NAB 2024 in Review: West Hall — SportsTech Buzz From AWS, Appear, Ateme, Imagine Communications, The Switch, TATA Communications, Telstra, TVU Networks, Verizon, and More

The SVG and SVGE editorial teams were out in full force at NAB 2024, covering the biggest sports-technology news and delivering daily SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024 roundups. Here is a look at the news from exhibitors in West Hall.

fFeatured in this roundup are Advanced Image Robotics, Ai-Media EEG, Amazon Web Services, Appear, Ateme, Brightcove, Diversified, Eutelsat, Farmerswife, Imagen, Imagine Communications, Magnifi, Mobilelinks, M2A Media, PSSI Global Services, Globecast, Grabyo, InSync Technology, Intel, MediaKind, Net Insight, Nextologies, Open Broadcast Systems, Sencore, SES, Skyline Communications, SuiteLife Systems, Synamedia, TATA Communications, Telstra, The Switch, TVU Networks, Veritone, Verizon Business, and VidOvation.

Telstra’s (Booth W2213) team of media experts are on hand to help broadcasters and media and entertainment companies take their content global through the company’s media network and end-to-end managed services. The offerings: Network Connectivity, including a global media network for video contribution and distribution; an internet Delivery Network for high-quality video and live broadcast streams across the public internet; a Special Event Network for designing, planning, and executing world-class major events; and 5G Innovation using 5G slicing to deliver content. Attendees can learn more about Telstra’s managed services: Media Production Platform for playout, Remote Production, Localisation and Media Conversion; Virtual Advertising for broadcasters and rightsholders to offer localized ad targeting; Media Content Operations for media digitization, media-asset management, and storage; and OTT Streaming Services for live ingest, transcoding, encryption, packaging, CDN, and more.

Andy Rayner, chief technology officer, Appear (Booth W2130), a media-processing and content-delivery specialist, was a speaker during NAB 2024 events. He delivered the keynote “Navigating Security in the Live Distributed Production Landscape” as part of the NAB Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference and participated in the panel “Fostering Collaborative Supply Chains” as part of the Media Tech Sustainability Series. He took part in both the IABM State of the Industry Conference and the panel “Navigating Time. When Is Real Time No Longer Real Time — and Does It Matter?” at the NAB Broadcast Engineering and IT Conference. He also shared his thoughts during the “Elevating Live Production: Harnessing Emerging Media Technologies” panel at the NAB Connect, Capitalize, and Create Zones. Prior to the show, Rayner said, “At NAB Show 2023, Appear launched professional-grade SRT; now, a year later, we will demonstrate how and why SRT is rapidly becoming the preferred protocol for contribution and primary distribution, with Appear the No. 1 high-capacity SRT solution provider. The capex and opex advantages of our hardware-accelerated SRT solution makes Appear the clear choice for scalable internet contribution and distribution, which is critical for our future success, as the industry evolves towards a software-based hybrid-cloud future.” In addition, contribution- and distribution-service provider Mobilelinks has partnered with Appear to upgrade its DSNG trucks for the UEFA Champions League. The upgrade includes HEVC encoding, BISS-CA encryption, and DVB-S2X modulation to meet UEFA’s standards. Mobilelinks, a major Northern European media provider for live events, covers premium sports like UEFA Champions League and Ice Hockey. Its Appear-powered trucks will debut during the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. Mobilelinks Europe CEO Andreas Langell notes Appear’s reliability and capability to meet customer demands.

Imagine Communications’ (Booth W2467) presence at the Las Vegas Convention Center is being headlined by numerous themes, but two are standing out about the rest: unifying the hybrid production environment and driving profitability for their clients with various initiatives. The company’s experience with cloud-based workflows is extensive, but during NAB Show 2024, new products have bolstered their work to a new level. With the help of Aviator Automation, this solution is allowing their clients to organize their onsite and remote workflows into a single channel. To further emphasize this need for organization, visitors at their booth are witnessing a live demonstration of the company’s real-time order management system that is assisting broadcasters based in the United States. A handful of products and solutions are also allowing their clients to operate with more cost-efficiency and keep a closer eye on how their work is impacting the planet. On the streaming front, Imagine’s SureFire video ad server is an ad decisioning solution that helps make connected TV (CTV) and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) more profitable. In an effort to reduce carbon footprint, this showcasing of Aviator Automation as well as a host of other workflows is putting thoughtful consideration for sustainability into action.

