16 MANAGEMENT

January-February 2018

by keith lissak

Thanks to the unprecedented demand for content across a variety of platforms , media organisations today are building immense — and continually expanding — libraries of content . Countless interns working day and night could not possibly tag or catalogue all of this material , so it has not been possible for media organisations to extract metadata from every digital asset within their libraries . Consequently , much of the content they own and store remains unknown , invisible and effectively unavailable for remonetisation .

With the embrace of artificial intelligence ( AI ) by the media and entertainment industry , however , valuable content is no longer consigned to anonymity within the depths of massive digital media libraries . Utilising cognitive engines that perform processes such as transcription , face recognition , object recognition , sentiment identification , translation and geo location , AI enables fast , automated examination of files and near-real-time extraction of minute details that

Industry veteran David Cohen has moved up to become Grass Valley ’ s new vice-president of marketing . Previously in charge of product marketing and related activities as senior director of market development at Grass Valley , Cohen ’ s new role includes responsibility for marketing communications and product marketing .

Describing the changes that have taken place over the 14 years he has spent in the broadcast and media industries as “ dramatic ”, Cohen told APB : “ My time in the industry began when the transition to digital in the US was taking place and the questions about when the

Will 2018 see a growing adoption of AI by the media and entertainment industry ?

previously were unobtainable .

In applying cognitive engines to a digital media library , media organisations can automatically generate the metadata essential to creating more customised video-on-demand ( VoD ) offerings , providing more useful return on investment ( ROI ) data to sponsors , and quickly finding and accessing the timely or relevant content that is key to creating compelling programming .

David Cohen , vice-president of marketing , Grass Valley : “ Broadcast today is nothing like it was just 10 years ago and the rate of change only seems to be increasing .”

industry would move to HD were just beginning .

“ Technology advancements have been a regular thing , but the influx of new players in the content distribution world caused even more disruption . Broadcast today is nothing like it was just 10 years ago and the rate of change only seems to be increasing .”

As to how he intends to move Grass Valley into an era where viewing habits continue to evolve and key technology transitions start to take place , Cohen elaborated : “ The market and our customers ’ shifting needs help determine our direction . Our goal is simply to help our customers create , control and connect content no matter the method that ’ s being used to consume that content .”

With a new level of insight into the character of all stored content , media organisations and content creators have greater choice and creative freedom in building a narrative , recounting a history or documenting an event . In some cases , this simply means tracking down needed B-roll footage already stored within the library , rather than spending time and money to shoot specific scenes all over again .

Systems integrators Magna Systems and BFE have announced a new Asia-Pacific partnership , which will see the former promote , sell and support the latter ’ s broadcast control and monitoring systems in Australia , Indonesia , New Zealand and Singapore .

Magna will also be responsible for sales activities , as well as preconfiguration , commissioning , installation and integration of all BFE solutions .

Matthew Clemesha , group CEO of Magna Systems , told APB : “ Magna Systems and Engineering is delighted to partner with BFE in Australia , New Zealand , Singapore and Indonesia as this brings Magna an exciting new product set in the BFE KSC product line .

“ This in turn will bring opportunities to our customers throughout these regions when it comes to purchasing broadcast control and monitoring systems — by offering another seriously good alternative to the current players in this market .”

He reiterated that Magna will handle all aspects of what is needed to sell , promote , commission , install and integrate the KSC product line , and provide the right professional support level needed

PHOTO CREDIT : ISTOCK BY GETTY IMAGES

In other instances , the metadata extracted by cognitive engines can help creatives find video and audio related to a particular person or event . Such content can make for much more engaging — and more competitive — sports packages , news programming and entertainment shows .

In producing sports events , the team can easily gather a wealth of content connected with specific competitions , leagues , teams and athletes , and then compile it to offer a unique perspective on a current event or broadcast .

In reporting and production for news and public affairs programmes , the data generated by cognitive engines can support searches of speeches and other public comments — not only by keywords but also by faces and objects — to reveal candidates ’ and politicians ’ positions on important issues or to track the issues themselves .

For entertainment programmes , these same capabilities can allow producers to perform highly specific searches : every mention of a popular musician , every segment

to bring confidence to customers looking to purchase the BFE KSC product line .

Echoing Clemesha ’ s enthusiasm for the new partnership is Berend Blokzijl , senior sales manager at BFE , who said : “ Magna is a very reputable company in APAC and has strong ties with regional broadcasters . It prides itself not only in delivering broadcast products and solutions , but also in taking care of local implementation and support .

“ We are delighted to extend our partner network for BFE in the APAC region with such a wellknown company as Magna Systems and Engineering .”

The new partnership will also allow Magna to better address

Matthew Clemesha , group CEO , Magna Systems and Engineering : “ We are looking forward to a longstanding relationship with BFE and also look forward to working with them to promote and sell the KSC product line across the Asia-Pacific region .” in which a famous actor arches an eyebrow , or every utterance of a particular word or phrase . The possibilities enabled by AI processing and metadata extraction are limitless .

When first introduced to the media and entertainment industry , AI was available only as a cloudbased processing tool . Going into 2018 , though , media organisations have access to a growing array of engines both on the ground and in the cloud .

The ability to process large volumes of content stored onpremise allows a content owner not only to eliminate the cost and hassle of transferring media files to the cloud , but also to realise some peace of mind in knowing that digital assets will remain behind the organisation ’ s own firewall .

The convenience and security of this model and the incredible insights it yields are sure to drive the industry ’ s growing adoption of AI in 2018 .

Keith Lissak is senior director , media and entertainment solutions marketing at Quantum .

Patrick So , regional manager , Asia-Pacific , Magna Systems and Engineering : Broadcasters are urged to keep an eye on technologies in the compression space , as when “ new compression techniques and algorithms such as HEVC and H . 265 become the norm , this will in turn bring down overthe-top and content delivery network costs .”

the needs of broadcasters in 2018 , as Patrick So , regional manager , Asia-Pacific , Magna Systems and Engineering , explained : “ Broadcasters are looking to streamline their workflows and reduce head count , and having a central control system such as BFE allows this to be possible . They are able to change the backend systems but keep the same user interface , and BFE solutions also allow them to integrate with different hardware and software providers to create an agnostic control system .”

So also urged broadcasters to keep an eye on technologies in the compression space . “ As new compression techniques and algorithms such as HEVC and H . 265 become the norm , this will in turn bring down over-the-top ( OTT ) and content delivery network ( CDN ) costs ,” he concluded .