News & Opinion

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.

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.

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.

Ooyala Flex Media Platform Helps Turner Automate and Orchestrate Workflows, Reducing Content Processing Time by 85% Ooyala is powering content syndication for Turner Asia Pacific with the Ooyala Flex Media Platform, a flexible and configurable content supply chain optimization platform that automates tasks, simplifies workflows and speeds up the time to market for Turner. With increasingly complex content formats and requirements, Turner’s technology and operations team needed a single platform to power their syndication workflows. Turner required greater visibility into campaigns and projects in order to manage, add and deliver content to new and existing partners quickly, and expand revenue opportunities. The Flex Media Platform manages all campaigns, content, metadata and business rules, providing Turner with complete visibility into its operations, reducing manual tasks, saving time and freeing up resources. With the solution deployed in the cloud, Turner’s operation teams across the Asia Pacific region have seamless access and control anytime, anywhere. “Our syndication business in the Asia Pacific region is both fast-changing and complex, requiring us to get content to our partners quickly and efficiently,” said James Crossland, Turner International’s Regional Vice President of Technology & Operations. “The Ooyala Flex Media Platform, with its flexibility and strong orchestration capabilities, allows our team to configure workflows according to our business rules and automate manual processes to reduce repetition and unnecessary delays.” “Television companies today are dealing with accelerating complexities and time pressures in delivering content,” said Jonathan Huberman, CEO, Ooyala. “We are delighted to partner with Turner, to streamline their media operations with the Ooyala Flex Media Platform, and to bring them cost savings and efficiencies. Together, we’re expanding their business with the same resources while increasing revenue from their partners.” Ooyala, a leading provider of software and services that simplify the complexity of producing, streaming and monetizing video, developed the Flex Media Platform to connect the entire video content supply chain for broadcasters and content owners, from production to profit. The 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. For Turner, the Ooyala Flex Media Platform keeps track of content that has been processed and archived so that newly on-boarded licensees can immediately receive content from Turner’s existing catalogue. This provides not only greater visibility, but also opportunities for rapid expansion. “To be ready for tomorrow’s media and entertainment world, we must be agile and adaptable. We expect our technology solutions to be future-proof and scalable,” added Crossland.

Media Companies Created and Processed Nearly Three Times as Much Video Content in Q1 2018 vs. Q1 2017, Ooyala Study Finds Report Highlights: Mobile devices accounted for 58% of all videos watched globally, stabilizing at 1.8% growth, one of the smallest increases in 14 quarters Q1 2018 marked the first quarter-over-quarter decline in mobile’s share of plays Media companies created and processed nearly three times as much video content as in Q1 2017 Long-form video (20+ minutes) exceeded 50% of time watched on every device and screen On smartphones, viewers watched long-form content (20-40 mins) to completion 57% of the time; ultra-long form content (40+ mins) more than 45%   Mobile video consumption continues to rise, but growth stabilized in Q1 2018; total video plays increased during the quarter just 1.8% from the prior year, per Ooyala’s newly released Q1 2018 Global Video Index Report. The increase was one of the smallest in 14 quarters, and also marked the first quarter-over-quarter decline in mobile’s share of plays at nearly 4.6%. Nevertheless, consumption on mobile devices of long-form video – defined as more than 20 minutes in length – continues to thrive, the study finds.  On smartphones, for example, 20-to-40-minute-long videos were viewed to completion 57% of the time, while videos exceeding 40 minutes (ultra-long form) were viewed to completion more than 45% of the time, the Ooyala study found. On other devices, Ooyala found: Viewers watched long-form content (20-40 mins) to completion 61% on tablets and 71% on PCs Viewers watched ultra-long form content (40+ mins) to completion 51% on tablets and 59% on PCs "Consumers are becoming far more comfortable watching any content on every screen than they've ever been," said Jim O'Neill, Ooyala principal analyst. "The traditional barriers to multiscreen viewing -- the amount of available premium content, the cost of service and the quality of experience -- all have fallen. The first screen for viewing truly has become the screen that's most available to the viewer at the moment." Regional Mobile Video Viewing Trends Latin America (LatAm) saw significant quarter-over-quarter gains in mobile’s share of video plays while Asia-Pacific grew slightly, despite declines in Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and North America. But in North America, mobile video plays were still up 9% from a year ago and 18% over the past two years, accounting for 56.6% of all video plays in Q1 2018. In related findings: EMEA saw mobile video plays hit 58% in the first quarter of 2018, a 22% Y/Y increase from 47.8% in Q1 2017, and 39% better than Q1 2016 Asia-Pac saw the share of video plays on mobile devices hit 60.7%, up from 52.3% a year ago Latin America’s share of video plays on mobile devices reached an all-time high of 59.5% The Rising Tide of Streaming Video Content While OTT services more than doubled their hours of content offerings in Q4 2017, even more content was created in Q1 2018 – reaching nearly three times the amount processed the year before. Specifically: Long-form content (longer than 20 minutes) jumped 189% Medium-form content (5-20 minutes) was up 171% Short-form (shorter than 5 minutes) grew 178% “Mobile video content is coming from an expanding universe of creators and distributors across sports, news, entertainment and enterprise,” added O’Neill. “They understand that mobile needs to be a pillar of any content provider’s streaming video strategy. Ignore mobile or allow lower-quality standards for your video stream, and you’re likely to lose a significant portion of your business.” The full Ooyala Q1 2018 Global Video Index Report can be found here.

