Educational Tracks: Multiscreen Video

Track 6: Multiscreen Video

SPONSORS
Ericsson   
Telecom operators, both fixed and mobile, commonly provide TV as a part of their multi-service offerings. Today’s operators, especially fixed operators, are showing strong interest in extending their TV service over multiple kinds of access and devices, in order to retain and expand their market position and grow new sources of income.

The market is segmented into IPTV and mobile TV offerings that utilize separate solutions in the network and service layers. Offering both services today requires a duplication of user and content management functions, and a vertical approach with specific access technologies and devices in mind. What’s more, these vertical systems are based on different sets of standards not historically designed with interoperability in mind.

This series of sessions is designed to showcase the different technology approaches for a converged or "multi-screen" strategy; to discuss the trends and drivers in the marketplace and to focus on the business value for fixed and mobile operators to implement a new, converged approach.

Please Note: Sessions listed below are subject to change.

DAY ONE: Wednesday, June 6, 2012

8:00 – 8:25 am
Bringing Broadcast-Quality HDTV to Every Screen
Vivek Pathela , Executive Vice President, Products and Operations, ZiXi
The challenges associated with delivering broadcast-quality HDTV over-the-top (OTT) to multiple screens are daunting. Present TV distribution architecture is based on robust yet inflexible technologies. Current implementations only support TVs with set-top boxes, effectively leaving behind a growing base of mobile and software-based players. Operators also can’t service new clients and expand into new markets beyond their geographically limited service area. IPTV solutions can extend their reach, but lack the unmanaged flexibility and lower cost of true OTT services.

Today, new technologies are emerging that are enabling reliable, flawless HD video over the Internet. These technologies are capable of turning the Internet into a crystal-clear HD video on-demand or live broadcast medium, eliminating startup delay, pauses, stutters, and frame freeze. Operators can use existing broadband ISP connections to integrate seamlessly with connected TVs, PCs and mobile devices, opening up new opportunities for content services without investing in expensive infrastructure.

This presentation will address the issues that until now have hampered operators’ ability to deliver “anytime, anywhere” HDTV, and examine new technologies that are enabling operators to meet the challenges of delivering HDTV to multiple screens easily and cost-effectively.

Attendee Take-Aways

  • Explore the challenges associated with delivering broadcast-quality video to multiple screens, including mobile devices like smartphones and tablets
  • Develop an understanding of the technologies and strategies needed to effectively bring HDTV to every screen

8:30 – 8:55 am
Transforming the Back-Office: A Multi-Screen Necessity
Brian Cappellani, CTO/VP of Engineering, Sigma Systems
One of the barriers to delivering an integrated multiscreen experience is that many operators support IPTV and mobile TV services in separate IT operational silos. To manage the unified and portable entertainment experience that customers demand, service providers need an OSS system that can abstract and understand services at both the mobile and fixed network layers and then orchestrate end-to-end management of video service entitlements.
This session will discuss how today’s OSS technologies can accelerate the delivery of a multi-screen experience to the market and generate new revenue streams, while effectively handling end-to-end entitlement management for a range of devices, from IP set-top boxes to mobile devices to IP home gateways and more.

Attendee Take-Aways

  • Understand best OSS service management practices that support the telecom evolution to all-IP video offerings; necessary to enable the multi-screen video experience
  • Arm service providers with the knowledge to prepare for a smooth transition from a legacy video architecture to IPTV architecture in order to combat competition and deliver the next generation of video offerings over IP
  • Explain how to manage multi-screen video entitlements across customers, service plans, CPE devices, IPTV middleware systems and cloud-enabled application systems (e.g TiVO)

9:00 – 9:25 am
How to Deliver Video to All Those Screens

Gil Cruz, Director, Videoscape Architecture, Cisco
The evolving video market places an enormous burden on broadcasters to get signal flowing into all those IP-connected, video-capable end points. It’s no longer only a matter of broadcast distribution, but also storing, managing, publishing and delivering video content. Content management systems are key in this transition, as a way manage business rules and metadata associated with this new world of video delivery.
This panel will discuss the basics of lifecycle management for video on Internet-connected devices, and why content management systems can play into existing and new video delivery platforms. The basics of managing, publishing and monetizing video content across screens will be covered, as well as what can happen if this important component isn’t considered.

