“Big Data” Big Player in Pay-TV’s Future

One of the themes out of IBC and SCTE/ISBE Cable-Tec Expo last month was that the future of pay-TV relies not just on traditional broadband and video services but on how operators can harness “Big Data” to create new opportunities for services that are aligned with customer needs.

From improved search and discovery functionalities to IoT applications in healthcare and home automation, the ability of operators to gather, store, process and sometimes discard data is a key to making services more relevant to consumers, driving increases in usage and value propositions.

For pay-TV operators, creating a successful big data strategy requires overcoming a variety of challenges, including the need to:

·      Ensure security of data at all points, including servers, in the network and within the home;

·      Minimize the computational and network costs involved in collecting, transmitting and analyzing data in the cloud;

·      Prevent the explosion of data from congesting networks, especially as operators deliver more and more higher bandwidth 4K UHD content; and

·      Identify ways to keep storage requirements and costs – including power – from spiraling out of control.

In a new white paper entitled “Big Data: Expanding the Horizons of Pay-TV,” Alticast studies the opportunities operators have to capitalize on the potential of big data, and addresses steps the industry can take to unlock future services and revenue.

Alticast and ContentWise collaborate to expand Personalized TV market reach

ContentWise the personalization, discovery, analytics and metadata expert, and Alticast, today announced that they are integrating the ContentWise personalization system with the Alticast AltiPlex SDP (Service Delivery Platform) and AltiPlatform middleware to provide pay-TV and OTT operators with a powerful and flexible end-to-end software solution. 

Visitors to IBC will be able to see the platform demonstrated on the ContentWise stand (14.K05).

“More and more Alticast customers are looking to provide a highly personalized TV experience,” said Joon Hee Oh, Cloud Business Unit Leader at Alticast. “The integration with ContentWise expands our ability to provide operators with the tools to deliver state-of-the-art personalized TV experiences, allowing them to attract and retain customers and advance revenue opportunities.”

Alticast has developed an end-to-end architecture comprised of a cost-effective cloud server solution, portable STB middleware, proven content protection and a ground breaking UI/UX. The Alticast solution provides pay-TV and OTT operators with an advanced high-quality, cost-effective system delivered expeditiously.

ContentWise is the TV personalization software that provides broadcast, cable, satellite, IPTV, OTT and video streaming operators with total control over the curation and automation of the Personalized TV experience. ContentWise provides a data-driven UX engine that provides full control over each personalized user interface element across platforms through a set of visual layout tools.  The combination of algorithmic and social recommendations, predictive browsing and context awareness provides the most sophisticated content discovery solution on the market. The solution also enables content programmers to achieve unprecedented control thanks to predictive performance tools with support for curation, dynamic streams, business rules and A/B testing.

“Alticast and ContentWise share similar product philosophies: designing solutions that enable operators to provide consumers with the best possible TV experience,” said Pancrazio Auteri, CTO of ContentWise. “There is already a high-level of interest in our joint solution and we look forward to ensuring that a ContentWise TV experience powered by Alticast’s end-to-end solution will offer the advanced deep personalization that’s essential to maximizing consumer engagement and operator monetization.” 

The impact of pay-TV’s shift to the cloud

Changes in technology and consumer expectations and a desire for more efficient service delivery are driving pay-TV providers to seek cloud-based workflow solutions. In this story in the IBC edition of Cable & Satellite International, Joon Hee, head of Cloud Services for Alticast, discusses the connections between virtualization and Big Data, as well as the implications of virtualization for enterprise and hospitality systems. Alticast will be showcasing a wide range of solutions for pay-TV providers at IBC stand 1.F39 September 9-13 at the RAI Amsterdam.

Visit Alticast at IBC

ALTICAST FLEXES ANDROID TV, HOSPITALITY MUSCLES AT IBC

Android TV and next-generation hospitality solutions that can open the doors to new service and revenue opportunities for pay-TV operators will highlight the Alticast exhibit at IBC 2016 September 9-13.

At Stand 1.F39 at the RAI Amsterdam, Alticast will premiere an Android TV system for pay-TV, including IPTV.  This demo highlights ambient UX technology that contextually improves the user experience, as well as an Intelligent Personal Assistant that can execute individual tasks or services.  Alticast also will be showing a hospitality solution that embeds guest automation services leveraging IoT systems, as part of its suite of enterprise IoT and media solutions.

In addition, Alticast will demonstrate products and services that are driving success for pay-TV operators today, including:

·       Alticast’s new hospitality UX , which demonstrates how a hotel guest can use voice commands to find salient info about their location including weather, nearby restaurant reservations, and VOD recommendations. This experience exemplifies a sophisticated, future-driven Alticast IoT framework.

