Connected TV

As the TV viewing experience continues to shift towards multi-screen consumption, operators have the opportunity to create content specially designed for niche audiences. The OTT realm also includes challenges to be overcome, including video piracy. Shawn Liew reports.
TV Everywhere is now a reality, and operators need to look beyond their own services to comply with evolving consumer demand, says Dr Fleming Lampi, global product director at ACCESS Europe.

Speaking with APB, Dr Lampi cites the successful example of Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio), an Indian LTE mobile network and fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) operator that has seen its subscriber base growing to 100 million on the back of a new service launched earlier this year, and which combines access to multiple content sources and platforms.

Dr Lampi continues: “First and foremost, consumers want a seamless experience where various types of content and supporting apps live harmoniously within the same ecosystem. To respond to this new demand, Jio decided to offer consumers not only access to both its own branded catalogue, but also the user’s personal library stored in the cloud, and immediate access to social media platforms such as Dropbox and Google Drive.

“By using the Jio User Interface for all content sources, Jio is offering an answer to a crucial consumer challenge — remembering where and how to access a specific piece of content, and of course, with which password.”

What has been hindering traditional TV Everywhere developments, Dr Lampi suggests, is cost and its time-consuming nature due to the lack of interoperability between devices. Citing a Business Insider UK prediction that there will be 24 billion connected devices in the world by 2020, he adds that taking time to develop the “perfect app” for each platform is no longer an option.

Instead, operators can increase both flexibility and simplicity, as well as solve many technical challenges, by moving much of the service delivery into a cloud-based interface, which will enable them to serve users across a multitude of devices. “Unlike per device apps, a browser-based interface adhering to common standards such as HTML5 ensures compatibility across a wide footprint,” Dr Lampi explains. “This approach has enabled Jio to deliver a unified, readily accessible multi-screen service that works across many platforms — be it a set-top box, home gateway, HDMI dongle, Android or iOS smartphones and tablets, or Windows and Apple Mac computers.”

Online viewers today demand high-quality video streaming that operates seamlessly across devices, and which contributes to an out-of-the-box, high-quality experience, suggests Chris Wagner, EVP marketplace strategy, NeuLion, a digital video technology company.

And this may hold particularly true for live sports streaming, which is a growing and highly lucrative business. NeuLion, for instance, is powering the Sky Sports Box Office over-the-top (OTT) service and recently streamed live the highly anticipated fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor for several global rights holders, including UFC, Sky Sports, Sky New Zealand and Eleven Sports Network.
Wagner describes: “Being in a digitally connected world, viewers have access to multiple devices all day long, enabling them to no longer be confined to one area to watch content.

“NeuLion has been working with a number of big sports rights holders, such as Sky Sports, the NBA and others, to make their content readily available, both live and on-demand, and on all leading consumer devices — including Web, PC, tablets, mobile, gaming consoles, smart TVs, streaming devices, VR headsets and more — to increase consumer reach and accessibility.”

And to allow operators not only to reach the right audiences, but also to better monetise their content, NeuLion recently launched its OTT Dashboard 3, part of the NeuLion Digital Platform, and the NeuLion ACE Analytics solution.

With OTT Dashboard 3.0, the best quality video can be delivered to all viewers while driving revenue by showing NeuLion customers real-time dashboards of key performance indicators across users, content, apps, operations and detailed customer relationship management (CRM) data for each registered end-user. “The new UI widgets filter data into multiple scopes to create new correlations between different in-depth metrics,” says Wagner. “This can help traditional broadcasters get real-time metrics on viewing to drive programming decisions and marketing tactics to get and keep subscribers.”

He also points out that broadcasters need sharp insights and fast intelligence to stay competitive and grow their business in today’s data-driven world. NeuLion ACE Analytics is thus designed to provide the tools needed to leverage business intelligence and make decisions to drive growth, quality of service and quality of experience for OTT and TV Everywhere services.

“With NeuLion ACE Analytics, we can help broadcasters answer questions such as: What are my most effective and profitable marketing channels and campaigns? Who are my most valuable customers and how do I find more of them? Who is likely to cancel and how can we keep them?”

NeuLion also believes that 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) with high dynamic range (HDR) is ready for OTT delivery, and will help expand revenue for broadcasters and broadband providers. NeuLion, according to Wagner, delivers true 4K/UHD quality, at 60fps, to Internet-connected 4K/UHD HDR TVs, and which is enabled by the NeuLion CE software development kit (SDK), the company’s 4K/UHD streaming consumer electronics SDK.