9:30 – 10:25 am
Panel: Personalized Advertising and Individualized Streaming: The Key to Multiscreen Profits


Brett Sappington
 

Moderator: Brett Sappington, Senior Analyst, Parks Associates
Sean Schneyer, Director, TV and Media Management, Ericsson
Scaling TVE requires a massive investment, and it’s not always clear how operators intend to profit. Subscription and revenue models are far from clear; and inexpensive “over-the-top” (OTT) alternatives are vying for consumers’ wallet. But there is hope for TVE in personalized advertising. Pay TV operators can deliver successful personalized advertising if they incorporate technologies that enable them to preserve subscriber privacy, anonymity and trust, while enabling relevant and profitable TV everywhere services. To take advantage of this opportunity, operators need to understand effective ad insertion.  Once they harness the technology, TVE advertising can enable operators to funnel and capture some of the online ad spending happening in new media channels such as Internet-based video ad networks, video ad leaders and startups. Finally, operators that enable TVE with individualized streaming have the opportunity to deliver personalized and highly addressable advertising. If these operators invest in advanced, anonymous forms of subscriber information collection, they’ll be able to deliver more relevant ads to their users, bringing further opportunity for greater ad revenues.

Attendee Take-Aways

  • Discuss the streaming technology and ad insertion technologies
  • Explore addressable advertising technologies that preserve subscriber privacy, anonymity and trust, while enabling relevant and profitable TV everywhere services
     

DAY TWO: Thursday, June 7, 2012

2:30 – 3:25 pm
Service Provider Opportunities In Multiscreen Video
New web-based technologies and ubiquitous fixed and mobile broadband networks are enabling the media industry to change its approach to video management and delivery and over-the-top providers are capitalizing on the fact that they can address consumer demand for multiscreen video services without even owning a dedicated network. Network service providers can seize the dominant position in consumer entertainment delivery by leveraging their unique assets. With integrated multiscreen solutions, service providers can develop new business models that enrich the walled garden approach and address the demand for anytime, anywhere video.
This session identifies key video distribution challenges facing network service providers.  It looks at enabling network technologies and defines a smarter and simpler network architecture that powers the delivery of a richer and more liberating user experience, personalized to each individual.  Finally, it looks at business models to successfully monetize this new opportunity.
Attendee Take-Aways

  • Review the evolving video market and explore the opportunities presented to service providers
  • Identify service provider challenges and key network technologies to successfully deliver multiscreen video
  • Understand the business models to successfully monetize multiscreen video

3:30 – 3:55 pm
Leverage the Broadband Relationship to Cater to The Multiscreen Middle Class
Steve McKay, CEO, Entone
Despite its success, IPTV has not been universally embraced, in part due to the capital costs required for network and headend infrastructure equipment and the ongoing operating costs related to programming and system operations. Until now, this has meant a discrete decision for Telco’s, either to offer a complete triple play service bundle, to offer just voice and data, or to be a reseller of satellite TV services as a video service place filler. In any of these scenarios, the broadband relationship between operator and consumer will be paramount, and the most progressive operators are focusing their strategies on Connected Home services that leverage the broadband relationship across a number of value added services.

Attendee Take-Aways

  • Understand the opportunity for operators to offer a new service category bundled with broadband internet
  • Discuss alternative service models that offer a rich TV viewing experience without the costs of a full IPTV deployment
  • Look at OTT models and compelling service offerings that operators can employ to serve the under-served TV’s middle class

4:00 – 4:25 pm
Leveraging Cloud-Friendly Platforms for One Immersive Unified Experience
This session details the infrastructure demands to allow operators to bring together content, applications and communications from any source, including linear TV, online video, video-on-demand and the user’s digital video recorder into an immersive, unified experience.  How can service providers and network operators exploit the power of their networks to deliver new media and TV experiences, as well as creating a more profitable media ecosystem?

4:30 – 5:00 pm
Demand Response and Flexible Network Capacity to Meet Demand for Multiscreen
The rise of long-form content, or full-length movies and TV programs, which place an entirely different set of demands on the network in areas such as capacity, sustained quality and the need to support content across multiple screens.  Since online movie viewing tends to peak in residential areas on Friday and Saturday evenings, this kind of content directly demonstrates the need for flexible network capacity and a fluid demand response. 

Operators wanting to embrace this new business opportunity must ensure their networks are running efficiently by first preparing their networks technically for increased online video, then determining the appropriate OTT strategy for their market.  This presentation will explore the challenges and considerations for both paths. This presentation will explore the challenges and considerations for preparing  networks technically for increased online video, and determining the appropriate OTT strategy.