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Think Tank Hits on the Future of Digital Content

By Lyndsey Schaefer

More than 100 thought leaders gathered at last night’s HITS Think Tank in Burbank to discuss the progress of file-based workflows and how they are influencing Hollywood.

The event was anchored by the panel discussion, “From Frame to Finish: What’s Your Digital Content Management Strategy?” featuring experts representing the many links of the digital supply chain: John Crosier, Senior Vice President, Digital Architecture & Delivery, Cinram; Steven Anastasi, Vice President of Media Archives, Warner Bros., Ed Durst, Principal Solutions Consultant – Digital Media Group, Open Text, Stan Scoggins, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Digital Asset Management, Universal Pictures, and JR Yasgur, Vice President, Aggregated Metadata Management & Operations, Sony Pictures Entertainment. The panel was moderated by Mary Yurkovic, Digital Asset Management Community Builder and M&E Industry Consultant.

Yurkovic took the panel through the many steps in the digital supply chain and asked the panelists to provide their respective thoughts on how they are adapting to changes in the evolution of physical and digital formats.

There are challenges with the myriad ways to capture content, as well as finding the optimum ways to deliver that content to different platforms, says Cinram’s Crosier.  According to Sony’s Yasgur, what is defined as “content” is also changing due to the business landscape to include the final cut, but also the added value material (electronic press kits, trailers, bonus material and all of the supporting metadata). It’s also necessary to make the assets useable for other languages, aspect ratios and different windows, says Universal’s Scoggins.

“We have to be able to track content throughout the lifecycle,” Yasgur says. “We have a responsibility to interact with that content, even if it isn’t in its final form. We’re also now competing with what consumers are putting out there.”

All of the panelists stressed the importance of metadata, which plays a valuable role throughout the entire ecosystem.

“We’re trying to push standards on required metadata as one of the models to try to have success; standardizing 33 fields of metadata so you must always supply the metadata before it goes into the archives,” Anastasi says.” If it doesn’t have it, it will be rejected and sent back to them.”

In addition to capturing accurate metadata, another ongoing challenge is the sheer volume of content that is being handled, due to production embracing digital, and thus, never turning the camera off. This results in hundreds of hours of additional content that becomes costly to store.

“Digital storage is never going to be free. So we have to determine what does and doesn’t have long-term value,” Anastasi explains.

As 4K content becomes more prominent, the ecosystem will have to adapt to be able to handle files of that size as well, Yasgur says.

It will be interesting to see how the digital supply chain evolves to meet these new challenges. Hear more about the digital side of the business at the Digital Marketing & Analytics Summit, set for September 27 at the Four Seasons Los Angeles, produced by HITS, MESA and Variety. For more information, click here.

Don’t Miss the HITS Burbank Think Tank Tonight: Onsite Registration Available!

By Lyndsey Schaefer

After today’s work-day is done, make your way to the Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel for an insightful Think Tank discussion on the progress of file-based workflows and how they are influencing Hollywood.

Starting at 4 p.m., PDT, the panel discussion, “From Frame to Finish: What’s Your Digital Content Management Strategy?” will feature experts representing the many links of the digital supply chain, including Steven Anastasi, Vice President of Media Archives, Warner Bros., Ed Durst, Principal Solutions Consultant – Digital Media Group, Open Text, Stan Scoggins, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Digital Asset Management, Universal Pictures, and JR Yasgur, Vice President, Aggregated Metadata Management & Operations, Sony Pictures Entertainment. The panel will be moderated by Mary Yurkovic, Digital Asset Management Community Builder and M&E Industry Consultant.

Join the MESA and HITS thought leadership community to share your perspective on tackling some of the industry’s most pressing issues surrounding content strategy. A networking and cocktail reception will follow the panel discussion.

For more information, click here.

M&E Journal: Streamlining Processes – Server Solutions Power 3D Animation

By Janet Bartleson, Director, Dell

To captivate their audience, mischievous Surly Squirrel and his rat friend Buddy need to be rendered in eye-popping detail. ToonBox Entertainment deploys Dell™ PowerEdge™ servers in its render farm to help deliver world-class 3D animation.

Toronto-based ToonBox Entertainment hit the ground running — the company’s first original TV production “Bolts & Blip” is one of the world’s first 3D stereoscopic animated television series. But stereoscopic animation places extremely heavy demands on workstations and servers in the render farm. When ToonBox prepared to start stereoscopic animation for its film The Nut Job, the company sought new studio space and a hardware vendor to furnish it. “It was critical to select the right vendor up front, because we were looking for a long-term solution,” says Ria Westaway, vice president of production.

“Dell treated us as their first priority. That commitment to our needs helped us make a decision relatively quickly.” For rendering, ToonBox selected Dell PowerEdge C6100 rack- mounted servers powered by Intel® Xeon® pro- cessor 5600 series. “For every animation we produce, we’re rendering twice as many frames as we would in 2D,” says computer graphics (CG) supervisor Andrew McPhillips. “Each shot in our rich and highly detailed film is comprised of dozens—sometimes even hundreds—of layers. Feature-length animated films typically have more than 1,000 shots. Because The Nut Job is 3D, we are rendering each of those shots twice, once for each eye. In this environment, the Dell PowerEdge C6100 servers have been fantastic. The PowerEdge C6100 makes a great render farm machine because it’s fast, highly configurable, and incredibly robust.

For the full text of the article, click here.

For the .pdf version click here.

HITS June 18 Burbank Think Tank to Tackle Digital Storage Solutions

By Lyndsey Schaefer

Studio archivists and senior IT executives are set to dig into the challenges of long-term digital storage at the upcoming HITS Think Tank in Burbank. Taking place Tuesday, June 18 at 4 p.m. PT at the Burbank Airport Marriott, “From Frame to Finish: What’s Your Digital Content Management Strategy?” will feature panelists Steven Anastasi, Vice President of Media Archives, Warner Bros., Ed Durst, Principal Solutions Consultant – Digital Media Group, Open Text, Stan Scoggins, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Digital Asset Management, Universal Pictures, and JR Yasgur, Vice President, Aggregated Metadata Management & Operations, Sony Pictures Entertainment.

From the first frame shot to the global distribution of finished product, every studio is adopting ways to tag, manage and ultimately, monetize their content throughout their new digital supply chain and their long-tail distribution channels. The transition to digital capture in the motion picture and television industry is a massive shift in how archives manage libraries. According to Anastasi, two main issues arise: The amount of data being created and the method to keep this data alive, with shoot ratios have more than double from the days of shooting on film.

“Our industry is used to the ‘store and ignore’ policy of climate controlled deep storage at low costs. This enabled our industry to keep ‘everything,’ Anastasi says. “We were able to ID the assets based on the metadata on the can or in the case of film, ID by key or scene number via the naked eye. The archives’ ability to ‘see’ what is on the deliverables is a challenge. All digital media requires migration every several years to keep the data alive.”

Hear more from Anastasi and the other expert panelists on June 18 in Burbank.

Click here to register.

‘Securing your Digital Workflow in the Cloud’ Webinar Set for June 12

By Lyndsey Schaefer

Media enterprises large and small have one thing in common today: the need for a secure way to share their valuable content across the digital supply chain. As digital media files can often be large and hard to share with existing solutions, users turn to convenient cloud-based file sharing services that lack enterprise security, visibility and control.

MESA and Signiant are proud to announce an upcoming webinar, “Secure File Sharing in the Cloud,” on Wednesday, June 12 at 11 a.m. PT/ 2 p.m. ET, which will feature a panel of experts who will share real-world examples of how to identify and overcome key security challenges in the digital workflow.

The panel will be comprised of Thomas Youkel, Group Chief, Enterprise Systems Engineering, Library of Congress; Steve Bono, CEO, Independent Security Evaluators; and Ian Hamilton, Chief Technology Officer, Signiant, and will be moderated by Guy Finley, Executive Director, MESA.

“The growing use of cloud file transfer and storage services has many media executives concerned about content security,” says Ian Hamilton, CTO, Signiant. “Anyone looking to take advantage of new approaches to file sharing without compromising content security will benefit from the tips and best practices discussed during this webinar.”

Topics to be covered include:

• The importance of actively managing content security in today’s world
• Challenges of sharing, controlling, and safeguarding digital content
• Considerations when securing your content sharing architecture
• How to safely and easily take advantage of the cloud to share your content

For more details and to register for the webinar, click here: http://mesalliance.org/events/signiant-webcast/

M&E Journal: Integration of Linear and Non-Linear Technology Platforms – A Blueprint for Consideration

By Subhankar Bhattacharya, Global Practice Head Media & Entertainment, HCL Technologies

Talks about an integrated approach to linear (television/on air) and non-linear (online/broadband) content value chains have been making rounds in the television network industry for several years.  At the back-end (supply chain) of the content value chain, progress has been limited to the cost driven initiatives such as a shared digital asset management system or a shared infrastructure platform. However, organizations today have become more ambitious and experimental in the front-end (consumer experience) of content value chain through several new revenue driven initiatives such as TV Everywhere, live broadband streaming, etc. With digital upfront (NewFront) in full swing and consumer expectation about seamless multi-screen experience on the rise, the process of linear & non-linear integration may get a much needed boost from business/brand owners within the industry. This paper outlines an approach toward linear and non-linear technology platform integration within the context of this evolving environment.

Business Context
Video content is the primary asset of the television network industry. While the total advertising spend on nonlinear (online) video was only USD 1.42 Bn in 2010, the forecasted cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) for this channel is a whopping 31 percent. During the same period the forecasted growth rates for television advertisement spend is only 3 percent.  By 2016, that could take the share of non-linear video advertisement revenue to 13% of the linear (TV) advertising revenue from its current share of 3 percent.

For the full text of the article, click here.

For the .pdf version click here.

New Xbox a Step Toward Integration of Linear TV and OTT

By Paul Sweeting

Lots to unpack from today’s unveiling of the new Xbox console, officially called the Xbox One (see headline item below for an overview). Of particular note for M&E execs, however, is the inclusion of an “HDMI In” port that will allow the new console to be daisy-chained with a cable or satellite set-top box.

The setup will allow users to control some aspects of their linear TV service through the Xbox using Microsoft’s interface, including voice and gesture control. It also allows for easy switching between linear channels and over-the-top channels (via Xbox Live).

To be sure, the HDMI daisy-chain is a workaround. Microsoft no doubt would prefer that the Xbox One be capable of integrating directly with any pay-TV service without first have to make deals with each individual pay-TV provider. Currently, however, there is no standardized interface that would allow for that (the FCC has been trying for years to push the industry to adopt a standard, open gateway to allow plug-and-play integration between pay-TV services and retail set-tops but so far without success).  So the HDMI daisy-chain hack is the next best thing.

Still, it marks an important milestone toward the inevitable integration of linear and on-demand TV in a single interface on a single set-top box. Not incidentally, it also leaves Microsoft in a position to collect extremely rich data on individual consumer viewing across platforms and across service providers. Over time, that data could become more valuable than any of the games Microsoft or others publish for the console.

Also of note, the new console includes a Blu-ray Disc drive, as rumored. Given Microsoft’s long championing of HD-DVD back in the day, and its fierce early resistance to industry adoption of Blu-ray (and in particularly the BD Plus DRM system), including a BD drive in the new Xbox will certainly attract some headlines. But it was an inevitable and unavoidable step for a device being positioned as an all-in-one home entertainment box.

Still, Microsoft will certainly sell tens of millions of the new console, which will mean tens of millions of new Blu-ray players in the market.

France Prepares To Strike Three-Strikes

By Paul Sweeting

The government of France, which pioneered the “three-strikes” enforcement method against online piracy, all-but abandoned the strategy Monday as part of a proposed sweeping overhaul of French media laws and regulations.

The proposal to effectively end the graduated-response system against online file-swappers was contained in a nearly 800 page report issued by a special commission appointed by the French Ministry of Culture to recommend ways to update French media laws for the digital era. The commission was headed by Pierre Lescure, the former head of Canal Plus.

The report recommends dismantling Hadopi, the organization created in 2009 to oversee France’s then-new three-strikes law (and known by its French acronym), and transferring its authority to the French television industry regulator. As part of that process, the report recommends doing away with the current penalties for repeat violations, which can include cutting off offenders ‘access to the Internet. Instead, the commission report would replace the most severe penalty with a small fine.

If implemented, the proposal would be a stark reversal for a law hailed by copyright owners just four years ago as a model for addressing the problem of online file-sharing. Strongly backed by the previous French government under Nicolas Sarkozy, the three-strikes law was highly controversial from the start and its effectiveness at curbing piracy was a matter of dispute. It was was fiercely opposed at the time by many in the Socialist opposition, and with the Socialists now in power under President Franςois Hollande, the law and Hadopi have seen an erosion of government support and enforcement budgets.

The proposal to dismantle Hadopi is just one of 75 recommendations contained in the Lescure Commission report and is not the only one likely to spark controversy. The report also recommends imposing a new tax on all devices capable of connecting to the Internet, from mobile phones and tablets to connected TVs and Blu-ray players, to help support production of French cultural works. The new tax would come on top of an existing levy system in France that imposes a fee on recording devices to compensate copyright owners for private copying.

In a shift, the report recommends that both taxes be imposed directly on manufacturers, rather than collected at the point of sale as the private copying level currently is collected.

The report also recommends shortening the time between movie release windows, which are set by law in France. Currently, for instance, movies must be released on DVD, Blu-ray and video-on-demand four months after the date of their theatrical release. The Lescure report recommends shortening that to three months.

The commission also recommends moving the subscription window up from the current 36 months after theatrical release to 18 months to encourage the development of Netflix-like services in France.

The publication of the Lescure report is only the first step in what is likely to be a drawn out process of updating French media laws. If adopted by the Ministry of Culture, the recommendations will be subject to a period of public comment and would then have to be incorporated into legislation and passed by the French parliament, where many of them are likely to face opposition.

