9 September 2015
SES Platform Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES S.A. (NYSE Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), has announced its new product, LUCID online video platform (OVP). The solution comprises all the building blocks a customer will need to launch its own online video offering, from setting up an Internet-TV channel to on-demand services: Video Processing (including Content Ingest, Management, and Encoding, Transcoding, DRM Integration and Playout); Monetisation Services, with support of flexible business models (such as SVoD, TVoD); and Applications with an intuitive and easy-to-use User Interface (for iOS, Android) and an HTML5 realisation for an IP Box.
LUCID OVP is an integral part of SES Platform Services’ new “Media Toolbox” concept. The Media Toolbox is a modular all-in-one solution for the optimal distribution of audio-visual content. From linear distribution to all forms of on-demand services, it covers all technological aspects in a highly flexible and scalable way, reducing technical complexity for customers in order that they can concentrate on their core business.
Combining Linear TV Streaming, Catch-up TV and video-on-demand (VoD) into one powerful online video platform, LUCID OVP is a complete, ready-to-launch, end-to-end solution for Platform Operators, Broadcasters and OTT-Players looking to optimise their operations and boost subscriber growth. It allows platform operators to create an online video and multi-screen user experience to complement their video strategy. Also, broadcasters and content providers can easily and quickly set up an online video service as a supplement to Direct-to-Home (DTH) services to address new customer groups.
“For many broadcasters, broadcasting linear TV programmes is just not enough anymore. People watch more and more online and mobile content. With ready-to-start workflows and ‘out-of-the-box’ features, LUCID OVP ensures fast time-to-market and enables our customers to reach viewers and customers anywhere and on any device. We have been a leading provider of backend services, and now we can also deliver our customers everything for the front-end to create a great user experience,” said Daniel Kiessling, Senior Manager Solution Management SES Platform Services.
LUCID OVP will be presented at the SES stand at Hall 1, stand 1.B51 during IBC 2015, Amsterdam. (Source: SES press release)
8 September 2015
Arqiva today announced that it will be providing Video on Demand (VoD) processing, delivery and streaming services for Turner Broadcasting across 32 of its platforms around Europe. To meet Turner Broadcasting’s November delivery cycles, Arqiva will commence processing its assets for VoD at the end of September. The VoD service adds to the portfolio of managed services that Arqiva has been delivering to Turner Broadcasting for over two years, covering satellite distribution and play-out of content to 24 channels in Europe.
As a tier one broadcaster, with responsibility for prestigious children’s and entertainment brands such as Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TCM and Boing!, Turner Broadcasting relies on a strong partnership with Arqiva to provide a fully-managed, high-quality, always-on service that can scale to the volume of its audience base. With the addition of VoD, Turner Broadcasting viewers will now be able to pick the content they want to watch, when they want to watch it and how they want to watch it
Rick Cole, SVP, International IT and Network Operations, Turner Broadcasting said: “We are committed to giving our audience the freedom to watch our content whenever and wherever they want to, and the Arqiva Video on Demand service will help us to achieve this. Arqiva is a proven and valued managed service provider and, as our partnership continues to evolve, I look forward to being able to deliver more innovative solutions to delight our audience base.”
David Crawford, Managing Director Satellite and Media at Arqiva, commented: “Arqiva strives to deliver a scalable broadcast quality managed service across the value chain. We are moving closer to making the ‘create once, publish anywhere’ aspiration a reality for our customers across both traditional and OTT services. Our relationship with Turner Broadcasting is proof of this and we look forward to continuing to work together to provide cost-effective, outsourced solutions to help support the growth of their business.”
Arqiva’s Video on Demand (VoD) service will be demoed on-stand 1.B61 at this year’s IBC conference, from 10th to 15th September.
8 September 2015
As consumer demand for Ultra High Definition (UHD) content and televisions continues to grow, Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in video delivery infrastructure, and Intelsat S.A. (NYSE: I), the world’s leading provider of satellite services, today announced a partnership to launch HVN Intelsat UHD, a linear UHD demonstration channel for the North American TV markets.
