What Makes Public Broadcasters Tick?

When British inventor John Logie Baird first presented a functional television system on 25 March, 1925, in London, nobody could have possibly predicted that within less than 100 years, the average westerner would spend 10 years of their life watching TV. Following his invention, TV broadcasting developed mainly as a public service, being the domain of governments (except for the business-oriented US, unsurprisingly). Europe learned its lesson from the US after the Second World War and allowed the introduction of commercial TV broadcasting. The focus of this article will be principally on the development and current operating methodologies of the public sector. The principal objective of public broadcasters is public service, i.e. “speaking to and engaging as a citizen”. The British model is generally accepted as a standard definition and embodies the following characteristics: universal geographic accessibility in which all parts of the nation must be serviced; universal appeal by which all sectors of the community must be able to find something interesting; attention must be given to minorities in order to achieve balance, a feeling of inclusion, a contribution to national identity and a sense of community; a clear distance from commercially vested interests; funding from either licence fees or taxation together with a certainty of universality of payment; striving for quality programming rather than financial figures, and regulatory guidelines that liberate rather than restrict broadcasting content.

“These solutions can provide a shining example of how technology can save costs and light the way to a bright future for broadcasters”

Whilst in the past, we had miles of shelves of structured and well-described content which required physical manipulation together with a perfect description and categorisation of the content, today, the modern broadcast station has made its life easier by storing such content on highly accessible servers. Using a modern management tool such as Provys, operators can exploit all the benefits of full-text search, automation and even AI to locate and retrieve any required content, literally in a split second. Thus, broadcasters can do much more with less, meaning less time, effort and staff, to improve efficiency and the general quality of programming, including, for example, catering to minority interests, which may require different operational procedures. And this is particularly important in the public service sector which usually operates with licensing conditions that require this. By choosing a supplier with wide experience in this sphere, a public broadcaster can be empowered, even with their fixed budget limitations, to compete successfully with commercial stations who enjoy the advantage of more flexibility and funding options. In addition to daily operations such as planning, scheduling and traffic, modern software-based management tools are also extremely useful in reducing costs and streamlining the complex tasks of in-house production, a traditional activity of public service broadcasters. Furthermore, these systems, especially resource management and capacity planning, are able to shine an “IT spotlight” on the activities of operatives, alongside the spotlights which illuminate the events in the production studio. As a result, “the introduction of such modern systems may experience resistance from operatives who have previously been able to somewhat hide their efficiency in the shadows. But invariably, these solutions can provide a shining example of how technology can save costs and light the way to a bright future for broadcasters” says Jan Hrdlicka, Managing Director, Provys.

Celebration of Young Talent at IBC

Returning again from the IBC in Amsterdam, I am now a little more optimistic about the future of the media industries, particularly broadcasting. I feel that this year brought a lot of new young blood to the show, heralding the long-awaited new generation who the dinosaurs, such as myself, hope to get to know with a view to sharing our knowledge and experience, before we bequeath the heavy responsibilities inherent in this rapidly developing sector to them.

The IBC 2019 has reported a rise in total attendance for this year’s show to 56,390 from 55,884 attendees compared to the IBC 2018. Most significant, however, is that the number of attendees, aged 35 and under, increased by 10% year-on-year, which is a record increase according to the organisers. This statistical trend follows closely the shift from hardware to software in our industry illustrating the need to leave behind ancient expressions such as PAL and SECAM which have been consigned to the history lessons as opposed to the modern classroom. Curious millennial technicians can, of course, attend a few history lessons in order to discover why we still use some old techniques such as interlaced frames to fool our eyes and save more and more expensive bandwidth.

It is admirable that the organisers of the IBC recognise and welcome this development, and as an illustration of their support, they introduced this year, for the first time, the IBC Young Pioneer Award as one of their future regular categories. The aim of this award is to acknowledge the welcome entry of a new wave of bright industry talent. The IBC’s intention is to award a young professional who has made a real impact with their passion, ambition and commitment and is making an outstanding contribution to our industry. The winner of the first Young Pioneer Award was Vera Bichler, a graduate of the Broadcast Academy, and the first female director of football programmes for ORF in Austria. Congratulations to Vera! “What we were looking for from the candidates was, most importantly, real talent, an outstanding individual making a real difference in the industry,” said David Levine, VP, Programming – Kids, Europe and Africa/UK & Ireland, The Walt Disney Co. Ltd and chair of the judging panel. “But we were also looking for a lasting legacy, for the Young Pioneer to be a leader today and a media guru of the future.”

