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News
FOX cuts new distribution deal with affiliates
Apr 17, 2006 12:15 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
FOX Television has signed a six-year deal allowing its 150 affiliates to share in the revenue from alternative distribution of its television programs.
It is the first major agreement announced to address the increasingly testy relationship between networks and affiliates over alternative new non-broadcast outlets-including the Internet and iPods — for the distribution of television content.
The agreement, whose details have not been confirmed by the parties, allows FOX to make 60 percent of its primetime schedule available online the morning after the shows air, the Wall Street Journal reported. The formula is complex, but stations essentially will get a 12.5 percent cut after costs when a show is distributed to alternative media platforms.
FOX, owned by News Corp., will initially be allowed alternative distribution of six hours of programming. That will climb to 100 percent of its primetime schedule by the third year of the contract. As part of the deal, the stations agreed to continue to help pay a portion of the $713 million FOX must pay the National Football League each year under its contract.
Avid acquires automation provider Sundance Digital
Apr 17, 2006 12:30 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Avid Technology has acquired automation and device control software provider Sundance Digital for approximately $12 million in cash.
The acquisition adds another piece to Avid's end-to-end systems provider puzzle and strengthens its goal of offering tools that enable broadcasters to produce, manage, control, and playback television programming. With Sundance systems in its portfolio, Avid can now, as a single vendor, offer more comprehensive automation control over its products that span the entire media production process.
Sundance automation systems already integrate smoothly with a range of Avid broadcast products, including MediaStream‚ Avid iNEWS, Deko, DekoCast‚ and Thunder and AirSpeed servers.
Based in Irving, TX, Sundance Digital has provided automation solutions to public and commercial broadcasters since 1994. The company's products, which offer software to manage broadcast master control operations, include Titan, FastBreak NXT Automation‚ and FastBreak NXT XPress‚ Intelli-Sat‚ Digital Delivery Management System (DDMS), NewsLink, and Sundance Seeker.
For more information, visit www.sundancedigital.com and www.avid.com.
Disney moves primetime shows to Web; considers revenue sharing
Apr 17, 2006 12:36 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
ABC Television, the Walt Disney-owned network, took another aggressive move toward alternative television distribution last week by offering its top shows free on the Internet. However, unlike FOX, Disney took the action with no affiliate revenue-sharing arrangement.
ABC will offer several of its most popular programs, including “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost,” for free on the Internet in a two-month trial.
The move will allow ABC to double dip in advertising-offering both TV commercials and online ads-for a single show. Revenue from spots will support the trial run on ABC.com, with advertisers AT&T, Ford, Procter & Gamble and Universal Pictures already signed up.
Viewers will be able to pause and move between chapters in an episode but will not be able to skip ads that are technically embedded, Reuters reported.
ABC, as with its competitors NBC and CBS, have done new media deals without long-term deals with affiliates. ABC said it is in discussions with local affiliate stations on ways to share revenue from online ad sales. Affiliates, as well as unions representing actors and writers, have sought a bigger cut of online revenue.
Analysts said the FOX deal could serve as a model for other television networks, such as ABC. Josh Bernoff, an analyst with Forrester Research, told Businessweek that this is a way to get the affiliates to “stop whining. It's a negotiating chip.” He said that any network that doesn't do this would just have to deal with it sooner or later in negotiating renewals of affiliate agreements.
ABC confirmed that it wants to make a deal with its stations. Alex Wallau, president, operations and administration, ABC Television Network, said in a statement that the ultimate goal is to find an effective online model, one in which affiliates can take part.
Disney is also launching a high-speed Internet channel for soap opera fans, called Soapnetic, on April 17 for subscribers to Verizon Communications' Internet services.
ABC's plan is the first time a broadcast network will give away full-length hit primetime TV shows on the Internet, the New York Times reported.
It is also an indication, the Times said, of the pressure networks are feeling from popular video-on-demand services that allow viewers to see TV shows and movies when they want.
Intelsat gears up for IPTV delivery
Apr 17, 2006 12:44 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Intelsat has built a new “super headend” infrastructure to facilitate the delivery of television programming using the IPTV scheme. Called Ampiage, the new satellite-based, content delivery and management service will help pay TV operators' upgrade to MPEG-4 and launch IPTV services.
