September 2016 X-PLATFORM 37
Cloud TV Everywhere as a service :
Transforming content preparation and distribution workflow for pay-TV operators
by jean-christophe jubin
A recent report from analyst firm Media Partners Asia predicted that pay-TV industry sales across 18 major markets in the Asia-Pacific region will climb from US $ 54 billion in 2016 to $ 81 billion by 2025 .
As pay-TV operators look to accelerate growth , they need a service creation and infrastructure solution that enables rapid adjustment to the dynamics of changing markets and consumer expectations . A viable solution is a TV Everywhere platform hosted in the cloud to manage all aspects of the content preparation and distribution workflow from transcoding to packaging , encryption , publishing , recommendations and delivery .
By deploying a complete cloud service for these tasks , operators can quickly and easily monetise the multiscreen environment , keeping content safe by employing best-in-class security on every device .
Challenges facing pay-TV operators in Asia-Pacific
The television experience is evolving globally . In the Asia-Pacific region particularly , video users are increasingly reaching for second-screen devices such as smartphones and tablets in addition to traditional TV screens , and requesting advanced features such as catch-up TV and subscription video-ondemand ( SVoD ).
Piracy is also an issue , especially in South-east Asia . Pirated content has become especially difficult to distinguish from its original sources , as new and increasingly sophisticated forms of video content piracy continue to emerge . According to CASBAA , pirated TV programming is significantly impacting the profits of Asian TV companies .
Beyond consumer and market trends , infrastructure is the main hurdle to growth in the Asia-Pacific region . Many cities are switching directly to fibre , which may be beneficial for delivering over-the-top ( OTT ) services but broadband quality is still inadequate to support OTT services nationwide or in large markets .
From a service creation and infrastructure solution perspective , operators must decide whether to adopt a traditional approach , where the
From a service creation and infrastructure solution perspective , operators must decide whether to adopt a traditional approach , where the components are sourced from multiple manufacturers , or the cloud .
The elasticity of the cloud allows operators to automatically adjust to spikes in demand from live events , which reduces the amount of time necessary to plan for service outages , as well as eliminates the need to buy redundant hardware to deal with the peaks .
components are sourced from multiple manufacturers , or the cloud . Traditional infrastructure requires a significant initial investment and an ongoing expense for software , equipment , upgrades and maintenance .
Operators must also maintain the in-house expertise to keep things running smoothly , engage outside providers of professional services for integration and operations , or both .
While service delivery via the cloud has emerged as an effective way to reduce costs , decrease time to market , and enable rapid change ( by quickly adding new features and programming ), it may still require capital expenses if fully or partially premise-based .
The ideal approach is to host the complete workflow in the cloud .
The solution : Cloud TV Everywhere as a service
By deploying a complete cloudbased TV Everywhere “ platform as a service ”, such as Viaccess-Orca ’ s Voyage - TVaaS , operators can pay as they grow . The Opex-based model requires no infrastructure on-premises , meaning operators do not need to make significant capital investments for equipment and software that go out of date .
Everything can be handled from the cloud , from transcoding to packaging , encryption , publishing , recommendations and delivery , making it easy to get new features and services off the ground quickly .
In particular , service management is simplified via cloud-based platforms . Voyage - TVaaS includes RiGHTv , an advanced service delivery platform with a single service management view , encompassing content , services , customers , devices , and recommendations . This enables operators to build and launch new services quickly , promote new offerings to customer segments and incentivise loyal subscribers , and effectively manage sets of content items in bulk .
Voyage - TvaaS is a fully managed platform , so limited technical expertise is required on behalf of the operator . Rather than devote significant training and technical resources to managing the cloud platform , operators can focus on more important tasks such as how to drive new business growth . A large scope of features and business models are supported via the platform .
Secure video distribution is guaranteed via cloud TV Everywhere as a service . Viaccess-Orca ’ s Voyage - TvaaS provides best-in-class security for the distribution of video-on-demand ( VoD ) and live content to multi-screen devices via its Connected Sentinel Player .
By implementing Microsoft PlayReady DRM , approved by all major Hollywood studios , the Connected Sentinel Player gives operators the peace of mind that content distribution to multi-screen devices , such as iOS or Android tablets and smartphones , is secure . The Connected Sentinel Player supports all common video formats and streaming protocols , including MPEG- DASH , Microsoft Smooth Streaming and HLS ( HTTP Live streaming ).
The elasticity of the cloud allows operators to automatically adjust to spikes in demand from live events , which reduces the amount of time necessary to plan for service outages , as well as eliminates the need to buy redundant hardware to deal with the peaks .
With the Voyage - TVaaS platform , operators can provide subscribers with a personalised content offering and a user experience that is simple and intuitive , allowing effortless exploration and discovery of relevant and compelling content across all devices .
A variety of business models can be supported , enabling operators to quickly tailor their multi-screen TV services based on market conditions to monetise content and maximise returnon-investment ( ROI ). This component is enabled via Viaccess-Orca ’ s Compass content discovery and personalisation platform .
Conclusion
More than anywhere else in the world , multi-screen television content is generating a lot of traction in the Asia-Pacific region . For operators looking to expand their service — whether by adding live / on-demand content to their traditional TV offering or via second-screen devices — the cost and inflexibility of on-premises infrastructure is a challenge .
Being an end-to-end and Opexbased OTT service model , Voyage - TVaaS perfectly suits the needs of emerging Asian countries , enabling operators to evolve rapidly to handle new services , business models , and types of end-devices without disruption . All operators have to do is upload the content , and Voyage - TVaaS takes care of the rest , accelerating operators ’ time to market , maximising business agility , and reducing technical complexity and overhead , while enhancing viewer engagement .
Viaccess-Orca has been an active provider in Asia for more than 15 years . As part of the Orange Group , it benefits greatly from the operational synergies of all Orange subsidiaries across Asia .
Today , the company is focusing its development activities in Southeast Asia , with a commercial presence in Singapore , Hong Kong , Thailand , Indonesia and the Philippines . Key customers , such as Singtel and Reliance , combined with a comprehensive range of TVE products , make Viaccess-Orca a credible player in the Asian market , with the capability to respond to the demands of operators and broadcasters as they launch OTT multi-screen offerings . ❑
Jean-Christophe Jubin is VP Sales APAC at Viaccess-Orca .