A demo by Synamedia and NativeWaves delivered a live feed from the NHRA race in Las Vegas to the Synamedia booth.

Synamedia (Booth W2801) worked with NativeWaves to deliver a live feed from the weekend’s NHRA race in Las Vegas to the Synamedia booth. The demo, which ran on Sunday, showcased Synamedia encoding and streaming tools and the NativeWaves EXP multiview experience, including multiple camera angles and data integration. The demo boasted an end-to-end latency of just three seconds. The potential of the joint solution to monetise content and engage viewers with both client and server-side ad-insertion options is also being showcased. For example, triggers, such as a goal scored, can prompt an unobtrusive ad to buy the shirt of the goal scorer, taking viewers through to the club shop for purchase. Synamedia server-side ad insertion means that adverts from other vendors can also be introduced. Ad messaging can be hyper-customised, and viewers can interact either via their mobile devices or by scanning a QR code on a TV screen. The solution is already being used by streaming platforms and broadcasters, mainly covering football and racing, although the product is set to be optimised for new sports, including volleyball, in the near future.

PSSI Global Services (Booth W3910) is discussing the expanded capabilities of its PSSI International Teleport, including upgraded HVAC and power, multiplatform streaming, IP multicast, and connectivity with all major domestic and international terrestrial networks (including new connectivity with NEP Connect and IntelsatOne). This year marks PSSI’s first NAB Show under new CEO Derek Blount, who has focused the company on expanding its engineering, event-management, and transmission services into new markets while accelerating growth and expanding service offerings to its loyal customer base.

For content-creation teams looking to enhance the speed and amount of content they can create, stopping by Magnifi (Booth W1159) is a must. A new graphics platform leverages the power of code-based design systems and generative AI to deliver fully automated, data-driven graphics workflows across all digital-media-asset classes. The company’s Design-Systems-as-a-Service (DSaaS) powered by client-brand guidelines and Magnifi’s proprietary botable.io protocol. In addition, the advanced video editor within Magnifi features a transitions library, stock-media access, detailed text editing, and auto subtitles in multiple languages. Also, Adobe extensions streamline project building in Premiere Pro, granting users immediate access to Magnifi-indexed libraries of assets, such as key-moment clips and rule-based compilations, directly within the editing interface.

Ai-Media EEG (Booth W1813) is showcasing the new LEXI DR (Disaster Recovery) product, a solution that the company says ensures uninterrupted captioning delivery even in cloud and connectivity disruptions. With LEXI DR, broadcasters can be sure that captions will remain on-air with minimal interruption, thanks to seamless caption-workflow integration, on-premises redundant servers, and flexible setup options via virtual machines or hardware. AI-Media is also introducing LEXI Recorded, designed to streamline the captioning process for recorded content. The solution features bulk processing, accuracy above 98%, flexible file-output types, and multilingual options; it can be integrated into caption-workflow files, allowing them to be captioned without leaving the media-management system. Also at the booth are previews of advances in generative AI and its application in crafting topic models, also referred to as custom dictionaries. The models enhance accuracy by offering contextually relevant word suggestions and pronunciations based on themes, topics, and subject matter. Additionally, the previews feature such innovations as automated audio description and speaking subtitles or dubbing.

The SES Sports Content Orchestration Enabler (Score) is one highlight on the SES booth (W3301). Aimed at content owners and rightsholders looking to effectively manage and distribute live sports and events to affiliates and takers, Score’s single-user interface provides an easy-to-use centralised platform that creates a simplified content-booking process for delivery via SES’s hybrid infrastructure of satellite, IP, and fibre. Score, along with the Astra 1 Sports platform, is being used by the NFL to deliver the league’s game content to more than 35 broadcast partners across Europe, Asia, and North and South America.