Ampiage will upgrade and convert video streams for MSOs from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 for both higher transmission quality and efficient use of bandwidth. The service is designed to include redundant facilities and transmission capacity.
The new service is targeted to telcos entering the TV delivery business and cable operators seeking a cost-effective way to upgrade to MPEG-4 without having to invest in new equipment.
Ampiage cost-effectively packages the acquisition, aggregation, encoding, encapsulation and encryption of licensed TV programming from content providers and has the ability to redistribute it in MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 format to cable and telecom service providers.
The service centralizes the aggregation of national TV content and offers hundreds of digital video and audio channels. This enables telcos to efficiently bundle a standard- and high-definition programming package with their voice and broadband services without incurring a significant upgrade cost.
Telcos and MSOs then distribute this programming via xDSL, fiber, conventional cable networks and other broadband networks to their residential subscribers across North America. The system's open architecture will enable operators to either leverage existing equipment (including set-top boxes) or choose new equipment from multiple providers.
Martin: Cable's family tiers may not be enough for FCC
Apr 17, 2006 12:47 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
FCC chairman Kevin Martin has turned his guns on pay television operators again, signaling that he's still concerned over indecent programming.
Martin warned cable operators last week at the NCTA cable show in Atlanta that “legitimate concerns” have been raised over the family-friendly program tiers the industry has proposed, the Associated Press reported.
The chairman questioned the practicality of the proposed tiers, specifically mentioning criticism from Sen. George Allen (R-VA), who said they should contain sports channels.
The cable operators proposed the G-rated tiers after Martin chided them over indecency issues last fall. He suggested at the time that offering programming on an a la carte basis might solve his problems.
However, the industry is firmly opposed to unbundling their packages of channels, contending it would hurt the cable business model by raising overall costs for consumers and putting smaller channels out of business. Instead, the operators prefer to offer standard bundles of channels, and programmers want their channels to be carried to as wide a potential audience as possible.
Martin emphasized that the FCC did not intend to regulate what kind of shows can be aired, but he said that “in general, having some kind of additional tiering options is a good idea,” the AP reported.
The FCC chairman said it was too early to reach any firm conclusions about the family-friendly offerings of cable companies since it would take time to see how they play out in the marketplace.
Several cable industry executives at the annual trade show affirmed their opposition to a la carte pricing.
FCC OK's secret bids on spectrum
Apr 17, 2006 2:17 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
In an attempt to prevent collusion among bidders, the FCC last week approved rules to allow anonymous bidding at a spectrum auction set for June 29.
The FCC agreed to keep secret the identity of bidders for licenses after each auction round, depending on a formula determining how much competition surrounds the sale for the valuable licenses, Reuters reported. However, the amount of money bid for each license will be released during the sale.
The details of the bidding will become open if the FCC determines that enough companies are seeking licenses to keep the auction competitive.
Reuters reported that the secrecy provision represents a compromise between the wireless industry, which opposed blind bidding, and the commission, which was concerned about bidders signaling or targeting each other during the auction.
The FCC auction starts June 29 and winning bidders will be able to use the spectrum to offer advanced wireless services such as video and high-speed Internet access. This auction will include 1122 licenses in the 1710- to 1755MHz and 2110- to -2155 MHz bands. The government expects to raise $8 to $15 billion.
Wireless companies such as T-Mobile are expected to be aggressive bidders in the sale. Carriers have sought more airwaves to expand and improve services.
A reserve price of about $2 billion for all of the licenses in the auction was set by the FCC in order to comply with a statutory requirement to fund the relocation of federal government entities that currently operate in the 1710- to 1755MHz band. The commission will cancel the auction if the net winning bids at the close of the auction does not equal at least that amount.
Time Warner Cable considers ad auctions for VOD
Apr 17, 2006 2:39 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Time Warner Cable is considering an auction system for purchasing commercial spots on video-on-demand channels, Reuters reported.
Modeled after Google's AdSense system on the Internet, the scheme would allow advertisers to bid online to target ads at viewers with specific viewing habits. For example, car manufacturers or dealerships could bid to put their ads on the television screens of viewers who prefer the Speed Channel.
