News & Opinion

Empowering HBO Asia To Scale Their Business With Ease And Efficiency, Through The Automation Of Media Workflows By Ooyala Flex Media Platform Ooyala, a leader in content production, distribution and monetization solutions, has signed its latest client, HBO Asia, an award-winning entertainment provider, to drive efficiencies into their content distribution business across linear and OTT channels, and speed up their time to market for Asia. With the Ooyala Flex Media Platform integrating and connecting all of HBO Asia’s existing systems, processes, and tools, HBO Asia can now streamline and automate their video workflows, with a single source of access and truth.   “HBO Asia is an innovative and leading brand for entertainment content in the region, and an important new client added to our fast-growing customer list,” said Jonathan Huberman, CEO, Ooyala. “We are proud to be powering their content distribution business, bringing cost savings and efficiencies to their operations, and supporting them in scaling the business effectively.”   HBO Asia, part of the global entertainment company HBO, brings the best of Hollywood to Asia with its award-winning original series and programs, reaching 23 territories across Asia with five 24-hour commercial-free subscription movie channels. HBO content is distributed via their traditional linear channel partners, as well as to HBO’s own streaming platform, HBO GO. In order to scale and grow the business with momentum, HBO Asia will automate their content and delivery processes to increase the speed and efficiency of their media operations. The network will also leverage and consolidate their existing systems for encoding, quality control, and digital rights management into one platform and access.   The Ooyala Flex Media Platform - the world’s fastest growing content supply chain solution being used by innovative content owners to simplify millions of video workflows - is used to orchestrate media workflows for HBO Asia from start to finish, and as media logistics to prepare and process content for quality control, encoding, and finally, distribution across both linear and Over-The-Top (OTT) channels.   From receiving a content file, validating it, applying QC, approving it, transcoding it, packaging it with digital rights to distributing it, Ooyala Flex Media Platform streamlines the entire process, which is hosted on HBO’s premises.   “Thanks to the open and flexible Ooyala Flex Media Platform, we are now able to automate our processes and distribute content to our viewers more quickly and efficiently, without any additional resources,” said Vincent Teo, HBO Asia's Head of Technology & Operations. “This frees up the team to focus on expanding the business and driving more revenue.”

By Chris TribbeyConnections January 23, 2019 Before the show floor opened for CES 2019 in Las Vegas, online video platform and workflow management system specialist Ooyala hosted a private “Business of Video” panel, featuring Ted Schilowitz, futurist with Paramount Pictures, Laura Martin, senior analyst with Needham & Co., Belsasar Lepe, founder and CTO of Ooyala, with the trio tackling everything from direct-to-consumer models to the influx of amateur-made video. Video of the panel is now available here, and you can read the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance’s (MESA) coverage of the panel here.

By Chris TribbeyHITS January 08, 2019 LAS VEGAS — Ted Schilowitz, futurist with Paramount Pictures, looks at the state of entertainment today, and sees a mixed bag. “We’ve effectively TV’d everything in our life,” he said, speaking Jan. 8 during a panel discussion at the 2019 CES. “We’ve taken our screens that lived in our living rooms, made them portable and we take them everywhere.” And while that’s convenient, it’s also resulted in almost too much content, an endless array of video choices for consumers today, he said, calling the result the “YouTubing of the world.” “There’s almost no separation between what an expensive camera can create and what any camera anyone has can create,” he said. And just sticking with professionally made content, we’ve possibly hit a point where too much is coming out too fast, according to Laura Martin, senior analyst with Needham & Co. “I think there’s too much content being made,” she said. “Whoever’s funding your [content creation] right now will pick winners and losers. There’s a huge controversy right now around whether Netflix is a winner or a loser.” She said the future likely lies in what Disney is doing with its own streaming service, where the consumer data will be just as important as the initial subscriber numbers. “When you talk OTT, I think Disney is trying to change the definition to direct-to-consumer (DTC),” she said. “OTT you don’t own the content. DTC, with Disney, they’re creating a direct relationship with the consumer.” Belsasar Lepe, founder and CTO for Ooyala — which hosted the panel — offered a different perspective: all this content, regardless of length or quality, has a role to play for bringing in revenue for both distributors and content owners. “Niche content has a role to play,” he said, pointing to services that offer both short- and long-form video. “It can be content they get addicted to after they become a subscriber.” Jonathan Huberman, CEO of Ooyala, doesn’t disagree that it’s a different entertainment world than it was just a few years ago. Consumer expectations — and patience — are more difficult to predict, he said. “The money that’s being pumped into content creation and delivery … it’s a very volatile marketplace,” he said. “It’s a very exciting marketplace.” Also see story here: https://www.mesalliance.org/2019/01/08/ces-2019-ooyala-paramount-execs-talk-future-of-video/

