hardware-specific devices and embrace the future, broadcasters, content providers and distribution and delivery service providers are turning to cloud-based solutions. By transitioning to the cloud, they can unlock new levels of flexibility, efficiency, and scalability. In this article, we will explore the advantages of cloud and cloud-based solutions, overcoming migration challenges, the importance of becoming more agile, cost efficiency and scalability, security and regulatory considerations, and the rapid adoption of IP workflows in the industry.
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The roar of American football is echoing across the European landscape, igniting the passions of fans far beyond stadium stands. With the kick-off of the new season in early summer this year, the European League of Football (ELF) embarked on a groundbreaking journey to expand its reach, both digitally and economically. In a strategic alliance, the ELF has partnered with Qvest, a leading technology provider, to leverage their innovative FAST Channel playout solution makalu. This partnership is redefining how the sport engages fans, propelling the league to new heights of success.
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The landscape of sports streaming is evolving rapidly. Recent studies show that a staggering 71% of US sports enthusiasts now opt for live viewing, underscoring a significant opportunity for the media industry and rights holders alike. As viewers expand their preferences across platforms like OTT, digital channels, and FAST, the media industry must move forward to cloud-driven production and distribution processes to serve the burgeoning demand for real-time sports content.
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Adopting real-time streaming experiences such as live events, interactive video, cloud gaming, video communications, and virtual worlds is soaring. Meeting this demand with CPU-based codecs can often be expensive and inefficient, unnecessarily boosting CAPEX, OPEX, and carbon emissions generated by CPU-based encoding. In a breakthrough for the video processing sector, Tony speaks to us about how organizations can tap into GPU-based solutions that substantially trim down operating costs, capital expenditure, and energy usage.
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Many years ago, digitization offered a panacea; a mechanism to rid the world of analogue and proprietary digital video tape formats and make content more easily accessible and exploitable. Using supposedly non-proprietary encoding schemes, the content became independent of the physical media, so future migrations would be easy. Robotic data libraries and control software automated many processes, removing the need for many staff. Carefully annotated and indexed content using new DAM systems would make assets inherently exploitable, watermarking would offer protection, and early speech-to-text processing would make for the richest set of metadata.
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The unbelievable pace with which our industry is changing requires media companies to think ahead and develop robust strategies that help them stay ahead of the curve. As audiences consume content in new and ever-changing ways, there are now many tough challenges and exciting opportunities that all media companies need to be ready for. We are seeing more and more organizations evolving their workforce and workflows to survive and thrive.
Future-proofing a video distribution strategy does not have to be complicated. Here are four simple steps to consider in today’s constantly shifting business environment.
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While the shift from ground to cloud playout is well under way, there are several roadblocks on the path to a fully cloud-based infrastructure that will leave the broadcast industry in a transitional phase for years to come. Here, we delve into those obstacles and propose a hybrid approach for this interim period that allows broadcasters to continue utilizing their existing on-premises equipment, while reaping the benefits of cloud technology.
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