The process in France, however, is likely to be watched closely throughout the EU, which is currently gearing up to consider changes to the EU-wide Copyright Directive. Several other European countries impose private copying levies, for instance, which are under pressure as a source of revenue as consumers increasing embrace on-demand access to media content over permanent copies. If France is successful in imposing new taxes on connected devices other governments are likely to consider similar moves.

The dismantling of Hadopi in France, however, is likely to put an end to any hopes of extending the French three-strikes regime to other parts of the EU, let alone beyond Europe.

A French-language summary of the main proposals in the Lescure report can be found (and auto-translated) here.

 

HITS Confab Hits on Technology Trends and Innovations

By Lyndsey Schaefer

At yesterday’s third annual Hollywood IT Summit (HITS) at Pepperdine University in Malibu, 450 of Hollywood’s thought leaders convened to discuss the latest IT trends and innovations facing the entertainment industry.

The morning of the Summit kicked off with two panels of prominent CIOs and CTOs representing the major Hollywood studios, who discussed the overlapping challenges they face at a time in the industry when both technology and business models are evolving rapidly. Among the subjects they touched on was the blurred lines between studios’ IT and business groups, and the digital supply chain, and the importance of working closely across departmental lines to achieve mutually beneficial goals. At Fox Filmed Entertainment, John Herbert, Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer, says that he works very closely with Fox’s CTO Hanno Basse to find ways to address challenges and drive value for the studio.

Following the CIO panel, a discussion among key studio CTOs focused on the evolving technology driving the studio ecosystem, both at the production end of the pipeline and at the consumer end. Among those are changes in the production workflow to accommodate new techniques such as high frame rates and 4K video, and cloud-based distribution models.

“As I said in our discussion at CES, higher frame rates will just become another tool in the toolbox to tell the story like 3D and 4K,” says Chris Cookson, President, Technologies, Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Asked by an audience member whether Blu-ray Disc will evolve to accommodate 4K video, Fox’s Basse said moves to get 4K on discs were inevitable. “If there is another step in the evolution of physical media, it has to be integrated with our digital strategy,” he added.

For all the changes in the technology of moviemaking and distribution, however, Steve Dahl, Senior Vice President Operations/Supply Chain, Walt Disney Studio Operations stressed that some things haven’t changed: great storytelling, the basic processes of marketing, sales and fulfillment, and the overall viewing experience.

Technology is also changing the world of televised sports. Manish Jha, General Manager, Mobile, NFL, shared with the HITS audience how the league tries to serve the NFL fan in a post-PC world, noting that 70%-80% of NFL fans are engaged with a second screen while watching football on TV.

The NFL’s “Draft Xtra” app created a second screen experience surrounding the NFL draft with enhanced content.

Jha also discussed the NFL’s experiments with leveraging location to connect fans. NFL Mobile shows users where they can watch the game with other fans and lets users “check-in” at different venues to create value for merchants.

In the afternoon metadata panel, moderator Eric Iverson, Vice President, Information Technology, Worldwide Networks, Sony Pictures Television appeard dressed in medical scrubs to lead the discussion on what it takes to deliver “healthy, happy metadata babies.” From content and descriptive metadata to technical and business metadata, every child has its own DNA, said Susan Cheng, Vice President, Supply Chain Planning and Data Governance, Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Panelist David Kohl, Lead Program Manager, CIMM TAXI Cross-Platform Asset Identification Program shared that TAXI has the potential to enable or accelerate an estimated $2.5 billion in annual economic benefit within the content and advertising supply chain once adopted across the M&E sector.

“If you can’t measure it, you can’t monetize it,” says Clyde Smith, Senior Vice President, New Technology, FOX Network Engineering and Operations. Smith also urged attendees to ask their QC vendors for a test profile for each one of their customers.

Following the metadata panel, a group of top television studio executives addressed the unique challenges and opportunities posed by the rapid expansion of the “TV” ecosystem to include a wide range of connected devices, including issues of security, cost and efficiency. The group has announced that the industry has been working together behind closed doors on a solution to help address some of these issues.

“We all share the same problems, from motion picture to television production,” says Ivan Gueron, Divisional Chief Information Officer, Sony Pictures Entertainment. “What are the needs across our industry?”

Gueron introduced a reel teasing the group’s collaborative efforts, “Concept2Camera,” so that the industry can all refer to the same framework. Stay tuned for more updates from this group in the coming year.

For the latest news on everything related to the Hollywood IT Society, click here: http://www.hollywooditsociety.com/

HITS Panel to Explore Ecosystem for Metadata

By Lyndsey Schaefer

At the upcoming Hollywood IT Summit (HITS) on May 7 at Pepperdine University in Malibu, a panel of industry experts will share their perspectives on the progress that’s been made in establishing master and metadata standards to better enable digital commerce for the entertainment ecosystem, including use cases and successful implementation strategies.

The panel, “Enhancing and Expanding the Ecosystem for Metadata,” will be comprised of Susan Cheng, Vice President, Supply Chain Planning and Data Governance, Warner Bros. Entertainment; David Kohl, Lead Program Manager, CIMM TAXI Cross-Platform Asset Identification Program; David Pankowski, Director, Engineering Services, Microsoft Corporation; Kip Welch, Vice President – Business Development, Motion Pictures Laboratories; and moderated by Eric Iverson, Vice President, Information Technology, Worldwide Networks, Sony Pictures Television.

The panel will delve into the latest developments from the industry metadata initiatives of DEG, EIDR, EMA, ETC, CIMM and HITS, and will also address the impact that unique identifiers make on existing production and global distribution of digital content. Panelists will also discuss if these industry standards can be leveraged into UltraViolet, streaming and electronic sell-through to develop new business models and revenue streams.

“From targeted advertising to efficiencies and expanding marketplaces to innovative new business models, metadata is the automation engine that makes it all happen,” says Iverson. “Metadata is a billion dollar plus opportunity…and growing,”

Don’t miss this and the many other panels and keynote speakers at HITS. Click here for program information and to register: www.hollywooditsociety.com/malibu-2013

HITS Panel to Examine TV Production in the Digital World

By Lyndsey Schaefer

The landscape of television, from production to distribution and OTT platform expansion has presented great challenges for the industry. With the growth of streaming of episodic content and VOD coupled with the impact of social media and web-enabled devices expanding usage of content anywhere, the digital production workflow continues to evolve as technology opportunities arise.

The digital workflow from concept to delivery faces the challenges of systematization, efficiency, quality and timeliness. At the Hollywood IT Summit on May 7 in Malibu, top television studio executives will address these unique opportunities to enhance the overall supply chain as it relates to integrated systems, metadata, automation, script and contract management, budgeting and scheduling, document management, spend tracking and analysis, business intelligence, mobility demands, archiving, APIs and management reporting. The expansion of the industry offers a unique challenge to IT to address these innovations, while staying mindful of security, cost and efficiency.

“The HITS organization has been successful in bringing together a ‘think tank’ of IT leaders in studio distribution,” says panelist Alex Grimwade of Fox. “We thought it would be advantageous to apply the HITS principles of the IT ecosystem to a television- specific group.”

The afternoon panel, “Building the TV Production and Distribution Digital Workflow: A Call to Action!” features Sean Cooney, Vice President, Advanced Production Technology, Warner Bros.; Chris Coye, Senior Vice President & CIO, Disney ABC Television Group; Alex Grimwade, Vice President Information Technology, Twentieth Century Fox Television; Ivan Gueron, Divisional Chief Information Officer, Sony Pictures Entertainment; and Tom Roach, Vice President, Worldwide Theatrical Distribution, Marketing & Production, Warner Bros. The panel will be moderated by Devendra Mishra, HITS Conference Chairman.

“Although we are in a competitive industry, the moment calls out for the efficiencies of standards and shared solutions. To that end, we are leveraging the principles of the HITS organization to put together this group of Television IT leaders,” says Grimwade.

For more information or to register for HITS, go to www.hollywooditsociety.com/malibu-2013

Studio CIO and CTO Panels to Kick Off HITS Confab May 7

By Lyndsey Schaefer

The Hollywood IT Society will host two panels of prominent CIOs and CTOs representing the major Hollywood studios during its HITS morning program May 7 at Pepperdine University to discuss the strategic challenges for growth and profitability of the enterprise.

No other industry event brings together these cross-studio experts, whose invaluable perspectives and thought leadership help shape the future of the business.

With the abundance of digital technology, ubiquitous internet, social media and the decline of the physical medium, the role of information technology has vastly shifted its focus from technology to business. IT executives spanning the entertainment industry will discuss objectives, strategies and tactics that they’ve undertaken to transform their businesses and revitalize the industry. In addition, best practices for cost containment and effective development of software, hardware, infrastructure and network will be shared.

The CIO panel features John Herbert, Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Fox Filmed Entertainment; Michael Keithley, Chief Information Officer, CAA; Theresa Miller, Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President, Information Technology, Lionsgate and Scott Phelan, Group Information Officer, Warner Bros. Entertainment. The panel will be moderated by Leo Collins, Oracle Customer Advisor, Oracle.

Following the CIO panel, a discussion between key studio CTOs will address the progressing technology driving the studio ecosystem. Picking up where their panel at CES left off, studio Chief Technology Officers will debate how their work has evolved to meet the needs of delivering content to consumers, split between multiple screens. They will address the latest operational developments in cloud-based entertainment and theatrical distribution, as well as the ways that they are utilizing technology innovations to streamline efficiencies and continue building the backbone for various business units.

The CTO panel is comprised of Hanno Basse, Chief Technology Officer, Fox Filmed Entertainment; Chris Cookson, President, Technologies at Sony Pictures Entertainment; Justin Herz, Senior Vice President, Direct-to-Consumer, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution & General Manager, Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services; Jaime Voris, Chief Technology Officer, The Walt Disney Studios; and Lincoln Wallen, Chief Technology Officer, Dreamworks Animation; and will be moderated by Guy Finley, Executive Director, MESA.

Don’t miss these two important panels to gain invaluable insights into the minds of these studio leaders.

For more information or to register for HITS, go to www.hollywooditsociety.com/malibu-2013

Aereo Fleshes Out Its Strategy

By Paul Sweeting

Apart from the ongoing dispute over its legality, one of the biggest questions hanging over Aereo has been what it wants to be when it grows up. While that company claims, without citing numbers, that consumer response has been very positive, there is probably a limit to the number of consumers who will be willing to pay $12 a month to stream content they can watch without paying anything, raising the question of how much upside there can be for the hundreds of millions of dollars Aereo would need to build out a nationwide system.

Speaking at the paidContent Live conference on Wednesday, Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia put a little more flesh on his company’s long-term strategy for adding programming to Aereo’s service beyond the handful of broadcast channels available in any given market without falling into the trap of simply recreating the cable bundle with cable-like pricing.

First us is likely to be a free, or low-cost package of news channels, starting with Bloomberg TV, with which Aereo currently has a deal. Beyond that, Aereo is looking to add a subscription movie channel that would be offered as a premium channel at a cost to users of 50 cents to a $1 a month.

“The value proposition there is the ability to watch movies on your own time, so consumers are willing to pay for that,” Kanojia said.

Kanojia described the future of TV, and Aereo’s place in it, as one of “skinny live, and deep library.” There is a relatively small subset of programming, he said, such as sports and news, that is sufficiently time-sensitive that there is valuing in watching it live. Everything else, he suggested, can be accessed on-demand without sacrificing value.

Aereo’s goal, Kanojia said, is to create a subscription service that provides access to time-sensitive live programming at a low cost, with a few premium items such as movies, without forcing consumers to pay for the “bloat” of channels that are providing programming that could just as easily be accessed via Netflix, Hulu, or other on-demand platform at a lower cost.

“The last time I checked there’s no need to have Desperate Housewives or the Real Housewives of Orange County running on four channels at the same time,” he said.

The goal, he said, is to provide 50% of the real value proposition of subscribing to cable — access to must-see live, linear content — at one-tenth the cost. Eventually, he added, Aereo’s real-time service might ended up being bundled with a broadband subscription as an alternative to cable or satellite.

MESA to Sponsor Opening Party and Moderate Supply Chain Panel at PEVE

Following last week’s announcement that MESA (Media & Entertainment Services Alliance) is to launch a European affiliate, headed by experienced industry specialist, Jim Bottoms, MESA has today confirmed that it will be hosting a supply chain panel at next week’s PEVE event in London.

Chaired by Guy Finley, Executive Director at MESA US, the panel will explore the increasing complexities associated with bringing digital entertainment content to the market in Europe. “While there is some commonality with the USA, the European supply chain has an additional raft of issues it needs to take care of” says Finley, “including all of the activities and processes based around localisation”.  Digital was meant to yield some major advantages compared to physical media production and distribution but is this the reality?  “That will be one of the key themes of the discussion” adds Finley, who will be joined by Jonathan Jowitt of Dolby Content Solutions and Ben Schofield an independent consultant who has been closely involved with UltraViolet.

On the evening prior to the opening of PEVE, MESA Europe will be welcoming people to the pre-PEVE drinks party on the evening of Monday 15th April to be held at the Crazy Bear Bar, Covent Garden. “This is the perfect time to launch MESA Europe and with so many MESA member companies gathering in London for the conference it seemed an ideal opportunity to host a launch party” said Bottoms.

As part of its sponsorship package MESA has negotiated a 10% discount for members registering for the event.  (Quote “PEVE2013MESA” when registering online.)

For further information about MESA Europe and to participate in any of its forthcoming events please contact: jim@mesaeurope.org

MESA Launches European Affiliate With Jim Bottoms As Executive Director

U.S.-based entertainment trade association MESA (Media & Entertainment Services Alliance) has announced the launch of a European affiliate headed by newly appointed Executive Director, and longstanding industry specialist, Jim Bottoms.

