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BBN3 Unveils Cloud-Based Scalable Video Production Process for SMBs
For small-to-medium sized businesses looking to augment their online presence with high-quality video, the process can be daunting. How to find a qualified video producer? How to avoid getting overcharged? How to carve out time to manage the process without it becoming a huge distraction? And so on. Still, many SMBs recognize that with video usage exploding, and consumer expectations rising, having a video(s) to explain their product, service or approach is fast becoming as essential as having a web site.
These are the problems that Vancouver-based BBN3 (part of SoMedia Networks) is addressing with a new template-driven, cloud-based video production process
that aims to resolve all the relevant cost, reach and project management issues, thereby unlocking video production at massive scale. BBN3 has created hundreds of videos for SMBs since March through its platform (examples here). Last week, Travis Moss, BBN3's VP of Business Development walked me through a step-by-step demo of their platform.
Categories: Technology
Topics: BBN3, SoMedia Networks, StudioNow, TurnHere
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Updated Orb Live App Allows Users to Stream Hulu and Other Premium Video to Mobile Devices
Orb Networks is releasing the latest version of its Orb Live app today, which allows users to stream content from Hulu, Netflix, Amazon VOD and other sources to their mobile devices. Users download free Orb Caster software to their PC or Mac, and then by purchasing the $9.99 Orb Live app are able to stream video from their computer to their mobile device. The iOS version of Orb Live is available today, with the Android version coming in mid-August.
The new Hulu feature is useful for gaining access to the free programs that are available on Hulu.com since you currently have to subscribe to Hulu Plus in order to gain mobile access though its app. In addition to Hulu and other premium content, new features in Orb Live include adaptive bit rate capability to deliver the optimal experience depending on fluctuating connection speeds. Orb has also created an index of all premium content available so that when users search for a particular show, its availability on multiple sites is surfaced.
Categories: Aggregators, Mobile Video, Technology
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Cisco Divestiture Could Be Final Blow for Traditional Set-top Boxes
It's no secret that sales of traditional set-top boxes (STB) have been under huge pressure for a while now as IP delivery becomes more integral to pay-TV operators' technical architecture. But yesterday's news that Cisco, which is one of the biggest providers in the world of traditional STBs, is looking to divest its big STB plant in Juarez, Mexico, could be a final blow for the beleaguered devices, accelerating pay-TV operators' IP plans.
Cisco has been getting hammered from all sides recently and the divestiture would no doubt have much-needed short-term financial benefits (coupled with an imminent layoff). The larger context behind the move is more significant: pay-TV operators want to gain more flexibility in delivering services to subscribers while reducing their capex. As more pay-TV subscribers turn to their iPads, Rokus, smartphones and gaming consoles for their video entertainment, pay-TV operators need to run harder than ever to innovate.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Technology
Topics: Cisco
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HTML5 Playback Now Up to 69% of Online/Mobile Video
MeFeedia released its latest analysis of HTML5 playback adoption, finding that 69% of H.264 (the dominant video format) video is now available for HTML5 playback. As the chart below shows, that's roughly 7x the level it was in Jan. '10, although adoption appears to be slowing a bit since Feb. '11 (see chart below). Separately, MeFeedia found that WebM, Google's open source format accounts for less than 2% of video, though that will increase as YouTube converts its videos to WebM
Categories: Technology
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Cisco Unveils System for Enterprises to Distribute Video Widely
As online video consumption soars, enterprises have begun realizing that video is a key part of the way they communicate internally. But because video is a bandwidth-heavy application that can quickly drive up network costs while degrading quality, video is a whole new challenge for IT managers. That's the context for a set of products Cisco is announcing this morning called Enterprise Content Delivery System (ECDS).
ECDS is a set of hardware appliances, software and management services that optimize both on-demand and live video to any device. Use cases for enterprises are varied, and include training, executive-level communications, meetings, events and customer interactions among others. Each one of these situations create different challenges such as which office video originates from, how many users will be involved, which other assets are part of the video package, etc.
