Day: May 3, 2018

BCE and Freecaster partner to offer an integrated professional video services suite

Posted on by contentntek in Distribution & Delivery, News

Together they are jointly launching integrated services to empower sports organisations in managing their broadcast assets, monetising their online video assets and reaching out to a growing online audience.

The integrated video services allow sports and entertainment rights holders to develop, launch and operate an OTT service within weeks.The combined expertise of BCE and Freecaster covers the entire value chain: from the video production to adaptive streaming to multiple devices throughout the world with a special focus on optimised delivery in China.

MXGP_3_ARG_2017_MXGP
MXGP 3 ARG 2017 – http://www.mxgp.com

Engaging with fans around the world and monetising content via subscriptions or transactions models can be done smoothly, leaving the complexity of the deployment to BCE and Freecaster.

Whether for leagues and championships desiring to cover an entire season or for individual events aiming at maximising their reach, BCE and Freecaster can propose a unique solution tailored to each and every requirement. From the production of high quality content to reaching a global audience via a multi-lingual and/or multi-feed dedicated video players as well as through social media, the joint broadcast and online expertise of BCE and Freecaster opens new perspectives in reaching and servicing a global audience.

Visit BCE and Freecaster at TheSpot 2018 in Lausanne, on May 15 and 16, discover their numerous references and learn about their processes and expertise.

More info

GatesAir Announces Grand Prize Winner of “What’s Your Story?” Contest

Posted on by contentntek in Awards

Jason Ornellas, market chief engineer, Sacramento at Bonneville International, was selected as the winner from hundreds of TV and Radio customer entries worldwide.

Ornellas_JoeFoltThe entries covered new and old installations, interesting case studies, and compelling aesthetic modifications that empowered stations, improved performance or added new efficiencies to simplify operations.

Selected from a list of nine finalists, the story showcased a case study on the marriage of a new solid-state transmitter with a tube model in the same RF system, with the goal of reducing heat, freeing space and streamlining maintenance. To achieve this, Ornellas and his team installed a Flexiva FAX40 air-cooled solid-state transmitter as its main transmitter, putting a GatesAir HPX tube transmitter into backup service and retiring a much older tube transmitter from another supplier.

“That was an aging transmitter that had served us well, but the plate voltage cabinet and three transmitter cabinets were beginning to cause some operational challenges,” said Ornellas. “The GatesAir HPX is less than ten years old, much more compact and we haven’t even had to change the tube yet. In came the FAX40, which solved the heat and space issues, and just makes working inside the building that much easier. The efficiency is also raised significantly thanks to the modular transmitter design. Everything is hot-swappable, which makes it really easy to maintain. And if one of the ten kilowatt blocks go offline, the FAX40 keeps on running without any noticeable difference to the audience.”

For his winning submission, Ornellas will receive a trip to GatesAir’s manufacturing center in Quincy, Illinois with all travel and lodging expenses paid, along with a complete tour, training sessions and a 95th Anniversary custom-engraved plaque to commemorate his visit.

“While we fully expected to receive interesting submissions, we were pleasantly surprised at the broad diversity of projects and installations that dated decades in many cases,” said Joseph Mack, vice president of sales, Americas for GatesAir. “The stories of longevity, as well as outstanding performance in challenging situations, were often inspirational and always compelling. We’re thankful for the enthusiastic response from our TV and radio customers around the world, and congratulate our finalists and Grand Prize Winner.”

More info

Exterity selects Ekioh’s TV Browser for its range of IP video products

Posted on by contentntek in Distribution & Delivery, News

Products are already being deployed in corporate offices, hospitals, hotels, casinos and airports through the world using the two companies’ technologies.

Ekioh’s TV Browser is specifically designed for use on embedded silicon, providing extensive support for the latest W3C and WHATWG open standards, within an extremely small footprint and tight processor constraints. Exterity combines this technology with its own specialist components to deliver high quality, reliable and fault-tolerant display systems.

“We needed a compact, feature-rich HTML browser solution to support the diverse content needs of our customer base,” said Dave Allan, Head of Product Management at Exterity. “Ekioh’s TV Browser product gave us the performance and features we needed to meet the high expectations of our global customers.”

Ekioh_Logo

“I’m delighted that Ekioh is working with Exterity”, said Stephen Reeder, Commercial Director at Ekioh. “Our two companies share the common values of product leadership backed up by support excellence.”

Exterity’s use of TV technologies, like Ekioh’s TV Browser, within its digital signage solutions, enables the delivery of highly power efficient solutions that lower operating costs and reduce environmental impact.