New Industry Partnership Commits to Driving Adoption of SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) Protocol for Low-Latency Streaming Workflows Ooyala today announced that it has joined the SRT Alliance, a collaboration to continuously develop the SRT (Secure Reliable Transport) protocol and technology stack for low-latency video streaming across any network. Ooyala will fully support the SRT Open Source Project helping drive greater access and adoption of the SRT protocol to improve digital video delivery and video workflows around the world.   SRT is an open source video transport protocol that enables the delivery of high-quality and secure low-latency video across the public internet. SRT optimizes streaming performance across unpredictable networks with secure streams and easy firewall traversal, in order to bring the best-quality live video over even the worst-quality networks. SRT accounts for packet loss, jitter, and fluctuating bandwidth, maintaining the integrity and quality of a video stream.   “Ooyala fully supports the SRT Alliance’s goals; we are all about driving innovation and collaboration to overcome the challenges to achieving consistently low-latency video streaming,” said Belsasar Lepe, Ooyala founder and CTO. “Providing the best digital video experience is a major part of our mission, and we’re fully committed to delivering just that – reliable video quality unfettered by latency issues, stuttering and dropouts. This industry-wide collaboration is a key step in giving viewers TV-grade performance, with the added benefits unique to online.”   With more than 170 members including Ooyala, a leading provider of OTT, content production and digital distribution solutions, the SRT Alliance works collaboratively to increase industry-wide awareness and adoption of SRT as a common standard for low-latency video transport over the internet.   "Ooyala is a trusted partner and recognized leader in the broadcast industry for quality OTT video delivery,” said Sylvio Jelovcich. “We are more than excited to have Ooyala involved, which will ultimately create even broader support, enthusiasm and adoption of SRT in the future.”   SRT, open source, royalty free and available to everyone on GitHub, is the fastest growing video streaming movement. SRT has the support of VideoLAN’s VLC, Wireshark, FFmpeg, and the GStreamer open source projects in addition to the growing commercial support of the SRT Alliance member companies.

Implications For Linear Vs. Mobile Viewing Captured in Recent Doubling of NFL Viewers on Mobile Devices while Linear Viewing Declines Report Highlights: Smartphone-only video starts topped 50% globally for the first time, a 13.2% year-over-year change and the largest in five quarters Mobile-video plays (including tablets) grew 9.8% globally year-over-year in Q2, following slowdown in Q1 For the second time, mobile video (including tablets) starts exceeded 60% Total time watching long-form on smartphones topped 75% in North America Recent NFL report shows 65% increase on digital devices over past year and a 147% 2018 season boom in smartphone NFL content consumption   Smartphone video starts topped 50% globally for the first time, a 13.2% year-over-year change and the largest in five quarters, per Ooyala’s Q2 2018 Global Video Index Report. Despite a temporary leveling-off in the first quarter of 2018, video plays on mobile devices (tablets and smartphones) surged 9.8% globally in the second quarter, exceeding 62% of all online videos for the first time. "We see the Q1 pause in mobile video’s rapid growth curve as a normal transition as consumer habits and content creators’ initiatives get in alignment," said Jim O'Neill, Ooyala principal analyst.  "Q2 represented a reignition of mobile-video consumption coinciding with new content initiatives, season-finale TV events and sports-season finales.” “More content creators, seeing the trend toward greater long-form video consumption on mobile devices -- a trend we’ve been noting since last year -- are now developing content concurrently for multiple platforms and are transitioning beyond snackable mobile-only content,” O’Neill added. Regional Mobile Video Viewing Trends In North America, mobile plays increased to 56% of all video starts, up 4% year-over-year and up 14% since Q2 2016; mobile starts in North America have exceeded 50% for eight quarters; long-form time watched on smartphones topped 75%; In the Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) region, mobile video hit 54% of all starts, up from 49% a year ago; Mobile video’s share of all plays in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region was 74% -- the highest ever, and up 64% in two years; Latin America’s (LatAm’s) mobile starts topped 65%, an increase of 20% year-over-year and 38% over two years.   “We’ll see a massive uptick in Q3 as more fans watch NFL games on their mobile devices, and, just as legacy TV networks use NFL games to drive traffic to other television content, this promises a spillover effect for other genres of mobile content,” O’Neill concluded.  “Content owners and distributors need to take advantage of this unprecedented period of demand to pivot into treating technology operations much as manufacturing-based industries treat manufacturing operations.  The move to a ‘content supply chain’ is a fundamental, data-driven change transforming the media industry." The full Ooyala Q2 2018 Global Video Index Report can be found here.

