Irdeto's Company Highlight Continued

We feel that Irdeto is the strongest player in the market because of our ability to offer end-to-end solutions that truly meet our customers’ needs in a rapidly changing market place. Our technology is amongst the best on the market, and the flexibility of our solutions allows operators to obtain real value from the delivery of content to consumers.

For example, in the last year the Apple iPad has emerged as the hot device for “anytime, any place” premium content consumption. To the pay-TV operator, this is an opportunity to extend its brand and value as a content provider to the users of this new generation of devices. We have been one of the first in the market to help our customers realise this opportunity with the Irdeto Broadband solution, which has helped many operators around the world to maximise the value of their content via secure content delivery to any device platform, including the iPad and iPhone.

However, the same promise of “any time, any place, any device” video consumption that presents a huge opportunity for operators also presents a significant challenge when it comes to meeting studio requirements for securing premium content over the Internet for playback on portable devices. The popularity of the Apple platform, combined with the lure of premium content such as HD movies, creates an attractive target for the hacker community. In this environment, content protection becomes critical to the ongoing financial viability of a streaming video service. To combat the ongoing threat of digital piracy in this new video ecosystem, Irdeto’s Cloakware Platform utilises a Security Lifecycle Management approach to protecting digital assets throughout their economic life.

The combination of our Broadband and Cloakware solutions is a world-leading offering that is enabling our customers to take advantage of the opportunities presented by technological advances. We are striving to ensure that we will continue to provide the best solutions to meet industry needs now, and in the future.

Content submitted by Irdeto.

CONNECTIONS Europe 2010 - BESTv

The biggest challenge/obstacle for BESTv is ...

Over-the-top (OTT) and hybrid broadcast-OTT services are starting to come on the radar of many broadcasters and pay TV operators as a means for service diversification and potential new revenues. As a leading platform- and service provider for these non-linear and hybrid services, Bestv is often faced with the learning curve that the traditional broadcasters and operators have to go through to understand the implications of the new services. This learning curve can be steep, as the implications of the new broadcasting paradigm are profound and touching many areas of the business, including user experience, back-office systems, business processes, business models, and partnerships. Bestv addresses the uncertainty and facilitates rapid learning of the broadcasters and operators by allowing them to deploy Reference Solutions for new services including 3D TV, Push VOD, content recommendation and personalized advertising and by showing the business implications of each.

BESTv's strongest player in the market...

In the relatively new and unchartered waters of new non-linear television services, Bestv has been able to carve out a niche with an enabling platform that not only is most complete in the market in terms of performance, stability and features but also is the only one that is mass market deployed. The further expansion of the Bestv feature set, the underlying approved patents and the current rapid international expansion allow Bestvto consolidate this leadership position.

BESTV's greatest asset...

The rigor of our people in supporting broadcasters and pay TV operators migrate to the new television scenario and the flexibility of our solutions to support this transition.

And their mission is to to enable Premium Television for all! Thank you Giuseppe Flores d'Arcais for participating at the 2010 CONNECTIONS Europe Summit!

Can Traditional TV Operators Embrace OTT Video as a Service?

There is an assumption by many market pundits today that the service operators in the world of Internet TV services and that of traditional pay-TV are totally disjointed. We think this is rather too simplistic.

Just like the world of e-commerce in the early generations of Internet, the shift of consumption did not totally upend the value of existing brands and consumer loyalties. A few new players emerged for sure, but by and large, the brick and mortar brands have become just as prominent on the Internet as they are on Main Street – the power of branding transcends the medium.

When you apply this logic to video, the service operators that make the leap to multi-screen delivery can indeed be the same names that dominate the pay-TV market in cable, satellite and IPTV today. They have the content, the subscriber relationships and the scale to make service delivery compelling whatever the physical distribution network, and in many cases they also provide Internet connectivity.

The challenge for existing operators is that this requires a fundamental shift in the way they think. Progressive digital TV operators may have to embrace novel technologies that have been designed to effectively scale and solve IP video issues and apply them over their delivery networks. By integrating OTT and adaptive rate streaming technology with pay-TV services, operators can enhance ARPU, subscriber loyalty and lure incremental advertising dollars.

