Exclusives

IBC 2017: MESA Members Bring Content Protection, Workflow Solutions

(This is the second of two stories previewing what MESA’s members are up to at this month’s IBC conference)

The U.S. may have CES and the NAB Show, but on the international stage the annual IBC conference has established itself as a must-attend event for those in the media, entertainment and technology space.

A record 55,000-plus attendees and 1,700-plus exhibitors attended IBC in 2016, and those marks should be surpassed during the 2017 installment, running Sept. 14-18 in Amsterdam. More than 30 members of the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) will be sharing their products, services and technologies at IBC.

Here’s a look at what some of them have planned for the show:

Mediamorph

Mediamorph (booth 1.B79) is marking a decade in the business, and will show off its newest product set. Mediamorph’s software suite now includes solutions supporting the content value chain between the world’s leading entertainment companies. VOD orchestration streamlines the flow of information and content workflows to help companies drive value from their content.

NeuLion

At IBC 2017, NeuLion will feature its award winning, complete end-to-end video solution, the NeuLion Digital Platform, highlighting its key components and features, as well as showcasing live OTT services with major sports and entertainment companies around the world. The NeuLion Digital Platform simplifies the digital video workflow, proving content owners all the tools needed to launch compelling OTT services quickly and easily, with less complexity and costs. The NeuLion Booth will be in Hall 14 F34.

NexGuard

NexGuard (booth 1.C81) will show off its Network ID product, launched as a technology partnership with Ericsson, at IBC. NexGuard’s Network ID solution inserts a unique invisible and robust forensic watermark in primary distribution feeds for linear TV, be it satellite or fiber. The watermark provides clear evidence of the distribution path to determine the source of illegally distributed signals (e.g. for live sports broadcasts). This allows the content owner to focus their anti-piracy efforts on the sources of significant piracy. The Network ID watermark also serves as proof of ownership to enable the take down of pirated streams (e.g. from social media).

Ooyala

Ooyala (booth 1.C81) will share off its solutions in delivering completely integrated video platform solutions that let companies bring all their live and on-demand content to market faster and more profitably. Ooyala Flex, the company’s media logistics solution, manages video workflows, assets and metadata with a single unified platform.

Prime Focus

Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the technology arm of Prime Focus, will unveil a host of upgrades to its flagship product, CLEAR Media ERP Suite, at IBC 2017. CLEAR now offers a brand new functionality for end-to-end Work Order Management, pre-integrated with its Media Asset Management (MAM), Workflow Engine and Video Tools.

“To lead in the industry, broadcasters and studios have to move beyond managing just content and focus on successfully running the business of content by harnessing the power of enterprise software and innovative technology,” said Ramki Sankaranarayanan, Founder and CEO, Prime Focus Technologies. “With Work Order Management, CLEAR as a one-of-a-kind technology has become even more powerful than before. For the first time ever, M&E organizations can have both assets and work related details for the entire supply chain on ONE system. This will usher in extreme transparency across the content lifecycle, and reduce manual effort drastically to help M&E enterprises lower their Total Cost of Operations.”

Prime Focus Technologies with be at booth 7.B12.

Qumulo

Modern scale-out storage firm Qumulo (booths 14.N24, 14.P24) will share how it’s empowering content creators to accelerate the delivery of their digital assets. Qumulo Core is software-defined and provides customers flexibility to deploy on-premises or in the public cloud. Qumulo delivers visibility into data at a petabyte scale.

Signiant

Signiant will use IBC 2017 to expand its leadership position in enterprise-class, accelerated file transfer with new capabilities for its flagship offering, Manager+Agents. New for the show, is the ability to extend Manager+Agents workflows to users of Signiant Media Shuttle, its widely-deployed cloud-native SaaS offering.

Signiant will also showcase the company’s newly patented, standards-based transport architecture for Flight, a cloud-native, auto-scaling cloud upload utility.

Sony DADC NMS

Sony DADC NMS will be hosting private demos from its boat docked outside the RAI conference center as well as showcasing within the AWS/Elemental booth on the show floor Hall 5 C.80. The company has just collaborated with a European publication, Digital TV Europe, to produce an industry report that looks at how the industry is embracing the cloud to aid and accelerate their video content management, processing and distribution.