Formed nearly five years ago to support service providers involved in the creation, production and distribution of physical and digital media and entertainment, MESA also manages the association activities of the Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA), the Hollywood IT Society (HITS) and the 2nd Screen Society (S3).  Its newsletter, the M&E Daily is read by nearly 20,000 industry professionals and it proudly partners with other leading trade associations including DEG: the Digital Entertainment Group, NAB, CEA and DECE.

“MESA has grown rapidly and we are pleased to have someone who has the industry experience and respect of Jim Bottoms to lead our association into its next global phase,” says MESA Executive Director Guy Finley. “This move is in direct response to member requests, reflecting the desire for improved local communication and collaboration in each of the individual European markets and a heightened need for trans-Atlantic networking.”

Bottoms, co-founder of the Futuresource consultancy firm, said he is “looking forward to using my knowledge and experience to take a ‘hands-on’ approach in helping to drive industry-wide initiatives through MESA Europe.

“Never has this been more important than it is today, with the whole entertainment ecosystem focused on creating viable business models for digital content delivery and/or prolonging the life of packaged media.”

According to Bottoms, MESA Europe will offer a series of events for European members throughout the year and will launch initiatives on behalf of the CDSA, HITS and S3 groups in Europe.

For further details on membership or participation in any forthcoming MESA activities please contact jim@mesaeurope.org.

Sony Launches Media Cloud Services Company to Transform Production Workflows

By Lyndsey Schaefer

Sony Corporation of America today announced the launch of Sony Media Cloud Services, a new cloud-based collaboration and production service that will be previewed at next week’s NAB Show in Las Vegas. The scalable cloud platform, Ci^SM (pronounced see), will provide studios, broadcasters, independent producers, marketing teams and other creative individuals a “one-cloud” solution to collect, produce and archive high-value, high-definition content, allowing fast and secure collaboration on a global scale.

“Every day, creative professionals around the world spend numerous hours and resources on non-creative tasks like moving and sharing content, figuring out how and where to store it, and getting the right assets to the right places and in the right hands,” says Naomi Climer, President, Sony Media Cloud Services. “Sony understands these complex challenges, which is why we designed Ci as a functionally rich, scalable and secure, media-focused cloud platform that can enhance and streamline traditional production workflows to make it easier to collaborate more effectively and cost-efficiently.”

Ci has the potential to be a game changer for the industry, Climer says, because it helps bring multiple assets together in the cloud, and since it can be utilized by the whole industry, from creatives to producers and legal departments.

“We see it at the forefront of the creative process,” Climer says.

Built from Sony’s expertise in solving real-world production and post-production challenges, Ci has been designed with intuitive capabilities to analyze complex media and data to enable machine-assisted workflows. It features pay-as-you-go pricing, infinite scalability and application-based servicing, all from a secure browser-based user interface, to make it simple for users to assemble teams online, work on projects and access files from locations around the world. Applications available at launch include:

• · Ci MediaBox: Collects, organizes, previews, shares and archives every media type and size using studio-designed cloud storage solution suite
• · Ci VideoLog: Enables logging of frame-accurate events to prepare content for downstream opportunities, distribution and playout automation
• · Ci AudioSync: Utilizes analysis algorithms and audio pattern matching to reduce non-creative editing work time in content-preparation workflows
• · Ci FrameMatch: Analyzes media files to automatically identify differences and likenesses between two sets of video files
• · Ci ReviewApprove: Enables review, annotation and collaboration on media files across multiple locations in real time, simultaneously

Ci makes it easy to find content as it automatically creates technical metadata, and allows users to comment in real-time on what’s stored in the cloud. Sony is leveraging Aspera Connect to give users the best experience possible, Climer says. Sony foresees Ci being used in many different departments, from marketing to have a place to easily review and discuss content of trailers and single shots to legal departments being able to address usage rights.

Ci is currently in beta production and is available within the U.S. and European markets, with plans for additional service capabilities to be launched within the year. Sony Media Cloud Services is headquartered on the Sony Pictures Studio lot in Culver City, Calif., with regional teams based in North America, Europe and Asia.

“Ci MasterSuite is an innovative approach to delivering professional media applications. Sony’s cloud-based, service-oriented architecture makes it easy to integrate these tools into our workflow, and the browser-based user interface will enable our teams to access content and collaborate from anywhere on our network,” says Jeff Mayzurk, SVP, Studio Operations, NBCUniversal.

For more information and to preview Ci, visit the Sony booth at NAB, or go to www.sonymcs.com.

Phil Ramone, the First Digital Entertainment Maestro, Passes

By Guy Finley, Executive Director, MESA

Saturday morning I woke to terrible news.  I lost a mentor and friend who helped me achieve my childhood dreams — a man I first admired as an aspiring artist, who made incredible music with the most talented people in the industry, and who was always on the cutting edge of digital innovation. Phil Ramone had passed away.

As the shock wore off it occurred to me that not only was Phil a musical genius, he was also an innovator who dedicated himself to embracing new technologies and new business models while guiding artists to be their very best through the latest tools available during the evolving digital transition.

I worked closely with Phil in 1997 and 1998.  He, Larry Rosen and Dave Grusin had formed a record label, N2K Encoded Music, that would pioneer digital delivery and embrace the Internet as media well before the other major labels.  I was a kid playing drums in one of the hottest bands in New York City, looking for a deal and being courted by legendary record label executives.  It was just before the invention of Napster so the music business was still basking in the financial glory of the disc.  Phil was always a gentleman while courting us and gave myself and the band his personal assurance that he would work with us personally over the next 18 months to produce a record that we were all proud of on many levels (artistically, sonically, creatively, etc.)  When we eventually signed, he didn’t disappoint.  He listened.  He cared.  He innovated.

When we were doing some of our best work in the dingy studio apartment the singer and guitar played shared, he took the risk and had us pre-produce our album at home on the latest digital gear and instruments; nowadays this is commonplace for young artists and only costs a few hundred dollars in software but back then it was a considerable investment risk. Later, we spent more than a month in Sony Studios recording an album that included everything the band dreamed of – vintage guitars, fat drums, strings, horns, B3 and a cadre of incredible guest musicians.  We also embraced the latest digital technologies in the production process and worked with other “kids” who would later become Grammy Award winning engineers and producers themselves.  He mentored us all, made us feel very important and gave us our shot at the big time.

You will see in his obituary that he was a music prodigy and an engineer before producing albums by Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Barbra Streisand and many others, some of which ultimately defined the artist to their global fan base and the era’s popular music to its place and time.   He was the “Pope of Pop” and had that special knack for picking songs or writing arrangements that would go on to sell hundreds of millions of records.  But beyond the pure talent and musicality as an artist himself, there was a technical genius as well.

This was a man who was a constant innovator using the first digital tape decks in a professional studio environment, heard the first digital instruments/samples while consulting with the instrument manufacturers, brought artists “together” by laying down the first recordings over the Internet with musicians in remote studio environments, pioneered optical surround sound and championed the Compact Disc and Music DVD.  His innovations were endless, all the while becoming a music industry legend who worked constantly through five decades on albums that he felt passionately about, with artists who were friends as well as business partners.

In the end, N2K turned their business model from traditional record label into online retailer by purchasing CD Now (Phil was prescient even when it came to the demise of the record label model).  The company that invested so much in us let us simply walk away holding our master recordings. Fifteen years later I look back fondly on those heady days and Phil’s passing reminds me about the fun we had together making music and memories.

We were but a blip on his huge career but it meant so much to briefly travel in his orbit and embrace a legend.  So, in case you are curious:

Band: Mini-King

Album: Mini-King (self titled)

Producer: Phil Ramone

Mixed by: Elliot Scheiner

Engineer: Samuel Vaughan Merrick

Asst. Engineer: Ryan Hewitt

facebook.com/MiniKingNYC

ESCA Digital Conference Explores Innovation in Entertainment

By Lyndsey Schaefer

Consumer Electronics Association president and CEO Gary Shapiro said Thursday the christening of the Ultra HD format showed that Hollywood and the electronics industry could work productively together to benefit both.

“We saw an issue – what do we call this thing? – and we solved it,” Shapiro said at the Digital Entertainment Supply Chain Academy (ESDA) event in Los Angeles. “Ultra HD will be huge – it will sell itself. The content will come, the screens are there. I’m excited about it.”

Shapiro spoke during a morning keynote conversation with CE Daily managing editor Paul Gluckman, where he also discussed his new book “Ninja Innovation.”

“Being a ninja is solving problems as a team, creatively,” Shapiro explains. “The book offers strategies for individuals and businesses – like learning from failure is a positive thing.”

Digital ESCA drew more than 200 executives spanning the home entertainment industry. Now in its eighth year, ESCA   focuses on driving efficiency and innovation in the home entertainment supply chain, including both physical media and digital formats.

This year’s event also featured a technology spotlight from Intel, which focused on UltraViolet, the industry-wide effort to knit together physical and digital video platforms. Intel officials said the company was investing heavily in supporting the technology infrastructure for UltraViolet and is working closely with Walmart-owned VUDU to help bring the optimal UltraViolet experience to consumers.

“VUDU is working with Intel to make the user experience seamless,” Amit Balan, VUDU’s head of marketing said. “Users don’t care about standards and formats – they care about content.”

Mark Teitell, GM of the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, which oversees UltraViolet, moderated a panel on preparing content for the digital marketplace.

Panelists discussed the importance of collaboration in developing metadata standards for digital content to help facilitate interoperability, highlighting the work of the Hollywood IT Society (HITS), the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) and the Digital Entertainment Group (DEG).

The afternoon keynote featured acclaimed sports journalist J.A. Adande, an-air personality and senior writer at ESPN.com, who shared his perspective on the changing dynamics of digital media. Adande described how the sports media landscape has changed with the advent of digital technology dramatically changed with the advents in technology. Adande himself, who covers the NBA for ESPN.com said that when covering games, he relies on two TVs as well as TweetDeck.

“Twitter has turned into the great American sports bar. You can stay home and have those same conversations,” Adande said. “Our ESPN.com studies have shown that usage picks up online as people are watching games at home in the evening. How can you use technology to gain an advantage? How can we use technology in our stories to get people to pay attention?”

Twenty-three years ago, while interning at the Los Angeles Times, Adande recalled, focus group showed that readers were more interested in a story if they read the quick summary at the beginning of the piece. Now, he said, he has to hook readers with just a single line of text to get them to click through.

“You have to embrace technology even if it puts your brand at risk. It’s better than not having anybody talk about your product at all,” Adande said. “Twitter is a way to extend my brand. You have to utilize the media.”

 

Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of CEA, to Keynote ESCA Digital, March 28, Los Angeles

Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and best-selling author, will join the home entertainment industry at the 9th annual ESCA Digital Conference at the Luxe Hotel on Sunset on March 28 in Los Angeles. Shapiro will be joined by Consumer Electronics Daily’s Managing Editor Paul Gluckman in a keynote conversation, which will address CEA’s support of the UltraViolet format and the evolving digital entertainment market, as well as Shapiro’s own efforts to promote innovation in the United States.

As author of the new book, “Ninja Innovation,”  and as head of the world’s largest technology trade show, International CES, Shapiro has worked with the world’s leading corporations to create polices and programs that have launched some of the world’s most revolutionary products.  During his keynote he will discuss key strategies he has learned that have led businesses to record-breaking profits, while avoiding traps that could have led to crushing failures.

Shapiro’s ESCA Digital keynote conversation will be his first appearance in Hollywood since the announcement at International CES of a partnership with DEG for the promotion of  UltraViolet, in which consumers purchasing an eligible connected TV or  Blu-ray Disc player will receive up to 10 free UltraViolet movies to kick start their collections.

“I put innovation at the pinnacle of economic performance because without it, we are idle,” Shapiro writes in his latest book.  “With it, we achieve great success.”

Innovation will be the ongoing theme throughout the day at ESCA Digital, which will focus on workflows, standards and processes needed create the new digital home entertainment supply chain.  Under the direction of conference chairs Richard Marty, VP, Emerging Platform Development and Marketing, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment; Mark Turner, Director, Content Relations, Dolby Laboratories; and Larry Wilk, VP of Operations and Strategy, The Walt Disney Studios, this year’s conference will discuss issues such as: the roadmap for the new digital entertainment industry, how to prepare content for market, the importance of the user experience, as well as offer key digital entertainment data from leading consultancies.

The event is being sponsored by Intel, Cinram, Dolby, EIDR, Rovi, Signiant, Testronic Labs, Akamai and Sony DADC.  It is produced by DEG: the Digital Entertainment Group and MESA.

For more information and to register visit:  www.entertainmentsupplychain.com

DMCA On The Table

By Paul Sweeting

Newly introduced legislation to allow consumers to unlock their cell phones, prompted by a statement from the Obama Administration endorsing the idea, will likely get its first public airing on Capitol Hill Wednesday when the head of the U.S. Copyright Office Maria Pallante is scheduled to testify before the House Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet. The Copyright Office recently rejected calls to allow unlocking, which is currently prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s ban on circumventing digital locks, prompting the White Hose statement.

As I speculated here in a previous post, however, the debate over the DMCA’s ban on unlocking cell phones isn’t likely to remain confined to cell phones. The main purpose of Pallante’s testimony, in fact, is to discuss the Copyright Office’s recent recommendations for a broader overhaul of U.S. copyright law, including the DMCA. Thanks to the attention generated by the cell phone issue, the copyright overhaul agenda is now very much in play in Washington.

