Video: Ad-Supported Streaming Takes Over?


FAST, SVOD and AVOD are all different ways to bring programming to viewers with different costs to the viewer. All delivered over the internet, FAST is a service that unites live, linear TV with a VOD service whereas AVOD only has video on demand. Both FAST and AVOD are free to watch thanks to adverts whereas SVOD is usually advert-free as this is subscriber VOD where you pay monthly. This video from Streaming Media discusses the rise of FAST and its importance in the market.

‘Is niche content key?’ askes moderator Chris Pfaff to Damian Pelliccione from Revry. Damian distances his service from niche as it serves the over 5% of the US population who identify as LGBTQ+ or similar, Despite not being niche, in common with niche channels, Revry’s content is not typically provided by the mainstream and has a very deep meaning to those watching. because they are working with an underserved demographic, they feel FAST is much more appropriate than SVOD as equal access is important. However, Damian is at pains to point out that, in reality, the service is a ‘tribrid’ of FAST, AVOD and SVOD. Revry’s marketing has moved to buying hero units to position itself on smart TVs and STBs in pole position and also aligning its brand outside of the streaming market such as associating with pride festivals. One advantage of FAST is the cost of user is far lower than SVOD which can be in the realms of $9 per user.

 

 

One of the motivators for Sony to start its BRAVIA brand of smart TVs was, Nick Colsey explains, to enable people to access niche streaming services to supplement the mainstream linear channels. This was done through a menu of apps, much like mobile computing, each one a window into a different walled garden. Now, Sony integrates streaming services into the same EPG as linear which shows that convergence continues unabated, in common with ATSC 3.0’s indifference to delivery method. Nick views Sony as a ‘Switzerland’ of content aggregation as it has no conflict of interest given it doesn’t run a rival service.

Chris Yates from Redbox says that FAST channels work well for them as they site well alongside customers’ other SVOD bundles remaining highly accessible. Finding customers, Chris states is harder than it used to be and now the gatekeepers are increasingly equipment manufacturers. Getting yourself on Sony TVs or Samsung equipment is a major vector for exposure but is not always practical. Chris says that rather than competing with youtube, it’s more general than that, he sees Redbox competing for leisure time. Asked later in the session, Chris says he sees consolidation on the horizon for both studios and streaming services.

Amagi’s Srinivasan KA is pleased to claim that they deliver up to 45% of all content on FAST platforms. He sees FAST as growing because it’s more demographic than cable without the need to get 100 services when only 2 would do. And those 2 channels can go much deeper into a topic than mainstream channels would. Not only can you go into a topic deeper, but with more choice of topics, you can go deeper into discovering, understanding and following up your own interests.

Philippe Guelton from Crackle explains their efforts to create programmes differently whether live drama or close-to live. He feels innovation is important and is one way to deal with companies who are spending ‘too much money on streaming, implying they are loss-leaders and therefore ripe for acquisition.

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Speakers

Srinivasan KA Srinivasan KA
Co-founder,
Amagi
Chris Yates Chris Yates
General Manager – On-Demand
Redbox
Damian Pelliccione Damian Pelliccione
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
Revry
Nick Colsey Nick Colsey
Vice President, Business Development
Sony Electronics Inc.
Philippe Guelton Philippe Guelton
EVP, Online Networks, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment
President, Crackle Plus
Moderator: Chris Pfaff
CEO,
Chris Pfaff Tech Media

Video: Broadcast Playout Cloud Transformation

Playout has been gradually moving to the cloud for a number of years now. Famously Discovery moved all of their thematic playout to the cloud in 2018 and many have done the same since. As we saw the other day, Sky Italia are now seeing ‘code as infrastructure’ whereby automated API calls launch the in-cloud infrastructure they need as part of their linear playout.

In this video, we hear from Matt Westrup from A+E EMEA on how they’ve moved their playout to the cloud with their partner Amagi. Running 30 channels in Europe, Matt explains that due to some business uncertainty with a partner company, the need for a DR facility was identified. Talking to Srinivasan KA from Amagi, they were able to create this using Amagi’s product portfolio based in AWS. Matt explains that after the DR facility was set up, they moved quickly to full mirroring and ultimately they flipped the switch and they announced they were now broadcasting from the cloud.

Srinivasan KA explains that many companies take a similar route when working in the cloud. Sometimes a cost-effective DR facility is all they need, however it’s easy to replicate all your workflows in the cloud and have that on standby. This can be done by keeping the content in the cloud evergreen, running automation but keeping the playout functions switched off to save money which can be quickly brought online as needed. Srinivasan KA looks at the high-level diagram of the A+E operation showing how S3 holds the content, goes through a workflow to the CPU-powered playout and then is handed off using direct connect to affiliates and telcos using Amagi’s POPs.

Matt comments that this was relatively easy to do from a business perspective “No-one was investing massively in fixed infrastructure” and they’ve found they have been faster to market with a speed they’ve “never experienced before.” Needless to say, the move to the cloud also came into its own and provided a seamless move work home working during the pandemic. And, looking more longterm, A+E will continue to benefit from not having to manage the physical datacentre/serber room infrastructure.

The video finishe swith an overview of Broadcast in AWS from Andy Kane. He covers the main drivers for broadcasters moving to the cloud such as business agility, a preference with some companies for increasing Opex spending, increased ease in experiementing with new technologies/ways of engaging with customers, using a remote workforce among others. Andy covers an example broadcast flow using MediaConnect for contribution, MediaLive Statmux for distibution, redundancy strategies and other building blocks such as TAG multiviewers.

Watch now!
From the AWS Media Insights Webcast Series
Speakers

Andy Kane Andy Kane
Principal AI/ML Specialist Solutions Architect (Languages),
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Matt Westrup Matt Westrup
VP Technology and Operations,
A+E EMEA
Srinivasan KA Srinivasan KA
Co-founder,
Amagi Corporation
Ian McPherson Ian McPherson
Partner Development Lead – Media & Entertainment,
Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Webinar: Live Orchestration on Cloud

Date: Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Time: 11 AM EST / 8 AM PDT / 16:00 BST / 8.30 PM IST

This webinar from Amagi will explain how live orchestration on cloud can simplify live events management by making the process centralised, while spinning up cloud infrastructure only for the duration of the event.

About the speakers

Baskar Subramanian Baskar Subramanian
Co-founder, Amagi
A technology enthusiast, Baskar leads technology and innovation at Amagi. Dividing his time between technology design and product delivery, Baskar ensures Amagi’s growth is in line with its vision of revolutionizing TV & OTT broadcast. Baskar has a number of patents to his name and regularly mentors various start-ups and businesses.
Mark Stephens Mark Stephens
Global Segment Leader – M&E, AWS
Mark Stephens is a global segment leader for partners focused on media and entertainment. His focus is to build a diverse ecosystem of partners in media and entertainment on AWS.

Webinar: Linear Channel 101 for Digital First media companies

In this on-demand Webinar, co-founder Baskar Subramanian and Mark Stephens help us understand why Digital First media companies should launch linear channels, and how cloud playout can help. Find out:

  • Changing content consumption preferences & linear OTT market growth
  • Various paths to capture linear broadcast audience – vMVPDS, Ad-supported linear OTT, D2C streaming, among others
  • How cloud can help create a sustainable distribution and revenue model
  • Key technological considerations when delivering to vMVPD platforms
  • Case-study examples of digital-first companies who have successfully launched linear channels

Watch now!