In Broadcast - November 2012 - 76

I N T E R N A T I O N A L

N E W S

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 14 - NOV/DEC 2012

InMEDIA
WHATS’On Gives Broadcasters The Air They Need
These are tough but inspiring times say MediaGeniX...
UK broadcasters are rowing to the beat of innovation to stay ahead in what probably is the most competitive TV market in Europe. Stakes are high now that content providers can secure access to the living room TV on their own terms, thanks to new technologies such as YouView. In this landscape, MediaGeniX is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a new release of WHATS’On. This cross-media workﬂow, scheduling and content lifecycle software solution not only conquered the European mainland broadcast market, but also gives several music, children’s and comedy networks throughout the UK the air they need. One could explain WHATS’On as being a broadcaster’s enhanced ERP system for scheduling, VOD and content management across platforms and media, but that would be selling it short. WHATS’On is designed to streamline the processes behind the data. As a management tool it guides 76 and drives the business. The integrated package is modular, conﬁgurable to any workﬂow, and grows along with the broadcaster’s most ambitious plans. As a software backbone, it sits in the centre of the organisation, interfacing with finance, legal and MAM systems, and the whole broadcast infrastructure, while driving playout. All departments know where to turn to, know what’s going on or – more importantly – see what could and should be done to improve the way the organisation runs and how their content performs. Business models are rapidly changing. The common creed is to give viewers easy access to highquality content on any device, with more interaction, such as secondscreen applications. Obviously, it is far from easy to produce or acquire good content and invest in new delivery platforms to boot, but with WHATS’On it can be done. Whatever niche market or business model a broadcaster has chosen, the golden rule is to manage lifecycles with a maximum return on programming investment. No small feat, because a major challenge for any broadcaster’s back office is to manage the increasingly complex multiplatform, multi-format content and the diverse delivery techniques. C o n s i d e r a l l t h e d i ff e re n t proprietary rights, file formats, content description, promotions, publication information… With WHATS’On, broadcasters can exploit rights as efﬁciently as possible, get the highest return on promotional and branding airtime, be more responsive to the needs of the audience, and take the grunt out of the labour-intensive scheduling of content, promos and secondary events. And here is the crux: as soon as broadcasters are given the means to manage all this efﬁciently, they also gain the ﬂexibility to swiftly launch new services and channels without doubling the workload and the cost for each implementation. After 20 years of integrating

Michel Beke, Product Manager

workflows, rights, promotions, press, media management and delivery processes into one single software backbone, MediaGeniX’ WHATS’On has reﬁned effective ways to help broadcasters tackle the issues at hand. The new release maintains a tradition of continuous evolution and extension that answers today’s rapid implementation and cost efﬁciency requirements, and helps broadcasters face up to their daily challenging task: to manage content, build an audience for it and keep viewers, users and stakeholders happy. ■

Pilat Media Selected By Global Media Company
Pilat Media’s ﬂagship Integrated Broadcast Management System (IBMS) has been chosen by a prominent global media and entertainment company. IBMS will serve as the central rights management, content scheduling, and media trafﬁcking system for this large organisation, replacing several diverse systems to deliver new efﬁciencies through centralisation, standardisation, and workﬂow automation. Pilat Media said that the unnamed customer is rolling IBMS out gradually across its Europe, Middle East, and Africa organisation to support linear channels as well as on-demand and new media services. “We are delighted to have been selected by this global industry leader after a long and thorough evaluation process. In February we announced that this company had gone live with the MediaPro advertising sales system provided by our Dutch subsidiary, so it’s now very gratifying to be chosen for the content management part of the operation,” said Avi Engel, CEO, Pilat Media. “This customer’s selection of IBMS is just the latest example of how our solutions are enabling large-scale centralisation and consolidation within some of the world’s largest media operations.” Pilat Media’s IBMS delivers multiplatform solutions for content, ad sales, and rights management to boost productivity across an entire broadcasting operation – from acquisitions to scheduling, airtime and non-airtime sales, trafﬁc, and finance. Leveraging a single shared database, and a system wide business logic and workﬂow architecture, IBMS modular conﬁgurations can replace multiple disparate systems with a centralised information hub designed to keep the broadcaster’s business running at peak efficiency. ■

Pilat IBMS

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In Broadcast - November 2012

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