Synamedia (Booth W2801) has unveiled a range of new capabilities for its Quortex Play D2C streaming SaaS solution to securely deliver premium video content at scale while reducing processing and CDN costs. The new features give content owners greater control of the ad-free or ad-supported video-streaming services’ quality of experience with an extended self-service portal to manage image quality and lower latency via Synamedia’s virtual Digital Content Manager (vDCM). This is part of the company’s end-to-end portfolio, which has three key areas of focus, explains VP, Product Management, Elke Hungenaert: “We make sure customers get the best optimised solution for their needs, and we continue to evolve these. We also focus on monetisation, adding server-side ad insertion and more personalisation, and we look to solve the challenge of scalability.”

Attendees looking for new ways to create linear channels, monetise their media, and streamline their workflows in one platform should stop by the Brightcove booth (W1429) to see Cloud Playout 2.0. According to the company, it allows users to leverage their existing content catalogue and live streams to build a channel in minutes. This is just one of several new products and enhancements announced in recent months, with more in the pipeline. According to CMO Kathy Klingler, this level of innovation “is a philosophy: let’s be more agile, and let’s listen to our customers and respond to their needs.” Adds Director, Communications and Public Relations, Joseph J. Nuñez, “We’ve been around for 20 years and have always been a leader in this technology. People have been happy with our product, but, particularly in the past couple of years, there has been a rekindling of how do we innovate to help our customers adapt to how the environment is changing,” Among other recent launches on display is Publisher Insights, which builds on Brightcove’s Audience Insights to provide real-time analytics specifically for news organisations and other real-time–driven–content organisations.

“Cloud Your Way” is the theme of the Globecast booth (W1078), with the company keen to talk about its move to a new cloud technical facility in Westlake Village, Los Angeles. “Our business has evolved a lot, especially in North America, when the 5G transition removed so much of the satellite capacity. Our former facility was very heavily satellite-based, which we don’t really need any more. The new facility will be a whole lot more efficient from a space perspective and a whole lot more green,” says Tim Jackson, SVP, sales and marketing, Americas, Globecast. “It’ll also allow us to do more in live sports integration. We’ve been limited with our current facility because of space constraints. We’ve been so tied up doing satellite uplinks, downlinks, and full-time services that we haven’t had the physical capabilities for doing live-sports integration, ad insertion, SCTE markers for advertising, graphics, audio, and so on, but now we’ll be in a position to do that.”

Besides demonstrating the latest developments in its live-production platform, Grabyo (Booth W1149) is using NAB 2024 to highlight a number of new partnerships. Most notably, the company has worked with Magnifi to release automated live-stream logging for sports in its live-clipping and publishing service. “Our focus is making sure the tool is human-centred, that we are providing tools for editors,” explains CEO Gareth Capon. “It’s not just a series of clips in a library that you have to go and try to understand. It actually has some context of the game that can be combined with human elements. We’re making it seem much more like a production system than just an AI tool.” Because the aim was to be able to apply this approach to any sport at any level, Magnifi proved an ideal partner, he adds: “We needed to use an AI computer-vision system, not a sports data system. Yes, there are challenges in training an AI model, but, once it’s trained, it can be applied consistently to any level of sport.” Also on exhibit is a new integration with Veritone that creates a connected workflow to streamline live digital-content production and leverage AI-driven content-management and -monetisation tools.

Verizon Business (Booth W2042) has partnered with the NHL and Amazon Web Services (Booth SU4109, W1701) on a new 5G-enabled cloud broadcasting solution being demonstrated at NAB 2024. Running on AWS Wavelength Zones, a mobile edge compute service that delivers ultra-low-latency applications for 5G devices, the solution accelerates the time from content capture on ice to broadcast from seconds to milliseconds. AWS, NHL, and Verizon kicked off the show with a Sunday-morning panel delving into the new partnership; AWS and NHL’s production of the league’s first-ever live-to-air cloud broadcast last month.

