mediaClass reports a sustained acceleration in demand for subscription based services offering video content directly to connected viewers. Bypassing traditional broadcast and satellite platforms, OTT services are typically streamed over the top – meaning over any internet connection rather than a proprietary network.

"Given the rapid changes in product offerings and market trends, the choice of OTT and streaming technology is absolutely key," says mediaClass EVP Manelli Hosseini. "The established OTT middleware products on the market are incremental improvements and add-ons to older IPTV-based systems. This leaves them with a heavy footprint requiring massive servers which are inefficient and inflexible."

"Using our detailed knowledge and long experience of TV services to develop a modern, agile architecture and approach, we invested heavily to develop a full product range from scratch. The key parameters for our customer-centric view were to speed up deployment and enable a low-cost legacy IPTV path for service providers and telcos who want to move to a world-class offer which is disruptively affordable. We have developed our own software modules for functions including a content management system, digital rights management and AI recommendation engines as well as CDN and mobile clients."

Accompanying image: mediaClass EVP Manelli Hosseini.

CVP, one of the UK’s leading production solutions providers, will be providing hands-on experience with some of the latest kit to reach the UK market at this year’s BSC Expo 2020 (Friday 31st January to Saturday 1st February, Battersea Evolution, London).

Featuring a set inspired as a homage to the BSC’s 70th anniversary, the showcase at BSC Expo will allow customers to compare like-for-like options and to get hands-on with the equipment they are interested in — along with all the necessary accessories — to find out how their creative desires can be best fulfilled.

Gravity Media, the leading global provider of complex live broadcast facilities and production services to content owners, creators and distributors, has promoted Ed Tischler to the position of Acting Managing Director. In this new role, Ed will be responsible for the strategic direction and commercial performance of all Gravity Media’s UK-based operations, which include Media Services & Facilities, Production & Content and Equipment Rental & Sales. This appointment follows the recent move to the single brand of Gravity Media late last year and Ed will take the lead in integrating the former Gearhouse Broadcast, HyperActive Broadcast and Input Media businesses in the UK. In addition, Layla Cook has also been promoted, becoming Gravity Media’s new UK Broadcast Equipment Rental Manager. 

Ed will report directly into John Newton, Gravity Media’s CEO. In the UK he will work closely with James Gander who continues to oversee Gravity House, the Soho post-production facility, as well as the integrated workflows service for live broadcast and feature film post-production and Steve Norris, the new Director, Production and Content. 

Layla will now oversee Gravity Media’s extensive inventory of the latest professional equipment which includes 4K-ready lenses, cameras and live production tools.

Having opened an office in Basingstoke, Hampshire, in 2019, Broadcast Solutions are pleased to announce a new member of the UK team. As of January 2020, JP Delport will join the company and take on the role of Sales Director (Broadcast Solutions UK). With this addition, Broadcast Solutions has now underpinned its commitment to the UK market and is able to facilitate an increasing demand for their products and services with a dedicated team of six experts based in the UK full time. 

Promethean, a digital solution to dynamically programme interactive video overlays, has announced its collaboration with True Digital Group, the South East Asian leader in content and digital platforms, to release the new version of the TrueID TV Box application across South East Asia.

TrueID TV Box is the new set top box from one of Southeast Asia’s leading Pay TV platform operators (part of the CP Group) that enables viewers to watch sports and entertainment on live, linear and on-demand basis without the hassle of installation. The latest box release is expected to roll out to thousands of homes across the Christmas period. It is the country's first Android TV Box that meets Google standards, which crucially now includes the certification of Promethean Interactive Overlays. This enables True Digital Group to create a conduit between content and commerce for their TrueID TV Box users.

Promethean is an online platform for dynamically programming interactive video overlays for live and video content on the web, mobile and OTT platforms. It licences a tool that allows broadcasters to place contextual and relevant overlays onto live streams and VOD, delivering engaging customer interactions that drive measurable ROI. Promethean's solution is player agnostic and as such supports a wide range of third party players available today out of the box.

"We've been using the Promethean technology across our websites and mobile apps since the summer, which has led to double-digit click through rates and some very compelling advertising campaigns with great regional brands,” commented Reed Anderson, CTO at True Digital Group. "As we were building our new TrueID TV Box, we wanted to demonstrate the convergence between the viewing experience and the opportunities afforded by connectivity - and that means allowing the audience to interact with the content, whether through man of the match polls or the ability to order food for delivery straight from your TV."