This convergence of technologies also must encompass a proactive revenue protection and enhancement approach that enables digital TV operators to cast a much wider net with their service offerings. This shifts the central value proposition for the digital video enterprise beyond that of content protection alone, towards the broader perspective of revenue security.

Download Verimatrix's white paper, Pay-TV at an Inflection Point, and let us know if you agree.

Submitted from Verimatrix.

Less than six million U.S. households would consider canceling pay-TV service in favor of online video

Despite the growing amount of video available online, less than 8% of U.S. broadband households are considering canceling their pay-TV services in favor of online video, according to Parks Associates’ All Eyes on Video.

All Eyes on Video found approximately 5.5 million homes would be open to canceling pay TV due in part to the availability of online video. At the same time, one-half of these households are also considering a switch to a new pay-TV provider, indicating the primary threats to companies such as Verizon, Comcast, DirecTV, and Cablevision are still their traditional competitors.

The households likely to switch or cancel their services watch a whopping 10 hours of online video each week, much higher than typical video consumers. They express strong interest in having online access to pay-TV channels (e.g., TV Everywhere), which highlights an opportunity for traditional pay-TV providers to solidify their base through the deployment of such features. Offline video consumption is also higher. Their median number of DVD rentals from the last six months is 18, compared to two rentals among other households.

ADB & Mariner Integrate Monitoring, Diagnostic, Resolution Software

Advanced Digital Broadcast, a leading supplier of technology to the global digital television industry, and Mariner, a leading provider of innovative IP video technologies, today unveiled a solution to enable proactive pay-TV service monitoring which increases the quality of subscribers' experience and reduces operator costs.

The joint solution integrates new software capabilities in ADB's latest IPTV set-top boxes with Mariner's award-winning flagship service assurance suite, xVuTM. The solution provides quantifiable metrics on the quality of the video, audio and performance of each set-top box in each home. The operator has visibility into problems of long channel change times, errors within the video such as frame drop, and can proactively resolve them, sometimes even before the subscriber notices them, let alone calls for support.

For the full press release, click here.

Verimatrix and Envivio Extend Adaptive Rate Streaming Beyond the iPhone

Verimatrix, setting the standard in content security technologies that enhance the value of pay-TV networks, and Envivio, Inc. announced a collaborative solution that enables pay-TV operators to use Apple's HTTP adaptive bitrate streaming technology for the iPhone to deliver IPTV and over the top (OTT) content that scales effectively across mobile devices, PCs and other client types. The solution pairs Envivio's 4Caster C4 three screens encoder/transcoder with the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS) to create a unified headend that delivers protected standard (SD) and high definition (HD) content over unmanaged networks to any Internet-connected consumer playback device.

Introduced as a component of Apple OS 3.0 for the iPhone, adaptive bitrate streaming delivers smooth audio and video streams using Internet-standard HTTP protocols. The technology supports automatic adaptation to available network types and automatically switches to the optimal bitrate for a smooth quality playback experience. Envivio 4Caster C4 enables its deployment by ingesting analog or digital sources and then encoding and encrypting the content for delivery at multiple bitrates to multiple devices. In this solution, the 4Caster C4 is integrated with Verimatrix VCAS, which provides for key management, user authentication and unified right managements. The combination enables pay-TV operators to create unique service offerings for multi-screen delivery. Furthermore, live and video-on-demand (VOD) content can be delivered using the same protocols with easy incorporation of targeted advertising segments.

For the full press release, click here.

Verimatrix Focuses on Revenue Security for Pay-TV Operators

Verimatrix enhances the value and security of pay-TV networks with advanced software-based technologies designed to address the challenges facing the pay-TV industry of today, and anticipate the challenges of tomorrow. The Verimatrix 3-Dimensional Content Security approach provides a framework to enhance operator competitiveness and the consumer experience in the new world of pay-TV.

VCAS 3 -Verimatrix will be unveiling the profile of its next-generation Video Content Authority System (VCAS™ ) platform that broaden the domain of traditional conditional access. The core value proposition for VCAS 3 shifts beyond content protection alone towards the broader perspective of revenue security. The initial release of VCAS 3 supports emerging video delivery formats and new consumption models through a single content authority architecture.