Advanced Image Robotics’ (Booth W3921EE) mission at the NAB Show is to prioritize streamlined and cost-efficient video capture with its cloud-native platform. Tapping the functionality and capabilities of machine learning, the company is keen on lessening the cost of its operational and support needs without compromising content quality. Its booth is headlining AIR One X, a solution that taps into the company’s remote pan-tilt-zoom, self-leveling head, and plug-and-play setup for a trio of Sony cameras: the FX3, Alpha One, and A9 III. In sports, leagues like the UFC, as well as high-profile events in Augusta, GA; Phoenix; London; and Paris are leveraging the company’s services.

As one of the industry’s top-tier systems integrators, Diversified (Booth W4148) is upping its portfolio in Las Vegas to increase its ability to help clients. To meet the needs of companies working within different workspaces, Diversified is debuting an orchestration solution that folds in advanced technologies across cloud, on-premises, and hybrid settings. It not only will connect the various locations but will also help their teams operate with more efficiency and flexibility. At the show, industry experts are helping visitors to the booth understand Diversified’s wide array of workflows assisting the sports-video–production community and its goal of creating a true end-to-end production environment.

From left: Chad Hassler, VP, sales, Sencore; Lenny King, COO, Showfer Media; Brandon Baker, account manager, Sencore

Sencore (Booth W2401) is highlighting its new partnership with Showfer to “redefine the landscape of content transport, monitoring, playout, and workflow scheduling with a full end-to-end solution.” At the heart of this collaboration is Showfer’s ProVision platform, a content-management solution featuring capabilities for content playout, workflow scheduling, and content distribution. Adaptable to both cloud and on-premises environments, Showfer ProVision ensures that content workflows can be created and maintained swiftly and efficiently. Paired with Sencore’s Centra Gateway video-transport and -monitoring platform, this solution is capable of transporting content over open internet connections and cloud-based systems. This pairing enables cost-effective contribution and distribution of content from the camera to the viewer.

SuiteLife Systems (Booth W2367) is onsite at the Las Vegas Convention Center to discuss its recent alliance with MNC Software to create Leeward Software. The merger is the result of both entities’ mission to enhance monitoring and control of complex networks and infrastructure. At the booth, the main headliner is the GPX Pro Series universal interface, a solution that provides cost-effective input flexibility to connect to a wide range of parallel world devices. Powered by Leeward Software’s proprietary Web Controls embedded software, the GPX Pro product line is fully compatible with Leeward Software’s Axess software and monitoring platform. In the “what’s new” department, a new graphical user interface for Axess is making its NAB Show debut. Improving usability, functionality, and visual appeal, the centralized software tool will help clients manage, monitor, control, and diagnose hardware and transmission infrastructure and facilities.

Promoting IP and cloud-based technologies for efficiency and reliability, TVU Networks (Booth W2101) is showcasing its suite of products on the show floor. The platforms — TVU Producer, Partyline, MediaHub, and TVU Search — will now infuse human-centric AI. The solution has been tapped and adopted by France Televisions for the 2024 Paris Olympics Torch Journey, which has helped demonstrate the platform’s cloud-based management of live content over 5G and Starlink. The solutions are helping the company’s clients further enhance its remote capabilities for live event production and other use cases.

Appear (Booth W2130) is demonstrating how its accelerated SRT solution enables one of Brazil’s Grupo RBS subsidiaries to reduce its playout facilities from 13 to just one (in addition to the ongoing opex reductions from replacing satellite and leased circuits with Internet connectivity). Appear is also launching its new JPEG XS module, which enables the delivery of eight Full HD channels per module equaling a possible 96 JPEG XS Full HD channels across a single 2RU chassis. The team is also demonstrating its X Platform, which enables 96 Full HD HEVC feeds to be contributed from a single 2RU chassis. The booth also features a 100-Gb IP Gateway switch module and showcases how X Platform seamlessly integrates with monitoring, management, and analytics solutions from Dataminer, Grafana, and Prometheus.