“IBC 2019 was a non-stop round of networking, fruitful meetings, late night discussions, interesting product launches and valuable conference sessions”

Broadcast Technology Reigns in Spain

“The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.” Do not worry, we are not going to teach you the correct way to pronounce the diphthong “ai:” or “ei”. Actually, there are better topics about Spain to open a sparkling conversation in the high society of the television industry. For broadcast engineers and consultants, Madrid and Barcelona, the principal administrative and cultural cities of Spain, belong to the most enjoyable places in Europe to work (see the picture of the Palace of Communications, Madrid). It is no coincidence that AMC Networks International Southern Europe (AMCNISE) have their main offices in these two superb locations.

New York-based AMC Networks owns and operates several of the most popular and award-winning brands in television and film, including the cable networks AMC, BBC AMERICA (through a joint venture with BBC Studios), IFC, SundanceTV and WE tv, as well as premium streaming video services Sundance Now, Shudder, Acorn TV, UMC and AMC Premiere. Its holdings also include independent film production and distribution division, IFC Films, television production and worldwide content distribution division, AMC Studios, and international programming business, AMC Networks International.

Their operations in Spain are channeled through AMC Networks International Southern Europe, a Madrid and Barcelona-based television company running HD and UHD channels in Spain, Portugal, and France. They produce and distribute thematic television channels for these markets, designed for all types of audiences: cinema and series (AMC, Canal Hollywood, Sundance TV, XTRM, Somos, Dark, and Blast); factual (Odisea, Historia, Crimen+Investigación, and Blaze); lifestyle (Canal Cocina and Canal Decasa); music (Sol Musica); and children’s (Canal Panda and Biggs). They have also recently launched Planet Horror, the first and only direct-to-consumer service of horror films in Spain, in partnership with RedRum.

In 2017, AMCNISE decided to upgrade its broadcast management software and opened a tender inviting bids from several vendors in the market. The final decision on implementing Provys solutions was supported by the advanced functionalities of their applications, their flexibility and their full support on complying with the “end-to-end” needs of AMCNISE’s processes. A local implementation partner, Datos Media Technologies, was also selected to provide on-site project support and expertise.

“AMCNISE’s vibrant and growing business requires advanced technology solutions, and in this new era, it’s important for all broadcasters to upgrade to the latest management software,” says Jan Fiser, Main Consultant for AMCNISE at Provys. “In addition to providing a first-class scheduling system, we are also supplying a powerful control tool which allows AMCNISE to track their end-to-end broadcast operations. Special thanks must be given to Jose Nabais, CTO at AMCNISE, who with his team gave invaluable support to the implementation of the project.”

“AMCNISE’s vibrant and growing business requires advanced technology solutions, and in this new era, it’s important for all broadcasters to upgrade to the latest management software”

References:
My Fair Lady, a famous English musical, soundtrack:

• Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?
• With a Little Bit of Luck
• Rain in Spain
• I Could Have Danced All Night

Elevating Work into a Dream Job

Any broadcast system developer would consider it a “dream job” to enter into a long-term partnership with such a highly regarded global player as Viasat World, a leading international TV company offering 27 Pay TV channels in 50+ countries together with non-linear on-demand services in many different territories. Their international team produces, curates and distributes to a massive network of content verticals including acquisitions from Hollywood, international and local studios and production companies.

When Viasat World were reviewing their workflow management systems, particularly scheduling, rights and content management, they opened a tender with strict requirements to replace their legacy systems and procedures. These previous systems were based on two different standard broadcast management systems which were available some years ago together with programmes from the Microsoft Office Suite. Provys were selected to make system updates and the transition in programme scheduling, rights and content management on one consolidated database platform which would offer the following advantages: unified workflows, perfect collaboration between different departments, all posted information to be available and shared to the whole team on a real-time basis, the removal of repetition and duplication in the workflow processes and the elimination of human errors. In particular, the non-linear department is ecstatic because operators can now access data with simply a few clicks, for example, the validity of content rights for non-linear delivery.