The idea is in the early stages of discussion, said Glenn Britt, CEO of Time Warner Cable, the nation's second largest cable operator.
Britt said Time Warner Cable would be able to create such an advertising system because it had detailed usage data on some of its customers. It would adhere to privacy laws and not identify individual users to advertisers, he said.
Video-on-demand advertising is still a fledgling concept and it is not immediately clear what kind of demand Time Warner would be able to tap into.
USDTV converts to MPEG-4 AVC
Apr 17, 2006 2:59 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
U.S. Digital Television (USDTV), a multichannel pay TV service provider using terrestrial digital broadcast signals for delivery, is converting its entire network to MPEG-4 AVC. It will begin offering customers additional content choices this summer.
Formed in 2003 as a low-cost alternative to cable, USDTV currently has subscribers in Dallas/Fort Worth, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, NM, and Las Vegas.
MPEG-4 AVC compression reduces by over half the amount of spectrum required to broadcast conventional programming. The updated compression technology enables the company to more efficiently utilize the digital spectrum leased from its broadcast partners, creating increased revenue opportunities through expanded content and service offerings.
The company has developed a real-time MPEG-4 AVC to MPEG-2 transcoder in the form of a small adaptor that plugs into the USB port in existing USDTV set-top boxes. This device will allow the company to switch instantly to MPEG-4 AVC without the cost and burden of replacing the set-top boxes currently in customer homes. Later in the year, USDTV will begin shipping its next-generation set-top box, which includes MPEG-4 AVC and MPEG-2 codecs in the same box.
USDTV will demonstrate the first live MPEG-4 AVC broadcasts over its digital terrestrial network at the NAB convention in Las Vegas; at the ATSC DTV Hot Spot in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Thorsteinson named new President of Harris Broadcast Communications division
Apr 17, 2006 3:12 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Tim Thorsteinson, currently president of the Leitch Technology business unit of Harris Broadcast, has been named president of the company's Broadcast Communications Division. Thorsteinson succeeds Jeremy C. Wensinger, who has been moved to a senior leadership position within the Harris Government Communications Systems Division.
Thorsteinson inherits a broadcast organization that has seen considerable expansion of the division (Inscriber, Videotek, Leitch) over the past two years.
Thorsteinson joined Leitch as president and CEO in November 2003 and led the company's financial turnaround and expansion through organic growth and acquisitions. Prior to joining Leitch, he was vice president of Grass Valley products for Thomson Broadcast, where he was responsible for a variety of broadcast and production product lines. Previously, he served as president and CEO of the Grass Valley Group and president of the Video and Networking Division of Tektronix.
For more information, visit www.harris.com.
Ross Video promotes Jeff Moore to president
Apr 17, 2006 3:25 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Ross Video has appointed Jeff Moore as its new president, where he'll be responsible for the running the company's daily business. He will report to David Ross, CEO and head of product development. Moore previously served as vice president, marketing and sales.
With more than 20 years experience in the broadcast industry, Moore holds an Executive MBA from the University of Ottawa and also graduated with honors from the Broadcast Electronics Technology program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
For more information, visit www.rossvideo.com.
New Products & Reviews
Snell & Wilcox intros content quality monitoring/control system
Apr 17, 2006 3:30 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Snell & Wilcox has announced Hyperion, a new content monitoring system that uses intuitive algorithms which mimic human intelligence to provide dedicated audio, video, and metadata monitoring for all content throughout the broadcast infrastructure, from ingest to transmission.
Hyperion evaluates the quality and makeup of the video, audio and metadata content within the signal. It automatically provides an “educated opinion” as to whether each element of the program meets satisfactory viewing quality standards.
The new system's genre-based monitoring matches a broadcast program with a pre-configured profile for a particular program type, channel or target audience. Algorithms determine and set what normal looks like for a given content type or channel. If the content does not match up to expected behavior, the system can alert the operator.
Hyperion can detect subtle errors such as whether the content is too dark or too still. It can also intelligently assess critical program elements such as multi-language soundtracks and metadata.
Hyperion is a distributed system that can be used to monitor both main and remote facilities. It complements and integrates with S&W's existing RollCall, RollMap, and RollSNMP broadcast control and monitoring technology. Hyperion functionality is now embedded in all new S&W infrastructure products.