For the First Time Augmented Reality Gives LIKE App Creators the Power to Change Their Look LIKE, a breakthrough social video platform and mobile app with body recognition special effects, has introduced globally the first augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) feature called Shaping Magic. The new feature, available for free to all LIKE users, enables video creators to effortlessly manipulate the shape and form of body features, from head to toe. “Shaping Magic is the latest additional feature launched worldwide for LIKE creators, increasing the number of free features we offer. Any LIKE user can create the perfect video highlighted by their own definition of beauty – which they control. LIKE and parent company, BIGO Technology are dedicated to being the first to ensure that everyone can experience free AI and AR technology as conveniently and easily as possible,” said Aaron Wei, Sr. Vice President, BIGO Technology. “With hundreds of unique special effects, LIKE is empowering video creators to effortlessly turn their imagination into reality, whatever it may be, quickly and at no cost.” Unlike other video apps, LIKE’s Shaping Magic effect is entirely customizable by the user, meaning video creators can adjust not only the degree to which their body parts are manipulated, but they can also change individual body elements.  From the shape of their head to the size of their hands, to the roundness of their posterior -- virtually anything is possible with LIKE. “We’re building a global community, where members are able to share unique, exciting and personal experiences with each other through video,” added Aaron. In addition to Shaping Magic, some of the app’s 300+ unique special effects include: Super Power – LIKE’s augmented reality effect based on skeleton tracking and classification technology, empowering creators to add supernatural effects that match body movement 4D Magic – features AI-powered body movement tracking paired with image editing and special effects processing that allows for interchangeable, dynamic backgrounds that can accommodate multiple people in a video Music Magic – identifies background music while accurately matching special effects to any sound, enabling users to express emotions freely by choosing different themes Dynamic Stickers – applies face-detection and tracking technology to enable dozens of unique and active overlays in users’ videos, such as costumes, masks and more Launched in August of 2017, LIKE App has quickly become one of the most popular and fastest growing apps in the world with more than 50 million users in more than 200 countries. The social video platform and special effects app leverages cutting-edge technology including AI, AR and independently innovated body recognition to enhanced users’ videos with special effects comparable to Hollywood films. About LIKE LIKE is a fast-growing social video platform and special effects app created by BIGO Technology PTE. LTD, a developer of video editing, video broadcast and VoIP-related products used around the world. LIKE has more than 50 million users globally in over 200 countries. For more information please visit: https://www.like.video/  

