Industry practices and the use of technology are continuously evolving to accommodate new market needs and achieve operational efficiencies within traditional broadcast facilities, which remain the bread and butter of the vendor community. Vijaya Cherian brings you the details.
Vendors have been touting IP- and cloud-based solutions more aggressively in recent years and some standards have moved to the fore. With the industry predicting a bleak future for those who fail to migrate their systems soon, we asked a panel comprising regional end users and solution providers to lay out the status quo for our audience and share their opinions on the relevance of these technologies and upcoming trends.
Joining us for the panel were Shabbir Hussain, Director of Engineering and Operations, CNBC Arabia; Peter Van Dam, CTO of Saudi Sports Company; Srinivas Kuppa, Head of Technology, Al Mashhad; Eyad Al Dwaik, Director of Engineering, Intigral; and Guy Spivack, Regional Commercial Director MENA Comcast Technology Solutions. Hasan R. Sayed Hasan, Managing Director of Master Media, moderated the discussion.
Prioritising investment
Master Media’s MD Hasan kicked off the discussion by asking the participants how they prioritised their spends in the current landscape. Hussain, whose team had just completed a major migration from SD to HD at CNBC Arabia in Dubai, stated that while 60% of the broadcaster’s investment went into traditional broadcast, 40% was allocated for digital media, which he declared to be the future.
Likewise, Kuppa, whose team is about to launch Al Mashhad out of Dubai, stated that while traditional TV remains important to the business, substantial investment has gone into digital services. He said Al Mashhad is being cautious with investments to diversify and has taken a hybrid path aimed at ensuring scaling on multiple platforms in the future.
“The good news is we have chosen a core microservices architecture which can stick and stitch to any different platform that we choose in the future. So we are building a base core which can attach to any of the distribution platforms,” he commented.
Peter Van Dam is CTO of Saudi Sports Company (SSC), which has no legacy equipment but a target to acquire “international IPs and international productions and localise them with Arabic commentary”. A strong cloud advocate, he says 60% of SSC now relies on cloud services.
“The main reason for this is because we do a lot of sport that is not well-known in the Middle East or in Saudi Arabia. The only way to find good Arabic commentators who understand the game is to source them from outside. This is particularly true of NFL, where one commentator sits in Egypt and the others in Dubai. Cloud addresses all our requirements under such circumstances. Our plan, however, is to expand into tier-two and tier-three productions and get into a full cloud-based production environment. With cloud-based solutions, we just own a lot of computers and a lot of space in, say, AWS, have licences for microservices similar to what other parties use, but our investment in hardware is pretty minimal.”
However, Al Dwaik said Intigral has taken the on-premise route for some aspects of the business “because the investment will be way too much on the cloud for an operation of our size”.
“When it comes to media technology, once you know your requirement for the long term, cloud doesn’t make sense. So we do things mostly on-premise. Our investment is usually every year – when we do the budget, we look at the business and operational requirements, and the internal initiatives. SLAs and recurring services consume around 20-30% of our budget while the rest go towards on-premise expansions.
“This is because every year we have more channels, more VOD assets and more people using our services. New business needs and requirements, new features and internal initiatives consume around 10% of our budget.”
At Comcast, a major global solution provider, Spivack said spend varies from region to region. “We tend to work on the principle that there are six key factors that drive a successful transformation. From that, the customer can then work out where it is that they need to bring something in-house or outsource it.”
Prioritising budgets depends on several factors: “We’re now seeing the emergence of free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels and observing how those will mix in with the standard SVOD, TVOD, etc. Also, how do you adapt to an ecosystem that is constantly evolving? There’re always going to be new players coming in. How are you set up to scale towards how they integrate, for example? In certain parts of the world, they still want to keep technology on-premise from a control and a data standpoint. I think that will change slowly. What we do know is that by moving to the cloud, you are moving into internet speed. You can start things up and bring them down at your own pace. And I think that’s where I’m beginning to see more of the change happening, particularly in this region.”
