Broadcast Beat Magazine 2017 NAB Show NY/SMPTE Special Edition | Page 28
infrastructure — everything from postproduction
services, subtitle creation, and channel branding,
to storage and archiving — to make the content
playout-ready.
Virtualized Playout
In a traditional playout setup, it’s simply too
complicated to retain control of playout — be
it current feeds or expansion into a new region.
Yet, TV networks have been locked to a physi-
cal infrastructure that is assumed to be inher-
ently more “broadcast-grade.” However, virtual-
ized playout has undergone an evolution, and
such systems can now support premium live
content and sophisticated features like advanced
dynamic graphics, automated scheduling, and
social media integration, among others. In fact,
a virtualized playout platform can not only offer
new-age 4K UHD-readiness, but also help with
tactical regional playlist integration. For example,
virtualized playout today can enable TV networks
to merge primary and regional playlists, allowing
them to selectively replace content without hav-
ing to create a completely new feed or relinquish
control of their main playout. This way, broadcast-
ers can access their workflows from any remote
location through a web interface and monitor
the service 24/7. As a result, a virtualized playout
offers unparalleled control over operations with-
out sacrificing transparency when compared to
traditional managed services.
affordably.
Monetization
With geographical, and cross-platform expansion,
monetizing content is becoming trickier. New-age
content platforms have a newer set of monetiza-
tion challenges that cannot be resolved using tra-
ditional archaic infrastructure. For example, OTT
content aggregators or virtual MVPDs today have
a substantial volume of subscribers. However,
they find it difficult to create additional revenue
streams by remonetizing existing ad spots. This is
primarily due to insufficient information pertain-
ing to ad spots and corresponding ad markers
in input feeds, making OTT aggregators totally
dependent on the broadcasters for such informa-
tion. A cloud-managed service can easily inte-
grate with next-gen ad-mining systems to detect
ads in the source feed, thereby enabling the OTT
aggregators to monetize untapped ad inventory.
For a linear broadcast setup, a TV network could
partner with regional ad networks and selectively
allow them to insert local ads, improving the
advertising relevance for the audience. A cloud-
managed service is better positioned to deliver
this level of technological sophistication while
keeping the costs low, and offer broadcasters
greater flexibility and control over their ad inven-
tory.
Conclusion
Worldwide Content Delivery
A cloud-based managed broadcast solution also
gives TV networks unprecedented flexibility to
deliver content via satellite, fiber, cloud, IPTV,
and OTT models. By leveraging a delivery net-
work built on partnerships with best-in-class
teleports, fiber POPs,
and CDNs, such plat-
forms cover the entire
globe and can deliver
content to any region,
by any combination of
delivery models. With
all content and work-
flows residing on the
cloud, it is much easi-
er for broadcasters to
spin up channels in any
new region quickly and
28 • Broadcast Beat Magazine • www.broadcastbeat.com
Traditional managed service providers’ archaic
systems and lack of innovation are adding need-
less expense and limiting the possibilities for
TV networks. On the other hand, future-ready
cloud technologies add advanced automation to
accelerate broadcast workflows, provide com-
plete transparency,
and make it absolute-
ly simple to launch
and operate channels.
By leaving traditional
services behind and
embracing the cloud,
TV networks can open
a new world of oppor-
tunity for expansion
and operational effi-
ciency.