Page 51 - AIB | The Chanel | Issue 1 2013
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HH
SheikhMohammed
bin Rashid Al
Maktoum,
present Ruler of
Dubai, graduating
fromMonsOfficer
Cadet School
1968; Coronation
of HM Queen
Elizabeth II 1953;
Rolling Stones
1964; Eisenhower
and Nixon play
golf 1953
For
any e-book,
there is
almost
certainly
video
content
that can
illustrate
and com-
plement
the text
“
”
‐ just take a look at a list of hit films
from recent times –
The King’s
Speech, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,
The Iron Lady
and even the latest
instalment of
Men in Black
– and
you’ll find that all had content
supplied by ITN Source. In music,
our footage has been used by the
likes of Jay‐Z and the Stereophonics
in music videos. Elsewhere, Middle
Eastern states have licensed archive
video content for marquee heritage
projects, universities and schools
around the world use our material
in e‐learning platforms, blue chip
companies license footage for
corporate films, and even artists
work with us for multi‐media
installations.
Beyond these developments,
‘new’ media is now an important
growth area for archive. In the e‐
book market, Amazon has said that
it sells twice as many e‐books as
paperbacks and hardbacks
combined. Where it was once rare
to see someone reading an e‐book,
it’s now unusual not see at least one
person on your daily commute
with an e‐book in hand. If someone
is reading an e‐book, regardless of
whether it’s fact or fiction, then
there is almost certainly video
content that can illustrate and
complement the text.
FIRST E-BOOKDEAL
To this end, ITN Source has
recently licensed video clips of the
Rolling Stones over the years to be
embedded in an enhanced e‐book
of The Rolling Stones at 50 – the
only officially authorised book to
celebrate the milestone. Working
with publisher Thames‐Hudson,
our footage of press conferences, an
album launch party, an interview
and of course the Stones on stage
sits alongside fully interactive,
illustrated pages. The inclusion of
video offers a wealth of extra
content to anyone who purchases
this version of the book and reads it
on iPad, iPad mini or Kindle Fire.
This is just the first e‐book licensing
deal that ITN Source has signed,
and we’re expecting many more.
There’s no doubt it’s a market in its
ancy, and as we explore further,
it’s important that we work closely
with publishers to ensure that any
embedded video enhances the
reading experience, not complicates
or interrupts it. Creative execution
and relevance of footage will be
key.
APPS FORALL GENRES
Another area of new media of real
interest is mobile apps. Usage of
apps has exploded in the last
couple of years as the proliferation
of smartphones has been driven by
new models, more platforms and
better infrastructure such as 3G and
wi‐fi connectivity. OFCOM has
described the UK as a “nation
addicted to smartphones”, and has
found that 27% of adults, rising to
47% of teenagers, now own a
smartphone. Of those people,
OFCOM found that 47% of adults
had downloaded an app. Not only
can we expect consumer demand
for apps to rise, but consumers’
appetite to see more video content
within apps is also on the increase,
opening up more opportunities for
video content owners and rights
holders. We see the opportunities
for archive video material being
licensed for use in apps spanning a
whole range of genres and usages –
it could be quizzes, nostalgia or
simply bringing history to life.
ROYAL LOCATIONS
We first licensed footage for use in
a mobile app ahead of the Queen’s
Diamond Jubilee in June last year,
drawing on our wealth of royal
content to supply some of our best
clips to a mobile agency which then
developed a GPS‐enabled Royal
Tour app. Tourists who
downloaded the app could then
play royal archive clips when
visiting certain London landmarks
and be transported back into
history. We also made the user
experience relevant for people who
may want to view the clips without
actually visiting the particular royal
location. For our next app, we
licensed over 100 clips of all US
Presidents since 1909 to an app
developer called Mubaloo, which
created the 100 Years of US
Presidents on Film app. The app
was launched shortly after the
Presidential election to capitalise on
the interest in the race for the White
House. Both of these apps have
given us invaluable insight to the
business opportunities for archive
content in the smartphone world
where video viewing is growing
rapidly.
ASPIRADIGI-DELIVERY
The licensing of archive footage in
the digital world doesn’t stop there.
We see potential markets on almost
every digital platform, and in many
cases there are opportunities for
integrated multi‐platform projects.
One such example is work that we
embarked on with the Middle
Eastʹs largest mobile telecoms
operator Etisalat to support the
UAEʹs celebrations of their 41st
National Day on December 2nd.
We supplied a number of
historic news films showing life in
the region in the early 1960s, rare
and previously untelevised footage
of the UAEʹs founding fathers and
coverage of the formation of the
UAE in 1972.
The footage was accessible on a
dedicated National Day cable
channel on Etisalat’s E‐vision
platform and also through mobile
and iPad apps. Digital was key to
the delivery of the content to the
client as well as its b2c distribution
as we digitised the clips from our
16mm film masters and delivered
the footage via our Aspira digi‐
delivery system to meet the client’s
deadline. It was simply a fully
digital project from start to finish.
These examples in the worlds of
apps, e‐books and cable channels
certainly amount to a lot more than
us just ‘dipping our toe in the
water’ of new media markets, but
we are certain that we are now only
scratching the surface of the
business opportunities that digital
holds for archive content. In an
industry that is unrecognisable
from the antiquated tape‐based
supply of video content to a finite
TV market, we are now on the cusp
of a new and exciting era of digital
licensing.
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THE CHANNEL
|
ISSUE 1 2013
|
51
CONTENT
|
THE CHANNEL
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Andy Williams