Categories: Technology
Topics: Cisco
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Irdeto Bolsters Blu-ray Security With BD+ Acquisition from Rovi
Irdeto, which provides software security services for digital media, is expanding its focus to Blu-ray discs, announcing it has acquired BD+
technology from Rovi. Irdeto's SVP of Product Martin Sendyk and VP of Technology Greg McKesey explained to me that the plan is to integrate BD+ with Irdeto's ActiveCloak for Media, in order to combat Blu-ray piracy in the initial period following a disc's release when the vast majority of its potential revenue is realized.
Categories: Deals & Financings, Technology
Topics: BD+, Blu-ray, Irdeto, Rovi
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Conviva is Now Optimizing 1 Billion Streams Per Month
Conviva is now optimizing 1 billion video streams per month, as major media companies continue to realize that quality matters both to the user's
experience and also to their ability to monetize. For those not familiar with Conviva, its software integrates with video players and allows content providers to gain unprecedented insight into the quality of the video being delivered on a per user basis. Using its algorithms to determine the cause of delivery problems, Conviva's software gives content providers real-time performance visibility and preemptively remedies the issues based on a pre-configured set of policies.
Conviva CEO Darren Feher brought me up to speed on the company's progress in a call earlier this week (related, Darren presented at the ELEVATE conference a few weeks ago, a video is available after the jump). Over 60 major media companies (e.g. Disney, Fox, MLB, HBO, NFL, etc.) are now using Conviva, and Darren reports that viewers of optimized streams watch an average of 40% longer than do those viewing non-optimized streams. More time viewed obviously translates into more ad inventory, and Darren said a few large customers are now seeing an incremental 7-figure ad revenue lift.
Categories: Technology
Topics: Conviva
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PlayLater Brings DVR Capability to the Online Video World
Ever find yourself in a situation where you want to watch online video, but you can't actually get online or can only get a sub-par connection? In these cases, it would have been convenient to pre-record the videos you want and watch them at your convenience, as is the norm with DVRs. This is the simple, but highly compelling use case that PlayLater, a new product being released in closed beta today, addresses.
With PlayLater, you first download the client software (PC-only for now) and are then presented with an interface where you can search and select your desired programs from a variety of the most-popular free and paid online video sources (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc.). I gave PlayLater a try and was able to easily find and record the latest episode of "Glee" on Hulu. Because PlayLater is recording, not downloading, the program, it requires as much time as the duration of the program and episode - just like using a DVR with TV, and of course the PC must be on while recording.
Categories: DVR, Technology
Topics: MediaMall Technologies, PlayLater, PlayOn
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LongTail.tv Targets Small to Mid-Sized Publishers With Hosted Video Solution
LongTail Video, the company behind the free, hugely popular JW Player, has launched a public beta of LongTail.tv, which includes a hosted version of the JW Player, a gallery of embeddable videos from 5Min (and others soon) and turnkey advertising. Dave Otten, co-founder and CEO of Long Tail, told me that with LongTail.tv addresses small to mid-sized customers' demands for a solution that requires minimal technical expertise, offers easy access to premium content and provides incremental revenue. LongTail.tv has been in private beta with 300 publishers for over a month.
While LongTail.tv allows publishers to insert URLs to their own videos (an upload option and other features are coming soon with the full integration of LongTail's Bits on the Run OVP product) to play within the hosted JW player, the main value proposition is gaining access to the 5Min videos, which are sorted by category and new revenue. A publisher can simply grab the "Arts" or "Business" channels and a curated set of up-to-date videos from various 5Min content partners will be available on its site.