·       A full entertainment experience with Android TV functionality, merging an operator based UX with the opportunity to access approved Android applications, as well as a new, unique ambient personalization experience.

·       Integrated media solutions that span cloud, devices and customers –allowing

pay-TV providers quickly to launch innovative complete solutions including dynamic UX and TV Everywhere over multiple devices with Cloud DVR.

                          

·      Cloud UI solutions that enable operators such as Korea’s KT to provide a next-generation user experience for existing and new devices. The Alticast solution also provides the ability to have personalized UIs for watching sports, kids shows and entertainment.

Media and industry analysts interested in meeting with Alticast executives at IBC 2016 should contact pspr@att.net to schedule a date and time.

ALTICAST APPROVED FOR “CERTIFIED WIDEVINE IMPLEMENTATION PARTNER PROGRAM”

Alticast today announced that it has become a member of the “Certified Widevine Implementation Partner Program,” a designation that is intended to expand content security options for pay-TV operators worldwide.

As a modular DRM partner, Alticast’s AltiProtect Multi-DRM product can support Widevine DRM as one of several security solutions within a single infrastructure. AltiProtect enables a single point of control and transparent customer experience for delivery of content streams from multiple sources – and using multiple security mechanisms – within multi-service, multi-device environments. 

Widevine DRM is available on a broad range of platforms and is currently deployed on more than two billion devices.  The Widevine solution combines Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH), Common Encryption (CENC) and Encrypted Media Extensions (ENE) to provide robust multiplatform content protection.

Studio-approved and highly rated by Telcordia, AltiProtect uses well-defined industry standards to ensure reliable content protection for broadcast and VOD, and can easily adapt to unique network infrastructures.  AltiProtect is being used by CJ Hellovision, the largest pay-TV operator in South Korea, to secure the world’s first launch of UHD pay-TV service.

“AltiProtect is a dynamic CAS/DRM solution that already secures content on millions of deployed devices,” said Dr. Misung Cho, security technology lead for Alticast. “With Widevine we can expand the available content catalogs for partnering in a heterogeneous content delivery environment.”

Alticast will demonstrate a variety of products and solutions for pay-TV operators at its stand (1F.36) at IBC 2016 September 9-13 in Amsterdam.

Alticast on IoT

At last months IBC show, Alticast's Tiaan Schutte, President, EMEA, spoke with Advanced TV on the Smart Home and Internet of Things.  To watch the video, click here:

Visit Alticast at IBC

Alticast Demonstrates Cloud Services and Security Solutions at IBC 2015

Alticast, a global partner for the delivery of media entertainment, will demonstrate how video service providers can deliver new cloud-based services and ensure the security of Ultra HD (UHD) content at IBC 2015.  The demonstrations will take place in the Alticast booth (1.F36), September 11-15, at the RAI Exhibition and Conference Centre in Amsterdam.

Key demonstrations at IBC 2015 will include:

·       The AltiPlex™ Cloud Services Platform (CSP), which allows service providers to virtually deliver, operate and manage multiscreen services. In addition, AltiPlex CSP provides:

      Cloud UI, a server-client user interface (UI) rendering engine, enabling the migration of the UI from the STB to the cloud, while delivering an improved user experience (UX) to legacy and new STBs. This innovative solution can deliver multiple UIs to different devices in a household, for example a UI tailored for the children and one for the family. 

Cloud DVR, a cloud-based recording, storage and multiscreen content delivery system. Providing time-shift viewing and live catch up services, this solution allows subscribers to watch anytime, anywhere. It supports multiple business and storage models allowing operators to build the system that meets their needs.

·       The new AltiProtect™ security solution as deployed by CJ Hellovision in Korea to protect its UHD content will be on display, highlighting the full line of AltiProtect CAS/DRM/DTCP-IP solutions. AltiProtect can be remotely installed onto legacy and new STBs as well as other devices with the AltiProtect Download and Exchange Framework.

·       An end-to-end solution comprised of AltiView™ UI, AltiPlatform™ STB software, AltiPlex, CSP and AltiProtect as deployed by a leading Vietnamese Pay TV operator to deliver live and on-demand services to STBs and mobile devices. This integrated solution has been deployed by the operator at several of its subsidiaries and was chosen for its completeness and because of Alticast’s experience in deploying turn-key solutions worldwide.

·       The Alticast Application Framework supports multiple hardware platforms, UIs and user agents to give operators the flexibility to deploy any combination of Android and RDK software on their STBs, allowing for both native and HTML5 applications. This exceptional flexibility enables operators to quickly and easily adapt to changing market needs.

Media and other parties interested in meeting with Alticast executives at IBC 2015 should contact alticast@mobilitypr.com to schedule a time.