More info

Connecting audience insights

Posted on by contentntek in Distribution & Delivery, News, Satellite & Transmissions

As viewership continues to increase on connected TV devices, having independent measurement of ads is more important than ever.

SpotX will help advertisers understand their total campaign audience, leveraging SpotX’s ad exposure data and Nielsen’s panel data. This unique offering allows SpotX to share campaign audience measurement data with their clients, including insights on reach, frequency, and GRPs of CTV campaigns by Nielsen Demo, alongside those of traditional TV if part of the same campaign.

 

“Trusted third-party measurement in CTV has historically been the number-one barrier to entry for advertisers, and media buyers need measurement to make smarter CTV investment decisions,” says Mike Shehan, Co-founder and CEO at SpotX. “We’re thrilled to work with the industry leader to address this need for buyers while simultaneously creating more opportunities for publishers to monetise connected TV inventory, stimulating wider adoption for CTV overall.”

Austin, Texas-based Proof Advertising is the first SpotX advertiser to pilot this solution for Travel Texas, an organisation dedicated to marketing Texas as a tourist destination in out-of-state domestic and international markets.

“We intuitively know that combining connected TV with traditional TV allows us to reach incremental audiences,” says Ly Tran, Associate Partner and Chief Media Officer at Proof Advertising. “For our client, Travel Texas, we jumped at the chance to start using Nielsen’s unique CTV and linear TV reporting with SpotX because it’s a needed solution that will make us smarter and enable us to better understand how our ad total spend reaches an unduplicated audience reach on TV and beyond.”

More info

NBCUniversal and Google partner to produce VR experiences

Posted on by contentntek in Broadcast & Playout, Distribution & Delivery, News, Production & Post Production

These VR projects include original content from “Saturday Night Live,” Bravo Media’s “Vanderpump Rules” and SYFY WIRE, with more NBCUniversal networks, channels and shows to follow in the coming months, including projects from E!, NBC, NBC News, NBC Sports, SYFY, Telemundo and USA Network.

They’ll be made available on YouTube, and can be viewed on the web or using any mobile phone. For the most immersive experience, you can watch in VR using Google Cardboard or Daydream View.

NBCUniversal and Google will collaborate on at least 10 multi-episode VR productions that will allow fans to get closer to the shows they love—placing them inside the scene and allowing them to look all around—by leveraging NBCUniversal’s content and Google’s technology. The experiences are being produced using Jump, Google’s platform for VR video capture that combines high-quality VR cameras and automated stitching. Future select VR experiences will also be available in VR180, a new VR format providing 4K, three-dimensional video.

“We are constantly looking for opportunities to bring consumers new ways to experience content from across the NBCUniversal portfolio,” said Ron Lamprecht, Executive Vice President, NBCUniversal Digital Enterprises. “This partnership combines the creative expertise of NBCUniversal with Google’s VR capabilities to create these engaging experiences. We look forward to working with Google and YouTube on more collaborations like this in the future.”

“NBCUniversal’s networks and shows have a proven track record of high-quality storytelling that audiences can’t get enough of. Bringing them to VR lets fans connect with that content in a whole new way,” said Amit Singh, VP of Business & Operations for VR & AR at Google. “NBCU’s teams were able to easily capture engaging VR content using the latest VR Jump cameras. And with YouTube, audiences can experience it on any device, bringing them closer to their favorite series.”

As part of this partnership, Bravo and Google today launched two 360 VR experiences featuring Lisa Vanderpump and the cast of “Vanderpump Rules,” with more to launch in the coming weeks.

TOUR VANDERPUMP DOGS WITH LISA VANDERPUMP

Take a 360 tour of Lisa Vanderpump’s recently opened Hollywood dog rescue center, Vanderpump Dogs. Fans will get a VIP tour from Lisa herself who will show you every detail, from her trademark pink walls to the doggie biscuit bar. Guest appearances also from Tom Schwartz, Katie Maloney, and their dogs Gordo and Butter.

 

JAMES, SCHEANA AND LALA GET READY FOR A PARTY AT TOM TOM

Go 360 with an exclusive bonus clip from the season finale of “Vanderpump Rules.” Pour a glass of champagne and join Scheana, Lala, and James as they get glammed up for the Tom Tom party. Plus, take a tour of the “Vanderpump Rules” interview set where the cast sets the story straight.

SyFy Wire created 360 and 180 videos for Emerald City Comic Con, including interactive games such as Sidekick Search

More videos and inforamtion here