For more information, visit www.snellwilcox.com.
Solid State Logic expands into video production
Apr 17, 2006 3:35 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Solid State Logic is moving into digital video acquisition and storage technologies. New products will be based on its newly acquired MediaWAN technology platform.
MediaWAN Gravity is a complete, scalable broadcast production system that utilizes proprietary software running on standard high-performance PCs and servers. The software provides encoders to import video from a variety of sources including HD; a preview and job allocation interface for production coordinators; editing software for journalists; and management tools for news producers.
MediaWAN technology also can provide a cost-effective backhaul service. MediaWAN Backhaul allows media networks to install encoders at remote locations and automatically ingest video and audio content to central servers where it is immediately available for use. The system operates over a private MPLS network. It also operates at very low latency, which significantly improves the performance of the circuit for remote interviews.
For more information, visit www.solid-state-logic.com.
STAR archives assets with MassStore media management systems
Apr 17, 2006 3:56 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
 At the STAR installation, MassStore works in tandem with a Titan automation system from Sundance Digital to fully automate the creation of content groups for advanced archiving techniques. |
STAR, Asia's media and entertainment company, has completed the installation of two Masstech's MassStore systems.
The primary MassStore system is located at STAR's headquarters in Hung Hom, Hong Kong. The secondary system, located at the company's disaster recovery site in Taipo, Hong Kong, operates in parallel, providing 100 percent back up for the primary playout location in addition to providing disaster recovery. MassStore is one of the core components of the redundant environment, managing the control of multiple archives for both the main and secondary site. This high availability system requires scalability and resilience throughout the entire design.
At the STAR installation, MassStore works in tandem with a Titan automation system from Sundance Digital, to fully automate the creation of content "Groups" for advanced archiving techniques.
STAR has also selected video servers by Omneon, with the overall system design and integration being completed by STAR's in-house Engineering Department.
For more information, visit www.masstechgroup.com.
Calrec to intro Bluefin signal processing platform
Apr 17, 2006 4:07 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
 Bluefin offers twice the amount of processing power of smaller versions in significantly less space for the same price as the Calrec's largest Alpha console. |
At NAB2006 Calrec Audio (booth #N917) will unveil Bluefin, a new high density signal processing system that offers twice the amount of processing power of smaller versions in significantly less space for the same price as the company's largest Alpha console. Calrec's Sigma and Zeta consoles and Hydra networking system will also be exhibited.
Bluefin provides 480 equivalent mono signal paths and is capable of providing 78 x full 5.1 surround channels. Bluefin offers this capability on a single DSP card.
Bluefin also generates less heat and uses less power than the existing design, while system redundancy of all processing elements is provided through a second DSP card. Bluefin processing provides full EQ and dynamics to all channels. The system also allows for 8 x 5.1 groups with full EQ and Dynamics, 4 x main outputs, 48 multi-track outputs and 20 auxes.
For more information, visit www.calrec.com.
MaxVision and Assimilate team for new data-centric workstation
Apr 17, 2006 4:12 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
At NAB 2006, MaxVision (booth #SL5569) and Assimilate will demonstrate a jointly developed solution consisting of Assimilate's Scratch Data-Centric Workflow Solution running on the MaxVision MaxPac9200XL workstation.
The powerful combination provides creative and post-production professionals with the ability to work on location using a portable workstation for digital film or HD projects that has the same high-performance capabilities for data-centric postproduction as they do in the studio. Users will benefit from the 1920x1200 display for full fidelity reviews, edit, playback color grading, or any variation of the post mix.
The MaxPac9200XL portable workstation is based on the latest dual-processor/dual-core Opteron 275HE, which enables the fastest quad CPU processing on the market, according to both companies.
It features a 23-inch 1920 x 1200 resolution LCD display and an HDPac8 removable hard drive. The HDPac8 holds eight 500GB SATA hard drives (4TB) configured as a Raid 5 array, and can record uncompressed HD and 2K video through a dual-link SDI interface card. The Nvidia Quadro FX4500 video controller also comes standard with the system, making it fully compatible with Assimilate's Scratch software.
