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What is a Next Generation Network Intrusion Detection System?
Intrusion detection was first introduced to the commercial market two decades ago as SNORT and quickly became a key cybersecurity control.
Deployed behind a firewall at strategic points within the network, a Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) monitors traffic to and from all devices on the network for the purposes of identifying attacks (intrusions) that passed through the network firewall.
In its first incarnation, NIDS used misuse-based (rules and signatures) or anomaly-based (patterns) detection engines to analyze passing traffic and match the traffic to the library of known attacks. Once the attack was identified, an alert was sent to the security operations team.
While the technology continues to play a key role in the majority of enterprises, the Network Intrusion Detection System has fallen out of favor for two key reasons:
The rules-based engines used for detection were subsumed into the Next Generation Firewall (NG-FW), making it more cost effective for some organizations to deploy a unified capability;
Threat actors are adept at executing attacks that evade the signatures/rules/patterns used by both the traditional Network Intrusion Detection System as well as the unified NG-FW.
Machine Learning and the Rise of Next Generation Network Intrusion Detection Systems
Like a traditional NIDS, the function of a Next Generation IDS/IPS is to detect a wide variety of network-based attacks perpetrated by threat actors and contain these attacks, where feasible, using appropriate controls. Unlike a traditional NIDS, this technology leverages machine learning powered analytics engines that are capable of identifying attacks that evade traditional misuse-based and anomaly-based engines.
Network attack types that should be addressed by an NG-NIDS include:
Malware Attacks:
Malware is malicious software created to “infect” or harm a target system for any number of reasons. These reasons span simple credential access and data theft to data or system disruption or destruction. Today, an estimated 30% of malware in the wild is capable of evading traditional signature-based technologies. Most organizations addressed this through the deployment of endpoint detection and response (EDR) technologies. In relatively homogenous environments with firm control over the endpoint, endpoint controls may be adequate. For organizations with an array of client and server technologies, limitations over patch and update frequencies, IoT devices, or endusers over whom there is limited control, a strategically deployed NG-NIDS acts as a primary defense against “unknown” malware.
Below are common use cases wherein a Next Generation Network Intrusion Detection System can play a protective role:
Malicious websites – These attacks generally start at legitimate websites that have been breached and infected with malware. When visitors access the sites via web browser, the infected site delivers malware to the endpoint. Alternatively, doppelganger sites can be used to disguise malware as legitimate downloads.
Phishing/Spearphishing emails – Threat actors trick endusers into downloading attachments that turn out to be malware. Alternatively, threat actors trick users to click on a seemingly legitimate link to visit a website, from which malware is delivered.
Malvertising – In this case, threat actors use advertising networks to distribute malware. When clicked, ads redirect users to a malware-hosting website.
In each of these cases, the NG-NIDS sits between an internal user and external site and is capable of detecting malware and issuing a block request to a firewall or endpoint manager to contain the threat. In situations where the enterprise uses a split tunnel architecture or allows mobile workers to access the Internet without restriction, the NG-NIDS will see suspicious activity emanating from an infected device once reconnected to the corporate network. NOTE: While a NG-NIDS can be highly effective and easier to deploy than endpoint technologies, it is highly recommended that organizations use both. It is certainly the most effective means of protecting an organization with a mobile workforce.
Attacks that “Live off the Land”:
One of the more frightening and rapidly emerging categories of attack is known as a “living off the land”, fileless malware, or “in-memory” attack. These attacks are specifically created to start or complete an action that is untraceable by today’s security tools. Rather than downloading a file to a host’s computing device, the attack occurs in the host’s memory (RAM), leaving no artifact on disk. Powering down or rebooting an infected system removes all artifacts of the attack; only logs of legitimate processes running remain, thereby defeating forensic analysis.
How is this attack accomplished? The attacker injects malware code directly into a host’s memory by exploiting vulnerabilities in unpatched operating systems, browsers and associated programs (like Java, JavaScript, Flash and PDF readers). Often triggered by a phishing attack, the victim clicks on an attachment or a link to a malware-infected website or a compromised advertisement on a reputable site.
Once the malware is in memory, attackers can steal administrative credentials, attack network assets, or establish backdoor connections to remote command and control (C2) servers. Fileless attacks can also turn into more traditional file-based attacks by downloading and installing malicious programs directly to computer memory or to hidden directories on the host machine. The threat actor can also employ a variety of tactics to remain in control of the system after a shutdown or reboot.
The role of the NG-NIDS is to intercept suspicious machine code (usually in the form of obfuscated JavaScript, Powershell, or VB Script) and emulates how malware will behave when executed. Operating at line speeds, the NG-IDS determines what an input can do if executed and to what extent these behaviors might initiate a security breach. By covering all potential execution chains and focusing on malicious capacity rather than malicious behavior, the NG-NIDS vastly reduces the number of execution environments and the quantity of analytic results, thereby reducing the number of alerts that must be investigated.
Worms:
Worms are a form of self-propagating malware that does not require user interaction. WannaCry, for example, targeted a widespread Windows vulnerability to infect a machine. Once infected, the malware moved laterally, infecting other vulnerable hosts. Once the target is infected, any number of actions can be taken, such as holding the device for ransom, wiping user files or the OS, stealing credentials, or scanning the network for vulnerabilities.
A strategically deployed NG-NIDS, sitting in an internal network, is capable of detecting lateral spread of the worm and issuing a block request to a firewall or endpoint manager to contain the threat.
Web attacks:
In a web attack, public facing services – like web servers and database servers – are directly targeted for a variety of reasons: to deface the web server, to steal or otherwise manipulate data, or to create a launching pad for additional attacks. The most common means of attack in this category include:
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) – An attacker injects malicious code into the web server which, in turn, is executed on an enduser’s browser as the page is loaded.
SQL Injection (SQLi) – An attacker enters SQL statements to trick the application into revealing, manipulating, or deleting its data.
Path Traversal – Here, threat actors custom craft HTTP requests that can circumvent existing access controls, thus allowing them to navigate to other files and directories.
An NG-NIDS, sitting behind the firewall and in front of a Web or database server is capable of detecting these attacks and issuing block requests to an application firewall.
