Saturday, 13 August 2022

Telstra advertorial: Playout solutions for the world

 copy written InBroadcast for Telstra

Telstra’s menu of network connectivity solutions gives customers the flexibility to choose the delivery method that works best for them – satellite, fibre or the internet

article here

The race to Cloud is well and truly on but treating the trend as one simple execution masks real world business complexities. The benefits of Cloud are understood by broadcasters to mean greater economic and operational efficiency but each business must move at its own pace depending on the commercial imperative. Playout service providers that can help broadcasters flex and adapt to new business models whether fully in the Cloud, in data centres or a hybrid of the two, will be best partners for the long term.

That’s certainly what ourselves and our customers find at Telstra Broadcast Services (TBS). Over a number of years we’ve helped leading broadcasters with complex requirements, migrate their business to maintain or improve quality for their audiences whilst streamlining efficiencies and priming a move further into the Cloud.

The TBS cloud-based playout system successfully operates in complex live environments down to archive based simple channels. We have the unique ability to integrate the playout function with key networking, contribution and distribution activities to create your own efficient and economic operation. In essence we can dovetail playout, networking and remote production in an end-to-end ecosystem for pass through, fully curated or advertising and interstitial insert channels.

As this is a software-based solution. Our services can remove the need for the specialist playout operations hardware that are required in non-Cloud operations. Our playout service is also highly flexible and scalable to deal with multiple channel operations and the needs of Disaster Recovery (DR) business continuity in a crisis.

Let’s look at the advantages of the TBS playout:

Increased revenues: With the flexibility and cost effectiveness of cloud-based services, it allows operators to take advantage rapidly of channel opportunities including creating ‘pop up channels’

Reduced Cost: Removing the overhead costs of broadcast and streaming equipment, brings dramatic operating efficiencies whilst maintaining audience, broadcasting and media expectations.

Reduce time to market: Combining the geographic diversity, trusted broadcast capability and cloud solution allows you to take advantage of short-term channel and stream.

Reduced risk: As the system is fully redundant ACTIVE/ACTIVE and leverages the Telstra high premium network capabilities including 24/7 monitoring and operational management.

The latter point addresses the Holy Grail of broadcaster requirements which is to have seamless switchover in case of failure. An ACTIVE/ACTIVE software-based configuration means that if one data centre goes down for any reason the playout of your channel would never be lost.

Full Content Preparation

For all partners we perform content prep, an evaluation stage to detect any video or audio anomalies, broadcast legality violations, and any other specific items requiring monitoring. We provide insertion of markers and triggers for ad breaks or in and end points for programming.

Some customers, SBS for instance, require us to deliver live and VOD. We can take the live channel and create a VOD title with all requisite storage and management of the VOD assets.

If it is Targeted Advertising you require then we can incorporate this service targeting audience demographics, location, interests or behaviours.

Streaming made simple

With TBS we also offer access to integration with the full suite of Telstra media services and products. That includes connecting your streaming platform to our world class, extensive, global, media centric fibre networks, satellite services or internet services for all your media contribution and distribution requirements.

TBS also offer fully managed streaming services that provide an end-to-end platform. The streaming service is based on a cloud-native live streaming SaaS solution with extensive functionalities such as live or file transcoding, packaging and origin, dynamic real-time CDN path selection, targeted advertising, VOD, free ad-supported TV (FAST), time-shift network DVR and Live to VOD.

Our cloud transcoding solutions enable you to benefit from the scalable processing power of the Cloud, accessing massive computing power whenever you need it most.

Our standards conversion will professionally convert your master files into the appropriate frame rates and resolutions for international distribution. Plus, input and output content for any platform, including web, broadcast, online video, VOD or digital cinema, and only pay for what you use.

Let’s look at what some of our customers are doing:

[box this out] SBS Australia

SBS Australia has a very complex channel playout need. It has a portfolio of live and archive national networks and an array of time zones and sub advertising markets that make the playout operations technically very challenging. SBS wanted to find an outsourced partner who could understand this complexity and manage the operations across the full spectrum of channel needs in a cost effective and flexible way.

The TBS solution for SBS powers 61 channels across Australia including live news sports and news. The partnership is far reaching and includes content management and QC, media exchange, ingest and fast turnaround, full master control operations, presentation and playout, linear and OTT headend services along with engineering support.

When it launched this was the first large-scale fully IP playout in the world. Today the operation provides SBS with a fully outsourced operation to allow them to focus on the content creation, production services and multiplatform delivery for their multi language national services.

[box this out] TVSN

The TVSN network is an Australia wide shopping service across TV and digital platforms. It has unique needs as it has a long live continuous studio output (up to 13 hours a day) that combines with need for fast turnaround programming for replay of content (11 hours daily) with dynamic data and graphic presentations.

A challenge is that TVSN needed a very dynamic replay schedule that reacts to consumer demand and inventory stock levels to change the order of programming content.

For TVSN the TBS Playout solution has delivered a more robust operation with greater redundancy and a much more dynamic capability for changes to on air output based on business needs. The outsourced service allows TVSN to focus on the content creation and customer fulfilment which is the core of their business with the technology and playout to be smoothly operating in the background.

The TBS solution not only provides the playout capability it also draws data from business and content systems to dynamically present live graphics onto output with pricing, product details and inventory levels.

Internet Delivery Platform

Our latest product is an internet delivery platform for live video media and broadcast quality streams.

IDN is a software-defined, cloud-based platform that enables transport of high-quality video content and live broadcast streams to any registered end-point, across contended networks like the public internet.  By avoiding the expense of delivering content using dedicated connectivity between event sites and traditional broadcast facilities, producers can instead allocate budgets toward experimenting with new content experiences at lower risk of financial losses. Media and sports rights holders also benefit from lower-cost access to new buyers and audiences.

The platform rounds out Telstra’s menu of network connectivity solutions giving customers the flexibility to choose the delivery method that works best for them – satellite, fiber or the internet.

Telstra also provides options for customers to purchase bundled media delivery solutions; typically satellite delivery for broad regional coverage, fiber for high-value specific content or remote production, plus internet delivery for extra content or for back-up feeds.

 “No longer only a last-mile option for remote areas, the internet has emerged as a reliable, high-quality and cost-effective option for end-to-end broadcast carriage,” says Andreas Eriksson, Head of TBS. “Now we have a three-tiered ability to flexibly support customers with customized hybrid workflows for any type of transmission, contribution and distribution. Customers can mix and match fibre, satellite, internet and cloud delivery methods depending on their changing production and budget requirements.”

A recent example is Telstra’s announcement of a 5-year agreement with the National Hockey League (NHL), with up to 1,400 games distributed each year to viewers around the world using our hybrid delivery options enabling a tailored approach that can be adjusted based on national or regional broadcaster requirements.

Telstra is unique for its hybrid delivery and distribution capabilities. This flexibility is tremendously attractive to content owners and rightsholders looking to expand and grow their audiences worldwide.

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