For live sports viewing, in particular, 4K/UHD-quality video enhances the overall viewing experience, Wagner suggests. “We have been streaming UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) events in 4K/UHD under a transactional pay-per-view model. UFC in 4K/UHD gives MMA (mixed martial arts) fans access to every punch, kick and takedown with intense detail and stunning quality — making them feel like they are next to the action for the entire event.”

Essentially, it is all about the fan experience, he emphasises, and to provide fans with the option to watch content in both HD and 4K/UHD HDR. Constantly push the envelope with new technologies, new features and new services, Wagner advises.

Another key consideration for pay-OTT operators is security, ACCESS’ Dr Lampi highlights. Going back to the example of India, he notes how illegal redistribution of content in the country is costing the film industry more than US$3.34 billion and 60,000 jobs yearly.

A success story: Reliance Jio Infocomm, an Indian LTE mobile network and fibre-to-the-home operator, now has 100 million subscribers, as it continues to build on a new service launched earlier this year, which combines access to multiple content sources and platforms.

“Service providers already need to have end-to-end security in place to be able to discuss content rights and syndication tools,” Dr Lampi says. “In a multi-screen world, operators need to take a few technical questions into account, including the nature of the transport stream, codecs, resolutions, bitrates and end-to-end encryption. Using modern digital rights management (DRM) solutions that support multiple and interoperable DRM technologies provides the best value, and ensures the best level of content protection, irrespective of the content or device used to access it.”

Many broadcasters and content owners view Asia as the “most exciting prospect” for largely untapped OTT and video-on-demand (VoD) service revenue. Media analysis firm predicts OTT and video revenues for 17 leading countries in Asia to reach $18 billion by 2021, up from more than $5.5 billion in 2015, reports Chrys Poulain, sales director, NexGuard, a Kudelski Group company.

This growth, however, presents a double-edged sword, he cautions. “Video piracy is a common challenge in Asia, and the advent of OTT services delivered over IP is providing pirates with new potential avenues for illicit content redistribution.”

Poulain believes that when priced appropriately, OTT and VoD services are a more attractive and convenient alternative than pirated options. This is especially true for premium content such as live sports, where immediacy is a big part of the value chain. He continued: “Yet, content owners, including the major studios, are increasingly stipulating that these services must adhere to a higher level of conditional access (CA) and DRM to protect content, often as a mandatory condition before proceeding with licensing agreeements.

“Beyond these two security measures, the issue of live, high-quality content re-transmission is a major one that can only be tackled with the addition of more advocated security methods — like forensic watermarking.”

Forensic watermarking, Poulain explains, places a unique identifier within each copy of content. This “digital tattoo” can not only trace the original source of a pirated piece of content, but also be complemented with real-time anti-piracy services that can detect illegal online streaming services. This can then be brought forth to the Internet service provider to issue cease-and-desist notices to take down these illicit sites quickly.

He is also heartened that besides content owners and service providers, governments across Asia — most notably China — have launched a number of initiatives to better protect intellectual property for video content, and are educating consumers on the long-term harm inflicted by piracy on the wider industry and by extension, the content they will be able watch. “This is of particular concern in markets like India. The world’s largest production market is increasingly embracing OTT delivery in shorter windows just after the theatrical release, largely in an effort to thwart pirates,” Poulain says.

And while he acknowledges that video piracy may never truly be eradicated, it can be lessened through providing compelling and high value content services that offer a better consumer experience.

He concludes: “Technologies such as CA, DRM and forensic water¬marking are vital tools for content owners and service providers who fight content theft. This, in turn, will help studios deliver high value content for service providers in Asia, and ultimately deliver richer and more compelling services to consumers.”

This article was originally published in Asia Pacific Broadcasting on November 20, 2017

At IBC 2017, multiscreen and TV Everywhere were some of the most talked about topics, although most companies in the industry are still looking for ways to address fast evolving consumer demand for content everywhere, at all times and on all platforms.