Scan Attacks:
Scans are generally used as a means to gather reconnaissance. In this case, threat actors use a variety of tools to probe systems to better understand targets available and exploitable vulnerabilities.
An NG-NIDS, sitting behind the network firewall, is capable of detecting these probes and issuing block requests to the network firewall.
Brute force attacks:
The threat actor attempts to uncover the password for a system or service through trial and error. Because this form or attack takes time to execute, threat actors often use software to automate the password cracking attempts. These passwords can be used for any number of purposes, including modification of systems settings, data theft, financial crime, etc.
An NG-NIDS, sitting behind the network firewall and/or at strategic points within the network is capable of detecting brute force attacks and issuing block requests the network firewall.
Denial-of-service attacks:
Also known as distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS), DDoS attacks try to overwhelm their target – typically a website or DNS servers – with a flood of traffic. In this case, the goal is to slow or crash the system.
An NG-NIDS, sitting behind the network firewall, is capable of detecting DDoS attacks and issuing block requests to the network firewall.
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Why Network Detection and Response (NDR) Solutions are Critical to the Future of Federal Agencies’ Cybersecurity
Executive Order 14028, “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity,” signed by President Biden, shows the US federal government’s growing focus on cybersecurity.
The 2021 Executive Order requires U.S. federal government departments and agencies to focus on their cybersecurity framework and address the risks of malicious cyber campaigns.
This increased focus comes as internal audits of federal agencies’ security have indicated that number of federal agencies’ cybersecurity programs are not adequately or fully protecting them against modern cyber threats.
Like businesses and nongovernmental organizations, federal agencies face a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape that requires an equally fast-evolving cyber security framework. In the current environment, signature-based detection is limited, especially when it comes to detecting zero-day threats and malicious activity that has never been seen before. Known hackers can even take actions to disguise themselves, like changing their techniques or processes, to avoid detection from an NCPS. (hsgas.senate.gov report, page 11)
To protect themselves against these evolving threats, government agencies can benefit greatly from security solutions that can detect intrusions in time for government security teams to respond and manage the harm that they could do to the organization. Since most cyberattacks occur over the network, network visibility is essential to government agencies’ ability to protect against evolving threats. This makes an advanced network detection and response (NDR) solution an essential component of government agencies’ cybersecurity defenses. Individual agencies should implement the NDR while a broader replacement for NCPS is considered.
Federal Agencies Face Increasing Cyber Threats
US government agencies are one of the biggest targets of advanced persistent threats (APTs). These threat actors have significant resources and expertise dedicated to the development and use of various tactics to infiltrate and cause damage to target organizations.
Federal agencies face various cyber threats from these advanced threat actors. Some of the most sophisticated and dangerous attacks these organizations face include ransomware infections, fileless and in-memory malware attacks, and the exploitation of unpatched zero-day vulnerabilities.
Ransomware and RaaS
Ransomware has emerged as one of the greatest threats faced by most organizations, including federal government agencies. In fact, DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has launched the Stop Ransomware project specifically to provide coordinated prevention and response to ransomware attacks across the entire US government. In February 2022, CISA reported that 14 of 16 critical infrastructure sectors have been targeted by sophisticated ransomware attacks.
With the emergence of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) business model, the ransomware threat has grown significantly. With RaaS, ransomware developers put their malware in the hands of other cyber threat actors for a split of the profits.
The ability to identify the malware before it gains access to an organization’s systems or to detect attempted data exfiltration is essential to minimizing the cost incurred by a ransomware attack.
Fileless Malware and In-Memory Attacks
Many traditional antimalware systems are file focused. The typical antivirus scans each file on the computer, looking for a match to its library of signatures. If it finds a file matching the signature, it quarantines and potentially deletes it from the disk.
Fileless and in-memory malware are designed to evade detection by these solutions by avoiding writing malicious code to a file on disk. Instead, the malware operates entirely within running applications.
With fileless malware attacks growing significantly year-over-year in 2021, the percentage of attacks that traditional antivirus solutions can detect is shrinking quickly. Threat detection techniques based on identifying anomalous behavior or network traffic are essential to detecting these types of attacks.
Exploits
New zero-day vulnerabilities and exploits pose a growing threat to federal agencies and their security. These exploits can bypass security solutions that depend on signatures to detect known attacks and are blind to novel threats until new indicators of compromise (IoCs) are released.
New vulnerabilities such as Log4j have caused a scramble to patch vulnerable systems, and cyber threat actors often move quickly to exploit vulnerable organizations after a new vulnerability is discovered and disclosed. In fact, half of new vulnerabilities are under active exploitation within a week.
In recent years, the rate at which zero-day vulnerabilities are discovered and exploited has increased significantly – with more than twice as many zero days exploited in 2021 as in 2020. Without the ability to identify and block attempted exploitation of these novel threats, federal agencies are continuously playing catchup after the latest vulnerability is discovered.
While these novel attacks cannot be detected using signature-based techniques, other approaches can identify these threats. For example, network traffic analysis that identifies command and control traffic between the malware and attacker-controlled servers can tip off a security team to an undetected malware infection.
How NDRs Can Help Solve Federal Security Challenges
As cyber threat actors expand and refine their tactics and techniques, detecting and mitigating attacks becomes much more difficult. Additionally, as government IT systems expand and evolve, protecting them against cyber threats becomes more challenging for security teams, especially as government agencies struggle to attract and retain scarce cybersecurity talent.
Managing the threat of ransomware, in-memory malware, zero-day exploits, and other cyber threats requires federal agencies to have tools that enable them to detect and respond to potential threats rapidly. Network detection and response (NDR) solutions are an essential component of a federal agency’s cybersecurity architecture and can be used with EDR to get a more complete solution, often with NDR solutions taking the lead in initial attack detection.
“While EDR can provide a more granular view into the processes running on the endpoint and in some cases more finely tuned response options, NDR is critical for maintaining consistent visibility across the entire network.” – ESG’s “NDR’s role in Supporting the Executive Order on Cybersecurity”
NDR solutions provide multiple features that can help an agency’s security operations center (SOC) to identify and respond to potential threats, including:
Network Visibility: Visibility into federal agencies’ networks is essential to detecting potential threats early within the cyber kill chain. NDR solutions can help to collect, aggregate, and analyze data about network traffic to help SOC analysts to identify and respond to potential threats.
