TV TECHNOLOGY:What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trend at the 2018 NAB Show?
AVI COHEN: With business models changing for broadcasters, a big trend we are seeing is a shift to more cost-effective ways to work in general. Broadcasters want to do more with less money, without compromising the production value or quality. What we see are the market leaders in broadcasting looking for ways to maintain quality productions and as the manufacturer, here are the ways we are helping them accomplish savings in bandwidth by shifting to H.265, distribution by using a multipoint distribution solution, cost-effective production means using At-Home production and a move to IP satellite.
IP is going to continue to explode and I think there are a lot of broadcasters who are looking to reduce their costs using new IP methods. Ten years ago, the disruptiveness of H.264 took the size of the pipe out of the equation. And now HEVC is taking that even further using half the bandwidth of previous video compression standards. The technology frees up worldwide IP bandwidth, reducing congestion, allowing that bandwidth to be used to deliver a much higher quality of experience and break down global barriers to bring live content to viewers anywhere.
More and more multi-station broadcasters and their affiliates are using video distribution solutions to share live content between their affiliates over IP. In the past, stations were using bulky, expensive satellite or fiber-based solutions. Today, customers can share content across groups with minimal delay at lower cost using the cloud-based LiveU MultiPoint solution.
Remote integration production (REMI) or at-home production has been another way our sports and broadcast customers have been doing more with less. At-home production offers customers the chance to deliver multi-camera live events from remote locations, leveraging their existing home studios. It eliminates the need to spend a fortune on production trucks, satellite uplink, wiring, man hours for set up/tear down, resource allocation and travel expenses. We’ve seen Quincy Media dramatically reduce the number of hours they spent planning for a single event from 80 to just a few by using LiveU’s At-Home Production Solution. They’ve been able to capture more content for their digital properties, including high school sports and local parades.
L2 Productions out of Austin, Texas has done over 100 at-home productions for university athletics for sports that would have never been covered otherwise due to the cost of production or bandwidth challenges. We’ll see more content creators embrace this avenue for cost-effective live productions in 2018.
For broadcasters, there is still a place for satellite in their productions. We’ve designed a hybrid solution that takes the best of both worlds (satellite connectivity and cellular bonding) and removes any bandwidth concern, simplifies the workflow and ends billing confusion for data. You won’t need to make a big commitment to satellite providers or schedule satellite time. We’ll streamline your satellite needs in one simple service plan.
TVT:What will be your most important product news?
COHEN: We’re introducing products that enable significant cost-savings for broadcasters in all areas—bandwidth, production, distribution and satellite.
TVT:How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?
COHEN: Stay tuned…
TVT:What is it about the NAB Show that brings you back every year?
COHEN: The NAB Show provides a great platform to introduce and demonstrate our latest and greatest products. The show gives us the opportunity to meet and bond with our customers and partners from around the world. We’re also looking forward to meeting potential new clients and building those relationships. The NAB Show is the convergence of amazing innovations, smart, innovative people and great keynotes and panels.