And what an agenda it is. In oral testimony posted to the subcommittee’s website in advance of the hearing, Pallante lays out a long list of suggested issues for Congress to tackle:

The list of issues is long: clarifying the scope of exclusive rights, revising exceptions and limitations for libraries and archives, addressing orphan works, accommodating persons who have print disabilities, providing guidance to educational institutions, exempting incidental copies in appropriate instances, updating enforcement provisions, providing guidance on statutory damages, reviewing the efficacy of the DMCA, assisting with small copyright claims, reforming the music marketplace, updating the framework for cable and satellite transmissions, encouraging new licensing regimes, and improving the systems of copyright registration and recordation.

An overhaul is necessary, Pallante will tell the committee, because current copyright law, including the DMCA, is increasingly out of step with technological change: 

The law is showing the strain of its age and requires your attention. As many have noted, authors do not have effective protections, good faith businesses do not have clear roadmaps, courts do not have sufficient direction, and consumers and other private citizens are increasingly frustrated. The issues are numerous, complex, and interrelated, and they affect every part of the copyright ecosystem, including the public at large.

Pallante will also suggest that some more fundamental elements of current copyright law may also need to be reconsidered:

Congress also may need to apply fresh eyes to the next great copyright act to ensure that the copyright law remains relevant and functional. This may require some bold adjustments to the general framework. You may want to consider alleviating some of the pressure and gridlock brought about by the long copyright term — for example, by reverting works to the public domain after a period of life plus fifty years unless heirs or successors register their interests with the Copyright Office. And in compelling circumstances, you may wish to reverse the general principle of copyright law that copyright owners should grant prior approval for the reproduction and dissemination of their works — for example, by requiring copyright owners to object or “opt out” in order to prevent certain uses, whether paid or unpaid, by educational institutions or libraries.

Nearly every issue touched on by Pallante has partisans on both sides, and any proposed revisions are certain to spark fierce controversy. The cell phone unlocking legislation, however, has broad, bi-partisan support on Capitol Hill, which means it’s likely to become a popular vehicle to try to slip more controversial reforms through Congress by attaching them to a fast-moving bill. That scramble begins Wednesday.

 

HITS Returns to Malibu for the 3rd Annual Hollywood IT Summit!

The Hollywood IT Society (HITS) has announced that its 3rd Annual Hollywood IT Summit will be held on Tuesday, May 7th in the George Elkins Auditorium at the Malibu Campus of Pepperdine University. This annual meeting of senior-executives from all major studios and their creative and technology partners, is a seminal industry event for technology leaders in charge of the industry’s IT infrastructure and data.

Co-sponsored by Variety, HITS is programmed by the Hollywood IT Society (HITS) and its Advisory Board of CIOs, representing all the major studios.  The Summit condenses all of the pressing issues and significant technology discussions into a one-day event with multiple tracks and break-out sessions.

This year’s program is under the direction of these industry CIOs: Steve Andujar, Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Sony Pictures Entertainment; Gary Davis, Senior Vice President Operations & IT, Image Entertainment; John Herbert, Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Fox Filmed Entertainment; Steve Lapinski, Chief Information Officer, Film & West Coast Television, NBCUniversal; Theresa Miller Chief Information Officer & Executive Vice President, Information Technology, Lionsgate; Beth Overhuls, Vice President, Business Systems Engineering, The Walt Disney Company; Scott Phelan, Group Information Officer, Warner Bros. Entertainment; Abe Wong, Chief Information Officer, Paramount Pictures

The primary areas of focus for this year’s HITS will include: studio case studies (best practices), digital distribution models and analysis, connectivity and real-time decision making, big data and analytics, self-service business discovery, and the exploration of innovative technologies driving business transformation.

“This Summit is the official centerpiece of the year-round series of HITS meetings, initiatives and activities, the Society conducts on behalf of its membership,” says HITS Executive Director and Conference Chairman Devendra Mishra.  “IT is the lifeline for our new digital economy and, as such, the CIOs at the studios and their peers are responsible for making the high-value, high-return investments that assure our industry’s many stakeholders of an efficient, secure and sustainable digital transition.”

Here are this year’s session topics:

• CIO PANEL: Strategic Challenges for Enterprise Growth and Profitability

• Transformational Challenges in the Digital World: The IT Enabler!

• InSourcing IT Services: Rebuilding the Competitive Edge

• Unpacking the Data from Olympics 2012: Playing in the Sandbox!

• The Mashup of Technology Groups in the New Studio Operating Model

• KEYNOTE: How Does Data-Driven Decision Making Affect Performance?

• Integrating Domestic and International Marketing

• The Consumer Decision Journey: Putting Money “Where” and “When” Your Customer Is!

• Mobile Devices: Delivering Content Ubiquitously!

• Metadata: The Rosetta Stone for Data Analytics

• KEYNOTE: Four Learning Curves That May Jostle Your 2013 Agenda

• Integrating the Cloud for Business Transformation

Visit www.hollywoodITsummit.com for more information about this year’s event.

For program information contact: Devendra Mishra, Conference Chair at: (818) 224-1552, devendra@MESAlliance.org

For sponsorship information contact: Guy Finley, Executive Director, MESA at: (917) 513-5963, guy@MESAlliance.org

To learn more about the Hollywood IT Society click here

Legal Crackdown May Finally Be Putting a Dent in Piracy

By Paul Sweeting

Efforts to crackdown on online piracy by taking legal action against individual web sites that facilitate it are often likened to a game of Whac-a-Mole — an endless and ultimately pointless exercise in chasing a moving target. But some intriguing evidence has emerged lately that at least some moles may be worth whacking.

According to a new study by researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University and Wellesley College, the shutdown of Megaupload and its affiliated site Megavideo last year led to an increase in the amount of legal online movie rentals and sales seen by the studios. The researchers looked at data from 12 countries, including the U.S., provided by two studios and found that online revenue was 6% to 10% higher since the shutdown than it would have been were Megaupload still in business.

“We conclude that shutting down Megaupload and Megavideo caused some customers to shift from cyberlocker-based piracy to purchasing or renting through legal digital channels,” the researchers said.

The data for the study were provided through Carnegie-Mellon’s Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics, which receives funding from the MPAA, but neither the researchers nor the study itself were funded by the studios. 

The Megaupload findings come on the heels of a separate report by the NPD Group, which found a significant worldwide decline in illegal online music sharing in 2012, both in terms of the total amount of file-sharing and the number of people engaged in the activity.

According to NPD’s “Annual Music Study 2012,” 40% of consumers who had illegally downloaded music via peer-to-peer services in 2011 reported that they had stopped or downloaded less music from P2P networks in 2012.

The report attributed the decline primarily to the increased use of legal music streaming services. But it said some of the shift in behavior was also do to legal efforts to shut off access to illegal P2P networks like Limewire.

“In recent years, we’ve seen less P2P activity, because the music industry has successfully used litigation to shut down Limewire and other services,” NPD’s senior VP of industry analysis Russ Crupnick said of the findings. “Many of those who continued to use P2P services reported poor experiences, due to rampant spyware and viruses on illegal P2P sites.”

More than two years after Limewire was shut down, nearly 20% of P2P users who reduced or stopped their P2P activity cited the fact that that their preferred service was closed, or that the services they used created issues with spyware and viruses, according to NPD.

While piracy continues to be a problem, and efforts to fight it through the legal system remain slow and frustrating, content owners may at last be able to point to some empirical evidence that it has some effect on overall rates of piracy.

 

White House Statement On Cell Phones Could Unlock DMCA

The Obama Administration issued a statement Monday strongly endorsing consumers’ right to unlock their cell phones that could hold broad implications for the use of digital rights management in a wide range of applications.

The statement came in response to a petition posted on the White House website’s We The People page on January 24, in response to the Library of Congress’ decision not to renew the Digital Millennium Copyright Act exemption it granted three years ago that allowed cell phone users to circumvent  the locks in order to switch their phones to a different wireless service once out of contract. The exemption had been granted under the DMCA’s triennial review process that allows the Librarian to grant limited exceptions to the law’s ban on circumventing access control technologies.  The exemptions are not permanent, however, and must be reapplied for and renewed every three years.

The petition, started by Sina Khanifar, drew over 114,000 signatures, well about the 50,000 needed to trigger a formal response from the White House. In this case, the Administration not only agreed with the petition, it went beyond its specific request to include the unlocking of tablets as well:

The White House agrees with the 114,000+ of you who believe that consumers should be able to unlock their cell phones without risking criminal or other penalties. In fact, we believe the same principle should also apply to tablets, which are increasingly similar to smart phones. And if you have paid for your mobile device, and aren’t bound by a service agreement or other obligation, you should be able to use it on another network. It’s common sense, crucial for protecting consumer choice, and important for ensuring we continue to have the vibrant, competitive wireless market that delivers innovative products and solid service to meet consumers’ needs.

By itself, the White House statement does not change the current status of cell phone locks. The law vests the power to approve the exemptions to the Library of Congress, which is an arm of the legislative branch, not of the executive branch. But the Administration said it “would support a range of approaches to addressing this issue, including narrow legislative fixes in the telecommunications space that make it clear: neither criminal law nor technological locks should prevent consumers from switching carriers when they are no longer bound by a service agreement or other obligation.”

Whether any effort at a legislative fix could really remain narrowly focused as the White House envisions, however, is far from certain. As the statement implicitly acknowledges — and as a separate statement by FCC chairman Julius Genachowski makes fairly explicit — the anti-circumvention provision of the DMCA, at least in the case of phone locks, drags copyright law into realms that have nothing to do with copyright, such as competition law and telecommunications policy. 

According to Genachowski, “From a communications policy perspective, [the removal of the exemption] raises serious competition and innovation concerns, and for wireless consumers, it doesn’t pass the common sense test.”

That’s an argument critics of the DMCA have been making for a long time. By restricting the movement of digital content between and across platforms, access control technology not only can limit consumers’ choice as to how to consume that content, it can limit the ability of distributors and retailers to compete among themselves.

Critics of the law are certain to seize on the White House statement as confirmation of their view. By putting the question in play, and by opening the door to legislative changes to the DMCA, the Administration, whether it meant to or not, may have opened a can of worms that will be hard to reseal.

Jargon Technologies Launches JargonTalk 2.0

Jargon Technologies announced the launch of JargonTalk 2.0, a cross-platform technology that enables advanced interactive applications which run on a multitude of devices. Building on the success of JargonTalk 1.0, this version offers streamlined integration, Blu-ray Disc™ update capabilities as well as synchronization with iTunes™.

JargonTalk 1.0 enabled discovery and communication for devices across network, social media integration, and the use of network services. It was used in second screen apps for various high profile titles such as Warner Home Video’s Happy Feet Two and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Sony Picture Home Entertainment’s The Amazing Spider-Man© and Twentieth Century Fox’s Prometheus.

CEO Bhanu Srikanth states, “We are excited to report that JargonTalk 1.0 has delivered beyond our client’s expectations. During development of these applications, we came to realize the need for simplifying the Second Screen workflow further, to allow our clients more time in their creative cycles. JargonTalk 2.0 can be incorporated on any Blu-ray™ disc quickly with minimal impact on existing code. The creative process for the apps can take place after the disc is shipped. This way our clients can have a staggered schedule and are not burdened with developing and releasing products on various platforms all at once.”

JargonTalk 2.0 also includes the functionality for providing updates to a Blu-ray™ disc via smartphones and tablets, eliminating the need for expensive back-end infrastructure.

“The most exciting feature we have added is synchronizing with iTunes®, allowing our clients to build one Second Screen app that can sync with Blu-ray™ and/or iTunes®. We are also targeting various other digital delivery methods so our clients can maximize the return on their investments in Second Screen,” added Srikanth.

Jargon is also bolstering their frameworks for iOS and Android platforms to enable rapid prototyping and development in response to the reduced timelines for Blu-ray™ companion apps. The frameworks have been used in stand-alone apps such as Twentieth Century Fox’s Rio Coloring for the title Rio, Chipwrecked: Chipmunk Coloring for the title Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, Pirate Picasso for the title Ice Age: Continental Drift as well as second screen apps for Twentieth Century Fox’s Prometheus and Sony Picture Home Entertainment’s The Amazing Spider-Man© Second Screen app.

Music Streaming Business Heats Up

By Paul Sweeting

Music streaming services like Pandora and Spotify may be yet to turn a profit but the streaming business is suddenly hot, at least for the record labels. According to a report in the Financial Times, Google is in talks with the labels about creating a new music streaming service for launch in the third quarter of this year. The service is expected to include both a paid tier and a free, ad-supported tier, and could come pre-installed on Google’s Nexus line of smartphones and tablets. The service could also be incorporated into the Android platform and made available on other mobile devices.

News of Google’s interest in music streaming comes as Apple appears to be taking steps to launch its own music streaming service as part of iOS. Reports that Apple was in talks with the labels about launching a Pandora-like music streaming service first surfaced last year.

The entry of Google and Apple into the business could come at a critical time for the record companies as they try to fend off efforts to roll back the licensing fees and performance royalties they receive for streaming rights. Pandora, the leading ad-supported streaming service in the U.S. has been pushing a bill in Congress to reduce the statutory royalties that internet radio services must pay to the labels. And according to a report on the technology web site The Verge, Spotify has begun pressing the labels for significant roll backs in its licensing fees as it seeks to renew its rights deals (as an on-demand service Spotify must negotiate for rights directly from the labels rather than relying on the compulsory license that covers internet radio services like Pandora).

Having two heavyweights like Google and Apple chasing those same rights could give the labels the leverage to hold the line against rate cuts.

The labels need to strike a careful balance, however. While having more and better-heeled buyers in the market for streaming rights should help keep prices up, letting prices get too high too fast could drive startups out of market. In the long run, it’s not in the labels’ interest to have the likes of Google and Apple control the music streaming business as Apple currently does the music download business.

Ultimately, the streaming rights deals struck over the next few months could go a long way toward shaping the long-term competitive landscape of the business.