AI/ML Threat Detection: Security analysts commonly face an overwhelming number of security alerts, making it difficult to differentiate between true threats to the organization and false-positive detections. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions can help analyze and triage alerts, reducing false-positive rates and enabling security personnel to focus their time and attention on true threats to the organization.
Creating a holistic approach with Zero Trust: All federal agencies are required to move toward a Zero Trust architecture by 2024. Successful ZTA implementation requires robust and flexible tools that work quickly and can scale, like the BluVector platform. It’s important to remember that ZTA does not address threats already in a network, and that weaponized data can elude ZTA security. Having complete visibility – including network, device, user, file, and data visibility – is critical to ZTA.
Recommended Responses: During a cybersecurity incident, a prompt and complete response is essential to minimizing the cost and impact of the attack but can be difficult to achieve under tense circumstances. BluVector’s NDR solution can provide recommendations about how to handle certain types of incidents, enabling security analysts to quarantine or remediate the threat more efficiently.
Support for Automation: Security teams commonly struggle to meet expanding workloads as organizational infrastructure becomes more sprawling and complex and cyber threats grow more sophisticated. With the ability to automate repetitive tasks and responses to common threats, NDR solutions can help to ease the burden on overstressed personnel and enable them to focus their time and attention where it is most needed.
The advanced threat detection and response capabilities of an NDR solution can help security teams to identify these subtle threats and respond quickly and effectively to minimize the risk to sensitive government data and critical systems.
BluVector Leading the Way in a High Threat Era
US federal agencies continue to face significant cyber threats from skilled and well-resourced threat actors. These cyber threats use various techniques to gain access and cause damage to government systems, including the use of ransomware, in-memory malware, and the exploitation of novel vulnerabilities. Often, these attacks are specially designed to fly under the radar and avoid detection by widely used security solutions.
While these attacks may be designed to be subtle and difficult to detect on the endpoint, they still need to gain access to agency systems and perform command and control communications over the network. BluVector’s Advanced Threat Detection and Automated Threat Hunting solutions can monitor an agency’s network traffic and sort out genuine threats from the noise, while efficiently supporting SOC analysts’ ability to detect and respond to advanced cyber threats.
BluVector has worked closely with large government agencies since our inception and is here to support the journey toward a common federal cybersecurity strategy. For over a decade, our solutions have enabled government agencies to achieve essential visibility into their solutions while rapidly and accurately identifying threats using AI and ML. Learn more about BluVector’s government solutions and our over 99% threat detection rate.
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Fast-Food Ads Get Faster Service
“Getting the order right” – it’s job one for every quick-service restaurant (QSR), no matter if the order is coming from the front counter, an app or service, or the drive-thru window – and no order is the same. The end results might be different on every order, but some things have got to be there every time to keep customers coming back. Every order has to be served accurately, on-time, and in the highest quality. Hmm….where’s the advertising analogy here?
QSR’S: UNWRAPPING A COMPLEX AD ECOSYSTEM
“There’s a clear parallel between how a quick-service restaurant serves consumers and how today’s advertising technology needs to work,” explains Simon Morris, Head of Enterprise Sales, for Comcast Technology Solutions’ Advertising Suite. “It’s oversimplifying a bit, but orders get placed and then ad content, selected from a current menu of options, fills each order based on instructions – which are different based on the unique needs of each destination.”
Many of the ads are served “right off the menu,” so to speak, transcoded and delivered in the right format for every platform, destination, device. Others are much more specific, incorporating changes to meet the needs of a certain region, market demographic, menu item, promotion – whatever a campaign needs. “QSRs are like other businesses in that they’ve been managing interconnected creative needs like this for a long time,” explains Morris, “but there’s traditionally been a lot of manual processes, spreadsheets, emails – all of these factors slow reaction time and make it really difficult-to-impossible to compete in a fast moving market.”
INTERACTIVE, OMNICHANNEL LOYALTY BUILDING
QSR brands that advertise at scale aren’t just sending ads that play on time; they’re also launching experiences that are more highly targeted and more interactive every year, which is an important technical consideration. Real-time ad technology is crucial in order to build loyalty that improves per-customer sales in a competitive field that’s increasingly super-sized. Disruptive competition hasn’t missed the QSR industry, as local pop-up businesses and food trucks gain followers on social media. Advanced advertising techniques and technology are a prerequisite to create engagement and maintain connection, driving traffic to apps and experiences which, in turn, expand profitability from single locations on up to the entire organization.
IMPROVING COLLABORATION, FROM ORDER PREP TO DELIVERY
Top-shelf ad creative is expensive to produce, and often has a completely unknown shelf-life. Complex organizations like QSRs need to extract every ounce of value from each creative effort by leveraging it for a multitude of specialized ads. Just like the specialized team members who assemble a food order, the best thing you can do is make it easier for them to do what they do best.
“The technical issue to solve for was really just to help people get out of each others’ way and share more effectively,” explains Morris. “The architecture is similar for all kinds of businesses: Where an auto manufacturer might be sharing footage of an SUV to dealer networks for their ads, a QSR’s operation would be able to build custom ads around menu items, localized offers, you name it. It’s just about putting the emphasis back on making everything the best it can be.”
Throughout the history of the QSR industry there is an innovation narrative; a deep focus on improving the value and quality of relationships from dining experiences to workplace efficiencies. 2020 was a watershed year for society as a whole; but for QSRs looking to the rest of the decade and beyond, it was a harbinger of just how fast even the most predictable markets can shift. QSR advertisers, as the ones who tell the story, are adopting these new technologies not just to serve ads more effectively, but to serve people more meaningfully – at scale.
GET THE EBOOK: FRESH ADS, SERVED FAST
Download this new article to learn more about three primary ways advertisers can improve campaign performance:
How a centralized, unified platform where media and creative converge into a singular view gives QSR operations total control of their video and radio creative management.
