APB PANELLISTS
6 NEWS & VIEWS
April 2017
Small fish in a big pond
by fintan mc kiernan
The broadcast technology business has often been described as a global boutique business . This refers to the fact that there are broadcasters in every country in the world , but because of the specialist nature of the technology required to create content and broadcast channels , the majority of equipment used by broadcasters came from a small group of relatively small equipment suppliers who were focused on the niche global broadcast market .
Historically , there has been a good match between broadcast engineering departments and broadcast equipment manufacturers . Both were essentially small specialist teams with a common goal , and we can add broadcast systems integrators in there too .
From an Asian perspective , a disproportionate amount of the successful broadcast manufacturers hailed from the US , Canada , the UK and Europe , which in some way was a reflection of how important the “ BBC Effect ” or the “ CBC Effect ” was at spinning off broadcast technology startups .
In this way , many of the key broadcast equipment manufacturers were founded by broadcast engineers , who had served their time at a broadcaster and spun out a business solving some problem or other that had no solution in the market at that time . Over time , these startups grew with the broadcast business as it flourished on the back of rapidly growing TV viewer numbers and advertising revenues .
Broadcasters and broadcast manufacturers grew in a symbiotic relationship that tracked the great technology shifts over the past 20 years : tape moved to file , assets got managed , SD moved to HD , picture got better , graphics got better , TV looked better , more adverts were sold on more channels — everybody was a winner .
All this time , the relationship between manufacturer and broadcaster remained close every step of the way .
The annual global calendar of broadcast shows , from NAB Show to IBC and BroadcastAsia , defined the progress of broadcast technology , where manufacturers and broadcasters met to discuss what was working , what was not working and what the new technology developments were going to be .
Product roadmaps and timelines that directly impacted broadcasters were discussed . Often heard in our industry was the phrase , “ we will launch the new version at the NAB Show and start rolling out by IBC ”. In short , these shows were the anchor points of our industry ’ s technology evolution .
The relationship between broadcaster and broadcast equipment manufacturer was so tight and so well established that , in many cases , senior broadcast engineering staff knew the senior product developers and even founders at their suppliers in a relationship that went back years , perhaps ,
❝ As we increasingly move our infrastructure to IP and cloud as an industry , we should be careful who we choose along the way for our COTS equipment .❞
even decades .
Key staff from manufacturers would regularly visit their key accounts — the big broadcasters around the world — and their very jet-set team of global broadcast account managers notched up more air miles than the flight crew as they circled the world making television better , more efficient and cheaper .
Broadcasters attended key broadcast shows and events , and the manufacturers went to the broadcasters in-between . That symbiotic relationship in a boutique industry also gave great leverage to the larger broadcasters to squeeze better pricing from manufacturers . After all , it is a small market , and there are not many big broadcasters on a global scale .
Thus , the big broadcasters were the big fish in the small pond of broadcast technology . In many cases , a big broadcaster or multi-channel operator could determine manufacturers ’ product roadmap and the next functionality that would be versioned into an existing product , so that a deal could be struck and an expansion planned .
This relationship began to change shape about a decade ago when the early innovators started to provide software-based solutions such as channelin-a-box playout solutions . A big driver of this was broadcasters who wanted to launch multiple HD channels .
Channel-in-a-box began in a typically slow , early adoption phase but steadily grew in popularity , reliability and functionality . Looking at where we are today , as we start to move to IP and cloud-based services for broadcast , we can trace the origins back to this point .
That move from bespoke specialist broadcast equipment to software-based solutions running commercial off-theshelf ( COTS ) hardware was the Trojan horse that brought standard IT servers into the heart of the broadcast facility — the central apparatus room ( CAR ).
A walk through any broadcast CAR room today will likely be a walk past rows of Dell , HP , Cisco and re-badged Supermicro COTS devices . By definition , COTS equipment is not broadcast-specific . It is generic ; the same server doing a broadcast function for TV has a thousand and one other uses around the world in other industries and governments .
Should this increasing proliferation of generic IT equipment in the CAR rooms of broadcasters be a concern for broadcasters ?
Historically , when there were technical issues with broadcast equipment , there were support agreements with the manufacturer of the device . But in our new world of software-based solutions from broadcast manufacturers , they will just provide the “ app ” in the same way as you have installed lots of apps on your smartphone .
Broadcast complexity has not gone away . It may be moving to software , but it is still complicated . We still need our video , audio and graphics to work seamlessly together . If anything , it is getting more complicated as we add non-linear , multi-platform and on-demand delivery to our existing linear channels with a host of new subscription and sponsorship models .
So what happens when things break down ? What causes the problem — is it
Christopher Slaughter
CEO CASBAA
APB PANELLISTS
Graham Stephens CTO Media City Development , Malaysia the app , the hardware or the network ? Firstly , we need lots of new monitoring solutions to try to spot problems in an IP world . Then , we need lots of new test and measurement equipment to try and diagnose the problem . Finally , if it is the hardware , the network , for example , which one of Cisco ’ s 71,000 employees or HP ’ s 250,000 employees do you call ?
Broadcasters are accustomed to having a link to their technology providers . This link is important , and this link is getting broken . After all , broadcasters are as much technology companies as they are media companies , so being close to their technology suppliers who provide key infrastructure should be important .
It is heartening to see that some of the mega IT manufacturers are embracing our little industry . A glance at the exhibitor list for the forthcoming BroadcastAsia2017 in Singapore in May , at the time of writing , shows Dell EMC , HP , IBM and Oracle are exhibiting , but some key IT manufacturers for broadcasters are noticeably missing .
So , as we move our infrastructures towards IP and cloud to obtain flexibility and efficiencies , we should be careful who we choose along the way for our COTS equipment .
This is because this COTS equipment is becoming the core infrastructure of broadcasters . While there are many benefits to IP technologies , there are also many risks too . In live broadcast video , our packets need to arrive in the right order and on time , which is not necessarily how many IP networks are designed .
Moreover , while broadcast is moving to IP , we we need to have a closer relationship with big IT equipment manufacturers in a way we never did before .
Broadcasters have a long history of being close to their technology suppliers , many of whom will continue to provide the apps , but as operators of broadcast systems , our chain is only as strong as the weakest link , so our apps , servers , storage , switches and networks need to be considered in totality , and not in isolation .
More thought needs to be given to how we get support for each component , as well their interdependencies .
Fintan Mc Kiernan is CEO of Ideal Systems , South-east Asia .
Goh Kim Soon Senior Vice-President Broadcast Engineering Mediacorp
Shad Hashmi
Vice-President , Digital Development , Global Markets & Operations , BBC Worldwide Asia