IBC 2016: Cisco helps global customers be bullish on 4K

At IBC 2016, a full scope of industry players spanning the pay TV, OTT, and media landscape are gathered to share and explore the latest innovations driving strategies for creation, management and delivery of entertainment content. A common interest among most conference goers is the evolving consumer experience, and how to meet demands for what consumers what to watch on connected devices. Consumers want to watch their favorite sporting events, movies and shows with a reliable, fast connection, and with the best picture quality possible, i.e. in 4K if they can get it.

According to the SNL Kagan’s 2016 global 4K/UHD industry report, most service providers and content producers say the majority of consumers are willing to pay more to watch live sports and early release movies in 4K to get the full-on, immersive experience. Much like people were willing to pay more for high definition (HD) services years ago, SNL Kagan’s report concludes that 4K is the next evolution that will eventually replace what is known today to be high def.

4K: The Clear Picture
4K / ultra-high-definition (UHD) content is making a true impact with viewers worldwide, who are streaming it on connected mobile devices and TVs. People seem happy to ‘stay and pay’ their service provider who can offer them more of what they love.

The Cisco VNI Forecast 2015 – 2020 predicts that by 2020, more than 40 percent of connected flat-panel TV Sets will be 4K. The study also expects that 4K IP VoD will account for 21 percent of global VoD traffic in 2020.

Cisco provides a breadth of technology solutions to help enable scalable 4K video processing and improved screen resolution including middleware, 4K encoders, headend technology, and 4K video content security solutions including streaming piracy prevention (SPP), and piracy analytics.

“Today we are showcasing significant progress made by our leading global service provider customers to offer consumers the 4K immersive entertainment experience,” says Conrad Clemson, senior vice president, general manager, Service Provider Video Software, Cisco. “4K is on everyone’s agenda, and we are helping make it a reality.”

Highlights include:

• beIN, who offers advanced sports and entertainment video experiences to their viewers across 20+ countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), launched the first satellite receiver to record in 4K to its subscribers, along with a dedicated 4K channel (beIN 4K.)
• MTG owned Viasat, who launched its dedicated 4K channel in Sweden to broadcast Olympics coverage in 4K.

“We are working closely with Cisco to extend our DTH platform with new services that offer our subscribers a secure, immersive entertainment experience,” says Israel Esteban, executive director of technology, beIN MEDIA GROUP. “With IP-based VOD, streaming applications and 4K, we offer an added-value proposition for our sports entertainment fans to stay tuned for all the events they want to watch.”

“TV has been forever changed by 4K,” says Bartek Gudowski, chief technology officer, MTG Broadcasting. “Broadcasting Olympics coverage in 4K was a monumental event that changed how our viewers connect with sports. Working closely with Cisco to develop the middleware for our UHD STB, we value their expertise and look forward to featuring more live sports events and other sought after programming on the Viasat Ultra HD channel to our dedicated audience in Nordics.”

Cisco is architecting the network of the future through virtualization, automation, simplification and programmability. Cisco’s leading position globally in cloud, networking, video, mobility and security enables service providers, media and web companies worldwide to reduce costs, speed time-to-market, secure their networks and achieve profitable growth.