How brands can more effectively share creative and collaborate internally across an extended, diverse organization by creating a portal that gives all constituents the ability to quickly locate, select, and manipulate media files for use in local/regional ad creation
How a fully automated ad management platform sets the brand up for success both now as well as in the future, laying the groundwork for creative and production optimization techniques and efforts that improve the ability to connect consumers with more appealing content – resulting in campaigns that drive more people through the doors.
Get the eBook right now, right here
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Customer Connections Newsletter May
PREMIUMMEDIA360 INTEGRATION ENABLES ADVERTISERS TO AUTOMATE TV DATA MANAGEMENT THROUGHOUT THE MEDIA LIFECYCLE
Comcast Technology Solutions and PremiumMedia360, the leading company in TV advertising data automation, recently announced a new strategic relationship. The integration with the Comcast Technology Solutions’ Ad Management Platform enables TV advertising buyers and sellers to automatically synchronize and solve reconciliation discrepancies throughout the ad buy lifecycle. These new capabilities stand to prevent revenue loss associated with dropped spots due to order execution errors and invoicing delays. The integration can help save work hours typically spent in solving data discrepancies between buyer and seller systems.
“TV media is a science of managing and accessing information for more precise buys and more efficient media operations — and it always has been,” explained Richard Nunn, Vice President and General Manager of Advertising Suite at Comcast Technology Solutions. “At the same time, between multiple systems, manual inputs, and lack of standardization, accessing that data quickly and accurately has been an ongoing challenge — compounded further by ever-increasing screens and video outlets to manage. Now through our integration, our mutual customers will have access to the fast insights they need and the actionable data they demand from the Ad Management Platform. This allows them to quickly optimize and execute across the media landscape. Together, Comcast Technology Solutions and PremiumMedia360 are closing the gap between workflow and opportunity.”
STRATA MEDIA BUYING INTEGRATION
You’re currently utilizing Strata Media Buying for the purchase of your media, but then must export your traffic and corresponding media buy info to be manually input into another delivery network — costing you time and money through an inefficient process. By engaging S-Traffic to build your creative rotations, you could automatically send that information directly to the Comcast Technology Solutions’ Ad Delivery system for immediate distribution and delivery.
Our network is unmatched in speed and offers 100% digital coverage across all broadcast destinations in the US. Streamline your traffic and distribution workflow using our direct integration with Strata. Spots are automatically sent to Comcast Technology Solutions’ Ad Delivery system to create distribution and immediately begin pushing creative to stations — eliminating manual rekeying of order information and possible errors. That’s it, no further action needed.
Did you know?
The Strata Media Buying integration with Comcast Technology Solutions offers average delivery times of 12 minutes for HD spots over Comcast’s 100G fiber network.
Getting to know…Stephanie Ruys
Stephanie Ruys is our Human Resource Business Partner for Comcast Technology Solutions, Advertising Solutions. As a recognized senior human resource management professional, she is a consultant to our leaders and partners in crafting our strategic human resource vision to achieve our business goals. Her track record of success has increased employee engagement, encouraged change management, and cultivated a dynamic work culture.
Stephanie offers a unique blend of passion and partnership, critical evaluation skills, and ethical leadership coupled with an earned reputation for excellence. Stephanie recently championed the Advertising Solution’s GIG program within our account management and sales teams to help increase knowledge transfer and development opportunities. She also led our team’s transition to a new HR system (Workday), earlier this year.
The last year has created several unique HR challenges. She has been passionate about navigating our team through these difficult times to provide the upmost positive employee experience.
When she is not working, Stephanie’s interests include spending time with family, traveling, hiking, and volunteering. She is a co-founder for Paw Retrievers (an animal search and rescue organization) and supports Freedom Service Dogs as a service dog “puppy raiser.
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Customer Connections Newsletter April
New Strategic Relationship with Innovid
Comcast Technology Solutions recently announced a new strategic relationship with Innovid, the only independent omnichannel advertising and analytics platform built for television. This integration with the CTS Ad Management Platform empowers advertisers with a unified and automated workflow, creative asset management, performance analytics, and optimization across screens and channels for both linear TV and OLV.
“To maximize return on investment, advertisers deserve a more unified means to deliver, measure, and optimize their ad performance across any platform of relevance,” said Richard Nunn, Vice President and General Manager of Advertiser Solutions at Comcast Technology Solutions. “Our new integration with Innovid does that at scale by bridging the historical gap between linear TV and digital advertising."
Read the full release.
Getting to know... Jenna Beneski
Jenna Beneski is a Sales Engineer with the Strategic Customer Development team for Comcast Technology Solutions. Jenna joined Comcast in 2018, elevating her team with expertise and over five years of experience in sell-side digital advertising and content distribution. Jenna graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Television, Video, and Business from Hofstra University, and has worked or interned at many major programmers in the New York City area including but not limited to: AMC Networks, NBC Universal, and Discovery Communications.
Over the course of her career, Jenna has served as a subject-matter expert for emerging technologies in the spaces of content monetization, digital content distribution, video ad serving, and advertising operations. This has led to projects such as serving as the training lead for the AMC Networks transition to an integrated linear and digital distribution process, and acting as project coordinator for the digital experience development of Discovery’s “Sky Scraper Live” event in 2015. Jenna’s internal claim to fame at Comcast is, while at still AMC Networks, she onboarded and managed early iterations of the Ad Store - the sell-side cloud-based ad management platform she now represents.
This past quarter, Jenna transitioned to primary technical account manager for two prominent on-demand programmatic marketplaces with FreeWheel and Canoe recently launched by Comcast Technology Solutions. These solutions allow both content owners and distributors to offer advertisers access to STB VOD content, uniting it with other inventory sold programmatically across connected TV and digital video channels. Jenna is proud to serve as a unifying figure both internally and externally on projects such as these, working to increase project efficiencies and add clarity to all sources of feedback whenever possible. She looks forward to continuing to contribute to such impactful projects and work with such a dedicated team.
Jenna has a third-degree black belt in Taekwondo, and a love of musical theater. She values discipline, honesty, and positivity. Her favorite mantra is not “practice makes perfect” but rather “perfect practice makes perfect.” Jenna believes that the key to excellence is to strive for excellence every day, which can only be sustained when you truly love what you do.
