Internet services are of growing importance for public broadcasters. Audiences are using different types of devices to access media and more media is being delivered via broadband networks. OTT techniques can help public service media continue to reach their audiences on new platforms.
Today’s EBU BroadThinking event kicked off with a keynote from Egon Verharen (NPO) on state of the art over the top (OTT) techniques for public service media. He stated that, “Media companies are becoming more IT-centric. In fact, I would say that IT is at the core of what we do today. We are now more data-driven than ever before and we need to be in order to serve new demands from our audiences. When it comes to audience expectations, online is as important as linear broadcasting.”
But, a number of challenges still exist. Although public service broadcasters are moving to IP-based production and distribution, finding the expertise and resources to achieve this is not easy. It was clear in the discussion that EBU Members are part of a race to keep pace with rapidly developing technology. Do we differentiate our services for online and different platforms? Can we provide all our services in HD quality for free? These were some of the important questions raised.
Next on the agenda, delegates from IRT, Qualcomm, Technicolor and Harmonic gave participants overview of DASH profiles, its deployment and how to enhance quality with DASH. We also took a closer look at multicast deployment in an HTTP world.
The day ended with two key sessions: “how to make big data practical” and “accessibility and security.” In line with this morning’s discussions, presenters drew attention to the importance of knowing your audience individually and personalizing services for them. The EBU RecSys Project which focuses on examining recommendation services for public service media was outlined in detail as well as player data for CDN analytics and user experiences.
Tomorrow will focus on: HbbTV, the future and OTT player developments. Delegates also have the unique opportunity to access more than 10 technology demonstrations ranging from multi-platform subtitle services, alternative audio production and distribution, sign language translation services, open source media players, virtual reality, HbbTV and recommendation systems.