VidOvation (Booth W2230) is demonstrating the Celona private 5G solution, combining VidOvation’s bonded-cellular technology with Celona’s 5G LAN system using shared cellular spectrum. The demonstration shows how Celona technology integrates with Haivision’s Pro and Air mobile encoders to deliver more-reliable video transport and video transmission over private 5G. Attendees can see public 5G and private 5G work together using bonded cellular. VidOvation also now represents a new product line: Advanced Image Robotics’ robotic cinema cameras for live television and production. On display at NAB 2024, the cameras are intended to be easy to set up and have a direct cloud connection to streamline workflow.

Intel’s booth (Booth W239LMR) offers attendees an opportunity to see how the company can help the industry during a significant shift in production and delivery of live production of sports and media events. Instead of using traditional fixed appliances, Intel is helping host broadcasters use software applications running on Intel-based commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware. The company says this move signifies a crucial step toward a more sustainable production model. Intel and other industry leaders are working together to create a software-defined broadcasting platform applicable across the entire workflow. In addition to these developments, AI is a transformative force that enhances sports and entertainment events, improving broadcasting capabilities and, ultimately, the fan experience. Intel’s ecosystem can accelerate the future of AI and software-defined broadcasting through real-world deployments anytime, anywhere.

Ateme’s Sassan Pejhan shows off the TITAN encoder, which delivers stereoscopic 3D content on Apple Vision Pro.

Leveraging the Ateme (Booth W1721) Gen 7 compression engine to support spatial computing through the MV-HEVC standard, the company’s TITAN encoders can now deliver stereoscopic 3D content for spatial computing on the Apple Vision Pro platform. Ateme’s TITAN encoders enable content providers and rightsholders to deliver immersive true-to-life experiences featuring 3D stereoscopic video and immersive audio. According to VP, Technology, Sassan Pejhan, by embracing the MV-HEVC standard and leveraging Ateme’s expertise in multilayer HEVC formats for video compression, Ateme can offer seamless compatibility and high quality for 3D video on the Apple Vision Pro platform. Representatives of Ateme are speaking on the topic during multiple sessions at NAB 2024 alongside speakers from Apple, Disney, Dolby Laboratories. and Akamai.

Amazon Web Services (Booth W1701) has returned to its double-decker layout, with expanded booth space to accommodate a new “Builder Zone,” where attendees can connect with experts from AWS service teams to help build bespoke solutions for M&E challenges. The booth offers application-tailored demos: broadcast and live production, content production, monetization, direct-to-consumer, media supply chain and archive, and data science and analytics. Also, in the “generative-AI playground,” Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Q, and Partyrock (an Amazon Bedrock Playground) are featured to further educate attendees on AWS’s generative-AI capabilities, offerings, and differentiators.

Nextologies/10TX (Booth W2713) is shedding light on recent work in the sports industry: the opening of a Network Operations Center (NOC) at UFC APEX in Las Vegas. The project allows the UFC APEX facility and the 10TX team to offer broadcast solutions for other productions, maximize use of the Broadcast Operations Center (BOC) for event space located at top-tier venues on and off the Strip, and provide more signals and less latency for remote contributors. The company is also hosting numerous demos, including the HITC (Headend in the Cloud) live-video–delivery infrastructure, the Control Panel (CP) intelligent operation system, and the NexToMeet instant web/mobile-to-SDI video network.

The convergence of The Switch and TATA Communications (Booth W2601) continues to progress since the former was acquired last May, according to Kevin O’Meara, VP, marketing, The Switch. “There’s the aspiration of the deal, and there’s the reality of the deal, and they very rarely meet,” he says. “The aspiration of the deal is amazing. You’ve got a world-class services company in live production and distribution with the opportunity to roll that over TATA’s global infrastructure. But you’ve now got two completely different organisations that do completely different things to completely different people, and it’s taking a while to work through that. But we are starting to land our first big projects with both organisations,. Recent developments for the company include the launch of Victory, a new facility with studios, NOCs, playout and REMI services, in L.A. “That’s the blueprint for us to launch one in London and another one in India,” O Meara adds. “Those will give us three world-class, cutting-edge facilities to run our global video network and provide playout services, REMI production services, studios, and event spaces for our customers.”