What’s Next for TV Advertising?
TV isn’t going anywhere — it’s going everywhere, transitioning from a broadcasting-only industry to a multiplatform video market, comprising linear and digital, streams and on-demand offerings, available across a growing range of platforms and devices. TV and video advertising are uniquely valuable, and as the market continues to shift, the ad industry has a big opportunity to lead the pace of change.
So, what do industry leaders think the marketplace will look like in the next five years? We interviewed 40 executives from across the industry to see what they are thinking. We asked, they answered…
Read the full report
Four changes that will drive the industry forward
In our recent webinar with Brand Innovators, Comcast Technology Solutions’ Richard Nunn, VP and GM of Advertiser Solutions; Mark McKee, Chief Revenue Officer at Freewheel; Bradley Epperson, SVP Business Operations and Services at NBCUniversal, in a panel discussion hosted by Brand Innovators and moderated by Jon Watts of MTM, explored the four key areas of investment needed to build the ad marketplace of the future.
Watch the webinar now
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MVPDs: Moving From Orbit Into The Cloud?
The 2020s are already proving to be a decade of sweeping change for MVPDs and cable operators around the U.S. The repurposing of C-band spectrum for 5G services is a plan that was accelerated last year after an agreement between the FCC and satellite operators. Although it’s been on the industry radar for a while, it feels like the whole thing is picking up pace as companies work to position themselves — and their technology — for a successful future. That future isn’t necessarily going to need a satellite.
“The two main considerations for MVPDs right now are: a) What does our distribution look like immediately post-C-band reallocation, and b) Where can we go from there?” explains Jill May, Manager of Product Development for Comcast Technology Solutions. “The first step is to deal with the immediate: Two-thirds of the C-band spectrum has been reallocated to 5G carriers. This means that existing services need to transition to a new satellite. For example, our services that have operated from the SES-11 satellite will migrate to the AMC-11 satellite this year. It’s not just a matter of keeping businesses whole, as there are some technology upgrades and efficiencies that come along with the move; but from there, the questions we started asking here were ‘Is a satellite feed really required for every business?’ or ‘What would it look like for a satellite delivery model to ultimately include and/or move to an IP-based model?’ That’s a big focus for us as MVPDs think about what their new big-picture plans could look like.”
MANAGED DISTRIBUTION GAINS NEW FLEXIBILITY
Satellite video distribution has clearly been around a long time. It’s extremely reliable, and it also used to be the only option for a lot of companies. Today, network advancements and build-outs, especially over the last few years, result in some seriously attractive options for media distributors looking to remain competitive in both price and features. “A move into a terrestrial distribution model has a lot of upside,” explains May. “Speaking from a Comcast network perspective, MVPDs can leverage a network that benefits from deep annual investment and evolution. Not only is there the security and encryption that a company needs to protect its investments and revenue, but also the speed, scale, and reliability that its customers can count on.”
Another big benefit that MVPDs can get from terrestrial distribution is a reduction in headend equipment and operating expenses across the operation. Headend equipment can be reduced by as much as half, along with a corresponding reduction in rack space, power, and cooling. On-premises equipment would need to be upgraded to a new platform, but a customer migration doesn’t need to happen in one gargantuan make-it-or-break-it effort. “What we’re planning is more of a hybrid model during the transition,” says May, “so business continuity can be maintained through a customer migration strategy that works for the partner’s needs.”
IP-BASED MVPDs — A NATURAL EVOLUTION
Once the operations of an MVPD or operator have left low-earth orbit for an earth-based distribution and content delivery network, the foundation is there to keep the customer experience in a state of continuous evolution. “We see an IP platform really as the natural next step,” says May. “There are technology approaches that we’re approaching as a white-label way for a terrestrial operator to offer more services and high-tech features. It’s a compelling way to improve an operator’s role as a content and streaming hub for their customers’ multiple streaming subscriptions.”
Listen to Jill May’s presentation on Managed Distribution during the CTS Connects Summit to learn more.
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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.
SCTE 224 AND ADDRESSABLE ADS
Let’s start with a high-level description of addressable advertising: Linear-based television advertising (cable or satellite TV ads) has been essentially sold the same way for years. The Operator has the ability to sell 2 to 3 minutes of commercials per hour per program – historically called the local avails – and the Programmer sells the rest of the ad inventory per program per hour – roughly 14 to 15 minutes of commercials. In this workflow, the local avails inventory has been classified as addressable ads, targeted and sold at a local level vs. ads sold by the programmers which are national advertising campaigns that are “locked and loaded” to be seen by everyone watching that particular program.
The popular current transition in ad allocation moves that 14 - 15 minutes of programmer-owned national inventory and converts it into locally “addressable” ad inventory. It’s a more profitable approach for Programmer and Operator alike, as the improved targeting enables them to sell at a higher CPM. Of course this makes both parties excited at the revenue and growth potential of this approach to the market. According to eMarketer, the U.S.-based Addressable TV Ad Spending is expected to grow 39.1% and 25.9% respectively in 2021 and 2022 alone. There are also a couple of key industry consortiums focused in this – On Addressability and Project OAR that are working to tackle both business and technical challenges to grow the space.
How does SCTE 224 support this new dynamic with addressable ads? The SCTE 224 standard is set up to communicate rules and policies at an audience-based level, which is exactly what linear addressability needs to make it work. Within the Addressability workflow, the first critical decisioning point is for the programmer and operator to know which ads within the programmers 14-15 minutes per hour are addressable. To do that, SCTE 224 is used as the communication protocol between the parties. The programmer’s ad schedule is converted into SCTE 224 and then distributed throughout the value chain in SCTE 224 format. Operators will then ingest the schedule and know which breaks are addressable vs. national.
The second major addressability use case for SCTE 224 is providing specific ad rules for the addressable inventory on behalf of the programmer to the Ad Decisioning System (ADS). The SCTE 224 use case for providing this decisioning information is especially important when the ADS does not have full control of the ad pod. In these cases, a common language like SCTE 224 can facilitate appropriate ad decisioning without instigating ad conflicts. Examples of these rules include:
Showing a specific number of ads or limit the number of spots for a specific product group.
