Fincons Group, a leading IT business consultancy, will be presenting its new Smart Digital Platform (SDP) designed to accelerate Next Gen TV roll-out for media and broadcast businesses at CES this January.

The SDP introduces a revolutionary publishing tool that redefines application development as it enables automatic generation of applications, thus accelerating Hybrid TV and OTT service delivery. The framework distributes functionalities in logical “SMART” modules that form the basis for Hybrid TV solutions. It enables Broadcaster Apps to have advanced monetization models through Addressable Advertising, provides contextual information through a Now/Next and Channel dashboard and encourages greater viewer engagement via an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), video on demand sections and catch-up content. Fincons’ SDP uniquely also features full automation of the Hybrid TV asset preparation chain. It is the first platform that is entirely compatible with both European HbbTV and new US ATSC 3.0 standards, a feature that derives from the company’s unique pioneering role in the development of both standards.

At CES broadcasters will be able to see the platform in action in deployed, live applications that leverage the TV personalization potential of AI.

Utah Scientific, a world leader in providing mission critical equipment to content creators, distributors, and broadcasters, announced the appointment of John Schilberg to the position of director of product development and technical marketing.

In this role, Schilberg's main focus will be product development by working with industry professionals, the in-house engineering team, and current and potential customers. He will help in the design and release of Utah Scientific products and serve as the company's technical spokesperson. In addition to his product management responsibilities, he will develop and deliver engineering presentations, consult on improvements to Utah Scientific's web presence, and lead other marketing efforts.

Dave Burland, Utah Scientific president and CEO said, "John brings extensive system design, customer engagement experience, and many years of engineering project management to the table at the perfect time for Utah Scientific."

Sony has announced that the Sony BRC Series PTZ remote cameras have been chosen to capture unique close-up footage of the heart-warming story of beautiful lynx cats in the high-end TV wildlife series, Snow Cats & Me.

Produced by Oak Island Films and Hello Halo TV, the two-part series pushes creative and technical boundaries to present an intimate portrait of animals in the wild. With the producer Ted Oakes, Managing Director of Oak Island Films commenting: “This was a tricky challenge: the Sony BRC cameras helped us capture amazing footage that expresses the unique character of these beautiful animals in their natural environment.”

ChyronHego today released for shipping CAMIO® 4.8, the newest release of the company's award-winning MOS-driven graphic asset management system. Serving as an end-to-end, all-software solution for multiplatform news content creation, production, and playout, CAMIO gives designers, producers, and directors the flexibility and functionality to bring engaging stories to air efficiently. Enhancements to CAMIO 4.8 simplify quality control, add greater control over saved items, streamline media rendering across linear and nonlinear production, and significantly extend the capabilities of CAMIO's popular Replication feature.

"With its template-based and story-driven workflow, CAMIO strips away layers of complexity, empowering both new and experienced producers to fulfill creative elements for any digital canvas," said Teus Groenewoud, vice president of product and technology at ChyronHego. "New features within CAMIO 4.8 simplify day-to-day tasks for these users while further optimizing the system for distributed teams and making it even easier to ‘create once, publish many' in a hub-and-spoke graphics workflow."

Veritone, Inc. (Nasdaq: VERI), the creator of the world's first operating system for artificial intelligence, aiWARE™, and Evolphin Software, the creator of the revolutionary Media Asset Management platform Zoom, today announced that the Football Club Internazionale Milano (Inter Milan) is leveraging a robust, AI-driven media asset management system based on Veritone aiWARE and the Evolphin Zoom MAM platform. The combination of aiWARE and Evolphin Zoom gives Inter Milan a next-generation solution for indexing, managing, and monetizing its massive library of archived and current content. As a result, Inter Milan is able to give its stakeholders around the globe faster and more efficient access to tailored content.

The Evolphin Zoom MAM ingests and transcodes the content from Inter Milan and sends media for analysis to Veritone's aiWARE platform. Veritone's aiWARE uses advanced AI techniques to generate descriptive information about the content, such as spoken words, faces, logos, or advertiser names mentioned, making the content indexed and searchable.

VuWall, a leader in video wall control and AV network management, today announced an update to its TRx Centralized Multi-Video Wall Management System, version 2.5. This release includes three new security capabilities that strengthen the VuWall system: Transport Layer Security (TLS) between the TRx GUI and TRx Server, improved user rights management, and more KVM modes.

