.jpg ) |
News
Platform migration shakes up annual TV ad market
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
The transition of television content to new media platforms is shaking up the advertising market. The broadcast “upfront” market, a long tradition on Madison Avenue, found itself in new territory last week.
The unexpectedly fast and furious embrace of new media by the big broadcast television networks is having a big affect on the plans of advertisers and agencies to buy billions of dollars worth of commercial time.
“The networks are recognizing that the way people are consuming television is changing, and the money is going to follow that,” Joe Mandese, editor of MediaPost in New York, an online and print trade publication, told the New York Times. He added that last week's upfront could well be “a watershed.”
The annual rite is known as the upfront because the negotiations between the buyers and the network sellers take place in the spring, ahead of the fall TV season. After the unveiling of the schedules of each network, bargaining begins over how much the advertisers will pay as well as which shows they will sponsor or snub.
But, the Times reported, the rapid migration of TV shows onto Web sites, iPods, cell phones and other fledgling venues is shaking up the conventions of this year's advertising market.
The networks realize they cannot stand pat in a rapidly changing media distribution environment, the Times said. Marketers have not been waiting for the upfront market to decide between traditional media and their new-media rivals.
Rather, the newspaper said, they are turning over a significantly increasing portion of their ad budgets to new-media specialists like AOL, Comcast video-on-demand, Google, MSN and Yahoo.
You already see ad dollars leaving the traditional media and going into the digital space, said Bill Cella, chairman and chief executive at Magna Global in New York, part of Interpublic Media.
The trend “is becoming more pronounced,” Cella said, adding: “I look at it not as fragmentation, but as hyper-fragmentation. It's mind-boggling.” Just as its clients have to follow their customers into the new media, Cella added, the networks too have to follow their viewers there.
NBC looks beyond TV for a revival
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
NBC, eager to improve its ratings and advertising sales, is counting on digital media as much as television for a comeback in the 2006-2007 season.
At this week's upfront presentation in New York City, NBC made it clear it's ready to sell commercial time on a variety of platforms. Jeff Zucker, chief executive at the NBC Universal Television Group, said that content will no longer be distributed solely to the TV screen. NBC has “put a ton of thought and a ton of effort into the digital world,” Zucker told marketers and advertising agency executives. “We want to be your digital partner.”
Among them are a broadband comedy channel (dotcomedy.com), offering computer users archives of shows like “Leave It to Beaver” and a chance to create their own content to podcasts; and an animated digital comic book based on characters and plot lines from “Heroes,” a drama series being scheduled for Monday nights.
French continue legislative debate over digital music copyright bill
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
Despite pressure from international media companies and content owners, lawmakers in France are moving closer to writing new copyright law that would have a major impact on downloading digital media files.
The Senate version of what is nicknamed the “iPod bill” softens some proposals that could have forced Apple Computer to open all music sold from its iTunes Music Store to play on portable devices other than the Apple iPod, the New York Times reported.
An earlier version of the legislation passed by the National Assembly allowed consumers to ask a court to force companies like Apple to let songs bought from iTunes play on other portable devices. The current Senate version would accept such appeals only from companies.
The current version of the bill, however, would guarantee that tunes could play on multiple devices in a way that preserves some copy protection and respects rights established when the work was purchased.
“France has adopted an entirely new and unique approach to managing digital music and films that could be a model for other countries to follow,” Jonathan Arber, a London-based analyst at Ovum, a consulting firm, told the Times. “Everyone will be watching the impact six months down the line to see whether consumers or companies have benefited.”
Government officials said differences between the versions of the bill would be worked out in the next few weeks, with the law taking force within several months. Both versions reduce penalties for piracy to the equivalent of a traffic offense; require software makers to give the government details of the inner workings of their programs; and create an agency to rule on important digital copyright issues, the Times reported.
That agency will decide how many times a digital copy can be made for personal use. If the Senate version stands, it will also ensure that music bought from one online service can be played on any device.
The law will set France apart from many Western countries, especially the United States, in its positions on copyright law, digital copying and piracy.
“This law risks removing all deterrence against piracy,” said Olivia Regnier, who represents record labels as the European regional counsel for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. “If you can download 1000 films and songs and only face a 38-euro fine, that's not much of a penalty.”
Technology/Applications
TiVo to add Web-based television programming to DVRs
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
In a further blurring of the lines between traditional television distribution platforms, TiVo is joining an online video publishing service provider to deliver Web-based programming to its subscriber's DVRs.