Use cloud-based solutions judiciously
Cloud solutions have been around for a long time, but several MENA players have so far been reluctant to make that investment, for varying reasons. Al Dwaik, who is responsible for the media infrastructure at Intigral and previously spoke in favour of on-premise solutions, clarified the company’s stance.
“We have a DevOps team and everything there is in the cloud. For the media part, though, we have around 200 channels and we’re going to be running these for the next few years. When we looked at how much it would cost us to run it on the cloud, it was way more compared to our investments on-premise. But when you’re talking about event-based channels like the World Cup, where you need some capacity for just a month, we can’t justify an on-premise investment. In that scenario, the cloud is better.”
Most regional media houses have taken a hybrid path. Kuppa says the Al Mashhad team “decided that anything that is contribution- and distribution-related will be distributed and diversified through the cloud, but anything that is studio production-related is best kept on-premise due to quality and zero latency”. CNBC Arabia, with eight bureaus across the Arab world, has taken a similar approach, keeping some parts of production and post-production in the cloud.
Van Dam pointed out that “every organisation needs to look at what their needs are and how fast they need to react and what is the legacy they pull with them” to make their cloud decisions. “In our case, as a young group, we are growing very fast. We have to adapt constantly and scalability is crucial for us. Some parts we keep on-premise because they are too expensive or are just not feasible to do in the cloud.”
He also clarified the difference between cloud production and remote production, with each calling for a different tech combination. “We have remote cloud productions, but we also have remote productions that go over an MPLS network. These are two completely different types of productions. It’s also a budget-based decision. If I need to do a tier-three basketball game and I need to put an OB there, it costs too much. So I’d much rather go with a multiple camera set-up in a cloud environment where the director sits in one country, the producer in, say, Lebanon, the graphics expert in maybe Riyadh, and the broadcaster then takes it on air.”
Van Dam also elaborates on what can be achieved if telcos in a country up their game.
“In Saudi Arabia, we have 29 venues connected throughout the Kingdom and each has an MPLS L2/L3 network layer. And it’s a 10Gbps main redundant and upgradable to 40Gbps with the push of a button. So we can do our remote productions in HD and UHD over an MPLS network and they are very secure. It is highly reliable, the quality is higher and the cost will go down over time. And this is the future – an MPLS-type remote production and the cloud-type remote production. And then you need to get something in between, a platform that both of them can talk to and that you can use to contribute and distribute.”
IP offers flexibility but SMPTE 2110 is not necessarily the best
Everyone’s take on IP installation was slightly different. With CNBC Arabia ready to launch a brand- new IP facility in Doha, Hussain said that “going forward, the broadcaster would now consider IP for any new facility” it builds from the ground up.
“IP gives you a lot of flexibility. Most of the solutions in the market now have reached a fair level of maturity, and that gives us the confidence to go with IP. Manufacturers and systems integrators have had the opportunity through working on several installations to fix snags, and they are better placed to resolve issues. Operationally, there’s not much to show because it is all on the back end. But when you decide to upgrade your facilities, IP will deliver,” he commented.
Kuppa favoured a hybrid approach: “IP is two to three times more expensive than the hybrid approach that we have taken. IP is fantastic, but difficult to justify to stakeholders because they want to see a tangible difference in operations.”
For those with a greenfield opportunity, Van Dam said IP was a good place to start but cautioned that the SMPTE 2110 standard leaves much to be desired and is nowhere near as robust as SDI. “IP infrastructure will give us more flexibility. The initial cost may be higher, but it will allow us to build and add the building blocks slowly – unlike SDI, where modular additions were not possible.”
Al Dwaik added that IP investments should be based on need. “Unless IP is solving an issue for you and unless you’re talking about a bigger installation on a greenfield site, I would recommend sticking with SDI for the smaller stuff.”