Ability to specify minimum spacing between ads belonging to a specific product group.
A specific spot may only be replaced by campaigns that are a member of a specific product.
Some real-world applications of these types of rules include not wanting to have two major soda manufactures compete in the same ad pod or showing national auto ad followed up with a dealer ad, or not showing an insurance ad in every ad pod.
While the addressable ad eco-system is highly complex and needs much more than SCTE 224 to solve it, this is a glimpse into how SCTE-224 plays a critical role in enabling this valuable source of additional revenue for both programmers and operators alike. It’s just one of many ways that SCTE-224 establishes itself as a crucial foundation upon which more dynamic experiences can be built.
SCTE AND METADATA
Exciting new use cases abound once an organization can rein in the increased complexity of metadata in a mobile, multi-screen, multiplatform world. To consider how much more complicated metadata becomes when video merges with interactive services it helps to understand the power of SCTE-224 as an evolving standard.
Beyond video latency (which is a huge challenge in itself), audience interactivity via live stream requires a mountain of additional information to be transmitted. The viewer/content relationship is getting a lot more hands-on, from live events with a gambling component to audience-participation tools that get people more involved and focused on participation. Enabling this kind of live linear experience requires a lot of screen-specific data like rules per state/region/country, league or team viewing rights, age requirements, and more. It all needs to be translated and applied seamlessly to the video content being aired and distributed. This brings us back to core use case for SCTE-224, which is taking a program, applying polices and audiences against it, and then enabling content switching at the edge based on who/what is eligible/not eligible to view that content. In use cases like this, the policy and audience rules are an added layer of requirements – essentially the content rights for a specific scenario. Everything else applies just like a content blackout with similar video distribution infrastructure and integration with the decisioning systems. Additionally, because SCTE 224 provides out-of-band metadata, it’s also possible to use it to communicate other metadata elements (stats, event info, participants, etc.) to the downstream video consumption devices.
LRM: HOW WE’RE SOLVING FOR IT
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) developed a cohesive, more effective way to enable addressable advertising and more complex, data-heavy linear experiences with the Linear Rights Management (LRM) solution. It is provided as a SaaS (Software as a Service) tool and runs in the public cloud, which both minimizes the need for physical hardware and makes it easier to implement and use. We normalize all sources that will drive our customers’ systems to the SCTE 224 standard, and then leverage a backend rules engine and decision manager to enable the switching of video content from a centralized control system. It is designed with an easy-to-use web-based UI that enables operations personnel to track, audit, and make changes as necessary. We integrate seamlessly with your video or ad stitching infrastructure or can provide that functionality as a service ourselves. As your needs change over time, it is simple to make them and roll them out immediately across your whole network.
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Customer Connections Newsletter March
Creative intelligence drives new technology partnership
Do you have the meaningful insights you need to optimize creative and drive business results?
Creative Intelligence enables you to look at your omnichannel campaigns based on metrics from across platforms aimed at engaging your target audience. Armed with information on how your campaigns, and messages are performing in all channels, you can maximize your creative investment, optimize creative messaging and deliver the most relevant ad to the right customer.
To enable this type of holistic approach to campaign management, Comcast Technology Solutions just announced a new technology integration with Flashtalking, the leading global independent primary ad server specializing in creative personalization. The integration with our Ad Management Platform centralizes linear and online video creative management – streamlining workflows through automation. The joint solution unifies video activation to drive greater visibility and insights for optimization across any screen and destination.
“This is a best-of-both-worlds solution for advertisers,” Richard Nunn, Vice President and General Manager of Advertising Solutions at Comcast Technology Solutions, said…
Read the full release
Getting to know … Kevin Lemberg
Kevin Lemberg is Head of Partnerships for Advertising Solutions. Kevin joined Comcast in 2016, bringing with him more than 15 years of experience across multiple advertising and marketing disciplines. Kevin jumped directly into advertising from the School of Communications at Rutgers University. His first employment was at Food Network and he went on to serve the evolving advertising teams at various cable networks including GSN (Game Show Network) and The Weather Channel.
He helped build cross-platform strategies – incorporating traditional linear TV platforms with digital, mobile, and connected device landscapes. Kevin also has a deep understanding of MVPD platforms, with experience with satellite companies DIRECTV and DISH Network, and now Comcast. His experience spans linear TV, Addressable TV, and data focused/audience buying platforms. Kevin has rounded out his career working with OTT platforms that are learning to leverage ACR technology, interactive TV elements, and other ad tech innovations.
Kevin is passionate about fitness and running and always tries to fit in a workout daily. He has been told that sometimes when he runs his feet tend to trend a bit outward, but Kevin’s response is “if you can see that you must be behind me”.
Kevin recently announced a new technology integration with Flashtalking, the leading global independent primary ad server specializing in creative personalization.
“By integrating with Flashtalking, our shared customers will be empowered with a holistic view of their omnichannel video advertising investment, automating workflows and driving ROI with greater visibility and creative intelligence to deliver on the promise of personalization.”
Spotlight on the Support Portal
From uploading a spot and building and sending orders, to how to make closed captioning order requests, nearly all of your technical questions related to our technology can be found in the support portal.
Browse featured topics, read our trending most-popular how-to articles, or search for your specific needs.
Explore the Support Portal
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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.
Each day of the three-day virtual event had a particular industry focus: Content and Streaming Providers, MVPDs and Operators, and Advertisers. As different as each of these disciplines are, there were some striking similarities in how 2020 has impacted every aspect of connectivity – on both human and technological fronts.
We’ve made the recordings of each session available to all of you here. Below are some highlights from the wide range of topics covered.
Day 1: CONTENT AND STREAMING PROVIDERS
“WHATEVER THEY WANT, WHENEVER THEY WANT IT”
During the opening Fireside Chat with Matt Zelesko, EVP & Chief Technical Officer for Comcast Cable, he mused: “The concept of streaming has evolved so much. There’s obviously important differences between streaming content, and what you think of traditionally as our live linear content, but I don’t think customers really think in those terms anymore. And that's why at the core, our job when we're building great entertainment experiences is to understand the differences between these various types of video content, whether it is streaming content, whether it is IP content delivered over our managed network, and make sure our customers can get to whatever they want whenever they want it.”