Since then, it’s become increasingly clear the industry needs to welcoming a new era of multiscreen that blurs the lines between the operator’s content catalogue, the subscriber’s personal library and external User Generated Content hosted on social media and YouTube. This is part of the reason we left the Content Innovation Awards ceremony on October 15 with ‘The Multiscreen Award’ – exactly one month after we brought home a CSI award for ‘Best TV Everywhere or multi-screen video’ for the deployment of ACCESS Twine™ for Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio)’s Jio Lifestyle service.

What is so different about this deployment, compared to all the multiscreen services out there?
Traditionally, multiscreen services have been confined to the operator’s own content. This results in end users having to remember which content to access from each service and device that they use to watch video. This fragmented experience is no longer valid as consumers expect easy access to all content everywhere and at all times – instead, operators today need to offer a one-stop solution for content consumption.

In addition, the mobile device is now the first screen for many consumers in the world. If we look specifically at India, the world’s second biggest smartphone country with 220 million users and 75% of Internet browsing carried out via mobile devices, broadcasters and content owners would struggle to enter the market via the big screen. While India is one of the world’ biggest – and mainly untapped – market, this move towards more mobile-friendly services is also present in the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

However, the operator headache doesn’t end with devices: consumers also want to be able to store and share their personal content with friends and family. To date, the challenge of meeting this consumer demand has been considered too complex to solve due the plethora of content sources vying for the consumer’s attention and a lack of robust methods to ensure seamless remote access to content.

Jio proved that these challenges could be overcome by providing its 100 million (and counting!) subscribers with a single sign-on to access premium content, store and share personal content and external sources such as YouTube, Dropbox and social media platforms. To do so, the operator used our ACCESS Twine™ 360° smart media platform for operators and content owners.

Through ACCESS Twine™, consumers can access the operator’s and personal content from set-top boxes, Android, iOS, Mac and Windows-powered devices both in-home and remotely out of the home. This is complemented by providing access to external sources such as Dropbox, Google Drive, YouTube, and social media platforms via the Jio User Interface. This way, subscribers experience a single user interface catering for all their needs.

Using the single service approach provided by ACCESS Twine™, operators such as Jio can also better understand the end-user needs and habits through a number of modules, including:

• Remote Access to content at home
• Aggregated content and search
• “Follow-me” functionality, enabling consumers to continue watching from where they left off on another device.

By launching a single service that provides access for all media consumption to its subscribers managed by ACCESS Twine™, Jio has demonstrated that there are easy, robust ways to combine a branded content catalogue with the consumer’s personal content stored in the cloud and external sources – without ever risking losing eyeballs to the competition.

Jio is a first mover in an emerging market. However, operators in mature, highly sophisticated regions can also take note of this creative approach to multiscreen to develop the next generation of multiscreen services. In the future, content, devices and sources will all be merged for the consumer – creating an opportunity for operators to regain the viewer’s undivided attention and trust.

Soon, even more devices will enter the multiscreen mix – from the connected car to IoT enabled screens – and operators need to get ready for this evolution. Winning the Content Innovation and CSI awards enables us to show that there is more to multiscreen than simply enabling media sharing between devices. As we prepare for a more integrated future, we are proud to show the way to the next stop in the multiscreen journey to the industry.

The open source movement has radically transformed software development – and has had a global impact across all business sectors, including the media and entertainment industry. The ability to access a vast array of software modules and the underlying source code has enabled software developers to utilise common functionality, and focus on innovation and value added services. Today, most embedded platforms are developed using Linux, an open source operating system and compiled using the open source gcc compiler. Open communications protocols such as a TCP and IP power the Internet, and OpenSSL is another open source technology widely used to provide security.

Yet, where open source undoubtedly provides increased potential for innovation, there are a number of pitfalls that engineering teams and operators need to recognise to ensure that short-term benefits of open source don’t turn into long-term problems. The fundamental expected benefit of access to an essentially free code base is dramatically reduced costs in terms of software development cycles, due to software reuse. However, the flip side is that highly skilled developers, with a wide knowledge of the adopted modules, are required to build successfully deployable solutions. These are an expensive commodity – and if outsourced, then knowledge can easily be lost. After initial development, a major underestimation can be the cost of maintenance, such as ensuring that the software remains functional for the product lifetime as new standards are required, security patches are released, underlying APIs change and new features are added to essential modules. This requires a long-term commitment to the software lifecycle.