Sony Mostly Mum on M&E Plans For PlayStation 4

By Paul Sweeting

Sony did not actually show a PlayStation 4 console at yesterday’s Future of PlayStation event in New York, or reveal the price or ship date, so the presentation could hardly be called complete. The fact that it said virtually nothing about any broader home entertainment strategy beyond gaming for the new console, therefore, may simply reflect a PR strategy to focus on gaming first before hyping its other capabilities, rather than the absence of broader plans for the console. But given the increasingly multi-front battle among platforms for supremacy in the living room, some indication of a broader home entertainment play for PS4 would not have been out of place.

Certainly elements of a more ambitious strategy are in place. As was clear from yesterday’s announcement, PlayStation 4 will be tightly integrated with Gaikai, the cloud gaming platform Sony acquired last year. Users will be able to sample, download and stream games, as well as share game play with friends by posting video to social networks using a “share” button on the PS4 controller. They’ll also be able to stream PS4 games to the Vita handheld player for remote gaming.

In principle, at least, Gaikai’s cloud platform should also be capable of enhancing other types of online media as well, such as streaming music and video services, making the PlayStation Network more competitive with Microsoft’s Xbox Live or Apple’s iTunes ecosystem. So far, however, Sony has not said when or if such enhanced functionality may be coming.

The first order of business of the Gaikai platform, in fact, beyond what was unveiled yesterday, will apparently be enabling interoperability between the non-backwards compatible PlayStation 4 and games created for PS 3, a critical capability if Sony hopes to induce PS3 owners to upgrade to the new console. That could well push back work on extending the capabilities of the Gaikai platform beyond games.

Sony also announced a second-screen, PlayStation App for iOS and Android to enable enhanced game play and social networking on mobile devices. While reminiscent of Microsoft’s SmartGlass initiative, Sony has not yet indicated whether the PlayStation App can be leveraged for anything other than PS4 games, as SmatGlass can be.

Sony execs did give one brief nod to the PlayStation’s non-gaming capabilities at yesterday’s event, noting that the PS3 is the most popular device for accessing Netflix. Whether the PS4 can hold onto the mantle could depend on what we don’t yet know of Sony’s plans for it.

ESCA Goes Digital!

Special Edition of Industry’s Annual Supply Chain Event Announced for March 28 in LA

DEG and MESA have announced the return of their acclaimed annual event, ESCA, the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy, which for over eight years has advanced efficiencies in the distribution of entertainment media.  From the DVD to Blu-ray Disc and now with our industry’s current digital transition, ESCA has always presented innovative ideas and home entertainment thought leadership.

ESCA Digital is scheduled for March 28 at the Luxe Hotel on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles.

This year the partnering associations have announced ESCA is going totally digital — coming at a time when new workflows, standards and processes need to be refined and developed.

Under the direction of the DEG and MESA Advisory Boards, this year’s program will bring out operations and digital distribution executives representing all major studios, along with their tier one technology service provider partners.

The conference program features three distinct sessions addressing the broad scope of the digital supply chain, each introduced by DEG committee chairs:

Session One: Behind the Scenes

Introduction by DEG Media & Content Operations Chair Larry Wilk of the Walt Disney Studios

Session Two: Necessities for Market Launch in the Digital Space

Introduction by DEG Developing Platforms Chair Mark Turner of Dolby Laboratories

Session Three: The Evolving Digital Consumer Lifestyle and The Importance of the User Experience

Introduction by DEG UltraViolet Marketing Chair Rich Marty of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

 

Here’s what’s being discussed:

Dissecting the Digital Supply Chain

Preparing Content for Market

By the Numbers: Digital Details

The Importance of User Experience

 

- Check in for regular speaker and program updates at: www.entertainmentsupplychain.com

- Click Here to Register

Apple Eyeing Revamped Apple TV Set-Top

By Paul Sweeting

Apple has posted an intriguing new job listing on its web site for a Software Engineering Manager on the Apple TV team, which hints strongly that a new push behind the platform is coming:

Job Summary

The Apple TV team is looking for an experienced engineering manager to help deliver the next generation features for Apple TV. Bring your creative energy and engineering discipline, and help us bring the Apple experience to the Living Room [snip].

Description

- Lead a team of engineers working on exciting new features and functionality

- Drive releases from initial concept to completion

– Work closely with cross functional teams, representing Apple TV across Apple

– Develop the engineering plan for upcoming projects

– Communicate status to key stakeholders and senior management

Alas for those expecting Apple to introduce an integrated TV set any day now, the job description would fit comfortably within the current, not-terribly disruptive Apple TV strategy built around existing set-top streaming box.

So what about the “exciting new features and functionality”? One guess would be enhanced gaming capability, probably to be played in tandem with an iPad and perhaps using some sort of new controller. With the current generation game consoles showing their age, and the industry about to make the leap to the cloud, now would be the time for Apple to strike if it means to move beyond mobile gaming into more graphics-intensive in-home play.

Another area where Apple may be looking to add functionality is AirPlay, its technology for porting content wirelessly from an iOS mobile device to the Apple TV set-top. The race to provide enhanced communication and inter-operability among devices in the living room has heated up in recent months, and Apple risks falling behind Microsoft, as well as Netflix and YouTube. Building on and extending the functionality of AirPlay would be a logical avenue for Apple to pursue.

 

Video Will Make Up Two-Thirds of Mobile Data Traffic by 2017: Cisco

By Paul Sweeting

Mobile video exceeded 50% of the total data traffic generated by mobile devices for the first time in 2012, and will account for two-thirds of mobile data traffic by 2017, according to the latest Visual Networking Index report from Cisco.

Overall global mobile data traffic reached 885 petabytes per month (0.88 exabytes) in 2012, up 70% from 2011, and is projected to reach 11.2 exabytes  per month by 2017. While the growth of tablets has led to a spike in mobile data consumption in the U.S. and Western Europe, on a global basis smartphones are still the dominant mobile device for accessing the Internet. Smartphones will account for 67.5% of mobile data traffic by 2017, according to Cisco, up from roughly 40% today.

One of the report’s most striking conclusions concerned the impact that tier-pricing plans have had on patterns of mobile data consumption. Cisco tracked data plans globablly over a three-year period and found that tiered plans grew from 4% of the total to 55% over that period. While the shift to tiered-pricing plans did not slow the overall growth in data consumption, it does appear to have contributed to a significant narrowing of the gap in consumption between the heaviest users and everyone else. In January 2010, the top 1% of users accounted from more than half of all mobile data traffic; by September 2012 that had dropped to 16%.

Similarly, the top 20 percent of the mobile data users generated 79 percent of the monthly traffic in October 2011, but were down to 71 percent in September 2012.

 

The figures suggest that tiered-pricing plans, which are often aimed at constraining the heaviest users, are working as designed. The share of traffic accounted for by the top 1% of users is now lower on mobile networks than the 1:20 ratio that has held for fixed networks for several years.

 

Dijit Acquires Miso, the Second Screen Consolidation Continues

Dijit, the company lead by CEO Jeremy Toeman which has developed second screen apps NextGuide and Dijit Remote TV, has announced the acquisition of GoMiso, Inc, developer of the Miso second screen app and its signature SideShows.

While this is an obvious continuation of the consolidation phase of the industry (see our research), what does it really mean for the ecosystem and the consumers?  NextGuide was launched in the fall of 2012 and quickly iterated on its UI and UX, creating a powerful consumer second screen app that provided very strong Seamless, Discovery, and Social features–strong enough that we segmented it as a multi-function app.  While Jeremy had discussed his roadmap for NextGuide in the Simple set of features to control the first screen, there had not been much attention paid to the Stimulating set of features that enhance the users experience while watching a show.

Essentially, consumers could use the app to find what they wanted to watch, launch it to the 2nd screen (and in some cases the 1st screen), and then leverage their social networks for sharing their view of that feature or to help them discover content.

Miso on the other hand was probably the first strong entrant into the Stimulating feature set, clearly being segmented in To Enhance category of apps.  However, they did not consistently create the SideShow experiences for a wide range of shows, and as a result, user interest languished.

The challenges for Jeremy and team going forward seem straight forward:

• how do they maintain their hallmark quality approach to a great UI/UX while integrating the Stimulating set of features into what is already a great Discovery app?
• how do they create SideShow ubiquity the way some of their competitors (zeebox, ConnecTV, etc) have done with their synchronized companion experiences?
• do they integrate the apps entirely or still offer consumers more focused experiences as well?
• how do they monetize all of it?

 

Apple TV Still a Hobby

By Paul Sweeting

A recently discovered FCC filing by Apple does not contain good news for those banking on a fully integrated iTV set in the near future. Instead, the filing describes a very minor refresh of the existing Apple TV set-top box, with no indication that any new functionality or features are being added.

The main differences between Apple 3,2, as the new model is referred to in the filings, and the current 3,1 version, according to those who have plowed through the filing and the new iOS firmware source code, are a new wireless chip –the same low-power dual-band 40nm Broadcom BCM4334 chip used in the iPhone 5 — and a new CPU – the same s5l8947x ‘A5x’ processor used in the latest iPads.

An Apple spokesperson issued the following statement about the filing:

We sometimes make component changes which require an updated model number for regulatory approval. The component changes we made don’t affect product features and Apple TV customers will continue to have the same great user experience.

One way to read the news is that Apple is hunkering down with the Apple TV set-top and has swapped out some chips in the manufacturing process to use components it is already buying in bulk for other products. It’s a cost-savings move, in other words, aimed at making the manufacturing and supply chain of the current Apple TV set-top a little more efficient.

That’s not the sort of move a company makes when it’s about to make a major strategic move in a product category.

 

M&E Journal: The Media Warehouse Concept for Electronic Media Content Distribution

By Steven Chester

Purchase of consumer media content is rapidly migrating from ownership of physical media (DVD/Blu-ray) to virtual media (files on disk/cloud storage, streaming media). This migration creates the opportunity for new business models which leverage technology innovations for centralized, cloud-based content packaging, storage, and distribution to provide significant benefits to content owners, distributors, retailers, and consumers. These benefits include lower distribution and production costs, simplified content workflows, enhanced security, faster title availability, and richer content management. This article will further describe the concept, and demonstrate how the Akamai Intelligent Platform is uniquely positioned to support it.

The media content distribution chain is in the midst of a strong market shift from physical media to online media consumption. IHS Screen Digest, a media focused research and consulting company, projects that U.S. online video views and transactions will exceed views and transactions of DVDs and Blu-ray Discs in 2012. 2012 unit growth of US online movie consumption is predicted to increase 143 percent over 2011, to 3.4B units, while sales and rentals of physical media (VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray) will fall over 7 percent, to 2.4B units. This trend will only continue, as Gartner research predicts that there will be more than 1 billion network-connected devices capable of consuming media by 2015.

The migration from physical to electronic consumer media (eMedia) promises many benefits to the entire distribution chain, from content producer to consumer. Overall costs can be reduced, content can be accelerated to market and consumers can realize the vision of anywhere/anytime viewing. However, there are a number of technical and business challenges to overcome in order to fully realize these benefits. In this article, we introduce the cloud-based “media warehouse” concept, walk through the various challenges that eMedia distribution presents, and show how the media warehouse can be used to address each of them.

Click here to read the full blog post

Netflix Gets DIALed In

By Paul Sweeting

Netflix is partnering with YouTube to launch DIAL, a new app protocol that enables second-screen devices to discover first-screen devices on the same network and launch apps on them. Using DIAL-enabled second-screen apps, consumers will be able to browse the Netflix and YouTube libraries on their smartphones or tablets and then launch the video directly on a DIAL-enabled first-screen device, without first having to boot up the corresponding app on the TV or connected set-top and go through a multi-step process to pair the first and second-screen devices.

As explained on the DIAL website:

Without DIAL

1. Launch the apps menu on your TV with the normal remote control
2. Navigate to the TV app
3. Launch the TV app
4. Navigate to the pairing screen on TV app
5. Launch and navigate to the pairing screen on Mobile app
6. Input 9-digit pin on Mobile app.
7. Tap the Play on TV button on the Mobile app

With DIAL

1. Launch the Mobile app
2. Tap the Play on TV button on the mobile app

The goal with DIAL, which stands for  DIscovery And Launch, is to provide consumers and developers  with the same functionality as Apple’s AirPlay system, which enables iPhones and iPads to launch content via Apple TV, but using an open, non-proprietary protocol. Originally developed by YouTube-parent Google for Google TV, DIAL is now being rolled out separately and being made available to CE companies, whether or not those companies are also introducing Google TV-enabled devices. So far, Bang & Olufsen, Panasonic, LG, Sony, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Toshiba, Vizio, and Western Digital have indicated plans to embed DIAL in connected devices slated for release this year.

“We realized in the fall of 2011 that we could create some potentially useful 2nd screen experiences,” Scott Mirer, director of product management at Netflix, explained to GigaOM earlier this week. “At about the same time, we learned that the YouTube team was interested in much the same thing – they had already started to do some work on 2nd screen use cases. And so we approached them on collaborating… We also felt that having two major video services define and promote DIAL would help get it more widely adopted as a common solution to a common problem, vs. taking a proprietary approach.”

The launch of DIAL comes as competition is heating up among platform developers to more closely integrate first- and second-screen devices and to turn mobile devices into content-acquisition portals for the TV. In addition to AirPlay and now DIAL, Microsoft is rolling out its SmartGlass protocol for syncing mobile devices with the Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft also recently acquired id8 Group R2 Studios, a startup founded by Slingbox developer Blake Krikorian that owns patents on technology for displaying digital media on TV screens.  Last week Krikorian was named corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment (i.e. Xbox) division. 

Both Google and Apple had also been in the running to acquire R2 Studios, reflecting the importance leading connected platform providers are now placing on mobile-to-TV technology.