Most panellists agreed that SMPTE 2110 was not a great standard. Some felt that alternatives like NDI, SRT and RTMP should be explored further.
“The standards are there, but none of the standards are very detailed,” argued Van Dam. “And that’s the advantage of being in the cloud. We adapt to what they give us … the engineers will go back and forth a bit before they arrive at the right setting. But you find a way, and then cloud is more flexible because you can test more and have more flexibility.” He recommended going with the standards that work best for each facility.
Hussain argued that for bigger installations with 50-plus vendors, it is safer to go with SMPTE 2110 because it is a collaborative project with the vendor community and therefore has more support.
The move to FAST
The discussion then moved to FAST. Spivack explained Comcast’s role in supporting the broadcast community.
“We provide a video management tool that’s essentially a bit like the gearbox of a car, and that effectively then controls everything else. So we work with different players that can bring together that all-encompassing FAST channel solution, but we don’t actually bring channels into the market; we have all the enablers to make that possible.”
Al Dwaik said: “The best use of FAST channels is when you have niche subjects or very popular subjects. You contact content creators, you bring them on the platform where you create FAST channels that address those niche subjects or popular subjects. These content creators have their own channel on other platforms. They can promote your FAST channels platform. They can bring new customers for a subscription fee, have early access to some exclusive content. This is a tried and tested model. This is a very good business model, but it’s not your standard entertainment business model.”
Spivack argued: “There’s never going to be a set standard when it comes to FAST. I think it’s all going to be derived from the data that’s generated within your overall system. So you’ll know at what point to be able to launch a FAST channel if you want, and what that content should be and who that audience is, and how you’re going to mix that up with maybe more subscription-based services, and how you integrate all of it. I don’t believe there will be just that one way of approaching FAST channels, and I think for each region, it will be different.”
Director of Master Medi
What’s next?
With each panellist prepping his facilities for the future, moderator Hasan asked what was on their list of top trending technologies. Every list included 4K, AI, ML, data analytics and XR.
Kuppa said software-defined architecture, AR/VR and 4K with hybrid IP was big for Al Mashhad.
Van Dam remarked that data is crucial in sports, with XR also top of his list: “Data and XR are important to us. We are starting to use more AI-type of cameras to get all this data out and to convert it into any possible form that can use graphics. Augmented reality is the next part, where you get these floating graphics. The second part in AI is we are going to start using it for second- and third-tier productions because it can be a strong add-on on top of an X amount of real cameras. In addition, we are focusing on XR. This offers more flexibility, more dynamics and more depth.”
Hussain agreed; CNBC Arabia has already made major inroads into VR with its news programmes, and its next step is XR. “Currently we are doing some VR programmes, but we see greater opportunity with XR and it won’t be long before we begin this.”
Al Dwaik pointed out that “video encoding can be drastically improved using AI” and that he saw AV1 becoming a popular standard. “Right now, Nvidia GPUs are doing something different. With AI, they have stopped coding the pictures in a standard way; they recognise the face and then reconstruct the whole video at the other end. That gives you amazing data savings running at around 0.2Mbps.
“Now there are some companies that are working with AI to enhance video encoding, where you can have the most optimal video encoding for a specific codec. I believe that’s a good place for AI. Also, once you have a complex system with logs coming from different sub-systems, AI can be the best tool to correlate events and finding anomalies.
“I also see AV1 becoming a more popular video encoding standard. With new GPUs and CPUs emerging with hardware support for AV1, I think in two to three years we are likely to see more widespread adoption.”
Spivack commented that AI will hugely improve operational efficiency. He also saw great potential to build in contextual advertising, which he said is going to be a massive driver for monetisation. “I think you now have much more control over how you want to build your OTT platforms and how those configure to your existing workflows within your organisation. A systems integrator is never really going to know that, but if you can pick the pieces and put them together in the way that makes the most sense for you, that’s what I think is now happening here. I believe that our approach is being welcomed.”