Source Digital

At IBC Source Digital has been selected to participate in the IBC 2017 Startup Forum. In this new addition to IBC, the Startup Forum event will bring together digital media startups with 400-plus media executives, investors and press from 20+ countries. As part of its participation, Source Digital will present how its SourceSync.io platform enables viewers to intuitively and instantly discover and access related experiences while viewing programming on any device – smart phone, tablet, computer and traditional TV.

“Following a stellar exhibition at NAB 2017, Source Digital has experienced tremendous recognition and growth through collaboration with companies focused on new forms of content monetization in North America,” says Hank Frecon, CEO, Source Digital. “The opportunity to participate in this international event will allow us to gain additional exposure to help us shift that momentum into a more global marketplace, continuing to demonstrate change in the way brands and content can engage their consumers by leveraging everyday behavioral trends.”

Tata Communications

At booth 15.MS15, Tata will share how its tier 1 content delivery network features integrated DDoS detection and mitigation to ensure fast content delivery even during large DDoS attacks — cutting page load times, eliminating video buffering, and delivering HD live streams worldwide.

Technicolor

Techicolor (booths 15.MS5, 15.MS7) will share some of its latest filmmakera and production company stories, across film, advertising and gaming, with the latest VR/AR and 360-video experiences on hand.

TiVo

TiVo (booth 5.A31) ahead of IBC released findings from its 2017 survey of pay TV and over-the-top (OTT) service subscribers across the U.S., Europe and Latin America. The multi-country study, which revealed that respondents watch a global average of 4.4 hours of video content each day, is part of TiVo’s ongoing exploration into viewer engagement with the content, services and devices that shape the evolving consumer entertainment experience.

“As new, shiny OTT services and streaming devices continue to proliferate in the market and compete for consumer attention, there is considerable risk that younger generations may come to view pay TV as an antiquated service that doesn’t play a role in their daily lives,” said Paul Stathacopoulos, vice president of Strategy and Research, TiVo. “Service providers must focus on delivering entertainment experiences that are compelling to a highly segmented viewer composition. By staying ahead of the curve through technology innovation, providers can retain longer-term subscribers, while attracting young consumers by adapting the TV experience to include a wide array of internet video services and viewing devices.”

Verizon Digital Media Services

VDMS (booth 7.C11) will share the latest with its end-to-end digital media platform, which helps content companies prepare, deliver, display and monetize content for OTT and TV Everywhere distribution. The platform touts high-quality content and advertising experiences on any device, anytime, anywhere, featuring comprehensive monitoring and compliance capabilities, along with intelligent video workflows.

Vistex

Vistex will be using IBC to spotlight its rights management and royalty software solutions to the media and broadcasting industries, with an emphasis on CP Rights (software for film and TV). Vistex works with music, film and TV companies to handle the challenges of managing rights and monetize whatever assets they have. Media Maestro software now features a new web avails tool, which provides real-time visibility into all available rights and enables companies to know what they have to broadcast or exploit at any time, any place, and from any device. The broadcasting marketplace has changed so dramatically in the last few years that tools such as Web Avails have become an essential part of any company’s requirements.

ZOO Digital

At IBC ZOO Digital will launch its cloud-based scripting service for TV and movie content at, offering up a new service that creates scripts that can be repurposed efficiently, ultimately accelerating the localization process.

The service is powered by ZOOscripts, the company’s own cloud-based scripting software. ZOO has developed the platform to address the challenges faced by content owners and distributors with the traditional localization process. This includes the pressures caused by shrinking release windows for the launch of new movies and TV shows.

ZOO Digital will also launch the entertainment industry’s first cloud-based dubbing platform to a European audience at IBC 2017. ZOOdubs, which powers ZOO’s own dubbing service, is set to radically improve how the process is managed for TV and movie content owners. Dubbed audio is essential to extend the global reach of entertainment content and to fulfil consumer expectations in certain territories. However, until now the dubbing process has been prone to error, offered content owners little visibility of the workflow and engaged a limited pool of voice talent.

ZOO Digital will be at booth 5.B48.