 

 

MegaUpload Founder’s Encryption Prescription

By Paul Sweeting

The Motion Picture Association of America and the U.S. Justice Department say they are still reviewing the details of the new encrypted online file-locker site Mega launched at an extravagant press conference yesterday in New Zealand by Kim Dotcom, the fugitive founder of MegaUpload. But one conclusion already seems clear: file encryption is poised to become the next major battleground in the ongoing struggle over online file-sharing.

 MegaUpload was once among the most popular file-locker sites on the Internet. But it was shut down a year ago by the FBI, which alleged the site was being used to store and share pirated content. Dotcom, who was born Kim Schmitz, was arrested by U.S. and New Zealand authorities in an armed raid on his compound near Auckland and charged with criminal copyright infringement. Since then, the Justice Department has been trying to have him extradited to face trial in the U.S. But his extradition has been on hold for months while the New Zealand courts try to determine whether the raid on his house was lawful, and if not then what to do about it. 

While that case remains pending, Dotcom and two partners are back, this time with a site that functions very much like the old MegaUpload but which automatically encrypts files as they’re uploaded by users, such that Mega has now knowledge of the file’s content. The system was essentially reversed engineered by lawyers from the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to try to shield Mega from liability or obligation for infringing material posted to the site.

Mega users choose their own password. That password is then used to generate the user’s login credentials when connecting with the service, as well as a unique encryption key used to encrypt a particular file. By design, Mega knows only the user’s login credentials, not the password used to generate them. Nor does it know the name of any file the user uploads, or have any way to access a decrypted version of any of those files, since both the file name and contents are encrypted using a unique key tied to the user’s password.

The ability to encrypt files online is not new, of course, and has been used by sophisticated copyright pirates for years. But it has required a certain amount of specialized knowledge. As Dotcom himself admitted at his press conference, however, the automated system employed by Mega “is going to take encryption out to the mainstream.” Within a few hours of Mega’s launch, in fact, it had lined up over 500,000 registrants worldwide.

The mainstreaming of encryption will likely leave anti-piracy groups with little choice but to challenge the practice, whether in a new case against Dotcom or against some other operator.

The key legal issue will be whether Mega’s carefully engineered ignorance of what its users are posting to its servers really protects the operator from liability. In the past, courts have held that online service providers are only required to remove infringing material under the DMCA when provided with particular knowledge of a specific infringing file. Mere awareness that infringing material is available on a site has not been enough for courts hold the site’s operator liable for secondary copyright infringement.

There are limits to that protection in the law, however, where a site operator willfully turns a blind eye to blatantly infringing behavior. So far, courts have granted service providers a lot of latitude on the willful blindness standard, depsite efforts by copyright plaintiffs to invoke it. But no one has gone as far before as Mega seems to have gone in deliberately engineering their own blindness into the design of a service. At some point, it’s likely to be up to the courts to determine whether it has gone too far.

 

Hard Times on High Street: U.K. M&E Retailers Calling It Quits

By Paul Sweeting

January has been a brutal month for Britain’s high-street media and entertainment retailers. In just the first 16 days, three major brick-and-mortar chains have either gone into administration (a form of corporate bankruptcy similar to Chapter 11 in the U.S.) ore shuttered their stores altogether, laying off thousands of employees in the process. A fourth retailer, supermarket chain Tesco, is lost its entertainment chief.

The first chain to fall was Jessops, the 78-year old photographic chain, which went into administration and closed 187 stores on January 9. One week later, the 92-year old HMV also called in the administrators, leaving the fate of its 238 stores worldwide uncertain.  Two days after that, Blockbuster U.K. called in administrators to begin winding down the 528-store chain after its U.S. parent company, Dish Network, failed to find a buyer. Meanwhile, the former head of entertainment for Tesco, Rob Salter, stepped down after two years on the job.

While the particulars of bankruptcies vary, all the chains were being squeezed by the forces of shifting consumer behavior toward online shopping and digital entertainment, and a long, punishing recession that has battered British retail and business generally. According to research firm Conlumino, 73% of all music and video sales in the U.K. are now made online, compared to 6.5% a decade ago. The rapid growth of streaming services, from Pandora and Spotify to Netflix and LoveFilm has also undercut sales and rental of physical media, just as they have in the U.S.

British retail generally is also suffering a prolonged downturn as consumer spending has contracted since the global financial crisis in 2008. Unemployment in the country is expected to reach 8.3% this year, according to a forecast by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, while the overall economy is only expected to squeak out growth of 0.9%, after falling 0.1% in 2012. Consumer spending has been further hurt by fiscal austerity measures adopted by the government, which the International Monetary Fund estimates will suck £76 billion (U.S. $122 billion) out of the British economy by 2015, knocking 8% off GDP over that time.

The implosion of the M&E chains, meanwhile, has left disarray in its wake. The collapse of HMV has left suppliers wondering if they will ever collect on as much as £40 million ($64 million) in outstanding receivables, while Universal Music also could get stiffed on leases it holds to some of the chain’s properties dating to Universal’s acquisition of EMI. The chain is also being accused of theft by members of Parliament for continuing to sell gift cards and vouchers when it new bankruptcy was imminent and there was little chance customers would ever be able to redeem them.

Staffers at the 16 shuttered HMV stores in the Republic of Ireland have also staged a sit-in, demanding payment for wages owed and accrued time off and sick leave. HMV employed about 300 people in Ireland, and has about 4,000 staffers in its 223 U.K. stores. Blockbuster employs about 4,200 in Britain, while Jessops employed 1,370 before closing.

 

 

The Next Battleground: Place-Shifting TV

By Paul Sweeting

DISH Network’s new “Hopper with Sling” DVR has been at the center of controversy since CES, though not for anything Dish itself did or said. Instead, controversy arose when CBS Interactive, the parent company of tech news website CNET, intervened at the last minute to put the kibosh on plans by CNET editors to crown the Hopper with Sling with their Best of CES award due to the ongoing litigation between CBS and Dish over an earlier version of the Hopper, which can automatically skip over ads in recorded programs.

According to a report on The Verge, the order to kill the award came straight from the office of CSB CEO Leslie Moonves. The unusual move has now caused at least one CNET reporter to quit the website.

The controversy over the CNET award, however, should not distract from the broader significance of the Hopper with Sling. In addition to being able to record a full week’s worth of programming from the four major broadcast networks, the new DVR can stream those recordings to remote viewers over the Internet using Dish’s Slingbox technology, which is now baked into the Hopper. Recorded programs can also be transferred to an iPad for offline viewing.

That sort of place-shifting of recorded TV shows represents a new (and largely unlitigated) frontier in the realm of consumer recording rights. It’s also one that is likely to be critical in the future evolution of the digital living room.

The ability to place-shift self-recorded shows, whether by streaming or direct transfer to a portable device, will for the first time give consumers direct control over their mobile video options. Rather than relying on network-approved options like Hulu or the networks’ own web sites for remote access to shows, on terms set by the networks, consumers will be able to curate their own remote and mobile video choices by leveraging their existing investment in TV services.

Whether consumers have the legal right to that, of course, has not been definitively determined by the courts. Nor has the right of pay-TV service providers like Dish to provide subscribers with the means to do it.

Dish is not the only one thinking along those line, however. At the 2012 Cable Show in May, TiVo unveiled a new service in partnership with Apple that lets users stream recorded shows to their iPad or iPhone using a new set-top box similar to a Slingbox called TiVo Stream that attaches to a TiVo DVR. While the initiative at this point feels more like a proof-of-concept than a commercial roll out, the idea of leveraging consumers’ existing investment in TV service to create new types of services and a new user experience is almost certain to be at the heart of Apple’s long-term strategy for the digital living room.

Similarly, Microsoft is almost certainly thinking along those same lines for the Xbox. If reports that the next generation of Xbox console will include a TV tuner for easier integration with pay-TV services turn out to be true it would be a clear step in that direction. Adding DVR capability to a box with a tuner — whether implemented locally or, more likely, in the cloud, would be a relatively trivial step further.

The controversy over CNET and its CES awards will eventually fade. But the next battle over control of the TV viewing experience is just beginning. And place-shifting of recorded programs will be the battlefield.

 

4K May Be Here to Stay

By Paul Sweeting

With Ultra-HD TV sets costing $20,000 and up, 4K video is likely to remain out of reach to most consumers for some time yet. And it will still be a very heavy lift for cash-strapped CE companies to go from making a few $20,000 sets to fill a CES booth to anything like mass market production. But that doesn’t mean 4K will have no impact on the business in the near term.

As was evident from the comments at studio technology chiefs at CES, in fact, it’s clear that 4K images and high frame rates (48 – 60 fps) are already being entrenched in Hollywood work flows, from image capture on new movies to scanning the negatives in studio vaults to prepare for the next generations of consumer video formats and digital cinema. And as the use of 4K scanning and high frame rate image capture become more common they’re creating new challenges for the studios and their technology partners, from managing the terabytes of data produced daily by high frame rate, 4K production, to to long-term storage of the petabytes of data produced by 4K scanning of studio libraries.

“There is actually a lot more information on 35mm film negatives than has ever made it to the screen because when you go from a negative to an inter-positive and then to a print you always had generational loss,” Sony Pictures chief technology officer Chris Cookson said. “When we scanned the negative for Laurence of Arabia in 4K we noticed that we got more detail than the inter-positive we got when we did the restoration. So in a sense, no one has ever really seen everything that’s in that movie. So now we’re scanning everything from negatives to prepare for 4K. It has a lot more information than what was used as the reference standard for HDTV.”

How and where to store all that digitized information are becoming urgent questions, however. “The nut we as an industry really still need to crack is long term storage,” Fox CTO Hanno Basse said.

“The long term issue for the industry is how to make sure it will still be accessible 100 years from now,” Cookson added. “Before, with nitrate, you could separate the negatives and if you took care of them and stored them right you know they’re going to be there for another 150 years. You can still get at them and still use them.”

Digital formats, however, generally evolve over time, leaving data stored in an obsolete format of 10 or 20 years ago effectively unreadable today.

The front end of the digital pipeline is also increasingly problematic due to 4K productions, Warner CTO Darcy Antonellis noted. “We worked on this little project with Mr. Jackson,” she said, a reference to Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, which was shot on video at 48 frames per second in 4K. “With high frame rate, there is a significant issue of data management.,” Antonellis said. “We’re talking about Petabytes of data from a single production. How do you move that around? How do you manage it? How will you even be able to find what you’re looking for in all that data?”

Transitioning to a 4K, high frame rate work flow is a significant challenge for the studios. But it also represents a significant opportunity for technology providers who can help them answer some of those questions.

 

 

Bringing Xbox To Every Screen

By Paul Sweeting

Microsoft has acquired home automation and digital media startup id8 Group R2 Studios for an undisclosed sum, according to the Wall Street Journal, beating out Apple and Google, both of which reportedly had also held talks with the company.

Better known as R2 Studios, the company was founded in 2011 by Blake Krikorian, the entrepreneur who brought the Slingbox to market and later sold that company to EchoStar Communications for $382 million.  R2 released an Android app in 2011 that let users control their home security system and thermostat from a smartphone but since then it has been operating largely in stealth mode while developing technology for displaying and distributing digital media on TV screens. The company owns a small portfolio of potentially valuable patents related to controlling devices and interfaces, which were thought to be the main focus of the interest in the company from larger media technology firms. Those patents were included in the Microsoft acquisition, according to the Journal.

While R2 has not released any commercial products based on its digital media display patents, the technology would appear to be a natural fit with Microsoft’s evolving strategy for turning the Xbox game console into a general digital home and media hub. Late last year Microsoft launched SmartGlass, app-embedded technology that allows any mobile device, regardless of operating system, to communicate and sync with the Xbox 360. So far, Microsoft has positioned SmartGlass largely as a second-screen technology that can pull content from the Xbox and display it on a mobile screen. By making it easier to display digital media on TV screens, the R2 Studios technology might enable Xbox owners to use a mobile device as a primary screen for acquiring content that is then displayed on the TV, much as Apple TV owners can now do from their iPhones and iPads using Apple’s AirPlay technology.

If Microsoft is able to integrate R2 technology with SmartGlass, however, it might be able to expand the scope of search capability to any mobile device regardless of operating system.

Another capability enabled by R2 technology could also emerge with the next generation of Xbox console, which could be unveiled as soon as E3 in May.  According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, the next-gen Xbox will likely include a TV tuner and will be able to communicate with any screen in the home. “If you have 10 TV sets, you’ll be able to pull 10 signals and send them to any TV,” Pachter said at the Digital Hollywood conference in October. R2 Studios’ technology for displaying and distributing content on TV screens would seem like a natural fit with that goal, whether as an enabling technology or as protection against potential claims against Microsoft based on the R2 patents.

Either way, R2 Studios’ technology is likely to be worth more integrated with Microsoft’s Xbox platform than standing alone.

 

Can the TV Industry Afford Ultra-HD?

By Paul Sweeting

Several TV manufacturers are expected to be showing off their 4K ultra-HD TV (UHDTV) prototypes next week at CES in Las Vegas, and at least a few, including Sony, LG and Toshiba, will be showing production models in their booths.

The surge in interest in the new format follows an industry agreement in August that defined two new standards for UHDTV corresponding roughly to 4K and 8K flavors. CEA also established a standard definition of the term “Ultra-HD” for use in marketing consumer electronics products, referring to displays with at least eight million active pixels, including at least 3,840 horizontally and at least 2,160 vertically; an aspect ratio of at least 16 x 9; and at least one digital input capable of carrying and presenting native 4K format video from this input at full 3,840 x 2,160 resolution without up-conversion.

Don’t expect “Ultra HD” TVs to achieve mass-market sales levels anytime soon, however. Sony’s and LG’s 84-inch Ultra displays go for a cool $25,000 and $20,000 a piece, respectively, while Toshiba’s somewhat smaller set (55-inches) goes for $8,700. As of now, there is also virtually no native Ultra-HD content to watch on those pricey displays. NPD DisplaySearch currently projects that Ultras will account for only 2% of display sales in 2017.