"Security and privacy are paramount to mission-critical environments and their systems," said Paul Vander Plaetse, CEO of VuWall. "As cyberattacks become more common, it's becoming exceedingly important to guard against arising risks. We've taken action by adding new capabilities that protect communications between the TRx Server and TRx Clients."

Bannister Lake announced today that long-time client Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) has enhanced its real-time data offerings to sports fans using Bannister Lake's data management solution. Real-time NBA, NHL, and MLSE-generated in-house data is now being displayed in all the suites located in Scotiabank Arena.

Screens in the suites display real-time game statistics providing fans with a deeper understanding of the game and allowing them to track the performance of their favorite teams and players. MLSE ingests the data directly from the leagues, aggregates and manages the content through Chameleon, and then distributes it to the venue's signage system. Fans are exposed to targeted advertising along with game statistics populated within an overlaid L-Bar graphic.

"Bannister Lake now helps our venue effectively manage real-time data content and make it readily available in Scotiabank Arena," said David August, director of venue technology, MLSE. "Chameleon makes it easy to ingest, aggregate, and customize all kinds of data feeds without the need to write custom code."

LIPA, the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, has converted one of its traditional theatres into a multifunction space that is acting as a hub for its new Creative Technologies and Performance course, which launched this year.

Acoustic design consultancy White Mark was tasked with overseeing the project that involved building a TV studio, production gallery and sound control area into the existing space, along with motion capture rooms, grading rooms and a 5.1 audio dubbing suite. White Mark’s role included working closely with building contractors to ensure that the new facilities were delivered on time and to the highest standard so that they accurately reflect the real world facilities students will encounter when they eventually leave LIPA at the end of their degree courses.

Jon Thornton is Head of Sound Technology at LIPA, says: “This was an incredibly ambitious project, not least because of the timescale involved, which was very tight. For various reasons, the project had a few false starts and it was only when we called in White Mark that we were able to get it back on track.”

LIPA’s new Creative Technologies and Performance Course is part of an ongoing commitment to providing students with the skills they will need for the future. It is headed by Steve Davies, who has a background in broadcast, corporate productions and short form drama. The new facilities are being equipped to the highest standard in terms of audio and video gear and incorporate top industry brand names such as Calrec, Avid and Black Magic.

PMC’s founder and CEO Peter Thomas has been awarded a Fellowship by the Institute of Professional Sound (IPS) in recognition of his contribution to the professional audio industry.

IPS Chairman Simon Clark says: “We have honoured Peter for the significant impact he has had on the audio industry through pushing the boundaries of monitor design to achieve more accuracy, particularly at higher volumes. PMC’s Advanced Transmission Line system for bass loading is unique and has delivered noticeable improvements in audio quality over conventional loudspeaker design principles. It is fair to say that Peter’s work in this area has been transformative and has resulted in loudspeaker products that are the world’s reference for mastering and for the bulk of music production.”

As a charitable organisation that champions the highest quality of sound production and sound recording in all forms of broadcast, recorded, and live events, the IPS is widely respected for the support, training and networking opportunities it delivers. Its Fellowship programme is very selective – there are currently only 10 living people who hold this honour – as it is designed to recognise those who are ‘operationally outstanding in their area’.

Blackmagic Design today announced that live production workflows, featuring its products for acquisition, control and delivery, have been used on some of this year's biggest music festivals and concert tours.

Artists and events included Little Mix, Billie Eilish, Elton John, Fall Out Boy and Andrea Bocelli, as well as Festival Beauregard, Rocking the Daisies, Aftershock Festival and Sweden Rock.

As broadcast and AV workflows continue to converge, more and more rental and staging companies are now standardizing their video offerings to festivals and touring artists based on hardware solutions from Blackmagic Design. Not only has the amount of video demanded by the entertainment market increased in 2019, so too has the amount of 4K production for IMAG.

Verizon Media has announced that Eros Now, a premier South Asian OTT entertainment platform, is using the Verizon Media Platform to meet global consumer demand for high quality streaming of Indian cinema.

India is home to Bollywood, the world’s largest film industry with an annual output of almost 2,000 films. Global demand for Bollywood content is growing rapidly and Eros Now has attracted over 177 million users to its service by housing over 12,000 movie titles, TV shows, Eros Now Originals, and short-format content – Eros Now Quickie. In order to retain its market leading position in India and also futureproof its ability to penetrate additional markets, Eros Now chose to migrate from its technology-dense streaming stack to a fully managed streaming service.

