July 2013
www.tvbeurope.com
Ericsson’s facility broadcasts 9,000 hours of live programming a year on behalf of ITV
TVBEurope 15 The Business Case Operation transformation
Ericsson’s Broadcast Services has been headquartered at Chiswick Park for almost a year now. Holly Ashfordtook a tour of the facility to discover the company’s vision and ambition for the future
IT HAS been almost a year since Ericsson acquired the Broadcast Services Division at Technicolor, welcoming over 900 employees who are now working under the Ericsson brand. Taking the helm at the company’s Chiswick Park headquarters is Ian Brotherston, who recently joined as head of Broadcast Services in the UK. Celebrating the first anniversary of the acquisition, Brotherston describes the direction he intends to take the company, as well as its ambitions for the future. Previously CEO at Qype, since his recent appointment, Brotherston’s role has involved responsibility for Ericsson’s existing broadcast services business in the UK, as well as new business. Discussing his appointment in Chiswick, Brotherston said, “I realised the global ambitions we have and I think it’s a great place to be.” The global reach is certainly
impressive: 96 multi-lingual channels, 2,300 hours of broadcast content every day, and with 2,000 TV and media customers worldwide, the company has a presence in more than 180 countries. However, the worldwide nature of Ericsson
“brings with it all the demands of a global brand.” Ericsson is involved in the
entirety of the global broadcast chain, from production and post production to distribution. The key to achieving this is taking a “highly complex process” and making it simple. Fundamentally, this begins with understanding the customer, as Brotherston stated, “content is still king.” An important step in boosting
reach in terms of geographies and customer sets was the company’s acquisition of Technicolor. And Thorsten Sauer, head of Broadcast Services, Business Unit Global Services, Ericsson, subsequently announced another step in the company’s expansion — the intention to acquire Microsoft Mediaroom. This is “a very strong signal from us about our commitment in this marketplace. We have this strong ambition in the media industry and this is a perfect fit.” So, aside from this potential acquisition, how do Sauer and Brotherston see the company moving forward? Both stressed the networked society, in which anything that benefits from a
connection will be connected. Sauer believes that by 2015, there will be 50 billion video-enabled connected devices. Content will be delivered to
multiple devices, and more and more delivery will be through cloud or cloud-like services. Despite this vast quantity, it is quality that is stressed at Ericsson, as Sauer summarised: “It’s very important for our customers with all the new possibilities that a networked society gives us that they can focus on their core business — to create and commission the best quality possible.”
Behind the operation Chiswick Park demonstrates how this works in practice. The first suite plays out about 50 channels across three continents and in multiple languages. Front desk transmission controllers check schedules for future play, ensuring sound, subtitles and pictures are delivered smoothly. The technology used is largely the same as under Technicolor, though there are standardised processes which have been introduced by Ericsson to manage any incidents which may arise.
More complexity can be seen in the suite that plays out on behalf of ITV, where a large number of live events must be managed throughout the day. This amounts to some 9,000 hours of live programming a year, including shows like I’m a Celebrity and The X Factor. Although this kind of content can pose challenges, the suite today is handling more events throughout the year than in previous years.
In the Master Control Room, technicians have direct contact with production companies, and are able to check quality of
“Content is still king” — Ian Brotherston, head of Broadcast Services UK, Ericsson
content before handing it to their colleagues in transmission. Brotherston says over the next 12 months Ericsson intends to expand the company further: “interesting discussions” are already underway about going into many other European countries. The involvement of multiple countries and delivery to multiple devices sums up the networked society — a transformation in TV. These interesting discussions are no doubt part of Ericsson’s ambition, as outlined by Sauer, “to become the number one partner in this TV transformation.”
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