In Broadcast - September 2015 - 56


56

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 9 | September 2015

InMedia

BBV First To Sign On To ABOX42
Powered IPTV Multiscreen Service
O

nly weeks after DNMG confirmed
cooperation
with
ABOX42
and Zattoo for a white label IPTV
multiscreen service for its members,
German broadband provider BBV
has signed to become the service's
first adopter. BBV's new multiscreen
offering will go live this autumn.
DNMG's new IPTV white label
solution is a collaboration between
set-top box experts ABOX42 and IPTV
white label solution provider Zattoo.

ABOX42's M20-Series SmartSTB set
top boxes provide the first screen
experience for the new platform,
with Zattoo enabling first and second
screen functionality. The new white
label IPTV multiscreen platform is a
full-service solution for members of
DNMG wanting to quickly and easily
deploy an IPTV-enabled cable TV
offering.
Oliver Soellner, ABOX42's VP
Business Development & Sales,
described
why
the
service is unique in
the industry: "When
most
operators
move into IPTV,
there are normally
a couple of different

ABOX42
BBV display

stakeholders involved - providers for
the middleware, the headend system,
transcoding, DRM, playout to set top
boxes. It ends up being a complex
project with 12 months development
time or more, and a lot of cost and
frustration."
"With our new white label IPTV
solution, we take all that away.
The customer can roll out a
customised IPTV service within one
quarter, because it's an already
existing platform with the essential
ingredients fully operated by ABOX42
and Zattoo. There's no hardware
investment for the IPTV solution
itself, no maintenance and no major
development required from the
operator side".
"The only thing the customer needs
to do is roll out the set top boxes and
do the marketing for the service and
the billing."
Frank Bonnemeier, Business Director
of BBV Deutschland GmbH said:
"After searching the market for
over a year, we were delighted

at the launch of DNMG's fully hosted
and managed IPTV solution. ABOX42's
set top box technology and Zattoo's
second screen technology combine
to create a first and second screen
solution which is not only hassle free in
terms of set up, project management
and in-live operation, but also leading
edge, with a rich feature set, futureproof software architecture and a
price-performance that allows us to
pay as we grow."
The new IPTV platform is positioned
primarily for tier two or tier three
operators, especially those wanting
to quickly deploy an IPTV offering
with modern features (e,g. Live
TV, nPVR, VoD, HbbTV and other
services). At a time when innovation
and new features are arriving faster
than anyone can keep up with them,
operators are increasingly phobic
about committing to investment
intensive projects. BBV's fast adoption
of the service suggests that the DNMG
platform has come to market at just
the right time.

Cobalt Digital And Nexstar
Broadcasting Develop +TTS Software
C

obalt Digital has collaborated with
Nexstar Broadcasting Group to
produce an innovative software solution
with text-to-speech capabilities to
serve the needs of visually impaired
people in communities throughout the
US.
The
customised
text-to-speech
software, +TTS, is compatible with
many openGear® cards and BBG1000 standalone units. Customers
may purchase an optional software
license for the cards to help ensure
compliance with FCC requirements,
and
the
Twenty-First
Century
Communications
and
Video
Accessibility Act (21CCVA).
Cobalt Digital's Executive Vice
President of Sales and Marketing,
Bob McAlpine, said: "Nexstar owns,
operates, or otherwise serves 107
local TV stations in 58 markets across
the country, and is well-known for
an organisation-wide commitment to

broadcasting excellence.
"As an early adopter of checks
and balances to ensure 21CCVA
compliance, Nexstar has an intimate
understanding of what broadcasters
need to best serve the blind and lowvision community. Their direction
was invaluable in helping us create
text-to-speech software with the right
functionality for the job.
"Now our customers will be able to
start implementing text-to-speech
into their workflows so they can better
serve their local audiences and meet
the upcoming deadline of the FCC
mandate on November 30."
+TTS is a complete, 21CVAAcompliant text-to-speech generation/
audio insertion solution for embedded
or discrete audio systems. The
software monitors network and local
watch folders for new text files (plain
text, xml, ascii, or html), converts the
text to realistic human-voice audio,

and inserts it into user-configured
audio channels (typically an SAP
channel pair intended for playout).
These text files are generated from
existing graphics hardware that
provides the visual text crawl on the
lower third of a television broadcast.
+TTS allows the organisation to
prioritise alerts (for example, severe
weather alerts taking precedence over
school closings) and is designed to be
independent of a station's graphics
engine or engines. Alert tones are put
in on the main programme channel
to alert the visually impaired that
emergency content is about to occur
on the SAP channel.
Alerts can be played a configurable
number of times, and alerts with
higher priority can interrupt current
lists for breaking news. After the
interrupt message is broadcast, +TTS
automatically reverts to normal audio
programming. Compatible Cobalt

cards and modules provide keyed text
scrolls for added synergy when used in
conjunction with optional +KEYER.
+TTS comes with a built-in, userdefinable dictionary to substitute plain
phonetic spelling for hard-to-decipher
words and proper noun phonetic
emphasis.
An English-language speech engine
is standard, with advanced engines
available as expansion options. Cobalt
will use Acapela text-to-speech voice
synthesis modules from Acapela Group
to provide the highest-quality voices.
The +TTS software is available for
many Cobalt card models that use the
20-slot openGear frame architecture.
Existing openGear users can easily
incorporate the software in the field by
installing a microSD card.

The +TSS voice
synthesis modules
are from Acapela
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.abox42.com/ http://www.acapela-group.com/
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