The history of new CE formats, of course, is characterized by high-priced introductions followed by a fairly rapid decline in prices as manufacturing ramps up, component prices come down, sales volume increases and manufacturing yields improve. Standard HDTV displays that cost $4,800 as recently as 2005, for instance, can be had for just $560 today, according to DisplaySearch. So there is reason for optimism that UHDTV will follow a similar cost curve.

There is also reason for skepticism, however, and it has to do with the starkly different circumstances of the CE business today than in 2005. Several major manufacturers, including Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba and Sharp have posted substantial losses over the past two years, with much of the shortfall coming in the display business.  Panasonic recently skipped a dividend payment for the first time since 1950 to conserve cash and its cost of borrowing to fund operations is skyrocketing.

Right now, UDHTV is essentially still in prototype. The few sets LG or Sony may be selling at $25,000 a piece are essentially bespoke items, like built-to-order sports cars. There is no real commercial UHDTV “market” as such. Getting from the prototype stage to commercial volumes, however, is going to take considerable investment — in improving manufacturing processes to achieve sustainable yields, in developing chips and software, in building production lines, in sourcing components and other costs, all before sets can start rolling off the lines at commercial volumes, let alone selling through.

Right now, it’s difficult to see where that investment is going to come from, at least where traditional CE makers are concerned. Many of them would probably prefer exiting the display business altogether at this point to investing in it if they could figure out how to get out without further losses or write-downs. If the investment needed to fully commercialize UHDTV is to come, it will probably have to come from somewhere outside the traditional CE business. Rather than starting out in huge 85-inch TV sets and then spreading to smaller display categories — the typical pattern for TV formats — Ultra displays may find their niche first in smaller form factors, like tablets or smartphones, where initial volumes can be bigger, and building out from their to larger configurations. But that sort of rollout is more likely to come from Apple or Google than from Panasonic or Sony.

So enjoy the giant Ultra-HD TVs you see on display at CES. It may be a while before we see many more.

A Nimble Competitor for Aereo

By Paul Sweeting

Live TV streaming service Aereo remains locked in a pitched legal battle with broadcasters over the legality of its business but it could soon find itself fending off competition as well. Barring a Mayan apocalypse, startup NimbleTV today will roll out a limited beta version of a new TV streaming service to 250 users in New York City. The company hopes to be ready for commercial rollout in the first half of 2013.

Like Aereo, NimbleTV captures live TV signals and streams them over the Internet to any device. Unlike Aereo, however, Nimble is not relying solely on free over-the-air broadcast signals. Instead, it plans to set up accounts with different pay-TV providers at its own facility and then, for a fee, stream those signals the subscribers.

Since Nimble will, in effect, be reselling pay-TV service to its users, NimbleTV is not a service designed to encourage cord-cutting. That doesn’t mean it won’t be controversial, however.

It’s not clear, for instance, that cable operators would have the rights to resell content they’ve licensed from the networks even if they were inclined to. Streaming rights are typically licensed separately from pay-TV carriage rights, and often to different parties. Nimble also plans to allow subscribers to shop for different pay-TV services beyond their own geographic markets. Thus, a Chicago Bears fan in New York could sign up for a package of content from a pay-TV service in Chicago and watch the local broadcast of the games. That would likely violate the terms of geographically specific rights deals.

Still, NimbleTV’s appearance on the sign is another sign of the pent-up entrepreneurial energy pressing against the established TV distribution system (see for instance this plea from Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia in a blog post yesterday). While rights owners and the incumbent distributors may be able to keep most that energy bottled up in court for now, as they’re trying to do with Aereo, the pressure it’s producing is not likely to go away anytime soon.

 

Saffron Digital Poised for Growth in 2013

By Lyndsey Schaefer

Following the development and launch of unique proprietary technologies such as the Saffron Secure Player in 2012, multi-platform online video delivery company Saffron Digital will continue to help lead the innovation charge for the industry in 2013. Saffron’s online video platform is now fully UltraViolet compatible, so it can provide a range of solutions for the UltraViolet ecosystem.

Saffron Digital was also recently named the “Best Video Service Provider” at the seventh annual Mobile Entertainment Awards in London. Saffron received this honor based on its outstanding work on launching the Video Pass application for Japanese telecoms company KDDI. Other criteria included its flexibility and multi-platform nature of customer solutions across the globe, consistent innovation and global reach. The award winners were decided by a judging panel of Mobile Entertainment executives from all sectors of the business.

“The team at Saffron Digital is delighted to pick up the Mobile Entertainment award for ‘Best Video Service Provider’ for the fourth year in a row, especially as it’s voted on by our industry peers,” says Jason Keane, CEO, Saffron Digital. “In this case for KDDI Video Pass, Japan’s fastest growing video service, we delivered a true multi-platform experience with a great blend of both local and Hollywood content.”

With more than seven years’ experience in multi-platform online video delivery, Saffron Digital is looking forward to further driving the pace of innovation in the industry in 2013 by further increasing its global reach, influence and presence in established and developing media markets worldwide. Saffron has a number of exciting new partnerships across various continents in the pipeline for early in the New Year.

The company also plans to continue to grow its presence and form new partnerships with major industry players around the world by utilizing its vast local market knowledge to tailor its product range to the bespoke needs of individual market trends.

For more information, visit www.saffrondigital.com.

Facebook Targets TV, Mobile Ad Budgets

By Paul Sweeting

Over-the-top and online video have diverted a lot of viewing away from traditional TV channels but up to now advertising dollars haven’t followed those eyeballs online in numbers commensurate with amount of viewing they represent. That could start to change in 2013, however, as Facebook rolls out a plan for inserting video ads into users’ news feeds.

One big reason TV ad budgets haven’t shifted online as rapidly as viewers have is that they lack an easy or obvious place to go. The bulk of online TV viewing, for instance, happens either on Netflix, which does not carry advertising, or on platforms like Hulu or YouTube, which much smaller ad loads than traditional TV. Other online outlets simply lack the scale necessary to attract TV ad buyers.

According to a report by AdAge, however, Facebook’s new online advertising strategy is explicitly targeting TV ad budgets, which the social network sees as ripe for the taking.

All of the executives interviewed view the new video ad product as a blatant attempt on Facebook’s part to wrest big ad dollars from TV budgets. Ad agencies have plenty of TV spots and increasingly want to extend their reach on the web. But TV-like inventory on the web is scarce, which is why ad rates at places such as Hulu are so high.

Adding video ads to Facebook would create a huge new trough of inventory created essentially from scratch. With Facebook’s scale, advertisers could target demographics as they do on TV as well as use the gross ratings point currency, which they use for TV.

Although Facebook has quietly been developing the new video ad plan for several months, many questions  remain unanswered at this point, such as whether brands will be able to place ads against the entire universe of Facebook users or only against those who “like” the brand and their friends, according to AdAge. Also to be determined is whether video ads will begin playing automatically or only when clicked on.

Significantly, while Facebook plans to serve the video ads to both desktop and mobile users, it has been emphasizing the mobile version in its presentations to ad agencies. According to comScore, more than 50% of Facebook usage now happens on mobile devices. Up to now, however, the social network has derived almost no revenue from mobile platforms due to the lack of a suitable mobile ad product.

If the new video ad insertion plan pans out, in other words, it could achieve two critical goals for Facebook: tapping the huge pool of advertising dollars currently going to television; and solving its mobile monetization problem.

Whether Facebook users are prepared to sit through a lot of video ads is another question.

 

Nielsen Gets Social

By Paul Sweeting

TV ratings service Nielsen has been aggressive lately in moving to stake a claim to the increasingly critical business of social TV metrics. Last month, Nielsen acquired Brooklyn, NY-based SocialGuide, a startup that “captures and organizes social buzz from Twitter in real time for every program aired across 232 of the most popular U.S. television channels including Spanish language channels,” according to the company’s web site. Yesterday, Nielsen followed that up with a deal with Twitter to create the “Nielsen Twitter TV Rating.”

Under the deal, Nielsen and Twitter “will deliver a syndicated-standard metric around the reach of the TV conversation on Twitter, slated for commercial availability at the start of the fall 2013 TV season,” according to a press release on the agreement.

The deal between Twitter and Nielsen is a blow to Bluefin Labs, Trendrr and other startups that have been trying build their own social TV ratings businesses on the back of Twitter chatter. Currently, Bluefin and Trendrr acquire Twitter data through third-party data providers. According to yesterday’s announcement, Twitter’s deal with Nielsen is “exclusive,” although it’s unclear exactly what that applies to. While it likely means any hopes Bluefin or Trendrr had of obtaining Twitter data directly are now dashed, they may still be able to get what they need through third-party providers.

On the other hand, Twitter has shown itself more than willing to crack down on users of its data if those uses conflict with the company’s own commercial efforts.

“The Nielsen Twitter TV Rating is a significant step forward for the industry, particularly as programmers develop increasingly captivating live TV and new second-screen experiences, and advertisers create integrated ad campaigns that combine paid and earned media,” Steve Hasker, President, Global Media Products and Advertiser Solutions at Nielsen said in a statement. “As a media measurement leader we recognize that Twitter is the preeminent source of real-time television engagement data.”

Together, the Twitter deal and the SocialGuide acquisition area measure of how critical social media platforms have become to the TV business, both for programmers and advertisers. The close timing of the two deals also suggests Nielsen is increasingly concerned that its long-standing franchise in the TV ratings game is threatened by the rise of social TV viewing and advertisers’ increasingly focus on less tangible factors such as viewer “engagement” with the content they’re sponsoring rather than simply how many people are watching.

“Twitter has become the world’s digital water cooler, where conversations about TV happen in real time,” Twitter VO of media Chloe Sladden said.  ”This effort reflects Nielsen’s foresight into the evolving nature of the TV viewing experience, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with Twitter ecosystem partners on this metric to help broadcasters and advertisers create truly social TV experiences.”

The focus of the social TV metrics battle is now likely to shift to Facebook, which controls the other major “firehose” of social media data marketers covet.

 

An Apple TV For Christmas? Maybe Next Year

By Paul Sweeting

The technology press and Wall Street analysts who follow Apple have built a thriving cottage industry out of speculating on the timing and features of what they’re certain will be Apple’s imminent takeover of the TV business. Some, such as Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, remain focused on an Apple TV set, while others offer more of an ecosystem-focused spin.

All should be taken with more than a grain of salt, since actual evidence of Apple’s plans are — typically for Apple — scarce. One new deep dive into Apple TV speculation is worth a read, however. In a long piece on AllThingsD today, Brightcove chairman and CEO Jeremy Allaire speculates about a possible new Apple TV device (and possible TV set) for Christmas 2013.

The actual timing and hardware details of such a rollout are not really important to Allaire’s argument. What makes it worth reading is his discussion of the two pillars of Apple’s likely strategy, which I find persuasive.

The first pillar is that Apple is likely to follow a TV script similar to its initial move into mobile phones:

With the iPhone, Apple created a simple “phone” application on top of existing telephony carrier infrastructure, improving the consumer’s user experience and creating an additional product sales opportunity for carriers. The company will take a similar approach to existing broadcast cable TV and, in so doing, put one or two major U.S. cable operators in the same privileged position that AT&T enjoyed following the iPhone launch. Around the world, cable TV distributors will battle for national sales and marketing rights for the Apple TV [snip].

Cable companies may initially resist supporting this offering, viewing their ability to cross-promote offerings in their guide and VOD menus, and the customer relationship in general, as their provenance. This would be as misguided as the mobile carriers were who thought they could control and customize the home screens, operating systems and bundled apps of mobile phones as a strategic advantage. Smart operators will understand their role as broadband and infrastructure providers, and will continue — for now — to be the primary packagers of broadcast content with its lucrative tolls for subscription programming. For all of the hope that Apple would help to blow up existing cable packaging, for now, the company’s priority is to navigate and establish global partnerships with multi-system operators (MSOs) and multi-channel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to sell their new TV and TV companion devices.

My only quibble would be over how exclusive Apple will make the new devices to a particular cable operator. Unlike mobile phones, where a single carrier like AT&T could provide Apple with national scale, cable TV service is a patchwork due to geographically limited franchises. While exclusivity might be necessary initially to get operator buy-in, Apple will need to structure that exclusivity carefully (i.e. loosely) to ensure it can achieve national scale quickly.

Allaire’s broader point, however, is well-taken. Having been stiff-armed in its direct discussions with the networks about assembling its own subscription or a la carte package of channels, Apple’s best strategy is to focus on building its own user experience atop existing pay-TV services. Apple in fact appears to be well along in those discussions with cable operators.

Allaire’s other focus is on gaming, where he sees a critical opening for Apple.

Apple’s iOS is already the world’s most important gaming platform in terms of new game content creation and the velocity and scale of consumer usage. With new gaming-friendly APIs for controllers and user input, complemented with local CPU, graphics and storage horsepower on the device itself, the new Apple TV is a deeply significant threat to Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft in the console market [snip].

Some have argued that Apple and iOS aren’t for hardcore gamers — but tell that to the teenage boys playing Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty on their iPhones and iPads. By owning the TV run-time, Apple TV will provide amazing development opportunities for the technical and creative elite and will bring a flood of innovative content creation from major game studios.

Allaire may be overstating the near-term threat to Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, given their substantial installed bases, but he’s correct that games are the key to dominating the next-generation digital living room. He’s also correct that as gaming increasingly goes mobile, the market is moving in Apple’s direction.

I still wouldn’t bet the house on an Apple TV by next Christmas. But whenever it comes it will follow a path that includes integration with existing pay-TV services and a major push into gaming.