Categories: Syndicated Video Economy, Technology
Topics: 5Min, LongTail Video, LongTail.tv
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thePlatform and Alcatel-Lucent Deal Continues Pay-TV's Push to IP Delivery
Online video platform provider thePlatform and IPTV services/hardware giant Alcatel-Lucent are introducing an exclusive joint solution this morning to
further accelerate pay-TV operators' transition to an all IP-based delivery model targeting multiple devices. The goal is to provide a soup-to-nuts system for pay-TV operators that combines the same control and security of traditional single purpose QAM video networks with the flexibility and cost-effectiveness that IP delivery offers. thePlatform's CEO Ian Blaine and AlcaLu's SVP, Global IP Video Solutions Derrick Frost, brought me up to speed last week.
The companies' multiscreen video platform solution has 3 components:
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Technology
Topics: Alcatel-Lucent, thePlatform
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Recapping All of the Product and Partnership News from ELEVATE
At the ELEVATE conference on Tuesday a number of our partners made product and partnership announcements which I mentioned were coming in a teaser last Friday. Each helps move the online video advertising market forward in different ways. A brief recap of each follows:
Categories: Advertising, Events, Technology
Topics: Adap.TV, AdoTube, Conviva, ELEVATE, EyeView, Grab Networks, Innovid, Ooyala, Panache, RAMP, Tremor Video, Undertone, YuMe
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Panache Introduces Interactive Ads in HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)
Video ad technology provider Panache is introducing the ability to insert interactive ad overlays in HTTP live streaming (HLS) content delivered to iOS and Android connected devices. Panache is announcing the capability at ELEVATE: Online Video Advertising Summit. Panache CEO Steve Robinson, who briefed me last week on the capability, sees this as primarily supporting dynamic ad insertion into live television streams that would be simulcast to devices.
Panache believes this capability is significant because it bypasses the need to separate TV programs streamed online into segments, with video ads inserted between them, which is a cumbersome process. Steve reports that pay-TV operators and TV technology providers are excited about Panache's offering because it moves them closer to their vision of convergence between TV and other devices. Many premium content providers are recognizing the value of live streaming for audiences, especially to newer mobile devices. Categories most often mentioned are sports or music, but entertainment programming is also a priority.
Categories: Advertising, Technology
Topics: Panache
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Clearleap Looks to Power More Cable iPad Apps
Large cable operators like Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have launched popular iPad apps over the past 6 months, and now technology provider Clearleap is looking to help get other cable operators into the iPad app game (as well as apps for other connected devices). This morning Clearleap is announcing a set of APIs for its Stream On Demand product that allow developers to quickly create an app's front-end user experience while having the back-end processes fulfilled without any custom development.
iPad and other connected device apps are a critical part of cable operators' larger TV Everywhere strategies of unlocking cable programming from the set-top box and allowing subscribers to watch programming anytime, anywhere and on any device. However, the proliferation of devices, and the need to have programming delivered securely, has created significant complexity and cost to accomplish this goal. Underscoring the challenges, even the largest operator, Comcast, only just last week announced its Xfinity TV app would support video streaming to iPhones/iPod Touches, and it has yet to release this for any Android device. For mid-size and smaller operators who don't have the same resources, iPad and other apps are out of reach.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Devices, Technology
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Brightcove Expands Beyond Video, Introduces "App Cloud" Platform
Brightcove is introducing a new product this morning called Brightcove App Cloud, a platform which allows content publishers to build and manage apps and "touch" web sites for iOS and Android devices. The move is the first
product expansion beyond video since Brightcove's inception. Brightcove is also announcing that it has changed the name of its video platform to Brightcove Video Cloud and that it is positioning the company as a "cloud content services company." Brightcove's SVP of Marketing Jeff Whatcott brought me up to speed on all the moves late yesterday.
The App Cloud initiative is based on feedback from content customers that it is becoming increasingly necessary for them to develop content experiences for smartphones, tablets, connected devices and social media sites like Facebook, all of which go beyond traditional web sites. However, these requirements have introduced massive complexity and cost to content publishers, forcing companies to choose between creating low-end apps using "app factory" tools (as Jeff described), or more custom experiences leveraging native SDKs. This tradeoff between the former's strong affordability and reach vs. the latter's flexibility and power has created what Brightcove sees as a gap in the market for a robust "app platform."