As part of a strategy of continuing investment to track with the latest market requirements, Finepoint Broadcast, a leading UK dry hire provider of production and OB equipment to the global marketplace, has announced the further addition of a range of Canon lenses to its hire stock portfolio.

The additions include the standard Canon CJ24, plus the Canon CJ45 and large UJ90 lenses (UHD DIGISUPER).

Finepoint Broadcast Hire Manager Clive Northen said, “Finepoint has not seen the disruptive business peaks and troughs of recent years that have been so prevalent in various broadcast sectors. To the contrary, our growth has been steady and continuous, due in part to our continual evaluation and investment in technologies, such as these Canon lenses, that provide a direct benefit to our customers.”

Finepoint Broadcast Chief Engineer Andrew Mckenzie said, “The Canon CJ24 is an acclaimed telephoto lens with a 24x broadcast zoom and a focal length of 7.5-180mm that offers 4K performance that is ideal for on-the-shoulder newsgathering. The ultra-high zoom CJ45 is packed with innovative, class-leading technology that is perfectly suited to wildlife and live-sport deployments.

And with a 90x zoom, 9-810mm focal length, and image stabilisation that's fully compatible with 2/3" 4K cameras and broadcast environments where HDTV is currently in use, the Canon UHD DIGISUPER 90 lens is perfect for expanding Finepoint Broadcast’s 4K lens range.”

Argentine telecommunications facilities provider Servicios y Telecomunicaciones SA (SYT) has chosen a complete mediaClass OTT TV Everywhere solution as the core of a newly launched Rocstar TV Everywhere platform. The system is designed to allow carriers, cable operators and ISPs to offer own-brand TV Everywhere OTT products based on a strong channel line-up and premium content. All functions are provided through an operator-class version of mediaClass software, customised and integrated into servers at SYT's headquarters in Buenos Aires.

"We signed the agreement with SYT at the April 2019 NAB Show and have been very busy adding specific features for Rocstar TV local markets," says mediaClass EVP Manelli Hosseini. "This new service will allow easy white-labeling for carriers, ISPs and cable operators to offer full TV Everywhere OTT and IPTV with their own brand and their own app. The system includes all the advanced TV Everywhere features – content source processing and storage, digital rights management, subscriber management, viewer analytics and an AI-based recommendation engine. We have also built in true multi-tenancy which is often claimed but not delivered. The resultant service is very easy to use, includes automatic configuration, and is highly cost efficient."

Masstech is pleased to announce that Srinivas Gankidi has joined the company as Sales Manager for India.

Srinivas has over 20 years’ experience in the media and entertainment industry, delivering file-based technology solutions to major broadcasters in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, including Zee TV, Sony TV, SRM Channels, Jain HITS, TV9, RIL (Reliance Infocom), NTV, Star Maa, Somoy TV, and Ghazi TV.

Prior to joining Masstech, Srinivas was Sales Manager for Media & Entertainment at Quantum Storage India Pvt Ltd., and previously held sales engineering positions with Evertz Microsystems and Harmonic Inc.

Srinivas will form part of Masstech’s Asia Pacific team, designing and deploying Masstech’s Kumulate intelligent storage and asset lifecycle management solutions for clients throughout the region.

In just two weeks, Red Giant will kick off its Year End Sale, the 24-hour annual blowout on all Red Giant tools, running from 8:00 a.m. PST (11:00 a.m. EST) on Tuesday, December 10, 2019 to 8:00 a.m. PST (11:00 a.m. EST) Wednesday, December 11, 2019. This year’s sale will be the biggest one yet: customers will have access to 50% off Red Giant Complete, a subscription that gives editors, motion designers and VFX artists access to all Red Giant tools at one low price - Trapcode Suite, Magic Bullet Suite, Universe, VFX Suite and Shooter Suite. Everything else in the online store will be on sale at 30% off.

WATCH NOW: RED GIANT 2019 YEAR END SALE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96nKa0l4QYk&feature=youtu.be

Win Red Giant Complete - One Full Year of Free Software

For the next two weeks, Red Giant will be giving away free software every 12 hours. Simply follow @redgiantnews on Twitter and retweet the special contest tweets using the hashtag #RGYearEndSale for a chance to win a one-year subscription to Red Giant Complete. Enter once every 12 hours for a chance to win. Contest ends Monday December 9, 2019, at 6:00 p.m. PST (9:00 p.m. EST). That’s 24 chances to win tons of free software.

mediaClass announces Broadcast-Pro, a new version of its end-to-end IPTV/OTT multiscreen platform. Broadcast-Pro is designed for broadcasters and content owners who are looking to launch an independent TV-everywhere service for their customers.