This channel will be broadcast via Intelsat’s Galaxy 13 satellite located at 127°W and will provide multi-channel video programming distributors (MVPDs) with an opportunity to prepare and test their UHD transmissions from the moment that they start downlinking content from Intelsat’s Galaxy 13 satellite through their own networks and into the subscribers’ homes. This platform will also be available to US cable programmers to conduct their own testing of UHD content. Since Intelsat’s Galaxy 13 satellite has 76 HD channels and reaches 98% of the cable headends in the continental United States, it creates an ideal environment for further enhancing the end-to-end delivery of UHD content to consumers.
Harmonic and Intelsat plan to demonstrate the HVN Intelsat UHD channel content at the upcoming IBC2015 Conference at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam, from September 11-15, 2015. Utilizing an end to end UHD video processing system from Harmonic, Intelsat will transmit live and linear 2160p60 (HEVC Main 10 profile) video content via C-band on the Intelsat Galaxy 13 satellite. The content will then travel from Intelsat’s Atlanta, Georgia, teleport facility using the IntelsatOne® IP/MPLS network to Intelsat’s Fuchsstadt, Germany, teleport facility, where it will be uplinked via Ku-band on the Intelsat 905 satellite located at 335.5○E, and received and decoded at the RAI Convention Center in Amsterdam.
The initial commissioning test signal will leverage transport stream servers located at Intelsat’s teleport facility in Atlanta, Georgia, and Harmonic’s ProMedia™ Xpress multiscreen transcoder and packager for pre-compression of the UHD video loop. Later this year, Harmonic will deploy its MediaGrid shared storage system, Polaris™ playout management suite, Spectrum™ X advanced media server system and Electra™ X3 advanced media processor to enable full UHD channel production and transmission from the company’s HVN Center in San Jose, California. That signal will then be uplinked in Intelsat’s teleport facility in Atlanta, Georgia via Intelsat’s Galaxy 13 satellite.
“As consumers purchase millions of 4K televisions before Ultra HD content even reaches critical mass, it has become clear that they are ready to experience the fully immersive viewing experience that Ultra HD provides,” said Peter Ostapiuk, head of media product services, Intelsat. “By partnering with Harmonic, Intelsat can now enable pay-TV operators to test the distribution of live linear Ultra HD broadcasts in crystal-clear 2160p60 resolution to the home. Our customers will now have an opportunity to further test bandwidth allocation and UHD content delivery via Intelsat’s hybrid satellite terrestrial network, which will pave the way for the distribution of amazing content—from popular sporting events to the latest movies and TV shows—and a viewing experience that can enhance customer satisfaction.”
At the heart of Intelsat’s UHD workflow is Harmonic’s Electra X3 advanced media processor, the industry’s first fully converged platform for broadcast and OTT delivery of UHD content with live, full-frame, full-GOP UHD encoding. Electra X3 is powered by the Harmonic PURE Compression Engine™, an advanced encoding technology that supports resolutions of up to 2160p60, leveraging the HEVC Main 10 codec. Using the Electra X3 media processor, Intelsat can deliver superior video quality at minimum bandwidth.
“By providing a complete UHD workflow solution for the delivery of live and linear broadcasts, Harmonic is driving the industry closer toward full-scale UHD service deployment,” said Peter Alexander, CMO at Harmonic. “Harmonic offers all of the video infrastructure components that satellite operators such as Intelsat need for delivering 2160p60 UHD video content, including live, full-frame, full-GOP encoding, storage, and playout systems, enabling them to quickly roll out UHD services with market-leading video quality and a low total cost of ownership.”
For those attending the 11-15 September IBC2015 Conference in Amsterdam, they can visit the Harmonics Stand (Hall 1, B20) or the Intelsat Stand (Hall 1, C71) for more details and a live viewing of the UHD demonstration. (Source: Intelsat press release)
8 September 2015
ARAB SATELLITE TELECOMMUNICATION ORGAINZATION (ARABSAT) and EMERGING MARKETS COMMUNICATIONS (EMC) announce their joint venture to launch TRIO, the first real triple play service over satellite in the world.
The TRIO platform is built on SATLink technology owned by EMC and the soon-to-be launched new ARABSAT Badr-7 satellite at the MENA hotspot @ 26º East to produce a state of the Art STB that will provide TV viewers and household consumers with an unprecedented experience bundling a 10Mb broadband connectivity over satellite, FTA and Pay TV reception, huge recording capability and smart algorithms for VOD with a vast catalog of new titles of international and national content from the famous production studios and Arab World, and will act as a Wi-Fi bridge for the households where all handheld devices can be connected to enjoy access to Internet and linear TV, each on his/her screen.