Another challenge revolves around integration, code testing and documentation. In the highly diverse modern environment, ensuring that the application developed works across multiple target devices and operating systems is a major endeavour. This requires an additional ongoing commitment to testing, and well-defined and executed QA processes. Validating managed set-top boxes is no longer sufficient, with consumer devices such as smart TVs and media players for OTT services now in the mix. Adding the iOS and Android ecosystems for value added second screen services; the number of operating systems versions and potentially sub branches can easily run into the hundreds of combinations. The ability to test all these groups requires a significant investment.

Yet these challenges are not insurmountable. Adhering to standards and working with experts around field proven foundational elements can help reduce the burden. This is an area that organisations such as DTVKit, a UK based not-for-profit organisation that is collaborating across the consumer electronics industry, can help service creators and consumer electronics manufacturers to deliver production-ready DVB software, which is continually developed to meet evolving standards and enhance features. DTVKit provides an innovative, shared source approach enabling it to continue to evolve the software solution with partners, while still providing open access to source code to enable custom modifications. With the addition of technologies such as ACCESS Twine™ for media redistribution, remote access and IoT services, and the ACCESS NetFront™ Browser family for portable UI development based on HTML5, HbbTV 1.5, HbbTV 2.0.1, BML and/or Hybridcast, developers can deploy compatible solutions across Linux, iOS and Android environments. Utilising a commercial partner for fundamental building blocks ensures that, as the target platform and software environments evolve, the key technology components are updated, enabling operators and service developers to focus on the key value for their customers – the video service.

This approach of combining standards, deployed technology, deep industry expertise and leveraging open source where appropriate allows developers to benefit from the stability of a code base that has been tested for interoperability, whilst still enabling service innovation and certification. Operators also benefit from the ability to reduce costs for commodity components and increase flexibility through the benefits of open source, with the reassurance that key elements adhere to industry standards and are backed by expertise, new feature development, ongoing updates such as security features, and bug fixes.

The market trend towards more hybrid services that mix over-the-air linear and IP based streaming, plus value added on-demand services, shows no sign of slowing down. The industry needs reliable broadcast focused technologies blended with browser based application environments for service creation to ensure operating system neutrality and the greatest cross platform compatibility. Similarly, as consumers widely adopt second-screen devices to enhance their viewing, operators need a proven and open method to continue to innovate and create services for the upcoming IoT enabled, Content Everywhere era.

This year’s IBC Show clearly demonstrated the critical need to securely integrate IoT with the broadcast world: from the IoT solution and chipset combinations, to fitting multiple services together for efficiency purposes − everyone needs to have IoT integrated with their broadcast stack and do it without compromising the consumer experience.

In the multiscreen world, integration means combining a variety of platforms, ensuring better delivery across multiple devices and securing it all to comply with the studios’ requirement for content protection.

This notion of ‘bringing it all together’ is fantastic for us as two years ago we innovatively launched ACCESS Twine™ as a multiscreen management platform. Since then, the market has evolved and our platform has expanded to become a 360° smart media platform for operators and content owners. This means that customers and consumers powered by our platform are now able to process content across even more devices – from the living room to the connected car and the Internet of Things – while collating multiple content sources together.

Our deployment for Reliance Jio Infocomm’s multiscreen serice, which targets 100 million consumers across India is an exciting proof point for this concept. A truly groundbreaking development, the service was recognised through us winning the ‘Best TV Everywhere or multi-screen video’ at this year’s CSI Awards, which took place on September 15.

As strong believers in the importance of sharing knowledge and insight, we also took part in the “Service design considerations for the multi-screen OTT world” panel discussion in the Content Everywhere Hub on September 17. If you missed the session, it is available to watch on VOD by following this link.

Finally, we would like to thank our partners for enabling us to make the show such a success. We have expanded on our partnerships through:

• The start of our relationship with DTVKit to reduce development time with pre-integrated Chromium browsers and DVB components for HbbTV and HTML5 connected applications
• A new white paper entitled “Multiscreen in 2017: delivering best-in-class experiences across all devices”, which is downloadable from our website, and includes insight from Verimatrix
• A stronger partnership with Zenterio to offer turnkey multiscreen solutions to tier 1 operators in Europe such as Deutsche Telekom, Hrvatski Telekom, OTE Group and M7 Group.

As the convergence between the media, automotive and IoT industries accelerates and becomes more tangible, we look forward to our products and solutions acting as a connectivity hub increasing consumer usability and operator profitability.