For the project management, they prudently recognised that such a mammoth task now required external professional consultancy to handle the complexities of changing, upgrading, integrating and generally improving all aspects of their operations. For this top-level task, they selected Posterity ~ Milestone (www.posterity.co.uk), a trusted project delivery partner to worldwide clients for over 20 years. In particular, Posterity provide delivery capability and innovative consulting services. They focus predominantly on broadcasting, media, telecoms and digital transformations in the private sector and public service and government. It was Viasat World’s initiative to bring in Posterity as project managers who would sit in the middle of the supplier/purchaser matrix, focusing entirely on resolving differences and completing the project on time and on budget. Further discussion of the advantages of this methodology will be presented in greater depth in future articles.

“When we started our project analysis, we were surprised at the range and scope of the requirements of Viasat World especially regarding the number of interfaces to be included in the new system. But we drew upon our depth of experience in this sector and submitted proposals to match the demands of the whole operation”

says Ondrej Marik, Main Consultant for Viasat World, Provys.

Different Interests, Different Pressures

The fifty thousand delegates who congregate at the annual IBC represent the elite movers and shakers of the media industries, and as such, their views and conceptions of the business are influenced by their own experiences and business objectives. As a result, their “expert” opinions may differ slightly from the middle majority opinions as would be shown on a typical demographic Gaussian curve designed to illustrate how the average person would consume his/her media and entertainment diet.

The broadcasting industry is under conflicting pressures from the different interests in the market. These include, for example, the younger generation who watch content from a wide choice of broadcasters and on-demand service providers, on a number of portable devices, in an infinite variety of locations and are, therefore, not too concerned about the resolution and technical quality. Further pressures come from those consumers who invest in the highest quality devices and consequently, they are sometimes disappointed if they do not enjoy the highest quality reception. These two groups are in contrast to the average domestic viewer who sees TV as a means of escape at the end of a hard day, and is not too concerned about the quality of the picture and sound. The truth is, that although they possess cheap but good quality HD receivers, they are nevertheless mostly fed a diet of artificially upscaled SD fare.

“Revenue streams in both the traditional linear and on-demand sectors are still strong and quite stable.”

Only time will tell if their commercial operations will produce a sustainable balance between attractive and money-making content.

Twenty years ago, the doomsayers of the media and entertainment industry were assuring us of the imminent death of linear TV on account of the rapidly developing non-linear means of delivery. Our experience from implementing Provys workflow solutions demonstrates that their fears were ill-founded as revenue streams in both the traditional linear, and on-demand sectors are still strong and quite stable. Provys develops sophisticated software for both linear and non-linear operators and we look forward to welcoming you on our stand, 2B49, at every IBC.

For the Rest of Our Lives

Enormous changes in office design in the last fifteen years have seen the introduction of many non-business extras, the purpose of which is to pamper the rare and over-stressed grey matter of the specialists employed to improve the bottom line of their companies’ profit and loss accounts. Such extras probably started with the famous Google “chill out room”, and were soon followed by other innovations such as hot desking, biophilic design, water features such as fountains, fish tanks, tropical plants, etc., dedicated task areas, fully-equipped fancy kitchens with sophisticated coffee and snack-vending machines, games rooms, miniature libraries and more. And therefore, some geeks actually go to work to rest.

Focusing now on the world of media, famous for its reliance on modern technologies, we can draw interesting contrasts between the business of broadcasting and the software and hardware developers who service this sector. Broadcasters, exceptionally, operate in a unique environment in which entertainment, creativity, excitement and enjoyment are present in abundance 24/7, and whose operatives, therefore, are observed to have less of a tendency to seek chill out escapism in order to get through their demanding, high pressure workloads. On the other hand, highly-qualified specialists on the technological and manufacturing side of the media sector tend to expect the full range of top-level executive amusements and toys, perhaps not quite to the Google level of sophistication, but certainly enough to meet their stressed-out, chill out requirements.

As an example, let us now have a look at the famous brand, Provys, and how they keep their programmers, IT consultants, developers, sales staff, etc., continually motivated in an ever-changing, fast-moving environment.

“Finding and keeping top quality staff is a continual challenge, especially when the demand for such employees is growing constantly.”

