Thanks to Over-the-Top (OTT) streaming video, content owners and broadcasters have a very different relationship with the end consumer – often a direct one.
More broadcasters are seeing the benefits of moving their operations to the cloud, especially as we are becoming more reliant on remote working. But the transition isn’t necessarily a linear move and hybrid working practices help us balance the unique requirements of large media files and the flexibility cloud systems offer.
Broadcasters and video service providers have become ever more attractive targets of credential stuffing attacks for cyber criminals seeking both content and subscribers’ personal details.
IP and COTS infrastructure designs are giving us the opportunity to think about broadcast systems in an entirely different manner. Although broadcast engineers have been designing studio facilities to be flexible from the earliest days of television, the addition of IP and COTS takes this to a new level allowing us to continually reallocate infrastructure components to make the best use of expensive resource.
Whenever I’m asked about my opinion on the transition to IP, I always state that the impact can’t be appreciated until its history is understood. This brings into context the need for broadcasters to educate and surround themselves with those who have in depth knowledge and understanding of the subject.
What has changed the most over the course of broadcast TV technical history is the price of admission, the elimination of generation loss, HD and IP.
“We’re productizing a transformation, not a transition.” Mark Aitken, President of Sinclair’s One Media.
Cloud computing is helping a myriad of professional organizations expand their reach and implement new types of IP workflows that were not possible previously. It has also allowed media companies to work virtually anywhere.