Verimatrix sets the standard for content and revenue security solutions for pay-TV networks, with a global customer base of premier service providers. The Verimatrix Video Content Authority System (VCAS™ ) offers a suite of independently audited, next-generation solutions and is consistently ranked as the global leading IPTV content protection solution.

For the full press release, click here.

Irdeto cuts deal with Foxtel for online plan

Irdeto has cut a deal to provide Australian pay-TV provider Foxtel with cutting-edge content management solution to protect a range of online content initiatives under development. The objective of the exercise is to enable Foxtel to offer subscribers enhanced entertainment offerings and premium content on new media platforms that include downloads to PCs.

One of the challenges posed by the project was to integrate new online delivery systems while ensuring that the pay-TV company’s existing workflows and systems functioned without interruption during the transition. Moreover, Foxtel’s range and volume of video and metadata coming in from various internal and external sources also needed careful synchronisation with online services.

Irdeto has established for its client simple but powerful custom interfaces requiring only a small team to ingest, repurpose and publish hundreds of hours of broadcast content across a wide variety of formats, enabling delivery to Foxtel’s online services and partners, as well as elsewhere.

Irdeto achieves significant global growth and expands its media solutions offerings

Company celebrates 40 years of innovation by expanding its media solutions offerings for the convergence era --

Irdeto, a leading expert in content and business model protection solutions and services, attained substantial global market momentum in its fiscal year, which ended 31 March 2009. The company, who celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, continues to be an innovator in the digital media industry with some key milestones in the region and expansion of its media solutions portfolio.

A pioneer in the pay TV industry and global leader in conditional access (CA), Irdeto has rapidly expanded its portfolio over the past few years to provide additional capabilities such as digital rights management, business support systems, set-top box software solutions, software security and broadband media services to more than 500 premier customers worldwide, enabling them to protect and monetize digital content. This set of capabilities will deliver a converged network architecture that unifies CA and DRM content delivery and protection while extending the operators’ span of control into the home network.

With more than 95 patents and patents pending, Irdeto is on the forefront of providing industry leading changes. During the past 40 years of operation, Irdeto has been a leader in technology innovation delivering many firsts including implementation of the very first DVB-CA system, the first IPTV deployment and the first Mobile TV CA solution.

Time Warner tests "TV Everywhere" plan

Cable network giant, Time Warner has a plan to distribute pay TV programming via web sites like Hulu, Yahoo TV, and YouTube. Whether through a mobile device or a computer, viewers will just have to prove they already subscribe to pay TV (cable, satellite or telco's TV offerings).

The "TV Everywhere" plan enables a cable subscriber (or person from that household) to have online access to the programming included in their current cable TV bundle. Full details are still being worked out although the goal is to prevent households from cancelling their cable TV subscriptions. The number of people per account is undetermined. There might also be a web-only option for non-cable TV subscribers.

Regardless of service provider (DirectTV, Time Warner Cable, Verizon, etc.), one would be able to watch content from networks like HBO or TNT. We will also have to wait to see if other cable networks adopt this plan too. However, Viacom and NBCU are moving forward with free cable distribution online because it helps boost awareness and ratings for their shows. Although, Time Warner argues that the trend of consumers ditching pay TV for free online content is an important and increasing issue.

To read more about this topic, please read the Advertising Age's article "TV Everywhere -- As Long As You Pay for It."

Premiere loses big and restructures

German pay-TV broadcaster Premiere’s shares fell 60 per cent as it announced losses, a subscriber number re-statement and revealed it is trying to restructure bank debt.

"As a result of the EBITDA outlook, Premiere has commenced discussions with its banks regarding a restructuring of debt facilities and is confident to reach an agreement," it said.

The company said it was satisfied with the way the talks were proceeding and did not plan a capital increase. "We are conducting a thorough review of operations and are confident that this will result in a new strategic direction supported by a financially sound business plan for the future growth and profitability of Premiere," said CEO Mark Williams.