Sports content, AI, and advertising: Lessons from 2024 and predictions for 2025
With 2025 well underway, it’s the perfect time to reflect on how the media and entertainment industry measured up to our predictions from last year. The verdict? Many of our experts’ forecasts were right on the mark, while others unfolded in unexpected...
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Live sports video: A winning playbook for content delivery and management
For streaming, broadcasting, or advertising, live sports represent some of the most exciting and most complex events to manage — and some of the most lucrative, particularly when it comes to breaking into new markets.
Market opportunities in MENA for streaming, advertising, and sports
With a subscription video on demand (SVOD) services market expected to surpass $1.2 billion by the end of this year, it’s no wonder that entertainment and media companies are looking at the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with increased focus. While the...
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Channels are changing: Cloud-based origination and FAST
Linear television isn’t dead, but it certainly isn’t the same as it was even five years ago. As content delivery and consumption shift toward digital platforms, content owners and distributors find themselves navigating a rapidly evolving landscape. The rise of streaming services has...
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Our 2024 forecast for media and advertising trends
As we approach the halfway point of the decade, events of the past year underscore just how appropriate the name the “Roaring 20s” really is for the current era of media and entertainment. From dramatic advances in AI and ML technology and crumbling...
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Terrestrial Distribution for MVPDs?
Allison Olien, Vice President and General Manager for Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS), is witnessing firsthand how the changes, challenges, and new opportunities for MVPDs and content providers are evolving the industry faster than ever. She took some time to reflect on how...
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What's Next For Media and Entertainment Technology in the New Roaring '20s?
It takes more than just a killer catalog or cutting-edge creative to stand out in today’s media markets. The winners are harnessing the power of emerging technologies to simplify operations, drive more value from data, and bring analytics to the forefront of decision-making...
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Converging Media Technologies, Continued
In November we were proud to host the CTS Connects Summit for the second year. We frequently talk about the convergence of broadcast and digital workflow and this year it was even more evident that this decade will be marked by a convergence of media and advertising technologies, as real-time services, security, and monetization techniques all become more intertwined. This year’s summit had a natural focus around creating unity between industries, fostering collaboration, flexibility, and security, with particular emphasis on experiences that improve the value equation on both sides of the screen
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Digital-First Pay-TV: Four Takeaways
Pay-TV is going through a significant change as the market adapts to new consumption models and competitors. Operators have responded in a variety of ways, but so far, no consensus has emerged as to which models work, when they work, or why. Organizations who pivot to a digital-first approach — specifically, thinking from a converged broadcast and OTT perspective — not only create opportunities for themselves but can also respond more effectively to capitalize on them.
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New Ways To Monetize SCTE 224
The SCTE 224 standard is fantastic for video operations enabling blackout management, web embargos, time-shifts, regionalized playout, and a host of other content rights-based program level video switching capabilities. The applications don’t end there; some new applications make the standard really attractive to bolster revenue generation opportunities for both programmers and operators.
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An unpredictable year brings renewed focus to (and on) media businesses
For an industry as diverse as media and entertainment technology, there were some strong, common themes during the CTS Connects Summit last year that are only more relevant as 2021 starts to kick into high gear.
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Navigating Content Rights for Operators
There is no denying that Operators — MVPDs and virtual MVPDs (vMVPDs) — are in a complex place in the video value chain. The requirement to manage rights across all content providers can be overwhelming, time consuming, and expensive. The need to streamline...
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Video Trends Vlog Episode 6: On Virtual Channels
Content providers and programmers are always on the lookout for new ways to monetize their content. Non-linear, on-demand streaming experiences may seem to dominate the conversation, but it would be completely wrong to interpret the rise of on-demand as a consumer rejection of...
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Video Trends Vlog Episode 5: On Content Delivery — Getting the content to the user
How you deliver content to the user can have big implications on quality of experience. How fast, and reliably, content is delivered is often a major factor in signal interruptions, latency issues, and buffering.
In episode 5 of our series, Peter Gibson, Executive...
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Video Trends Vlog Episode 4: Content Monetization Strategies and Technologies
New features and greater interactivity add up to a richer experience for viewers – and stronger returns from your investments in content and technology. To maintain an operation that evolves with audiences, it’s important to stay centered on what experiences you want to...
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Video Trends Vlog Episode 3: Go-To-Market Strategy
2019 is proving to be another huge year for the industry, as some of the biggest entertainment brands are poised to launch new streaming and on-demand destinations of their own. Where business models used to be split up more clearly between subscriber-based approaches...
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Video Trends Vlog Episode 2: Getting Nerdy With SCTE 224
SCTE 224 – known affectionately as “Scuddy 224” – refers to an expanded Event Scheduling and Notification Interface (ESNI) standard that was launched in 2015 by the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE). Simply put, SCTE 224 was borne from the increased need...
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Video Trends Vlog Episode 1: Live and VOD Trends
A consistently fresh blend of live and on-demand content puts businesses on a strong path to attract viewers and keep them engaged. We’re seeing a shift in the industry where more content is being served via terrestrial delivery, while still working to preserve...
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Channel Origination Overview
Channel origination has come a LONG way in just the last two decades. Allison Olien, Executive Director at Comcast Technology Solutions, provides a peek behind the curtains to see what video delivery used to be like, how it looks today, and where it's headed.
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Metadata Makes Linear Video Exciting Again
Linear streaming services and alternative video distribution paths continue to increase in both diversity and reach. So, where is the next-level growth catalyst for linear video going to come from over the next 10–15 years? What’s going to keep it attractive in the eyes of viewers? It’s all in the (meta)data. The metadata associated with video can power complex use cases, enable more intelligence and automation, and extend users’ video experience beyond their first screen. Let’s dive deeper into some of these use case examples.
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Regionalized/Time shifted Playout, Affiliate Distribution, RSNs, and Player Entitlements
Managing a broadcast network at scale is a difficult task even for the most knowledgeable broadcaster. One of your biggest challenges is efficiently and economically creating your live channel without having to invest in unnecessary infrastructure. This is especially true if your channel requires significant time shifting or regionalization. Add in requirements for Regional Sports Networks (RSNs), Local Affiliates, time shifted channel playout, the transition from satellite distribution to IP, TV Everywhere (TVE)/Over The Top (OTT) and you’ve got a handful.
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Taking Control of Regionalization with SCTE 224
Media and entertainment companies around the world deliver content to all screens that spans multiple time zones and regions. To create a more compelling viewing experience and keep viewers watching for longer, they may deliver time-delayed content across time zones and allow for...
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Video Quality: Table Stakes for Audience Loyalty
“When consumers are paying for something or receiving video from a big-brand media company, they expect a premium high-quality experience. It has to be as good as TV, on every platform and device – and that’s our main priority in the years...
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What’s Your Five Year Plan?
It’s been a long quarter this week.
At least around our virtual office, that’s been a general consensus pretty much all year long. It’s a feeling that gets stronger as we look a back to the beginning of the year. Remember, way back...
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Get your head in the clouds
Make “me-time” more accessible to your audience, regardless of the situation.
No matter how your business sees the future, keeping pace with evolving viewing habits is critical to growing your audience. Consumers now expect the ability to curate their own viewing experiences, including...
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The High-Performance Content Catalog: INSIGHTS TO GET THERE
Media destinations are largely defined by what’s in their catalog of content, but what really matters is what audiences are actually watching. It’s an obvious statement that premium content commands top dollar because it drives more screen time. But what’s going on with the...