Scratch features include data management and simultaneous, real-time, multi-resolution review/playback, assemble/edit, conform, primary and secondary color grading, multi-layer grading stack, audio, visual effects (enhanced by third-party plug-ins), and final mastering to any format. It supports 1D, 3D and customer-developed Look-Up-Tables (LUTs), running in real time.
For more information, visit www.assimilateinc.com.
Jampro installs first DTV systems in Latin America
Apr 17, 2006 4:27 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
TV Azteca has purchased a series of terrestrial DTV systems from Jampro for the network's Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey television stations.
The three Jampro installations include JUHD broadband panel antennas with mask filters and combiners, RCPU antenna patch panel-power splitters and rigid line transmission systems. These specific models were specified because of their wide bandwidth for multiple channel operations over UHF bands IV and V. Azteca uses the JUHDs to broadcast channels D24 and D25 in Mexico City, D31 and D33 in Guadalajara, and D39 and D43 in Monterrey.
For more information, visit www.jampro.com.
Dayang unveils new SD/HD server
Apr 17, 2006 4:32 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
Dayang has a new addition to its range of broadcast video servers, the VIPS 3000. Designed for high definition or multiformat broadcast applications, the VIPS 3000 provides simultaneous output of HD and SD signals.
HD ingest and playout can be performed in MPEG-I, MPEG-IBP and DVCPRO HD formats. SD ingest and broadcasting of files in DV25, DV50, MPEG-I, MPEG-IBP formats are also supported.
The new server is housed a compact 4U chassis and provides RAID5 data protection and support for multiple data stream file formats, including Motion-JPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DV, and Windows Media (VC-1). The VIPS 3000 also allows MXF file interchange and the VDCP universal control protocol, allowing easy integration with broadcast automation systems. Server status can be monitored via SNMP-protocol TCI/IP. Microsoft Windows XP is incorporated to ensure a stable operating platform and familiar user interface.
An internal broadcast-quality I/O board accepts analog or digital HD or SD inputs plus external sync and provides two analog or digital outputs (I-frame, long-GOP). VIPS 3000 can handle 4:2:2 and 4:2:0 component signals as well as composite, Y/C, SMPTE-259M SDI and ASI. Two stereo digital/analog audio inputs are provided plus four digital/analogue stereo outputs. Audio processing is fully transparent to Dolby-E and Dolby AC-3 signals.
For more information, visit www.dayang.com.
TDK now shipping Blu-ray disc media
Apr 17, 2006 4:45 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
 The new single-sided 25GB discs are single layer, whereas the 50GB products have a dual layer recording material structure. |
TDK has begun shipping 25GB recordable and rewritable Blu-ray Disc media to retailers nationwide.
The single-sided discs are bare, cartridge-free media. The 25GB products are single layer whereas the 50GB products have a dual layer recording material structure.
Blu-ray Discs were originally released in Japan in April of 2003 with a protective cartridge. The cartridge was necessary in order to protect the recording material, which is manufactured close to the Blu-ray Disc's surface in order to realize the disc's high density recording capabilities.
TDK said it pioneered hard coating technology, eliminating the need for the cartridges. Every TDK Blu-ray Disc includes Durabis, a protective hard coating formulation that protects the disc and rapidly discharges static.
Retail pricing is set at $19.99 for a 25GB BD-R (recordable) $24.99 for a 25GB BD-RE (rewritable).
For more information, visit www.tdk.com.
Omneon to debut ClipTool Pro
Apr 17, 2006 4:55 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter
At NAB, Omneon Video Networks will showcase its new ClipTool Pro application, which enables users of the Omneon Spectrum media server to monitor and control playout and record functionality via a graphical user interface.
ClipTool Pro, part of Omneon's MediaTools application, was designed to provide simple, familiar VTR-like control surface for ingest, quality assurance, and playout operations. It provides agile, precise manual record and playout control with basic and advanced functionality ranging from displaying sortable listings of clips to “crash record” capability.
Simple on-screen buttons for jog and shuttle functions enable quick movement through a clip, making it easier for users to find specific frames for marking in and out points.
The instant crash record feature streamlines the manual ingest process and allows for a fast response when needed to record incoming material. Automatic naming of files in this mode allows for multiple open-ended records in rapid succession.
For more information, visit www.omneon.com.