However, TiVo's deal with Brightcove, a privately held start-up based in Cambridge, MA, also helps level the playing field between large corporate television distributors and small scale content producers who can now bypass the gatekeepers to the home television set through the Internet.
The partnership will provide a method for video producers using Brightcove's Internet TV services to distribute content to TiVo subscribers. It also opens the possibility of monetizing the distribution through advertising, subscription plans or pay-per-view.
Initially, however, the companies said all Web-based content will be offered for free to TiVo subscribers and may carry advertising within the content.
Under terms of the agreement, Brightcove and TiVo will, beginning in June, gradually phase in a limited number of content partners and new downloading capabilities for the system. Broadband video content from Brightcove will be made available to any TiVo Series2 DVR connected to the Internet. TiVo subscribers will be able to discover this content directly in the TiVo Central content management area on the TiVo box.
Jeremy Allaire, founder and CEO of Brightcove, said the partnership will allow TiVo subscribers to find broadband video content via their TiVo or PC and send that content directly to their TiVo box where they can view it whenever they choose.
Brightcove launched its video publishing service last November. Its technology gives established or small independent producers a way to create online videos and then syndicate them through Brightcove's distribution channels, of which TiVo has become the latest.
The company, which also has a deal with Time Warner to start distributing videos this summer on AOL's Web portal, says it so far has several hundred partners, including MTV's Teen Channel and National Lampoon's TogaTV.com, the Associated Press reported.
Warner Brothers to sell TV and films on the Internet
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
Warner Brothers will make hundreds of television shows and movies available for purchase over the Internet using BitTorrent software, which is widely used to download movies and other copyrighted material illegally.
The agreement between Warner and BitTorrent is an unusual deal between a major Hollywood studio and a company whose file-sharing technology has raised the ire of the movie industry, the
The studio contends it is trying to stem the piracy of movies on the Internet by offering consumers an easy and fast way to download movies legally. “We've been struggling with peer-to-peer technology and trying to figure out a way to harness the good in all that the technology allows us to do,” Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Group, told the New York Times.
The service will begin sometime this summer, with prices beginning at about $1 for some television programs and increasing to about the price of a DVD or video rental for full-length movies, the newspaper said.
In the ultimate compliment to its former foe, Tsujihara said Warner chose BitTorrent because its technology is “elegantly and efficiently designed for the delivery of large files like TV programs and films.”
GlobeCast delivers Secure Content globally with Irdeto
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
GlobeCast, a subsidiary of France Telecom and a global content management and delivery company, has selected the Irdeto Digital TV content security solution to secure its satellite TV content distribution service worldwide.
Due to rapid growth in its digital channel distribution service, GlobeCast has expanded from Irdeto's M-Crypt control system to the Irdeto PIsys control system, a more comprehensive and scalable system. Both control systems use the same smart cards and set-top boxes, allowing for a seamless upgrade with no need to change equipment already in the field.
The PIsys control system offers the highest level of professional conditional access for securing any kind of content distributed via television broadcast, mobile or broadband. PIsys easily scales to support subscriber bases from thousands to millions and its FlexiFlash smart card update feature ensures functionality upgrades and security updates can be done without the usual requirement for a smart card swap. Optional modules are also available to keep pace with an operator's changing business objectives, including Ordered Pay Per View, Impulse Pay Per View and multi-room functionality.
For more information, visit www.irdeto.com.
Thomson shows ATSC-compliant set-top reference design
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
Thomson is demonstrating a prototype of the first in a series of ATSC-compliant set-top reference designs that will include a new Thomson Silicon Solutions IC and all software from drivers through to the user-interface.
The new Thomson 4300A, shown at the recent NAB show, is targeted at the entire ATSC converter market including digital set-top box and original design manufacturers. Thomson's Silicon Components group will make samples available of the chip in the first quarter of 2007, with production slated to begin in the second half of 2007.
Thomson said integrated circuits that consolidate the reception and demodulation of digital TV signals are a key ingredient in the development of new and affordable products that will help consumers receive digital television signals by the end of the DTV transition in 2009.
The company said it is actively marketing the Thomson 4300A as a one-chip solution for electronics manufacturers needing both an affordable and high-quality reception solution for terrestrially broadcast digital TV signals.
For more information, visit www.thomson.net.
New Products
Fox's Speed Channel monitors with Volicon Observer
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
 With the Volicon Observer, Speed Channel's staff members monitor all of its programming, storing video for up to 90 days at a time. |
Volicon, a provider of video monitoring technology, has announced that the Fox Network's Speed Channel has deployed its Observer desktop video monitoring system to provide proof of performance of sponsored elements during broadcasts.