TRIO will have also an enterprise version for broadband over satellite that has been proven already in the market as the solution of choice for enterprise and VSAT networks and with the embedded SatLink technology and patents.
Arabsat Badr-7 will be launched early November, 2015 and its high throughput Ka-band payload was especially designed to support TRIO solutions for MENA and selected African markets. The service will be formally launched upon readiness of the satellite for commercial operations post the launch.
Khalid Balkheyour, President & CEO of ARABSAT said: “We offer our viewers @ 26º East an amazing TV viewing experience, it’s no longer about watching TV, it’s now about enjoying and interacting, it’s about creating a house environment of amusement and convenience. The enterprise version of TRIO will be promoted as the technology platform for all governmental and enterprise networks on Arabsat satellites. Arabsat and EMC have been strong partners for more than 10 years now and we are proud to be part of such an innovation leap in the industry”.
Abel Avellan, the CEO of EMC commented: “TRIO was built on the superior SatLink technology that supported the telecom market for many years; with the conversion trends between Media and Telecom, we have invested heavily in R&D activities to produce a revolutionary chipsets that can support many applications including 4K. This joint venture with Arabsat will take TRIO further as the product of choice for TV markets”.
Santiago Rossi, the General Manager of the newly established TRIO also commented: “Under the current JV, the assets and know-how of SatLink have been transferred into TRIO to allow for an autonomous operation and to serve the needs of both ARABSAT and EMC and support their big database of customers. We trust that this revolutionary platform will be adopted by both telecom and media players who wants to serve their customers with a fully immersive product for their digital lifestyle as well as enterprise and governments that wants to bring efficient communications and content distribution to their communities. We are all very excited and looking forward to have the Badr-7 Satellite @ 26º East hotspot and we are planning to expand into other regions”.
(Source: Arabsat press release)
7 September 2015
BBC Brasil has further extended its reach in Brazil by making its news content available on the digital services of the major mobile content aggregator, Grupo Gol.
The platforms, Nuvem de Jornaleiro and Nuvem de Livros, have been developed by Grupo Gol for the Brazilian mobile operator, Vivo, and now, thanks to the syndication agreement between BBC World Service and Grupo Gol, Vivo subscribers as well as Grupo Gol’s other distribution partners can access global and regional news and information from BBC Brasil via smartphones (Android and iOS), tablet, desktop or laptop.
BBC Brasil text and video feeds, covering international politics, economy, science, environment, health, culture and social issues, add to the Nuvem de Jornaleiro platform which currently offers access to more than 250 national magazines and newspapers and two news agencies. The Nuvem de Livros platform – a virtual educational library with more than 15,000 books, videos and interactive content – now features BBC Brasil coverage of culture and social issues, science and environment. Users can select and configure content based on country, topic and language.
BBC World Service Business Development Manager, Brazil, Katie Wellham, says: “The collaboration with Grupo Gol is a great development allowing us to extend BBC Brasil’s reach directly to the subscribers of the two digital platforms. We very much hope that BBC’s comprehensive coverage of global and regional developments will become an essential resource for these users – especially Vivo customers and those who are new to our content.”
Jonas Suassuna, president of Grupo Gol, adds: “The inclusion of BBC Brasil into the Nuvem de Livros and Nuvem do Jornaleiro platforms demonstrates a commitment to offer the whole of Brazilian society pioneering, unique and transformative solutions which will increasingly take hold as ways to democratise access to information and knowledge.”
Grupo Gol is a value added service (VAS) business provider for key mobile operators in Brazil, including Vivo. Nuvem de Jornaleiro and Nuvem de Livros are flagship products in Grupo Gol’s portfolio of mobile VAS.
BBC Brasil reaches around 15 million unique users a month with its multimedia content on its website bbcbrasil.com and via its content syndication on portals such as UOL, MSN Brasil, IG, Terra, G1, and Folha. BBC Brasil offers news apps for Android, iPhone and iPod touch users as well as for Nokia’s Series 40 devices.
BBC Brasil is part of BBC World Service. (Source: BBC press release)
