The usage of mobile devices has exploded over the past ten years. At the same time TV remains incredibly popular and powers the largest content industry in the world. The holy grail of next generation connected devices is, quite naturally, to connect the first screen, the TV, with the second screen, the mobile. This paper from Accedo explores the prospect of integrated first and second screen experiences and the likely development over the coming years.
You are sitting there quietly watching your favorite show on TV when all of a sudden the commercial comes on – BAM, WAM, BUY, BUY… screams at you. The purpose of the commercial is to grab your attention in the few seconds of the spot. The recording engineers in the commercials production agency will turn up the sound levels into the red for maximum impact and effect to shake you out of your slumbers. However the effect can be to intensely annoy the viewer who reaches for the channel change, or worse calls the TV company to complain.
There is a rapid and profound technology shift in ENG. Wireless broadband service providers have become viable low-cost alternatives to conventional microwave in a large number of cases. BT Sport has launched what is claimed to be Europe’s first cellular newsgathering fleet with LiveU LU500 units and Xtender remote antennas even giving the service a new acronym of CNG. Meanwhile U.S. Spanish language broadcaster Noticias MundoFOX has based its entire ENG operation on LIVE+ 20/20 cellular-bonded transmitters from Dejero. “Budget is always a large consideration for a start-up news network,” explained Armando Acevedo, the network’s director of operations. “The ability to cover live, breaking news from the source is a critical differentiator but can also be a major expense area, especially if the station has to maintain costly satellite vehicles.”
The Situation. The age of loudness compliance is upon us, with governments around the world adopting variations of ITU-R BS.1770-3 standard for all terrestrial broadcast, cable television, direct-broadcast satellite and IPTV programs. What this means for the broadcast/content provider is that loudness compliance now has the force of law behind it, making accurate logging of all disseminated materials a necessity. The current ITU standard, 1770-3 (August 2012), builds upon 1770-1 (2006) and 1770-2 (March, 2011), which makes loudness compliance somewhat of a moving target, requiring specialized monitoring equipment that is software-based to accommodate standards updates. Local variations of ITU 1770 are found in the CALM Act in the U.S. with ATSC A/85:2013, the European EBU R128 standard, TR-B32 in Japan and the Australian PO-59, among many others coming online. For the broadcaster, monitoring the video and audio integrity of a signal as the final step before dissemination is no longer enough, necessitating installing a system that will provide both signal integrity and loudness compliance monitoring in one package.
We’ve all heard the phrase Disaster Recovery (DR), but what does it actually mean for broadcasters and content owners, and what constitutes a disaster? DR is a broad term that encompasses a range of scenarios, from catastrophic disaster (for instance, the complete destruction of a whole facility), to operational disaster such as a transmission server failing. The ideal strategy for rescuing a situation in the event of a disaster is the seamless continuity of business under all circumstances with no assets being lost.
The US has belatedly permitted six film companies to fly unmanned craft while the UK has dozens.
Satellite uplink facilities must deliver reliable, uninterrupted service continuity. Broadcasters derive revenue from advertisers that is dependent upon reliable distribution of content. Any interruption in the distribution process results in loss of revenue and market share. Therefore, facility designs include several layers of redundancy; including redundant satellites, backup sites, and backup hardware at each site.
TV 2 Norway airs the program Sommertid (Summer time)as a key part of the summer schedule. This live 1-hour program runs 4 days a week for 9 weeks during the summer months. Traditionally the TV 2 Sommertid program was shot on the roof of the TV 2 facility house. For 2014, TV 2 decided it would be more dramatic and exciting if the backdrop were the bustling Oslo harbour, marine docks and restaurant area of Oslo. To facilitate this, the production set is situated on a floating pier on which local and international talent are interviewed and interweaved with live musical segments.Normally this would necessitate using an OB truck. However, OB trucks are relatively expensive and the floating- pier location meant that the OB truck would have to be at least 300 meters from the cameras, adding a great deal of cabling leading to higher complexity and set-up and running costs. Norwia were able to provide a fiber solution to connect the remote at Oslo harbor with the studio 5km away at TV2 TV centre.
