theibcdaily For the latest show news and updates follow #IBC2014 A spectrum of difference Conference Analysis By Catherine Wright
Little room for compromise emerged during‘ The great spectrum debate’, chaired by Informity CEO William Cooper, which opposed public broadcasters and mobile operators, over the release of radio spectrum for mobile data communications. John Giusti, the head of public policy, government and public affairs for the GSM Association made a clear stand for the greater use of spectrum for mobile data. “This is not just about economic benefit to mobile operators, or to content developers, it is about the economic benefits to the public. If we ask ourselves which
Lars Backlund:“Further release or co-primary use of spectrum below 700MHz will severely impact viability of the terrestrial platform”
industry brings greater economic value, the answer is unambiguous. The mobile sector in the EU in 2013
represented €269 billion, compared with €48 billion for terrestrial television. The amount of tax paid by mobile operators alone reached €53 billion.” Speaking in the name of the EBU, Simon Fell, its director of technology and innovation, argued on the contrary that the cost of switching over 120 million households to any alternative service would cost billions. “A study we have commissioned from AETHA with the BBC and BNE shows that there is clearly no economic case for switching off existing DTT networks across Europe: indeed the costs of clearing DTT from the spectrum outweigh the benefits by a factor of almost four.”
Former European Commissioner and WTO director general Pascal Lamy’s EC High Level Group report, which notably recommends that the EU should adopt “a common position against the coprimary allocation of the core audiovisual band (470-694 MHz0) to the mobile service at WRC 2015”, is an attempt to broach a compromise. But as Lars Backlund,
secretary general of Sweden- based BNE (Broadcast Networks Europe), indicated, on many issues no consensus was reached. “To discuss further release or co-primary use of spectrum below 700MHZ will severely impact the viability of the terrestrial platform, destroy investment incentives and may cause a regulatory-introduced failure of an industry.”
Blackmagic acquires Eyeon Software By Carolyn Giardina
Blackmagic Design has entered the visual effects business with the acquisition of Eyeon Software, the companies revealed at IBC. Eyeon is the maker of the Fusion compositing system, whose new version 7 is being demonstrated on the Blackmagic stand. Calling Fusion “one of Hollywood’s best kept secrets”, Blackmagic director of sales Simon Westland related that Fusion is used in small VFX boutiques as well as large
omorrow and The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
facilities such as Prime Focus, which has 1,500 seats of Fusion. It has been used on VFX for recent summer movies, including Maleficent, Edge of T
Fusion was also used by Douglas Trumbull on UFOTOG, his inventive new production made in 3D, 4K at 120 fps. The company is hosting Trumbull’s Monday keynote at IBC. Industry-wide, there has
already been some talk of the potential to more closely combine colour grading and compositing environments. To
The future is IP Imagine
Communications By Carolyn Giardina
Asserting that the future of broadcasting surrounds IP protocols and software defined environments, Imagine Communications CEO Charlie Vogt predicted during his Thursday keynote that "the move to IP will happen faster than most people think. Over the next two years we’ll see more live over IP TV.”
Underscoring its message, Imagine revealed a partnership with Microsoft through which it has developed a new software defined workflow management
platform available on Microsoft Azure. Additionally, the company announced that Sky Italia is deploying its new Magellan SDN Orchestrator as it transitions to an IP infrastructure.
The new Zenium platform, which will be available on Microsoft Azure Media Services, enables customers to design and launch cloud-based media processing applications, workflows and services. Vogt asserted that this
approach “provides broadcasters, MVPDs and enterprises with the most scalable, agile, and robust development environment. Microsoft Azure offers customers scale, value
economics, global networking and virtualised storage. Together, Imagine
Communications and Microsoft will transform the cloud media services landscape.” Also supporting its IBC message, Imagine Communications reported that Sky Italia will adopt its Magellan SDN Orchestrator to create a redundant distribution system for both ASI and IP transport streams across broadcast
that end, Westland said the acquisition of Fusion is “a really exciting fit with DaVinci Resolve [Blackmagic’s colour grading system]. Many Resolve users are also Fusion users. He reported: “As it stands, Fusion will remain standalone. Naturally we’ll ask how the two can work together, whether that’s round-tripping or closer integration of the toolsets. Obviously, there are already colour correction tools in Fusion. It’s too early to say what that might mean.” Westland said Blackmagic would continue to use the
product name Fusion, though it was not certain if the Eyeon brand would carry over. He also reported that Eyeon
employees, including founder Steve Roberts, would remain with the company and continue to develop Fusion out of Eyeon’s Toronto headquarters. “We always look for
opportunities to expand… and complementary products,” Westland said. Blackmagic announced the acquisition of DaVinci, and its plans to enter the colour grading space, five years ago at IBC. 7.H20
Massimo Bertolotti, Sky Italia: “We have been seeking a managed transition to an all-IP infrastructure”
routers and commercial IP switches. The value of the deal was not disclosed. “We have been seeking a managed transition to an all-IP infrastructure that minimises disruption and preserves our workflow processes,” said Massimo Bertolotti, head of innovation and multimedia distribution at Sky Italia. “Magellan SDN Orchestrator allows us to work
simultaneously in both IP and ASI realms by providing the ability to switch transport streams with complete operational transparency, facilitating our path forward to IP.” 7.G20
Euronews moves to HD with EVS
EuroNews has inked a deal to place XS media servers and the IPDirector live production asset management suites at the heart of its new Live workflow. As the news broadcaster moves to HD, EVS news solutions will sit alongside Euronews’ existing Harmonic storage and playout systems. The XS servers will be used to enable either live or studio-based news productions – ingesting multiple feeds and playing out live coverage or playing out content on the screens behind the presenters in its studios.
It will also allow Euronews to manage 16 audio channels from ingest to playout, which fits with a requirement to report news in 13 languages. The IPDirector system will be used to control ingest and playout commands, as well as manage content. Euronews head of AV support,
Bernard Fournier, said: “In a breaking news environment, it is essential that we have fast, flexible and ultra-reliable technology that can be configured for both studio and live productions. Having the ability to edit on-the-fly while recording was also crucial in the decision for our production team.” 8.B90
Conference Highlights Today at IBC
Keynote: Transforming TV and beyond: Google’s vision of video for everyone, by everyone, everywhere 10:00, Forum
New consumer trends – The rise of social media and second screen technologies
11:30, Emerald Room
The death of SDI? The promise of complete IP based production 11:30, G102/103
More pixels or better pixels? Making the case for 4K Ultra High Definition 14:00, Forum
Give me the right: Consumer perspective on the rights and wrongs of rights 16:00, E102
Natural future: The new natural history documentary 16:00, G102/103
The 2020TV experience and how to get there 16:00, Forum
Keynote: The challenges ahead 18:00, Forum
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