Skyline Communications (Booth W2413) is using NAB 2024 as the launchpad for dataminer.MediaOps, its new product set that simplifies and automates operations across the media supply chain. According to Steven Soenens, VP, product marketing, dataminer.MediaOps “harmonizes” ICT and media, changing how media and entertainment (M&E) companies plan, execute, and manage their live- and file-media operations from glass to glass. Built on Skyline’s DataMiner platform, dataminer.MediaOps enables managing technical resources, personnel, and satellite-transponder slots; planning functions facilitating production and news events across various platforms; infrastructure provisioning; intelligent monitoring; and comprehensive reporting on resource utilization and billing.

Veritone (Booth W1642) is debuting Ask Veri, a new conversational intelligence solution that allows users of the company’s Digital Media Hub (DMH) MAM and monetization platform to quickly extract actionable insights and execute dynamic workflows from their media archive data through a generative-AI–enabled, chat-based tool. Ask Veri is an integrated solution on the aiWARE platform and soon will be available across the majority of Veritone’s commercial and public-sector applications. It leverages generative AI to swiftly respond to queries and can provide customers with in-depth analysis, insightful summaries, and key findings for their digital-media collection. With Ask Veri, customers can formulate their own questions — for example, “Source all available footage of Caitlin Clark during the NCAA tournament” — or use the interface’s intuitive, suggested queries to remove guesswork and provide a starting point for gathering the right content insights.

Developments in the areas of managed hardware networks and cloud networks are on show by Net Insight (Booth W2421). On the cloud front, the recently launched Nimbra Connect It platform is designed to be quickly integrated into existing workflows while offering easy entry into the cloud market. “It has been well received,” says Jonathan Smith, solution area expert, cloud, Net Insight. “We’re trying to make this a simple entry to market, and people are keen to get started.” On the hardware side, Nimbra 400 is also a talking point. Explains Product Manager David Edwards, “We’ve upscaled it to support UHD and UHD 4K and going onwards from that. That provides a bidirectional node because we know a lot of our customers want to get camera feeds out of a stadium but also want to get feeds back into the stadium to support the opening-presentation elements.”

EBAM (encoder-based ad manipulation), launched by M2A Media (Booth W2345), is designed to help broadcasters increase revenue by inserting ad content at the encoder side of a live-video workflow. It is a clean and secure solution that guarantees the placement and high quality of regionalised ads and content. Says Matthew Broome-Hughes, chief commercial officer, M2A, “Instead of doing ad insertion at the device, we’ve moved that flow to the encoder. We’re putting it on the encoder because it’ll keep that broadcast quality throughout the entire chain. It’s much less expensive than SSAI, and you’re guaranteed to play those ads because you know that you’ve got them earlier in the broadcast chain.”

The addition of Public Requests to Cirkus task-management solution is the big news on the Farmerswife booth (W2267). The update, developed in response to user requests, is designed to elevate project-management experiences for media professionals by simplifying the process of submitting project and booking requests, even for those without a Cirkus login. “It opens up more workflow efficiencies and takes off the limits. We’re excited about it,” says Managing Director Jodi Clifford. The company is also demonstrating Farmerswife 7.1. This latest version of the scheduling and project-management platform has been enhanced with advanced equipment tracking, scheduling improvements, and budgeting functionalities. One trend driving development of both products is globalisation. “As companies and teams are more spread out,” says Clifford, “things like time-zone support across different teams, so you can easily see what time it is for someone when you’re scheduling them, and support for multiple currencies in Farmerswife are important. It’s the same with Cirkus: people don’t work in the same place any more so they need better ways to collaborate.”