What’s more, during a panel titled “Streaming Technology: What are the priorities to take us to the next level”, Roma Kojima, Sr. Director of OTT Video for CBC, added, “even the last three or four years that I’ve been at CBC, the biggest change I think I’ve observed (in streaming) is how much we’ve evolved since sort of the ‘wild West where all the organizations were doing some form of it, we were building some things out ourselves, some were trying to use pieces that may have felt out-of-the-box from various – it was like the Weasley house from Harry Potter: a little bit of kluge, a little bit of your own thing, and you made it work because you had to, you had to get this offering out into market and manage it……the one (change) I think the most, is just how much more seamless and easier to market it has become.”
One of the themes across all three days was the need to leverage new efficiencies and automations so that more attention could be placed on better understanding the content-consumer relationship. As innovation lowers barriers it also invites more competition and new opportunities. Global presence is attainable, and important goal; but success rests in the ability to understand and manage content performance across markets, and across screens.
DAY 2: MVPDS AND OPERATORS
A DISRUPTIVE YEAR TO START A NEW DECADE
2020 has seen huge shifts in consumer habits when it comes to media. MVPDs and Operators have seen a definitive spike in video consumption due to quarantine. This year will certainly be analyzed for years to understand what trends die out, and which ones translate into lasting behavioral shifts. It’s also shows just how critical it is to have an infrastructure that can weather the storm.
“I think there's a lot more to come,” said Tony Werner, President Technology, Product, Xperience for Comcast Corporation, “and I think the people working on the network are about as jazzed as they've ever been because we've been able to see that the networks are able to stand up to the traffic, which continues to grow.”
Businesses in this category have some big issues to contend with, and some huge opportunities as well. On the consumer front, new business models are rife with possibilities for broadband companies to build more value. As home automation becomes more dynamic, and as consumers clamor for a way to rein their media sources into one clean, aggregated experience, there was a lot to talk about. On the technical front, in 2021 MVPDs are under federal mandate to physically move their satellite operations away from C-band spectrum (you can learn more about that here). It’s becoming a prime time for these companies to explore moving their operations into a terrestrial, IP delivery model.
DAY 3: ADVERTISING TECHNOLOGY
BUY-SIDE, SELL-SIDE, WIN-WIN
The advertising industry is experiencing warp-speed changes that are transforming the entire industry; from the way real-time ads are transacted and placed all the way down to how the content itself can be customized on the fly via dynamic creative optimization (DCO) to improve campaign results one screen at a time. Day three was filled with conversations on how advertisers are finally getting the automation and centralized control needed in order to make operations more efficient, and campaigns more effective.
Advertisers also need to respond not just to their own technology changes, but also to the changes within digital and linear broadcast destinations. Advertising operations need to be able to intelligently respond to changes fast enough to meet each provider on their own changing turf, be it a TV station, a streaming provider, or a social media app.
The new decade is definitely off and running.
To be clear – the energy brought by the event’s speakers was anything but doom-and-gloom. If anything, 2020 has been a bellweather not just of change (which is a basic expectation), but of the need for smart, definitive action and response as world events shake up everything from network traffic patterns to ad messaging. It’s an exciting time, quarantines and “virtual trade shows” aside. Most participants attended more than one day, demonstrating the interdependence of media businesses. The advances in advertising technology, for example, are just as relevant to a streaming provider or cable operator as they are to an advertiser.
View the CTS Connects Summit on-demand here.
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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 this function is critical so Operators can focus on delivering quality content at the right time to the right place for their customers.
No matter what the size, location or whether virtual or not, every Operator has to determine how they handle content restrictions, on the fly changes, and regionalization requirements from their programmer partners. In the past Operators would receive content pre-switched, and the content was delivered directly to that region via satellite to the IRD. This is a relatively hands-off approach but costly. Today, with the transition from satellite to terrestrial distribution and increasing capabilities of higher bandwidth video (4K/UHD, 8K etc.), responsibility for that control and switching is transitioning to Operators. This creates tremendous opportunities for cost savings and efficiency through leveraging technology that automates the process through machine-to-machine communication.
KEY BENEFITS FOR OPERATORS
For Operators, this transition enables some key benefits with the right technology and partner choice. First, by enabling this switching environment internally, they are centralizing the solution and then using their own infrastructure to distribute it to their regions. This applies to either vMVPDs or regular MVPDs since both need a central system to manage the content switching. For the MVPDs this offers them the ability to shutdown legacy facilities, remove the reliance on hundreds of IRDs, and scale faster with their IP modernization. In addition to these massive cost savings, by making this transition, Operators can scale their infrastructure faster, enable improved auditing capabilities, increase up time from their old infrastructure, and reduce operational costs by not having to manually manage their content switching system. Lastly, there are some unique linear addressable ad insertion use cases that with implementing the right solution the Operator can easily take advantage of and put into use.
RISK AND OPPORTUNITY
With all these benefits, there are still some risks to take into account. What are the risks you ask? Let’s start with the most significant one – delivering the wrong program to the wrong audience at the wrong time. Not only can it damage a brand through negative PR but it also creates tension between the Operator and content providers, and can ultimately lead to significant legal actions and carriage disputes. There are numerous examples of this happening today and blackout management is getting more prevalent in today’s complicated video distribution world that includes different device types and potential for global distribution. Because content rights are becoming more valuable and exclusive, especially for live programming, regionalization/personalization more critical, and Operator/Programmer relationships more of a differentiator, the need for automated system to manage these rights scenarios is crucial. Essentially the system operates as an insurance policy against the potential devastating risk of showing the wrong programming to the wrong audience. Additionally, the manpower required to manually manage the increasing complexity increases exponentially if an automated system is not in place.
The other key risk to consider is technology choice. Once an Operator decides to implement the centralized switching solution, it’s critical that they go down a path that’s scalable at every level – channel count, decisioning, ease of use etc. If not, they will find themselves wasting resources across the board. The SCTE 224 standard has become the best standardized language to manage the automated machine-to-machine communication for controlling rights, web embargos, program substitution and is growing in acceptance for managing ad insertion. It’s critical for Operators to use a standardized approach to help manage metadata and rights communication with programmer partners. SCTE 224 is ideal in this environment. In addition to providing clearly defined a messaging and communications protocol, it enables Operators to layer on a linear rights management to manage all of the nuances of implementing the defined actions carried by the SCTE 224 data. This is critical to making decisioning work at scale.