Categories: Technology
Topics: Android, Brightcove, iOS
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thePlatform Continues TV Everywhere Momentum With Cox TV Online
thePlatform continues to rack up large pay-TV operators as customers for its TV Everywhere video management platform, this morning adding Cox TV Online, the TV Everywhere initiative of 3rd-largest U.S. operator CoxCommunications. thePlatform is now powering 5 of the top operators in North America, including Comcast (its parent company), Rogers in Canada, BigPond from Telstra in Australia and others. In addition to the operator side of the equation, thePlatform has pushed aggressively into powering content providers' authenticated TV Everywhere programs.
Categories: Cable TV Operators, Technology
Topics: Cox, thePlatform
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Digitalsmiths Raises $12.5 Million Series C Round
Video metadata solutions provider Digitalsmiths has closed a $12.5 million Series C round, led by strategic investor Technicolor, with participation by
existing investors .406 Ventures, Aurora Funds, Chrysalis Ventures, Capitol Broadcasting and Cisco. With the financing Digitalsmiths has raised a little over $30 million.
Ben Weinberger, Digitalsmiths CEO and Co-Founder told me that the round was oversubscribed and that additional funds are also available. The new round will support increased marketing and sales efforts for Digitalsmiths' search and discovery solutions targeted to premium video providers. The round will also support planned international expansion.
Categories: Deals & Financings, Technology
Topics: Digitalsmiths, Technicolor
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Zixi Raises $4 Million for Pristine HD Video Delivery
Zixi, a Boston-area company that enables HD video delivery through the public Internet, announced its first round of $4 million today from Schooner Capital, Sid Topol (founder of Scientific Atlanta) and Reese Schonfeld (former CEO of CNN). Zixi's software optimizes network bandwidth while minimizing delays typically found when initiative playback and eliminating buffering. Zixi does this by adding its own software layer geared for video delivery on top of standard Internet delivery protocols. Zixi works for both on-demand and live streaming video.
Categories: Deals & Financings, Technology
Topics: Zixi
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Ooyala Pursues OTT Market With Ooyala Everywhere
Online video platform provider Ooyala jumped into the over-the-top space today, unveiling at the NAB Show "Ooyala Everywhere," a set of technologies and services to deliver premium content on mobile devices, connected TVs and browsers. Bismarck Lepe, Ooyala's co-founder and president of products updated me last week.
Categories: Technology
Topics: Ooyala
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RAMP Mobile Unveiled for Mobile Content Optimization
At the NAB Show today, RAMP launched "RAMP Mobile," a clever solution for taking existing web content - text, images, audio and video - and completely optimizing it for consumption on mobile devices. RAMP mobile addresses a critical pain point created by the rapid growth of mobile web users trying to access web site content formatted for online use. Last week, RAMP's CEO Tom Wilde walked me through how the solution works and what the user experience looks like.
The best way to understand RAMP Mobile is that it essentially deconstructs existing web sites down to their core content objects, and then reconstructs them into mobile-friendly apps. In this respect, the traditional "container" of a web site becomes unnecessary for the mobile web. This is a theme that RAMP has been emphasizing for a while now, with its content optimization focus.
Categories: Mobile Video, Technology
Topics: RAMP Mobile
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Sony Pictures Taps Value of Archive With Thought Equity's Metadata Editor
Major content providers are continuing to realize that new value can be mined from archives of long-form premium content by creating and indexing metadata in order to distribute shorter clips of key scenes. The latest example came this week as Sony Pictures Entertainment struck a deal with Thought Equity Motion to use its T3 Metadata (screen shot below) for its enormous catalog of entertainment content.
Categories: FIlms, Studios, Technology
Topics: Sony Pictures, Thought Equity Motion
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