“As we continue our mission of bringing Bollywood content to a global audience, it’s crucial that we invest in cutting edge technologies to maintain high quality online experiences for the millions of users accessing our service from a range of devices and locations. Verizon Media’s Platform is renowned for its unparalleled streaming capabilities and high performance network, which will play an important role in helping us deliver an unrivalled user experience to our customers around the world,” said Ali Hussein, CEO, Eros Now.

AVer Europe, the award-winning provider of video collaboration solutions and education technology solutions, today announces the UK launch of the M70W and M15W wireless visualisers.

The breakthrough technology design of both visualisers makes it simple to go from set-up to classroom. Sleek and compact design, combined with rich video capture, provides teachers portability and flexibility.

The AVer M70W mechanical arm visualiser provides a powerful platform to capture and share information in the classroom. It transforms eLearning by enhancing interactive discussions between teachers and students. A versatile mechanical arm and solid body support a 13-megapixel camera with vividly detailed 4K, 60fps imaging and a powerful 230X total zoom capacity.

The AVer M15W mechanical arm visualiser has an ultra-compact and lightweight form factor. With wireless connectivity, rechargeable battery, and a weight of approximately 3 pounds, the M15W is a lightweight device designed for sharing around the classroom and for providing boundary-free distance learning.

Zixi, the industry leader for enabling dependable, live broadcast-quality video over IP, has been recognized with two industry awards: the Gold Award in the category of IP Broadcast Solutions – Distribution from Digital Media World, and a 2019 Product Innovation Award from TV Technology.

The cutting edge Zixi Software-Defined Video Platform was named the Digital Media Awards’ Gold Winner in the category of IP Broadcast Solutions – Distribution. The Zixi Software-Defined Video Platform is the tight integration of four crucial elements that enable broadcast-quality live video workflows to be intelligently and centrally provisioned, deployed, managed and monitored using software and integrated devices, regardless of the underlying network infrastructure. The Digital Media World Awards give recognition to companies that have used their products and services to push media opportunities forward and develop new techniques and possibilities in broadcast content creation, delivery and management.

Grass Valley tops off a year of driving tighter industry collaboration and partnerships by winning the 2019 IABM Creative Collaboration Award. During 2019, Grass Valley cemented key projects and partnerships that have helped shape the industry. The company also demonstrated its commitment to driving innovation by establishing the Grass Valley Technology Alliance (GVTA).

Grass Valley’s president Tim Shoulders commented: “The broadcast industry is moving toward software-based solutions and pay-as-you-go environments, and our customers need partners that make this transition easier for them. A collaborative approach is central to extending our portfolio and facilitating pre-certified interoperable solutions that help our customers succeed in this new market landscape. We’ve made this is a strategic priority going forward, to work more with other vendors and deliver best-in-breed workflows.”

This commitment to collaboration is epitomized by the world’s largest remote/at-home production – the 2019 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, held in Åre, Sweden, which earned Grass Valley, along with partners Arista, ClearCom, Net Insight and Sveriges Television (SVT), the IABM Creative Collaboration Award. The Grass Valley-centric remote workflow deployed during the championship seamlessly handled 80 uncompressed HD camera signals and 100 feeds. Signals were delivered from the venue to SVT’s Stockholm headquarters – more than 372 miles away – via Grass Valley’s DirectIP connectivity. The remote production solution significantly reduced set-up time and generated cost savings of ten percent.

ChyronHego today announced that its Virtual Football system has been certified as a virtual offside line technology by FIFA®, the world governing body for football. A powerful yet easy-to-use system for inserting virtual graphics onto the field, Virtual Football addresses the stringent performance requirements essential to the accurate placement of offside lines as part of the video assistant referee (VAR) workflow in football matches. Referees can rely on the technology to accurately place an offside line and help them make decisions more easily. Broadcasters and stadium entertainment teams can use it to give fans a better understanding of how and why officials make crucial decisions throughout the game.

"ChyronHego has been at the forefront of this technology for over a decade and has made several exciting enhancements to Virtual Football specifically for offside line placement within the VAR workflow," said Niall Hendry, product manager, sports, at ChyronHego. "We have optimized calibration speed and workflow, as well as field and lens parameters, and we've also enabled selection from multiple angles to improve accuracy and streamline the user workflow."