The OBE 5G Flyaway is in focus on the Open Broadcast Systems booth (W2442). Built in collaboration with Zixi, the 5G bonding solution lets sports broadcasters reach fibre and satellite picture quality over cellular networks and deliver them as standard constant-bitrate MPEG transport streams. Says CEO Kieran Kunhya, “There are existing 5G solutions mainly focusing on newsgathering, but we’re proposing a new solution, a 5G flyaway for sports transmissions. It’s designed for venues where you can be inside a venue and need to be able to get 5G signal from outside and also, on a technical level, be able to match compatibility with existing satellite and fibre systems.” Noting that the solution has already been used by the Professional Squash Association (PSA), he adds, “We did five days of 12 hours for the PSA last week, which was a nice demo. The venue didn’t have connectivity so they were super happy when it went to air.”

InSync Technology (Booth W3023) has added to its MCC range with the MCC-HD-2, which offers premium-sports-quality motion-compensated frame-rate conversion for two HD streams. As a compact 1RU solution, the MCC-HD-2 maintains the image clarity and detail established by the MCC-HD. It also offers significant power savings compared with similar devices, consuming just 70 W of power. Advanced features include support for the SMPTE ST 2110 standard, with a custom GUI designed with customer feedback and efficiency in mind. It’s already set to be used at major sports events this year. “The algorithm has improved to a degree where it’s much better than anything else for HD,” says CEO James Taylor. The company hopes to announce more availability of its FrameFormer software for different platforms in the coming months.

At the Eutelsat Americas booth: Jim Carroccia (left), North America media sales director, and J. Ignacio González, senior regional VP, media sales

Head over to Eutelsat’s booth (W2070) for a demo of multiscreen solutions via satellite streaming, which uses the new DVB-NIP (native-IP broadcasting) standard. Recognizing the unique challenge for service providers faced with local internet limitations when trying to deliver high-quality OTT content, DVB-NIP facilitates integration of OTT and broadcast technologies into an efficient and contemporary IP media-distribution solution. The new standard allows distribution of IP-native mABR content (the format used by OTT to target handheld devices and SmartTVs) through broadcast channels like satellite. Combining the flexibility of OTT and mobile devices with the reliability, reach, and quality ensured by broadcast channels, Eutelsat is showcasing clients who have deployed the solution to expand its audience.

Enhancements to the MK.IO platform are being demoed on the MediaKind booth (W2201). Says Portfolio Director, Sports, Chris Wilson, “We’ve introduced this notion of fleet management, the capability to control the contribution or distribution side of the business from the cloud. You can configure, control, and connect those devices at the edge to get content in and out of the cloud environment or connect different points. It’s a nice addition. For us, being able to find ways to make the cloud a bit sticky to get people used to using it while not tying themselves in to having to deploy everything in that environment is good because it’s where we as a company have a good amount of value.” In response to requests from sports customers, MediaKind is also exhibiting low-latency, high-value content with targeted advertising. “It has been a challenge: the advertising ecosystem is not the simplest, and it’s not designed for low latency. But we’ve come up with a way to make low-latency targeted advertising work, and that’s something we’re hoping we can push into production with some clients.” There’s also an AI demo, with MediaKind boasting a different take on the technology. “If you go around the show floor,” Wilson says, “everyone’s talking about the AI itself. What we’ve done inside our MK.IO platform is build an AI workflow so customers can chain AI models together. It lets them push the video so MK.IO [provides] tools for onboarding your video into an AI offering.” Customers can choose which AI tools they want, and those tools will return data and transformed content. One demo includes real-time commentary translation on a broadcast feed that maintains all the atmosphere around it. Says Wilson, “The pipeline there is about building additional value for the customer.”

Smart Clipping is the focus on the Imagen booth (W2543). Using AI-generated metadata, it automatically creates, finds, and distributes clips based on such search parameters as goals scored by player. Commercial Director Tom Blake points out that, although AI is undoubtedly a buzzword in the industry, there has been a lack of compelling use cases: “We’ve decided we’ll stay agnostic to the underlying AI platforms so our customers can use whatever’s best in class, and we can focus our energy on providing those compelling use cases.”