Ooyala and LOGIC Partner to Streamline Video Operations for Network Co-Owned by Disney and German Media Giant RTL   Ooyala is streamlining video operations for SUPER RTL, a joint venture of RTL Group and Disney, with the Ooyala Flex Media Platform -- a video  content supply chain solution being used by innovative content owners worldwide to simplify millions of video workflows. Ooyala’s flexible and configurable content supply chain optimization platform automates tasks, simplifies workflows and speeds up the time-to-market for content creators and distributors.   Ooyala is delivering an end-to-end solution with Germany-based LOGIC media solutions GmbH, built using Microsoft Azure Media Services that will optimize SUPER RTL’s operations and simplify content delivery to OTT platforms.   “Today’s broadcasters and media companies typically face the question of whether to build or buy a solution to manage and deliver their video content,” said Jonathan Huberman, CEO, Ooyala. “By migrating to the Ooyala Flex Media Platform, SUPER RTL has the best of both worlds – a solution that’s quickly and efficiently deployed off-the-shelf, but is also highly customizable and that seamlessly integrates with existing technology.”   SUPER RTL is a Cologne-based German television network operated by RTL Disney Fernsehen GmbH & Co. Launched in 1995, it was the first German television channel aimed mostly at children, and today is the country’s most popular TV station for children.   The project grew out of Ooyala’s collaboration with Microsoft, who had been in talks with SUPER RTL on migrating its digital video platform to the cloud. Microsoft introduced Ooyala to SUPER RTL to provide the workflow and content management components. For the implementation and local support, Ooyala subsequently brought in its local partner LOGIC.   “The media landscape is evolving faster than ever, introducing new and growing challenges that left our existing technology obsolete,” said Boris Bolz, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, SUPER RTL. “We needed a solution that could provide greater flexibility and deeper insights across our entire operations, all while future-proofing our services. The Ooyala Flex Media Platform has allowed us to build the best solution for our needs, and being implemented on Microsoft Azure, it can easily be scaled as our service grows and new technology is introduced.”   “As part of the media industry’s digital transformation, we are seeing many media customers migrate their online video platforms to the cloud,” said Rainer Kellerhals, Media & Entertainment Industry Lead EMEA, Microsoft. “Microsoft Azure Media Services and Azure CDN provide a complete set of cloud services for this scenario. The project at SUPER RTL is an excellent example for how we work with customers and leading industry solution providers like Ooyala to help customers migrate their services to the cloud for improved scalability and shorter time-to-market.”   Ooyala, a leading provider of software and services that simplify the complexity of producing, streaming and monetizing video, developed the Ooyala Flex Media Platform to connect the entire video content supply chain for broadcasters and content owners, from production to profit. The platform provides central workflows, shared metadata infrastructure and open APIs to integrate with existing systems and to provide a single source of truth for the content owners.

