Exclusives

Networking and connected cloud services provider Sohonet used the IBC Show to debut the latest release of its real-time remote collaboration tool ClearView Flex Go, with a new pay-as-you-go pricing model, available beginning in October.

ClearView Flex Go will be offered as a Weekly Plus version for $750 per week, and will allow for up to five simultaneous viewers in any streaming session with top-bitrate video, while the Weekly version will sell for $300 per week and will include medium quality bitrate for two viewers per session.

“The ClearView product suite has been changing the way movies, TV and commercials are made,” said Sohonet CEO Chuck Parker. “Directors, producers and executives can now review and approve real-time video streams from any location or edit suite to help speed up the production workflow.

“Due to the unpredictable, project-based nature of much of their work, many of our customers want to pay for what they use and match their cost cycles with their revenue cycles. Incorporating a pay-as-you-go pricing model into ClearView Flex is going to meet these unique requirements of our customers.”

Also at IBC:

Ooyala

Ooyala announced a new partnership with VOD services firm ODMedia Group, integrating ODMedia’s video localization and delivery capabilities with Ooyala’s video production, management, distribution and monetization services. The combined offering will power a one-stop solution for getting content onto services like Netflix and Amazon, while also meeting all regional requirements.

“Increasingly, content owners and distributors are targeting global audiences, but there are significant costs involved in ensuring the right format requirements are met,” said Jonathan Huberman, CEO of Ooyala. “Through this new partnership, we’re able to provide a best-of-breed solution for delivering content to today’s top platforms, everywhere in the world. This means getting content to market faster, and at a lower cost – unlocking opportunities for content owners in every region.”

ODMedia is also deploying the Ooyala Flex Media Platform, in order to streamline time and resource consuming workflow processes.

“Delivering video to a global audience is often easier said than done. It can add a lot of manual processes, time and costs to a project,” said Sjef Pijnenburg with ODMedia Group. “Partnering with Ooyala – and leveraging their expertise – has significantly added to our capabilities, allowing us to better serve the demands of media companies seeking to grow and improve their operations.”

IYUNO Media Group

MSX — a new, cloud-based software platform for the localization industry — will be demonstrated by IYUNO Media Group at the IBC Show, with the company touting the service as a true end-to-end solution.

MSX’s customizable modules will allow clients to streamline workflows while also effectively managing resources. MSX enables localization service providers, freelancers, content owners, platforms, channels, and influencers to increase quality, productivity, and efficiency.

MSX allows clients to:
• Visualize the whole localization process at a glance;
• Customize and automate your individual workflows;
• Find new vendors that meet your pricing and service needs;
• Automatically conform localized assets against alternate versions;
• Automate requests for quotations;
• Track rate cards and transactional history;
• Automate purchase orders and invoice processing;
• Archive localized assets, proxy videos, and metadata;
• Streamline digital screening for content purchasers or QC purposes;
• And perform analytics.

MSX integrates a Neural Machine Translation (NMT) engine into its end-to-end platform, allowing for the unique creative and technical translation requirements of subtitling and dubbing, by utilizing collective intelligence to gather the necessary data accumulated through IYUNO’s years of experience in translation, the company said.

“We invite you to explore MSX and join us in collectively building a new world of possibilities for localization,” said David Lee, CEO and founder of IYUNO. IYUNO is located at booth No. C-70 in Hall 5 at IBC 2018.

Dolby

Dolby announced during IBC that it is working with Tencent to deliver the world’s first live event streamed in Dolby Vision. The 2018 Super Penguin Ultimate Game will be streamed live in Dolby Vision HDR on Sept. 15 via Tencent Video, accessible to Tencent Video Super VIP users in China with select Dolby Vision-enabled TVs.

The 2018 Super Penguin Ultimate Game is Tencent’s third annual celebrity basketball game, and will feature former NBA players Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh along with seventeen of China’s top celebrities and two Chinese professional basketball players.

