In Broadcast - December 2020 - 24

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 10 - Issue 12 | InReview 2020

InMedia

Forecasting 2021:
Data Analytics, Security,
Video Platforms, Delivery
Contributing Editor Adrian Pennington reflects on a year of unprecedented change during which
the word unprecedented was used an unprecedented number of times - the media industry
experienced futureshock. With a rocket put under the heels of organizations previously reluctant
to commit to cloud, the reverberations will continue into 2021 and beyond. Here industry leaders
assess the impact of cloud and what technology strategies CTOs should pursue in the new year...
Hiroshi Kajita,
Head of Media Solutions,
Sony Professional Solutions Europe
" In 2020, we saw a number of media
organisations implementing global
production platforms with proxy
workflows and cloud editing tools
in order to establish collaborative
production for creative teams forced
to work remotely from different
locations e.g. Reuters who selected
Sony's media backbone HIVE platform
to digitise their production facilities.
Broadcasters that have adopted
this technology, are already thinking
ahead about how they can use them
creatively. One huge benefit for media
organisations is being able to work
with very best talent to collaborate
on projects quickly and easily, no
matter their location. As such in 2021,
media organisations will continue
to investigate which parts of their
content supply chains should run
" on-premises " , on a private cloud
or in the public cloud. In addition to
this, they will be looking at when they
need to move each part of the chain
to the cloud to gain further benefits
through the application of AI and data
analytics.
The increase of data and its

transmission will also mean that
security will become a big focus for the
industry, especially when it comes to
IP and cloud-based workflows. Industry
players will turn to solutions that are
built with solid security credentials like
Sony Ci platform. "
Geoff Stedman,
Enterprise Media Strategist,
AWS Elemental
" Cloud broadcasters will take
advantage of cloud-based high quality
transport services to simplify point-topoint live video distribution while both
dramatically lowering their distribution
costs and increasing flexibility to build
distribution workflows in minutes. The
reliable, secure transport of live video
from ground-to-cloud and from cloudto-ground will enable broadcasters
to eliminate costly on-premises
infrastructure and move the majority
of the applications for an end-to-end
media workflow to the cloud, from
ingest and production to playout and
distribution.
As existing workflows move to
the cloud in 2021, we will also see
entirely new forms of personalised
content, ranging from sophisticated
personalized advertising to more

complex personalised linear channels,
all enabled by the flexibility and
agility that cloud-based workflows can
deliver. "
Stuart Boorn,
VP Product Management,
MediaKind
" OTT and streaming services have
been the winners of 2020, having
enjoyed a considerable uptake in
consumer demand. While this trend
was already in motion before the
pandemic and consequential shelterin-place orders, it has undoubtedly
been ignited by consumers looking to
fill additional free time for news and
entertainment streaming. As a result,
operators now realize their needs are
evolving.
We are now seeing operators
increasingly
embrace
streaming
technology as part of their core
business model, either by deploying
their own streaming services or
partnering with existing streaming
platforms to create a converged
offering.
They
recognise
and
understand the value of the streaming
model. This has led to a fundamental
shift in the streaming landscape
and has inspired an evolution in

media business models and market
strategies.
We expect a wholesale shift to
streaming as a means of offsetting
the impact of cord-cutting, as well
as a way of introducing unique and
compelling content to consumers
under one aggregated platform.
This investment will ultimately help
operators diversify their offerings,
deliver modern TV services, and open
up new monetisation routes. "
Peter Docherty,
Founder and CTO,
ThinkAnalytics
" We will see service providers
start to broaden their capabilities
to help consumers discover assets
such as podcasts, games, books and
related merchandising using a single
platform. This opens up new revenue
opportunities as operators start
merchandising these and cross-selling,
for example recommending tickets
to concerts or fairs based on the TV
shows viewers watch and the games
they play.
After a slow burn, the various
addressable advertising roadblocks
- ad insertion, dynamic pricing and
bidding systems - are all falling

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