Ooyala Among First Media-Technology Firms to Provide Support for Important SMPTE-Developed Standard Across All Stages of Content Value Chain Ooyala will provide extended support for the Interoperable Master Format (IMF) with the Ooyala Flex Media Platform, Ooyala’s flexible and configurable content supply chain optimization platform that automates tasks, simplifies workflows and speeds up the time-to-market for content creators and distributors. With IMF support, customers of the Ooyala Flex Media Platform -- the world’s fastest growing media asset management and workflow automation solution being used by the world’s most innovative content owners to simplify millions of video workflows -- can significantly reduce the costs and improve the efficiency of their multi-version, multi-platform distribution needs. IMF is a file-delivery standard created by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) that reduces the number of different versions of a video file required for distribution to viewers in different markets and on different platforms around the world. Prior to IMF, thousands of different versions of a widely distributed motion picture – reflecting various combinations of subtitles, metadata, audio, formatting and other features -- would be required in order to support multiple-market-segment distribution. The efficiencies offered by IMF – increasingly embraced by major studios and SVOD services -- have been estimated to achieve savings of 25% or more in storage and “versioning” costs. “Ooyala is precisely aligned with IMF’s goals, helping content creators and distributors streamline their operations to be more profitable,” said Jonathan Huberman, Ooyala CEO. “Unlike other technology partners, Ooyala provides end-to-end support for IMF across the entire content supply chain. And with seamless integration of existing tools into the Ooyala Flex Media Platform, we’re enabling IMF strategies for companies who would otherwise lack the necessary technology. The technology community has been listening to content providers, and we’re equipped to help them truly capitalize on global monetization opportunities.”  The Ooyala Flex Media Platform will enable an IMF workflow while still working with existing business-critical technologies. Among other features, the platform natively supports receipt of Interoperable Master Packages (IMPs) and transcodes them into renditions required for streaming to customer devices. Ooyala will provide clients IMF support across all stages of the content supply chain -- addressing a range of IMF requirements from asset management through processing, distribution and digital playout. Ooyala, a leading provider of software and services that simplify the complexity of producing, streaming and monetizing video, developed the Ooyala Flex Media Platform to connect the entire video content supply chain for broadcasters and content owners, from production to profit. The Ooyala Flex Media Platform provides central workflows, shared metadata infrastructure and open APIs to integrate with existing systems and to provide a single source of truth for the content owners.

Alliance Powers New One-Stop Solution to Get Content onto Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, YouTube and Other Platforms Easily, Meeting All Regional Requirements ODMedia Signs up for Ooyala Flex Media Platform to Streamline Operations Ooyala has collaborated with the ODMedia Group on a new strategic partnership, integrating ODMedia’s video localization and delivery capabilities with Ooyala’s video production, management, distribution and monetization services. The strategic partnership is a major step in helping content owners reach global audiences and markets realizing new revenues more quickly. The combination of Ooyala’s Flex Media Platform and ODMedia Group’s established position as preferred delivery partner with most global platforms, including the likes of Netflix, Google Play, iTunes and YouTube, will enable broadcasters and content owners to deliver content to any platform, any time, in any format, cost effectively. In addition, the partnership will address scale and complexity in producing different local versions of content by streamlining the processes for content companies seeking to deliver local experiences across traditional and new media platforms. “Increasingly, content owners and distributors are targeting global audiences, but there are significant costs involved in ensuring the right format requirements are met,” said Jonathan Huberman, CEO, Ooyala. “Through this new partnership, we’re able to provide a best-of-breed solution for delivering content to today’s top platforms, everywhere in the world. This means getting content to market faster, and at a lower cost – unlocking opportunities for content owners in every region.” ODMedia also has deployed the Ooyala Flex Media Platform to streamline time and resource consuming workflow processes. The Ooyala Flex Media Platform, the world’s fastest growing media asset management and workflow automation solution being used by the world’s most innovative content owners to simplify millions of video workflows, will help ODMedia automate and better manage internal media workflow tasks that are multiplying along with ODMedia’s rapid growth. Netherlands-based ODMedia Group is a leading video-on-demand (VOD) company, offering content management, encoding and extensive distribution services to enable VOD, linear TV and catch-up TV offerings. ODMedia processes hundreds of hours of content every day and distributes content to over 120 countries and 1000 platforms, including most IPTV/ cable operators, VOD platforms and OTT providers such as XBOX, Netflix, iTunes, Google Play and Amazon. “Delivering video to a global audience is often easier said than done. It can add a lot of manual processes, time and costs to a project,” said Sjef Pijnenburg, ODMedia Group. “Partnering with Ooyala – and leveraging their expertise – has significantly added to our capabilities, allowing us to better serve the demands of media companies seeking to grow and improve their operations.” Ooyala, a leading provider of software and services that simplify the complexity of producing, streaming and monetizing video, developed the Ooyala Flex Media Platform to connect the entire video content supply chain for broadcasters and content owners, from production to profit. The platform provides central workflows, shared metadata infrastructure and open APIs to integrate with existing systems and to provide a single source of truth for media companies.