“Tencent Video is transforming the way consumers enjoy live entertainment by bringing Dolby Vision to their live streaming service,” said Giles Baker, SVP of Dolby’s consumer entertainment group. “With Dolby Vision, basketball fans watching Tencent’s Super Penguin Ultimate Game will feel as if they are sitting courtside as they watch the two teams face off from the comfort of their home.”

Billion Zhao, GM of Tencent Video’s OTT department, added: “Tencent strives to continuously enhance the viewing experiences of our customers, which is why we decided to partner with Dolby. We chose to deliver this year’s Super Penguin Ultimate Game in Dolby Vision to bring viewers closer to the action than ever before.”

NAGRA

Content protection and multiscreen TV solutions provider NAGRA announced that its Conax Contego content protection offering is being used by Cignal TV, the No. 1 pay-TV provider in the Philippines, which has reached two million subscribers.

“A pay-TV service can only be successful if its content assets are secure,” said Jane Basas, CEO of Cignal TV. “When we first launched our new platform, we chose Conax technologies because we were confident they would deliver – and they did not disappoint. Now, just two years later, we have reached the two million subscriber mark, and could not be more excited for what’s to come. We wish to thank the Conax and now NAGRA teams for their ongoing support and commitment to our growth and success.”

Stéphane Le Dréau, SVP of APAC sales for NAGRA, added: “We congratulate Cignal TV in reaching a significant milestone and one that demonstrates the growing popularity of its service and content with viewers in the Philippines. We are also proud to be the content security provider for those services and ensure the continued integrity and growth of the Cignal TV service for years to come.”

NAGRA also used the IBC Show to announce comprehensive support for Android TV with an end-to-end content value protection ecosystem, a move that follows successful Android TV deployments with Euskaltel in Spain, Canal Digital in Norway, Linknet in Indonesia and SkyLife in Korea.

“We have deployed secure Android multiscreen solutions for several years. NAGRA Connect’s unique capability to elegantly and pragmatically adapt to the device security infrastructure makes it a natural fit for the inherently diverse Android device ecosystem,” said Maurice Van Riek, SVP of content and asset security for NAGRA. “Today, service providers planning an Android TV deployment can leverage NAGRA’s complete, end-to-end ecosystem to guard against any type of threat and vulnerability.”

TiVo

TiVo announced at IBC that Com Hem Group selected TiVo’s Personalized Content Discovery Platform in order to deliver personalized content experiences to its subscribers. Com Hem — which offers broadband, TV and telephony services to 1.45 million customers in Sweden — has deployed the Personalized Content Discovery Platform on both TV and mobile platforms, including both Android and Apple iOS.

“We are pleased to expand our long-term relationship with Com Hem to further provide their customers with a personalized, feature-rich entertainment experience they can enjoy across all their devices,” said Walt Horstman, SVP and GM of advanced media and advertising for TiVo. “With a solution like TiVo’s Personalized Content Discovery Platform, Com Hem is augmenting its service offerings while outpacing the competition in an ever-evolving entertainment landscape.”

Additionally, TiVo Insight will Com Hem to optimize content discovery, target promotions and monitor audience engagement through the analysis of actual viewer behavior, the companies announced.

Irdeto

Digital platform security firm Irdeto announced that it’s adding geodiversity into its multi-DRM and policy management solution for OTT services, Irdeto Rights. The cloud-based managed service will now allow for a single deployment to serve licenses from multiple regions.

Irdeto Rights with geodiversity will simplify management and operation of global OTT services and ensure maximum availability and minimum latencies to all viewers, even if a region experiences an outage, the company said as part of the announcement.

“As consumer demand shifts firmly towards OTT, service providers must adapt their model and grow their global OTT offering accordingly,” said Andrew Bunten, SVP of content protection for Irdeto. “The key to global success is a consistently great experience, no matter where your customers are, and a cost-effective expansion of services. With the addition of geodiversity to the already comprehensive Irdeto Rights solution we will enable OTT service providers to successfully cross global barriers and continue to be competitive in this challenging market.”