 

‘Mobile’ Video Not So Mobile

By Paul Sweeting

Amazon today released an Amazon Instant Video app for the iPhone and iPod touch adding potentially millions of new mobile devices to the platform. According to a new study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, however, a lot of those devices will be staying home.

The IAB study found that 63% of the video viewed on mobile phones occurs at home, not on the go. The most popular spot for watching mobile phone video at home is in the bedroom, which accounted for 43% of mobile video views, followed by the living room, which racked up 35%.

The most frequently viewed genres in mobile video are:

• Music videos (45%)
• Movie trailers (42%)
• Tutorials/How-To’s (41%)
• Funny short video clips (37%)

The IAB findings jibe with anecdotal data reported last year by Vevo, which found that if you’re watching one of its music videos on a mobile device, there’s a good chance you’re watching it in bed.

Why so much viewing at home on mobile devices? One explanation is that “mobile” video is still very dependent on WiFi access. The majority of mobile phones today are at least 3G-enabled, making them in principle suitable for streaming video over cellular networks. The fact that the overwhelming majority of viewing occurs at home, however, suggests consumers still find streaming over wireless to be a frustrating experience and are more likely to rely on home WiFi network attached to a wired broadband connection.

The IAB data did not include tablets, which are even more popular for watching video than are phones. Since almost 80% of tablets sold are WiFi-only, however, wireless streaming is not an option for most tablet owners so the data would not be comparable. The fact that so many 3G and 4G-capable phones still rely predominantly on WiFi for streaming suggests wireless carriers still have work to do in improving mobile video delivery.

 

Hollywood IT Industry Mourns Loss of Disney’s Mirich

By Lyndsey Schaefer

“Generations to come will scarcely believe that such a one as ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.” This sentiment of Albert Einstein about Gandhi truly describes Jeff Mirich, as he fought death like no other with an uncanny positive attitude where life always seemed normal.

“The entertainment industry has lost a beacon of light in the world of business driven by technology,” says Devendra Mishra, Executive Director of the Hollywood IT Society (HITS). “Jeff inspired one and all of us with his extraordinary character and personality. He was the epitome of life, love and family. He was a friend and mentor who will never be forgotten.”

The members of the HITS Advisory Board, comprised of the CIOs of the Hollywood studios, presented their unprecedented acknowledgment called the Variety “HIT Maker” Award for IT Leadership in Hollywood to Jeff Mirich in March of this year. The award recognized his outstanding contributions as an IT Executive for advancing the entertainment industry through the deployment of information systems and technology.

Mirich, who was Senior Vice President for Advanced Technology Projects at Walt Disney Studios since October 2011 and formerly Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, has been a visionary and a relentless warrior driving collaboration among the studios and their service providers through supply chain standardization and establishing cross-studio shared-system platforms to increase efficiency and drive down operational costs. Jeff Mirich was the soul of the Hollywood IT Society (HITS).

He had been instrumental in providing business and technology systems that supported the film, music, live stage, production, post production, marketing and distribution business unit operations on a global scale. In the middle of the industry’s rapid transition to digital production and distribution processes, Mirich led Walt Disney Studios through this transition, focusing on expanding and enhancing their premiere family entertainment products, services, and content offerings and increasing global market presence and relevance through the use of innovative technology applications, creative tools, and new distribution platforms.

Mirich joined Disney in late 1997 as the CIO of Imagineering. Prior to joining Disney, Mirich enjoyed a 19-year career with Northrop Grumman Corporation, where he held managerial positions in information systems, engineering, manufacturing, business development, research and development, and mergers and acquisitions. During Mirich’s tenure at Northrop he led the development and implementation of their 3-D paperless computer aided design and manufacturing processes and helped spearhead industry and government engineering design practices and data interchange standards. Mirich had a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Technology from California State University at Long Beach and a Master’s degree in Management from the University of Redlands.

He regularly lectured at local universities on topics ranging from information technology to intellectual property management within the media and entertainment industry. He was a past board member on UCLA Anderson School’s IS Associates and WINMEC University-Industry Partnership, USC’s ETC/IMF sponsorship group, HP’s Communications Media & Entertainment Board of Advisors, the CIO Leadership Network, Southern California CIO Executive Summit Governing Body, The Business Forum, The Hollywood IT Summit, and served on Sierra Venture’s CIO Advisory Board. Mirich is survived by his wife Charlene and son Jeffrey Charles.

MPAA CEO Chris Dodd Calls for Cooperation between Hollywood and Silicon Valley

By Lyndsey Schaefer

Los Angeles — One year after Hollywood’s epic battle with the technology industry over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) Motion Picture Association of America CEO Chris Dodd sought to strike a more constructive tone this week in discussing copyright protection and the relationship between the two industries.

Keynoting the Content Protection Summit here Thursday sponsored by Variety and CDSA Dodd declared that Hollywood and Silicon Valley have more in common than is often acknowledged. “Not only does Hollywood work closely with Silicon Valley to create and promote films,” Dodd said, “Hollywood film and television creators are tech companies. They celebrate innovation through the world’s most cutting-edge content, and they embrace technology as imperative to the success of the creators in their community.”

Dodd stressed the importance of making it easy for consumers to access legal content, and rattled off a few examples of the more than 350 services offering legal ways to get content online, including 60 in the U.S. He also touted the actions of Google, who recently changed its algorithms to move illegal sites down on their search results, and to elevate legal sites.

Preventing online piracy remains MPAA chief’s prime directive, however. Referring to the fight over SOPA and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) Dodd noted that he is nearing the end of his two-year cooling off period following his retirement from more than three decades in the U.S. Senate, and said he is looking forward to lobbying his former colleagues on industry issues in January.

“Content does not have a future without technology, and technology does not have a future without content,” he said.

Dodd also briefly mentioned the MPAA’s new Copyright Alert System, which was further detailed by Marianne Grant, Senior Vice President of the association. The Copyright Alert System (CAS) is a system aimed at educating Internet subscribers about digital copyright and the possible consequences of copyright violations through peer-to-peer networks.

Under the voluntary system, which is being adopted by the five largest Internet Service Providers (AT&T, Comcast, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable and Verizon), copyright owners be able to target individual web surfers whom they believe are engaged in illegal or infringing activity. Once identified by their IP address, the user will be sent a warning notice by the ISP explaining why their actions may be illegal and a violation of the ISP’s policies, and provide guidance on how to avoid receiving further alerts. The notices will also provide information on how to locate film, television and music content legally.

Grant described CAS as a pervasive education program rather than a pervasive punishment program. She said its final implementation activities are in progress, and that the MPAA is expecting a full launch in January.

During his afternoon keynote, General (Ret.) James Cartwright, Harold Brown Chair in Defense Policy Studies, Center for Strategic and International Studies, discussed how the Internet and cyberspace are now among the most challenging national security policies facing the United Sates and global community. He urged attendees to consider how the U.S. defines critical infrastructure, and how our approach of defense of intellectual property differs from the rest of the world.

In an afternoon panel, three studio executives discussed how content protection technology has evolved as new video formats have been introduced. Mitch Singer, Chief Digital Strategy Officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment, sketched ou the advances in copy protection as the industry has moved from DVD to Blu-ray Disc, and now to UltraViolet and 4K.

Jackie Hayes, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Legal and Business Affairs, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, said the transition from software-based to more hardware-based solutions has allowed more usage models to be enabled.

Separately, speakers also stressed the importance of CDSA and MPAA audits.

“We’ve come a really long way in this industry,” said Bob Eicholz, Senior Vice President of IT Architecture and Security, Deluxe. “CDSA and MPAA audits have done more for the industry than anything else. Once you’ve come a long way, it’s not that hard to keep it going.”

 

For more coverage of the Content Protection Summit 2012, please check the following links:

Hollywood’s Total Piracy Awareness Program Set for January Launch (Wired)

MPAA CEO Dodd Stresses Cooperation Between Tech and Hollywood (HMM)

MPAA’s Dodd: Entertainment, tech industries should join forces (Advanced Television)

MPAA chief calls for Silicon Valley partnership (Variety)

MPAA – Entertainment and tech industry must join forces (Film Industry Network)

CEA and NCTA Sign Energy Pact For Set-Top Boxes

By Paul Sweeting

Anyone who has ever done a home energy audit knows that their cable or satellite set-top box or DVR is an energy hog. According to a study last year by the Energy Resources Defense Council (NRDC) the typical home set up, with one HD DVR and one HD set-top, consumes an average of 446 kilowatt hours per year of electricity, more than most refrigerators and more than twice as much as the average LDC TV the box is connected to.

Worse, two-thirds of that energy consumption occurs while the box is not in use. That’s because for most consumers, powering off their cable box is impractical. Most can only be fully powered off by unplugging them. Network connectivity is also lost when the box is powered off, and it can take up to several hours for the electronic program guide and other functionality to re-loaded and fully restored. A powered off DVR also can’t be used to record programs overnight or when the user is not home. As a result, most STBs are configured to remain connected and fully powered up at all times.

The cable industry and set-top box makers are now trying to address the problem. On Thursday, 15 pay-TV providers and STB makers unveiled a voluntary agreement to roll out a new box design and to update existing boxes to make them more energy efficient. The agreement was announced by the Consumer Electronics Assn., and the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn, which claim it will save U.S. consumers $1.5 billion annually in energy costs. The agreement was signed by Comcast, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Time Warner Cable, Cox, Verizon, Charter, AT&T, Cablevision, Bright House Networks and CenturyLink, and manufacturers Cisco, Motorola, EchoStar Technologies and ARRIS.

According to the agreement:

At least 90 percent of all new set-top boxes purchased and deployed after 2013 will meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR 3.0 efficiency levels. Based on market projections for set-top box deployments, this will result in residential electricity savings of $1.5 billion annually, as the agreement is fully realized.

• For immediate residential electricity savings, “light sleep” capabilities will be downloaded by cable operators to more than 10 million digital video recorders (DVRs) that are already in homes.
• In 2013, telco providers will offer light sleep capabilities, and satellite providers will include an “automatic power down” feature in 90 percent of set-top-boxes purchased and deployed.
• Energy efficient whole-home DVR solutions will be available as an alternative to multiple in-home DVRs for subscribers of satellite and some telco providers beginning in 2013.
• “Deep sleep” functionality in next generation cable set-top boxes will be field tested and deployed if successful.

While applauding the industries’ attention to the issue, the NRDC nonetheless blasted the agreement as inadequate. “It’s good that cable and satellite companies recognize the need to provide consumers with set-top boxes that waste less energy.  Unfortunately, their proposal is a far cry from what is needed to significantly decrease the $2 billion worth of electricity these devices waste each year,” NRDC senior scientist Noah Horowitz said in a statement. “The TV industry can and should implement new design features that incorporate power-saving technologies similar to those in today’s smart phones, which sip rather than gulp power when not in use.”

CEA and NCTA defended the agreement as a work in progress, however. “Companies involved in the new Set-Top Box Energy Conservation Agreement will meet regularly to review and update energy efficiency measures, and to host ongoing discussions with the [Department of Energy] the [Environmental Protection Agency] and other interested government agencies and stakeholders on new technologies and equipment,” the groups said. “To create accountability and support transparency, the agreement’s terms include detailed processes for verification of set-top box performance in the field; annual public reporting on energy efficiency improvements; and posting of product power consumption information by each company for its customers.”

 
 

Netflix: A New Way to Watch Pay-TV

By Paul Sweeting

Among the many intriguing elements of Disney’s newly inked movie distribution deal with Netflix one of the more interesting to watch will be whether it affects the total viewership of Disney titles during the pay-TV window. I suspect it will.

Apart from relying on broadband rather than traditional cable plant for delivery, Netflix provides a markedly different and generally superior user experience than traditional pay-TV channels can offer. Unlike HBO, Showtime and Starz, Netflix does not need to shoehorn itself into the limited user interface provided by standard cable and satellite set-top boxes. Netflix’s UI is much more user-friendly and easier to navigate. And, because it’s web-based, it can incorporate sophisticated search, recommendation, and social media tools that cable networks simply can’t offer.

Netflix is also accessible from a wider variety of devices, from tablets and laptops, to game consoles and Blu-ray Disc players.

Netflix has already shown that it can significantly improve discovery and increase viewership of both movie and TV content outside the pay-TV window. There’s no reason to think it couldn’t or wouldn’t do the same for content within that window.

If that proves to be the case, it could hold significant implications both for content owners and for distributors operating in other windows, including those in the transactional video-on-demand and DVD/Blu-ray rental markets.

Higher rates of viewership could make movies more valuable during the pay-TV window — something studios who have not licensed their titles to web-based platforms like Netflix during that window will need to think about. For the time being, at least, Disney will  also be providing viewers a better user experience than studios whose pay-TV rights are still controlled by HBO or Showtime.

An improved user experience in the pay-TV window could also ultimately shift some viewership from other windows into the new over-the-top subscription window, which could show up as lower revenue for distributors in other windows.

In short, ripple effects from the Disney/Netflix deal are likely to be felt throughout the movie distribution chain, not just in the pay-TV business.

 

Chuck Parker: Driving Digital Video Ownership

I had the opportunity yesterday to share the stage with rockstar analysts Tom Adams (of IHS Screen Digest), Annie Arroyo of the NPD Group, and Larry Taman of GfK to discuss an industry outlook for home entrainment at the Forecast:Hollywood 2013 event presented by Variety and MESA today in LA.  Some interesting data points shared during the presentations:

• UltraViolet now has 6m user accounts
• an estimated 30% of U.S. households have tried an OTT streaming service
• 31% of consumer households view their video entertainment on both physical and digital formats
• a substantial number of subscription streaming households (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime) also purchase and rent content on eiher Amazon or iTunes

The real question in front of content creators in the home entertainment space today is how to maintain profitability.  Video consumption has never been higher in the U.S. household, but it is the mix of consumption that is hurting Hollywood studios.

To read the full article click HERE

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