Best in Class Ooyala Flex Media Platform-- Shortlisted for an IABM BaM™ Award at IBC --  Becomes the Preferred Global Solution The Ooyala Flex Media Platform, the world’s fastest growing media-asset-management solution, has been shortlisted for a BaM™ Award from IABM – the International Association for Broadcast & Media Technology Suppliers, at IBC 2018 in Amsterdam. Ooyala will demonstrate the solutions which underpin its dramatic business growth since last year’s conference. “From script to screen -- no matter where in the world it’s happening, from the first day of production to the final broadcast -- our customers rely on Ooyala to power their content. We cut the complexity of content creation, management, and distribution, so customers get content to market faster at lower cost. That’s the magic of the Ooyala Flex Media Platform: fast, smart, and flexible, it integrates seamlessly with any environment,” said Jonathan Huberman, CEO, Ooyala. “It’s why we are becoming the leading media asset management and workflow orchestration solution.” Ooyala Flex Media Platform provides a unified framework that optimizes the entire content supply chain, which customers can customize to meet their specific needs. The platform leverages automation and artificial intelligence to streamline video workflows and processes, connect teams and tools for greater collaboration, and enable richer metadata and analytics that power critical new insights and a single source of truth throughout the entire content supply chain. New products and features will include: Streamlined VOD content delivery: This includes rail curation and metadata-tagging of content with OoyalaMAM, a media asset management (MAM)-based content management system (CMS) that enables sophisticated processing, multi-platform delivery and tracking of VOD assets. Sports Video Workflows: Sports workflows have been reimagined with the Ooyala Flex Media Platform -- from live streaming with OoyalaLIVE, live clipping of growing files with OoyalaMAM, and syndication to multiple platforms including social media, OTT, and apps. The platform enables automatic workflow rules, reducing manual steps and delivering content within seconds, and can power viewing experiences with OoyalaPLAY and content recommendations with OoyalaLIVE. Intelligent Archiving: The Ooyala Flex Media Platform is enabling new ways to monetize archived content. Years of archived content can be automatically indexed leveraging Microsoft Video Indexer’s AI capabilities for content recognition and speech-to-text transcription, enabling customers to automate the process of tagging their archive, managing its life cycle, and delivering content to audiences. Interoperable Master Format (IMF) support: Ooyala has extended its support for IMF-centric workflows across all stages of the content supply chain, including Digital Video Playout. Among other features, the Ooyala Flex Media Platform now natively supports receipt of Interoperable Master Packages (IMPs) and transcodes them into renditions required for streaming to customer devices. An open and integrated ecosystem: Ooyala continues to expand its partner ecosystem with integrations such as Interra Baton for Auto-QC, Telestream Vantage for transcoding, MPP Global for e-commerce needs, Microsoft cognitive services, and 24i for AppCMS experiences.   IBC attendees can schedule a meeting with Ooyala at Hall 14 Booth #G02, by email sales@ooyala.com or registering here.