In Broadcast - April 2013 - 62


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

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 18 - APRIL 2013

N E W S

InMEDIA

OTTilus Path To OTT & TV Everywhere
By Bob Lamb
Managing
Director
OTTilus

B

62

roadcast-quality media is
becoming more commonplace
on the Internet, with consumer
demand driving TV Everywhere and
over-the-top (OTT) video delivery to
a galaxy of new platforms ranging
from gaming consoles, mobiles, and
tablets to PCs and Smart TVs.
This trend presents challenges
for content owners, broadcasters,
and service providers as they seek
to expand and differentiate OTT
offerings while at the same time
maximising revenue generation. Now
more than ever, these companies
need highly integrated and powerful
business management tools as they
grapple with integrating traditional
and new media services.
OTTilus, a Pilat Media company,
is responding to these requirements
with the all-new OTTilus Online
Video Platform (OVP) – an endto-end enterprise-class, OTT TV
solution for delivering live, catchup, and VOD services. OTTilus

OTTilus online video platform

OVP enables media organisations
to expand their multiplatform
product offerings while leveraging
their broadcast operations’ existing
workﬂows and systems. Derived
from Pilat Media’s 15 years of
expertise developing award-winning
broadcast management solutions,
OTTilus OVP provides the platform
to deliver TV Everywhere offerings
that are seamlessly integrated with
business operations.
OTTilus OVP offers a broadcastgrade content factory, backend
management software, and player
applications that support all major
streaming formats and end-user
devices from smartphones to
tablets to Smart TVs. The result

is a compelling and consistent
viewer experience for live, catchup, and VOD television for free
and premium-protected content.
The highly scalable system can
support operations ranging from
single-channel streaming services to
complex multichannel, multiservice
environments with large content and
subscriber volumes. Workflows,
metadata, rights, ad campaigns,
and analytics are fully integrated
while supporting OTT delivery of
premium content.
OTTilus OVP is available either as
a cloud service or an on-premise
installation that can be installed
quickly and easily out of the box
or tailored to meet speciﬁc client

needs. An optional BMS middleware
layer provides advanced integration
with broadcast operations and
multiplatform service management.
This enables the operator to extend
business management functions at
a granular level to the OTT offering
while maintaining centralised
management of their operations. For
instance, the BMS middleware layer
controls the planning and preparation
of content offers across platform
services, enabling playout through
the OTT system based on complex
real-life content rights windows for
speciﬁc regions, platforms, devices,
and service-delivery partners.
OTTilus OVP also offers playeroriginated metrics on consumer
usage and quality of experience,
such as the number of consumers
viewing a particular piece of
content on each service, to
provide input into promotional and
advertising campaigns.
OTTilus OVP will make its
American debut at the 2013 NAB
Show, where Pilat Media will
highlight its award-winning business
management and OTT solutions
for TV Everywhere, including new
enhancements to non-linear and
advanced rights management for
multiplatform operations.

PROVYS Steps In To Take TV Puls
Broadcast systems must work in harmony to keep the programmes,
commercials, promotions, bumpers and stings in order and on time…
By Martin Junek
Commercial
Director
PROVYS
he main areas responsible
for orchestrating channels
are broadcast management,
automation and playout.
If the whole system needs
replacing it is relatively easy to
acquire and run up a new system
and then switch over when
everything is ready. However
if you want to change only a
part, this would be more tricky. It
could, perhaps, be compared with
changing the steering wheel while
driving! For broadcasters, all three
systems, management, automation
and playout, are connected with
data ﬂowing between them, and the
system must stay on air. Fortunately
PROVYS has experience in this area
and so won a contract with Polish
broadcaster TV Puls in Warsaw to

T

replace their existing broadcast
management system while keeping
the station running and on air.
With the licence of TV Puls’
existing broadcast management
system, supporting some 50 users,
about to run out they took this
as an opportunity to ﬁnd a more
ﬂexible solution that would enable
expansion, immediately to a second
TV channel, and beyond, as well
as being able to provide for their
speciﬁc needs. The solution was
based on PROVYS TVOfﬁce that
offers a wide range of functions and
a very ﬂexible, off-the-shelf product.
This has no time limit on its licence
and was customised and tuned for
the speciﬁc needs of TV Puls.
The project to replace the legacy
system was completed in just six
weeks. This included migrating all
the existing data from the legacy
technology, training the personnel
on the new system and interfacing
with the existing automation and
playout systems from Harris. The
actual switchover from legacy to
PROVYS that took place during

a programme break went
smoothly and in good
time, just before the old
licence expired.
Now TV Puls has two
channels on air and is well
prepared for any further expansion
with its automation system that can
easily and smoothly be expanded in
functionality and in scale, for more
users and for more channels... and
with no time limit on the licence.
The PROVYS system is not just an
expandable replacement system that
runs on off-the-shelf platforms, but
also introduces many enhancements.
But ﬁrst and foremost there is the
interface with the automation
system for the export of playlists
from PROVYS and the import of
as-run data. PROVYS also provides
acquisition, rights management and
content management, including
complete programme metadata. The
broadcast planning is ﬂexible as it is
split into macro and micro scheduling,
including listings preparation and
secondary-events planning. There
is also provision for the planning

of promotion campaigns and for
media management, including
identifying conflicts. As-run log
reconciliation and post-transmission
data processing, including ZAiKS
(authors’ and composers’) reports,
are also included in the package.
TV Puls now has a more
comprehensive easy-to-use
system with straightforward
flexibility for future expansion –
without undergoing another big
switchover moment.
There is now customisable
software with much richer
functionality which is more effective
and productive, and a low error rate.
Any new requirements can simply
either be supplied off-the-shelf or
developed as required and added
to the existing system.
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