M&E Daily- HITS Spring Kicks Off with a Message for Hollywood: Embrace Risk By Chris Tribbey M&E Daily May 17, 2018 UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — To kick off the annual HITS Spring: The Hollywood Innovation & Technology Summit, a collection of technology experts and studio reps looked at the state of productions embracing — or shunning — new, advanced technologies. And the panelists all agreed: the deployment of digital technologies for productions has been slow, despite the obvious benefits. “Risk is the 900-pound gorilla in our industry,” said Yves Bergquist, director of the Project on AI and Neuroscience in Media, at the Entertainment Technology Center at USC (ETC@USC). He shared how ETC@USC is working on using AI to build a map of the “emotional journeys” of thousands of characters in TV shows and films, and then cross-referencing that data with social media reactions from viewers. The endeavor — and others like it — has the potential of opening up an amazing avenue of new storytelling, Bergquist said. “The spectrum of possible stories is very, very narrow,” he said. “We’re sitting on the cusp of creativity in Hollywood.” Still, Bob Gold, founder and CEO of Bob Gold & Associates, said he sees the embracement of new technologies in the century-old business of making movies as a slow drip, with those dictating how things are done from the top continuously cautious. “[It’s] risk averse people taking more risk by way of technology,” he noted. But the benefits are showing: Computer-aided script writing. More direct digital marketing to consumers. Cloud and workflow technologies that allow for instant, worldwide collaboration on productions. All are recent — and game-changing — introductions into how productions are done. In a way, the key to embracing any new technology into productions revolves around one question, according to Patrick Baca, CTO of Entertainment Partners: “Not only does it work, [does] it provides value to the people using it?” “You have to be comfortable with change,” he added. “It’s here and it’s not going away. If you’re not comfortable with it, you risk being stagnant.” And on a larger scale, Bergquist sees things turning a corner when it comes to traditionalists in the entertainment industry changing their minds: “The studios are tired of saying no all the time.” HITS Spring was produced by the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) and the Hollywood IT Society (HITS), in association with Women in Technology: Hollywood (WiTH); the Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA) and the Smart Content Council. The event is being presented by Entertainment Partners, with sponsorship by Expert System, LiveTiles, Microsoft Azure, Ooyala, Veritone, Amazon Web Services, Avanade, Avid, IBM Security, MarkLogic, Aspera, Light Point Security, MicroStrategy, SAS, Scaeva Technologies, Western Digital, Brainstorm, Zaszou IT Consulting and Bob Gold & Associates. See the original posting here: http://www.mesalliance.org/2018/05/17/hits-spring-kicks-off-with-a-message-for-hollywood-embrace-risk/

  After a successful NAB last year, when much of its stand was powered by Adder Technology’s innovative KVM products, Ross Video decided to take the winning formula back to its new Customer Experience Centre and EMEA headquarters in Reading, UK. The ADDERView DDX30 KVM matrix switch systems now power its new state-of-the-art demo suite in the new premises, delivering an awe-inspiring viewer experience. Ross Video is returning to NAB 2018 (booth SL3305) ready to make a similar impact, supported by Adder’s DDX systems. With these in place, Ross Video will be able to easily switch between, and control the numerous computers required to demonstrate the breadth of features it offers. Stuart Russell, Ross Video’s senior communications manager, said, “We are extremely proud of our new EMEA home in Reading; it reflects our innovative and forward-looking approach. Adder’s technology is enabling us to use our demo suite as a showcase for the most comprehensive range of broadcast technology solutions in the market.” “It is only natural for us to want to replicate this at NAB 2018, building even further on last year’s complex setups. We want to give visitors a hands-on experience of the power of the Ross ecosystem; the DDX systems from Adder definitely make this task a lot easier and smoother.” Caleb Hooper, vice president of business development and product marketing, Adder Technology, added, “The partnership between our companies ensures that we are not only able to offer Ross Video access to the Adder technical team to come up with solutions where there is a definite need for KVM, but we can also proactively engage with its customers and prospects who are likely to also have a KVM requirement. We were extremely impressed with the company’s plan for its NAB booth and felt that our products were the ideal solution to help them overcome the hurdles they faced along the way. We are sure that all those that visit the Ross Video booth at NAB this year will be extremely impressed by what they see.”