In addition to traditional commercials, Speed airs several sponsored elements during races. The network needed a way of identifying for sponsors exactly when and where a particular element was run. Unlike a commercial, which is routed through Speed's traffic system with a special ID, sponsored elements are not as easily identifiable.
With the Volicon Observer, Speed's staff members use the system's closed-caption search functionality to find key words, such as a sponsor name, within a specified time window, locate exactly when and where the sponsored element ran, create a clip of it and e-mail or FTP it to the client.
Speed uses Observer to monitor all its programming, storing video for up to 90 days at a time. Material is reviewed for on-air discrepancies, signal problems, or other issues.
Volicon Observer is a multichannel desktop video, audio, and data monitoring system that allows users to capture broadcast assets from multiple A/V sources, view those assets from a traditional Windows-based desktop via a Web interface, search and retrieve them and export them to interested parties.
For more information, visit www.volicon.com.
Ascent Media Management Services buys Digital Vision image processing system
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
 Ascent colorists will use components of the Digital Vision DVNR ME system to remove excessive grain, film dust and random scratches from material to be archived. |
Digital Vision has announced that Ascent Media Management Services, part of the Ascent Media Group, has purchased its DVNR ME image processing system.
The Digital Vision DVNR ME system will be used by Ascent to remove imperfections in library files prior to repurposing content for various distribution channels. Colorists will use components of the system to remove excessive grain, film dust and random scratches from material.
DVNR Image Processing Systems are available in both standard- and high-definition formats and support real time image processing, color correction, compression pre-processing and format conversion.
For more information, visit www.digitalvision.se.
Wohler intros audio metadata monitor
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
 The Wohler Audio Metadata Analysis System monitors metadata and passes it to an included PC software package via TCP/IP, as well as providing alerts operators to metadata parameters that are outside the set parameters. |
Wohler Technologies has introduced a monitor, analyzer and alarm system designed to detect problems with audio metadata.
The Wohler Audio Metadata Analysis System provides a clear indication of metadata parameters and allows unattended checking of entire programs through logging. It monitors metadata and passes it to an included PC software package via TCP/IP, as well as providing alerts operators to metadata parameters that are outside the set parameters.
Audio metadata contains more than 30 parameters for each program that is carried, many of which can directly affect audio playback. Used incorrectly, parameters such as dialog level, audio coding mode, dynamic range control and downmixing can combine to create unacceptable audio loudness shifts, loss of dialog, or inappropriate dynamic range.
The Wohler device combines many of the features of the company's AMP2-E8MDA, 8-channel Dolby E Audio Monitor and Decoder & Converter with Discrete AES Outputs. It adds TCP/IP connection streaming metadata to a PC that provides extensive display of metadata, Dolby E guard band, video reference and linear time code (LTC) parameters, including comparisons of incoming Dolby E frame position to the video reference input.
For more information, visit www.wohler.com.
Extensis updates Portfolio 8
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
 Portfolio 8 helps organize and share digital files with visual catalogs and embedded metadata. |
Extensis has released two free updates to Portfolio 8, its digital asset management solution.
These updates include two file format support filters, which add support for Microsoft Office allowing users to catalog, find and view files from Microsoft Word and Excel on the Windows platform.
Additionally, Extensis has added support for 22 new camera raw formats on both Mac and Windows versions of Portfolio. The Portfolio Raw Filter is based on technology from Bibble Labs.
Portfolio 8, which runs on Macintosh and Windows, helps organize and share digital files with visual catalogs and embedded metadata, making it easy to find, route and distribute collateral such as images, video, sound and text within asset creation workgroups.
TV 2 Norway serves up content with Omneon
May 19, 2006 8:00 AM, Strategic Content Management e-newsletter
 TV 2 installed the servers as part of a larger transmission system designed to handle playout of entertainment and sports programming for TV 2 Zebra. |
Omneon Video Networks announced that TV 2 in Norway has purchased its Spectrum media server system for ingest, storage and playout of programming for a new multichannel broadcast platform.
Supplied and installed by Bergen and Oslo-based broadcast systems dealer Video 4, the new Omneon servers integrate with the facility's Pro-Bel's Morpheus automation system.
TV 2 installed the servers as part of a larger transmission system designed to handle playout of entertainment and sports programming for TV 2 Zebra. The system has now been expanded to include the main channel TV 2 and five new football channels.
An open architecture allows the Spectrum server system to support a broad variety of third-party applications for control and transmission, media management, archiving and collaborative production.
For more information, visit www.omneon.com.