Some twenty years ago, when Provys was little more than a start-up, the social area within the company consisted of only one kitchen with its obligatory coffee machine, water-cooler, fridge and dish-washer. Conversations took place here in between current projects and a small number of staff were relatively satisfied until their numbers started to grow. An additional kitchen was added with enhanced coffee facilities, soon to be followed by new offices, even better kitchens complete with multi-screen TV facilities, soft chairs, sofas and even more drinks and snack vending facilities. Trying to pander to their own intellectual capacities, the specialists started to bring in complex jigsaw puzzles for further entertainment in the kitchens. This showed management that the grey matter still required yet further, and alternative stimulation even when exhausted following hours of demanding, creative enterprise. This led quite logically to the establishment of the company chill-out room, furnished with comfortable chairs and sofas, large-screen TV facilities, a play-station with a wide assortment of games including their favourite, Formula 1, a dartboard and a collection of jigsaw puzzles, some of whose unbelievably complex templates originated in-house. Great things amuse great minds.

These great minds, in general, in the broadcasting industry are employed increasingly in ever more demanding specialisations which inherently leads to the necessity to take a rest and re-charge one’s batteries. Failure to recognise this need can result in “burn-out”, system instability and even increased staff turnover. Good managers must utilise every psychological trick in the book to recruit and keep the best employees, perhaps for the rest of their lives, and part of their magic includes the chill out or re-charge room.

Til Death Us Do Part

Successful marriages last forever and the husband and wife both fully understand the underlying principles of their enduring relationship. We should consider exactly what these principles are because the same reasoning is also fundamental to any long-lasting commercial relationship, for example, in broadcasting. We all know that a bride-to-be will ask herself at least twice if the intended bride groom is really the right choice for her. In a way, the bride is the broadcaster who is considering the purchase of new, but expensive software to improve workflows in their media operations. The bride groom, i.e. the software supplier/developer, must make himself attractive, understandable, appropriate, adaptable, with a strong and pristine genetic and historical reputation together with good prospects. A well-developed sense of humour can also prove beneficial.

In the same way that the wedding is the gateway to marital integration and happiness, so in the hard world of broadcasting, all the same principles are tested to the limit and we can look now at how large system integration projects are managed with a view to creating commercial satisfaction. Following completion of a successful sale contract, the suppliers’ consultants will visit the organisation in order to analyse the existing workflows and future requirements of the new client. Long experience shows that in order to reduce the project workload, related costs and to increase transparency, it is advisable to first implement only the basic package which will almost certainly meet the immediate needs of the client. User training can now start, and during this period, further system options can be implemented. A gap analysis is then undertaken to assess the further detailed requirements of the broadcaster, allowing proper customisation, thereby saving considerable time and money which frequently arises when all aspects of the project are attempted together at the start. See the diagram.

“It is important to stress that certain conditions are required to be fulfilled prior to implementing the basic package.”

When selecting the way forward one should always take into account all relevant available information, such as the following: scope of implementation; reasons for the demanded change; size and organisational principles of the client together with their project management processes.

As the diagram shows, every project contains at least three project phases: Initialisation, Implementation and Go-live. It is also possible to add a customised development of completely new features to the implementation projects adjusting the roadmap accordingly. The core of the methodology uses the waterfall approach with a focus on the budget, timeline and technical scope control as these project characteristics are often demanded for a contractual agreement at the beginning, and estimates are calculated at early stages. When it comes to a detailed life-cycle of each project phase, the methodology also incorporates innovative approaches taken from agile techniques with a focus on frequent feedback from the customer through the early prototype presentations and an ever-changing backlog prioritisation as the solution advances to the acceptance and roll-out steps.

One of the most experienced developers in this industry, no doubt, is Provys from Prague, who have been active in such implementations since 1995 and are able to bring a wealth expertise and implementation skills to projects both large and small. Close adherence to the principles outlined above is the bedrock of their success with long term relationships in this complex marriage.

Content Benchmarking

Pausing to evaluate the successes of this year’s NABSHOW in Las Vegas and the splendid exhibits presented there for the delight of our media moguls, I could not escape the thoughts of how much interest was generated by the content benchmarking software tool which was demonstrated at the show.

The days of long discussions in smokie rooms in order to evaluate the future profitability of video content are fast drawing to a close as software solutions are now able to compare and evaluate content potential. Even before purchasing such assets as content, it is possible to asses and therefore maximise future returns on investment budgets. Global software developers in the broadcasting industry are perfecting a tool for content benchmarking which is rapidly becoming a “must-have” in the software portfolio of the 21^st century broadcaster.

Benchmarking is the practice of comparing business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best practices from other companies. Benchmarking actually started as a means of measuring the accuracy of rifles by fixing them to a bench and comparing the marks made by different types of ammunition on a fixed target. Such comparisons enabled manufacturers to develop the best combination of bullet and gun. Today, benchmarking has developed into a business idiom relating to the measurement of selected variables and their comparison against industry’s best practice.

