Volicon Rolls Out Content Matching Module for Observer

Volicon is rolling out a new module for its award-winning Observer digital video monitoring and recording system that enables operators to flag and access specific audio cues when they appear in a broadcast. The new Content Matching Module (CMM) has countless uses for public information, government, and public relations professionals, such as the ability to track political campaigns, monitor coverage of advertisements and infomercials, or confirm airing of public service announcements.

“Broadcasters, ad agencies, government organizations, and media monitoring professionals have a growing need for cost-effective tools to automate their ability to access specific aired audio content,” says Julius Perl, vice president of marketing at Volicon. “Since the Observer logs aired content 24/7, the CMM provides a comprehensive and reliable solution for matching audio content from TV or radio broadcasts to support many tasks such as verification of ad placement, regulatory compliance, copyright enforcement, and competitive intelligence-gathering.”

The CMM works in concert with the Observer, which automatically and continuously captures aired video content from multiple channels such as local news programs. Based on a pre-recorded segment uploaded as a .wav, .wmv, .asf, or .mp3 file, the CMM creates an audio fingerprint database that is continuously checked against the incoming stream for a match. When the audio appears in a broadcast, the system provides an immediate alert and notification to the operator along with immediate access to the video in which the segment occurred. At the same time, the matched content is added to a log that can be referenced at any time together with clips that can be exported for sharing within the organization and beyond, to provide all the evidence necessary to respond to regulatory, copyright, and ad placement inquiries.

The CMM is designed to address a wide range of applications for matching of aired audio content. For advertising verification, the CMM enables advertising and public relations agencies to automatically monitor the broadcasting of content they provide to local and national TV and radio stations, enabling them to provide independent verification to their clients that content aired at the right date and time. Since the Observer can capture multiple incoming streams including competitors’ channels, broadcasters can use the CMM to gather intelligence about when competing stations are running advertising and other programming — to feed into planning for future service offerings that can outpace the competition. For copyright enforcement and compliance, the CMM can provide evidence that a station has complied with its agreements with performance rights organizations by demonstrating that protected content aired the specified number of times. Government organizations can also use the CMM as an enforcement tool to ensure that public service announcements and political advertisements are being aired in accordance with regulations.