NAB show 2017 has finally kicked off and we couldn’t be more excited! As the largest electronics media show in the world, this is the place to shine. This year, Ericsson’s booth (SU720) will do just that. Ericsson is leveraging our unique understanding and application of data and intelligence, software based and cloud ready solutions and cutting edge innovation to lead the television transformation.

Not only will we showcase our unique ready to deploy end-to-end portfolio and a suite of new innovations, but we’ll be unveiling some new and exciting solutions that will enable content owners, broadcasters and TV service providers to differentiate and compete.

 

Ericsson media enrichment portfolio expands

Stricter captioning requirements, the increase of online video, and a better understanding of the potential benefits of captioning, like searchable video, accessibility and video SEO has led many media content providers and distributors to seek out higher quality and more comprehensive captioning services. Ericsson understands these needs and is answering them with the launch of the company’s latest innovations in best-in-class captioning services: Snap Captions, Subito Vault and Subito Conversion and Delivery Engine.

Subito Snap Captions’ lightning speed takes offline captioning services to a new level. The Snap Premium service process can deliver a one hour show in as little as two hours, while the Snap standard services is a same-day service that leverages the same production methods and technology used to revolutionise live captioning. Subito Vault is a single, globally accessible, integrated caption production toolkit, which enables cloud based captioning workflow management, secure management of caption and proxy media files, and a complete caption file archive. And the Subito Conversion and Delivery Engine takes broadcast caption files and automatically concatenates, offsets and converts them for optimum cross-platform output and delivery.

 

5000 channels and nothing on TV? Try again..

By now we all know that the sheer volume of video is exploding. According to Contently’s[i] in 2017 69% of all internet traffic will be video. By 2020, it will be 82%. Regardless of the quality or volume of that content, it’s useless if it’s not found and consumed.  In other words, the increased value of media is only realized when content if easier to find.

The average person in the US spends 23 minutes per day flipping through live TV channels and searching the TV guide for something to watch[ii]. Over the course the lifetime, that’s over a year wasted. Ericsson’s solution to this is it’s new Content Discovery Ecosystem launching at NAB this year. With recommendations, universal search, deep linking, rights management, analytics, and much more, this ecosystem connects the dots end-to-end to provide our clients with a universe of best in class data services all conveniently located in one database and delivered via one single API, furtherenabling broadcasters, content owners and service providers to improve consumer loyalty and satisfaction, and drive targeted monetization opportunities.

 

The blur between TV, VOD and OTT brings monetization opportunities

A large portion of this video explosion is in the over-the-top (OTT) market which is predicted to grow to $64.8 billion by 2021[iii], up from $29.4 billion in 2015. While most revenues come from subscriber services (SVOD), it is believed that by 2020 advertising-supported content (AVOD) will dominate with $15.4 billion, far beyond the predicted SVOD revenues of $14.6 billion. With that in mind, content and service providers are keen to find the best way to monetize their advertising inventory. Combined with the intimate knowledge of their OTT subscribers and the addressability down to the user permitted by unicast delivery, content and video service providers are able to increase even further the value of their inventory.

Ericsson’s newly launched MediaFirst Stream Personalization is designed for personalization and monetization of multiscreen video services. With MediaFirst Stream Personalization, it is possible to monetize content with more than just Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) and content blackouts. It enables creation of individual virtual TV channels with practically no limit on how much an individual’s user experience can be customized.

 

Taking video processing and publishing to the cloud

Driven by more demanding and discriminating subscribers, the need to very quickly deploy new services, or launch a new broadcast or OTT channel has caused many operators to abandon traditional hardware based infrastructures and transition to the cloud. The appeal of a software based, cloud native infrastructure is also due to the desire to simplify complex and ever changing environments that are a by-product of the television transformation. The market demands flexible production and complex syndication as we embrace true TV Anywhere, anytime.And finally, IP centered infrastructures ease some of the cost and efficiency issues that also come hand in hand with todays media production and delivery.

Ericsson has created the foundation for all IP and cloud native delivery models with the launch of Ericsson MediaFirst Management Controller and Ericsson MediaFirst Encoding Live 8.1.  This fully virtualized processing solution makes its debut at NAB Show this year. Operating on any platform including pure software, common off the shelf (COTS) server hardware, private and public cloud, this flexibility breakthrough addresses complex configurations by taking control of all processing elements, using a service-based approach that secures operations and optimizes service quality.

So this year, we are bringing new solutions across the entire media value chain, with a focus on smart data, cloud readiness, and innovative approaches. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, @EricssonTV, where we’ll be keeping you up to date on all that we’re doing at this years NAB Show.

Stella Medlicott, Chief Marketing Office