In the world of broadcasting, content benchmarking compares the potential profitability of a range of offered programmes in order to evaluate the most appropriate content for their delivery. Comparison is still a major component of this methodology but in this case, it is not against industry’s best practice but is against a choice of competing content. The benchmarking software is based on criteria relating to some fifteen factors such as, target group, schedule zone, week zone, week day, seasonal index, holidays, cost per point, sold-out rating, average ad agency commission fee, average cost per hour, average discount, average index of TRP during ad breaks, commercial minute coefficient in one hour, etc. Of course, the set of factors can be extended as required. The criteria themselves are flexible within their own ranges and are used by the software to calculate a comprehensive forecast of a content’s future potential. This allows evaluation of both existing content and that which the broadcaster may be considering producing.

“Our solution gives content purchasers the hard numbers they require in order to decide whether or not to sign the purchase contract”

PROVYS Aims High

In accordance with their usual tradition, PROVYS once again held their annual CLIENT FORUM from June 5th – 7th 2019 in Prague, selecting two prominent high spots for their conference activities. The venue for this year’s event was the NH Collection Hotel famous for its two-level operations, connected by a hidden tourist attraction, namely a cable car running up the hill between the two sites. The cable car goes from the hotel up to the restaurant and conference centre above the city and offers a superb view of the panorama beyond the trees.

As is customary, the honoured guests discussed their strategic projects and shared their experience with other attendees, who are always exclusively Provys clients and partners. The event, once more, encouraged networking among leading broadcasters, Provys Business Partners, Product Managers and Executives. Major challenges of the broadcasting business were on the agenda and participants’ feedback is currently being evaluated by the appropriate development teams. Forum delegates are always welcome to give a short presentation of their strategic projects together with their views on the role of Provys in their organisations, both now and in the future.

“The event is not orientated purely on business but also has a very important and enjoyable non-digital social side, where everybody gets to know each other face-to-face.”

The Latest Provys Upgrade

Let’s make it clear from the start, we are not talking technology here, but the latest professional upgrades to our human resources. We are pleased to announce the recent addition of three top flight experts in the fields of IT and broadcast management.

First amongst them, we must welcome Marek Jakub as a Senior Programmer on the Systems Integration Team. Marek comes to us after more than 15 years with Nova TV, the largest private broadcaster in the Czech Republic, working as a Business Systems Administrator. In fact, Nova were a little sad concerning his desire for greener pastures, as the parting was totally amicable, and they engineered a career path for him by recommending him to us here at Provys, a major partner and supplier of Nova TV, thereby ensuring a continuing relationship with Marek. Accordingly, one could claim that he goes down in history as the first media professional to be “head-shunted”. In his younger days, Marek was a champion mathematician being placed in the top five in a nation-wide competition, guaranteeing himself automatic admission to the Maths Faculty of Charles University without further entrance exam requirements. When not deep in mathematical thought, his principal hobby is walking (running) the dog, a Prague Ratter, famous for its lively and active nature, thus perhaps exposing the other side of Marek’s character.

Next, we are pleased to welcome Radek Vacha as the Team Leader of our Senior Consultants. Radek comes to us after a global career with the top names where he managed and developed large IT systems for finance, banking and insurance companies. He brings experience from the USA, Poland, France, China and, of course, the Czech and Slovak Republics. As a self-confessed workaholic, one of his principal pursuits is the development and promotion of IT systems with the best possible friendly nature and characteristics, thereby dovetailing perfectly with our motto: “Efficiency with a human face”. When not drumming up new IT concepts, one of Radek’s hobbies is drumming on his new electronic drum set. He also enjoys history, marketing, psychology, photography and motorbiking.

Last but not least, we are delighted to welcome Josef Zadina as a Presales Business Analyst. Josef comes to us from Aveco, a global name in broadcast automation, where he rose to the position of Sales Director during a career spanning more than 19 years. Prior to that, he worked for Czech TV for 7 years as an engineer in the continuity studios. In his soul, he is a broadcast engineer whose top-level technical expertise will certainly be invaluable to the Provys organisation and their clients. In his heart, he is a mountain man, predominantly pursuing cross-country skiing and hiking. On the technical side, he has an unusual hobby of creating computer networks between family and friends through his own sophisticated domestic hub.