To successfully implement an automated rights management solution, it’s important that the solution lets the user build a metadata ingest platform that scales at a level that can handle complex SCTE 224 ingest scenarios. It should support a variety of source types and formats and not have to create or rebuild each ingest adapter/parser that is unique for each programming partner. While SCTE 224 offers a great standard way to communicate, there can be significant variations in the way it’s implemented. One content provider could use the 2015 version of the standard, another the 2020 standard and yet another could use the same year standard but have different metadata fields being communicated.
It is important to avoid compatibility issues, or Operators will always be playing a costly game of catch up with their development teams. For example, if a system accepts a variety of sources and data structure (easy in), manages everything with strict rules and structure internally, then it will have reliable and consistent behavior when working with a range of data sources from various content providers. However, if a system is built such that each ingest point to the lowest common denominator through rigid hardcoded solution for each partner, Operators greatly limit their flexibility as content partners make changes over time.
SCALE TO SUPPORT MILLIONS OF DECISIONS
It is common to have 100s to 1000s of different policies, audiences, and rules coming in from various content providers that each require automated decisioning made for them to determine which content should be played or not and where it should be played. Therefore, for the system to work correctly, a decisioning system must be implemented that can scale to support millions of decisions daily. This is essentially the brains of the operation – executing video switching decisions based on the metadata rules, policies, and audiences being received from the content programmers. Implementing this functionality requires seamless integration with the adapter/parser as the metadata comes into the system and then integration with your video infrastructure at the encoder, vIRD, packager, or manifest manipulator level to facilitate video changes based on the audience and policy rules in the metadata. The decision manager notifies the Operator’s video supply chain whether or not a program should be played as well as where and who can see it automagically based on the rules defined in the SCTE-224 data stream. If necessary, the decision manager can also “talk” to the Operator’s Ad Decision System to help facilitate unique programmer by programmer ad rules and insertion instructions.
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) is uniquely positioned to enable the Operator content switching requirements by leveraging our Linear Rights Management (LRM) solution. It is provided as a SaaS (Software as a Service), running in the public cloud, minimizing the need for physical hardware, and making it quick to start implementing and using. We normalize all sources that will drive our customers systems to a standard SCTE 224 format and then leverage a backend rules engine and decision manager to enable the switching of video content from a centralized control system. It is designed with an easy-to-use web-based UI that enables operations personnel to track, audit, and make changes as necessary. We integrate seamlessly with your video stitching infrastructure or can provide that functionality as a service ourselves. As your needs change over time, it is simple to make changes and roll them out immediately across your whole network.
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Customer Connections
Dear Valued Customers,
When I started last January, I had hoped to meet most of you personally, but obviously this wasn’t possible. In place of in-person meetings, your sales and account teams have been connecting virtually to help you with your business needs. And, we have hosted several educational webinars, lunch and learns, and our CTS Connects Summit in November to share the latest in ad tech along with our Comcast Advertising partners FreeWheel and Effectv.
2020 was a year unlike any other. We are seeing buy- and sell-sides working together more closely than ever before, with the creative taking center stage. Comcast Technology Solutions is here to help you succeed in this new environment with creative management, media activation, and automation technologies that will power the next generation of advertising technology.
In 2021, we are dedicated to continuing to connect with you to ensure we’re exceeding expectations as your trusted partner and keeping you informed of new products and services. To this end, we are pleased to share our new Customer Connections newsletter. Each month, we will bring you the latest news, data, and developments from Comcast Technology Solutions and the industry. We hope you’ll find it an informative tool to help drive results and get the most out of our solutions.
Thank you for choosing us as your advertising technology partner. We look forward to working with you this year and to continuing to provide the technology and solutions your business needs to adapt and grow.
Wishing you a happy and healthy 2021!
Cheers,
Simon Morris,
Head of Sales, Advertiser Solutions
NEW TECHNOLOGY MAKES AD DELIVERY EVEN EASIER TO USE
Comcast Technology Solutions is proud to introduce a new technology enhancement that further simplifies our Ad Delivery and Creative Management tools.
The WalkMe application provides end-to-end support for a quick and easy product experience.
WalkMe is designed to enhance your experience and streamline all the activities and tasks your team performs every day, across the application. Through on-screen step-by-step instructions you can immediately find answers to your questions and get your orders out quickly.
Try it out for yourself or request a demo.
INDUSTRY LEADING POST-PRODUCTION & VERSIONING
As you know, post-production and asset customization are often the last steps in the production process, but can end up impacting the success of your campaign. If you don’t have the right message, the right version, encoding or accessibility baked into your spot, you could end up missing out on vital opportunities.
Comcast Technology Solutions makes post-production easy with our Production Services. Voice-overs, reslates, versioning, closed captioning and more are done in our in-house studios. All assets can then be sent to thousands of linear and digital destinations automatically.
And, when combined with our centralized ad management platform, you can simplify and unify creative, talent, and distribution workflows across channels. Plus, get creative intelligence into how your ad performed, allowing you to further personalize, improve targeting, and ultimately drive greater ROI.
Let us help you with your post-production needs. Learn more about Production Services.
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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 the linear, “always on” broadcast experience, which is more popular than ever. More accurately, it’s a story about the increasing power of consumers to choose what they want to watch. What if you could put them together, and launch a channel that’s always full of stuff that a specific viewer wants to watch? It’s a compelling offer that’s now more attainable than ever.
Comcast Technology Solutions gives businesses a way to implement virtual channels that complement non-linear experiences with cool new niche channels that can attract and maintain like-minded audiences. Keep watching as Peter Gibson, Executive Director of Product Management and Joe Mancini, Director of Product Development talk with Matt Smith, Executive Director of Business Development and Strategy about how, with the right technology approach, businesses can quickly and cost-effectively augment their consumer offerings with tailored linear experiences.
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