26 A PARTNER FOR CHANGE BY ANNE MORRIS
Verizon may have sold its digital media business housed under Verizon Media in 2021, but the media and entertainment industry remains a hugely signifi cant sector for the US-based operator, in part because of the increasingly critical role that IP and 5G connectivity play in the end-to-end delivery of content.
As pointed out by Scott Lawrence, Senior
Vice President, Global Solutions, at Verizon Business, out of all the different vertical sectors that the operator supports, “there are few industries other than media and entertainment that are so fully integrated with connectivity, which is the vehicle that actually monetises content”.
While he notes that the IP transformation of the industry has been going on for some years, “the ability for video transport to be native IP, really puts Verizon in a key position to be an enabler of a lot of things that are going beyond just the transport layer. The one-way conversation that has been the tradition since the start is really giving way to a two-way conversation that content providers are having with consumers. “Additionally, as one of the largest network
providers globally, our sweet spot is secure connectivity. We are one of the largest IP transport networks in the globe. It’s our core competency that allows us to innovate with media and entertainment brands, keeping them ahead of changing industry trends.”
STRATEGIC SUPPORT Tim Stevens, Global Lead, Strategic Innovation, Media & Entertainment at Verizon Business, adds: “When I think about the production environment, contribution feeds, distribution feeds and direct to consumer, all of it requires a strategic partner like Verizon Business in order to move the content from its origination to its destination. We see ourselves as integral in this industry for a lot of reasons.” Another aspect of this journey is the deployment of the physical network and the densifi cation of the 5G infrastructure, critical for success in the media space, including the “untethered capabilities that are going to continue to evolve over the next several years”, says Stevens. Technology developers are closely watching the next couple of iterative releases of the 3GPP standard that will have specifi c benefi ts for the media industry in particular.
Scott Lawrence, Senior Vice President, Global Solutions, Verizon Business
As Stevens notes, “the availability of 5G, the densifi cation of 5G, the workfl ows that will move to 5G, again, all coupled with an IP framework, are going to facilitate, not only the delivery of content direct to consumer, but an enormous amount of back-offi ce video workfl ows, and more. There’s so much that is going to happen in the industry, it’s hard to calculate the impact at this point.”
“I think we are going to see an explosion of new types of storytelling, immersive experiences and content creation that we haven’t even thought of. It’s going to be super exciting”
Tim Stevens, Verizon Business
As 5G continues to mature, Lawrence particularly highlights the opportunities that it will bring to live sports, from the biggest premier leagues to amateur competitions. This is because live sport “carries one of the highest content commercial values and therefore is an important component in any media and entertainment portfolio”, he says. “I don’t think we’ve even got to a point to understand the impact that 5G will have on the industry,” Stevens adds. “I think we are going to see an explosion of new types of storytelling, immersive experiences and
Tim Stevens, Global Lead, Strategic Innovation, Media & Entertainment, Verizon Business
content creation that we haven’t even thought of. It’s going to be super exciting.” During IBC, Lawrence is speaking about
the role that 5G will play in media and entertainment and how IP connectivity is becoming more critical for broadcasters as they continue to expand their reach to new platforms and consumers while improving workfl ows. Throughout the event, Verizon Business will also be spending a lot of time talking to broadcasters, content creators and equipment manufacturers. “They are all at different maturity levels in their IP and 5G transformation journeys,” Lawrence says.
“The evolution of this industry is just amazing, but it’s also something that Verizon can participate deeply in, in terms of the development and creation of new products and services. And we’ll be watching very critically to see how that evolves. IBC is such a great meeting of thought leaders to pull all that together and really start to see how things are happening. We’re going to see a tremendous amount of change in the industry over the next couple of years.”
The IBC Conference session ‘From the NFL to Broadcast & Streaming the World’s Biggest Live Events: How 5G is powering the future of media and entertainment, featuring Scott Lawrence, takes place today in the Forum at 15:30-16:00.
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