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Tag: MN Vyas

  • 5G remote production: Need of the hour or call of the future

    5G remote production: Need of the hour or call of the future

    Broadcast to mobile is a fascinating concept which came into light in the early 2000s. The mobile networks were busy with offering GPRS based services. The early days saw a variety of mobile broadcast solutions including DVB-H, DMB, DAB-IP, ISDB-T and MediaFLO. The success of such solutions would depend on availability of compatible handsets and broadcasters could not justify huge investment into alternate/parallel network just to deliver content to mobile users.

    As 5G infrastructure garners pace into 2020, the response from media and entertainment industry has been very encouraging in terms of testing and potential adoption of 5G technology. Broadcasters are looking at ways to leverage and capitalize on this next-generation mobile technology. As the internet takes centre stage in content delivery and distribution, 5G will play the role of a catalyst in the growth of both, broadcasters and technology providers.

    Almost 92 per cent of broadcasters are planning to adopt 5G in the next two years(IBC report) and remote production has been identified as a major application of 5G wireless technology. As broadcasters continue to realize the potential of 5G, 65 per cent would imbibe it for remote production and 61 per cent of the broadcasters are willing to adopt 5G for distribution as an alternative to satellite, DTT or cable (OnePoll, Nevion).

    With its unique qualities like mobility, flexibility and reliability, remote production has emerged as the most vital application of 5G technology and could forever change the production workflows of live content such as events, sports and news. 5G has great potential to enable broadcasters to enhance coverage and streamline production by allowing multiple cameras and microphones. 5G will help in managing multiple live events from a central broadcast facility.

    Having said that, the transition to 5G will not be an easy one. It will take immense effort and courage to completely replace centralised production studios and widely popular OB vans with cloud-based workflows. Also, migration from SDI to IP will define the near future production techniques and it will be very interesting to see how 5G merges with these new techniques.

    Ultimately, adoption of 5G will hugely depend on the efficiency of the business model around which it will be built. The revenue-generating power of 5G is yet to be tested and broadcasters must be facing a dichotomy about migrating from the existing model which has been tried and tested for years. Change is the only constant but coexistence is nature’s amazing trait which could possibly lead to 5G complementing existing technologies and create an enhanced ecosystem for the growth of all the relevant stakeholders of the media and entertainment industry.

    (The author is founder and executive director, Planetcast Media Services. The views expressed are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)

  • PlanetCast achieves tier 3 certification from WTA

    PlanetCast achieves tier 3 certification from WTA

    MUMBAI: PlanetCast has achieved tier 3 certification for its New Delhi Teleport under WTA’s Teleport Certification Programme by  The World Teleport Association (WTA.

    Since its introduction at IBC 2015, the certification programme has quickly become popular.  Starting with one certified facility in 2015, the programme has added 40 teleports in 3 years, and at present has 12 teleports engaged in the quality evaluation process. Certifications have been issued to teleports operated by Servicio Satelital, USEI, AXESS Networks (AXESS), STN, Eutelsat, du, COMSAT, Optus, Elara Comunicaciones, GlobalSat, Talia, Telenor, Telespazio, Vivacom, Cyta, Singtel, CETel, Etisalat, Hawaii Pacific Teleport, Intelsat, Speedcast, Telstra, Primacom, Santander Teleport and Arqiva. The industry has quickly adopted the transparent, independently verified standards as a means for teleports to differentiate themselves and for customers to choose the price-performance level suitable for their applications. 

    To achieve provisional certification, a teleport operator completes a +170-item questionnaire and submits it to WTA.  The Association analyzes the data based on standards established by its certification committee and issues the provisional certification based on the self-reported information.  The teleport then has six months to achieve full certification, for which an auditor is dispatched to visit the teleport, provide independent validation of the data submitted in the questionnaire, and identify additional factors that may positively or negatively affect the score. Full certification is issued at a tier number from 1 through 4, of which 4 represents the highest degree of excellence, and remains in effect for 3 years.

    Planetcast founder director MN Vyas said, “We operate the largest teleport in this part of the world and we are providing services to top broadcasters across the globe. The certification received from WTA is a part of our continued efforts to create an environment of high quality services emerging from India.”

    “With the addition of PlanetCast, WTA has fully certified teleports operating in the US, Columbia, Mexico, Dubai, the UAE, the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Norway, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Australia, Indonesia, India and Singapore,” said executive director Robert Bell.  “The growth of the program speaks to its value as a market differentiator and the value of the insight it gives operators into the strengths and weaknesses of their facilities and procedures.” 

    WTA’s Teleport Certification Programme serves both teleport operators and their customers by creating an objective, transparent, and internationally accepted method for teleport operators to document the quality of their operations for customers and strategic partners. It also provides a means for customers to select teleport vendors delivering the price-performance level that is appropriate for their applications.

  • SonyLIV partners Planetcast to power live streaming service

    SonyLIV partners Planetcast to power live streaming service

    MUMBAI: Planetcast Media Services, a global player in digital broadcast technologies announced today that it has deployed its latest feed management and publishing platform to power live streaming of sports feed from its PMSL Facility at Mumbai.

    As a part of the partnership, Planetcast is using its hi-tech and intelligent feed management platform to receive / downlink around 30 feeds, which are then converted to the house formats (mainly audio shuffling & up-down-cross conversion) before being published in DRM enabled HLS format. A host of other VAS is also provided which include channel branding, SCTE insertion, Playout services with live studio including commentary insertion as well as Time delay & Upload for VoD consumption.

    Planetcast’s live streaming services have been successfully deployed on SonyLIV since FIFA 2018, one of the world’s largest sporting events.

    Commenting on the development Planetcast Media executive director MN Vyas said “Planetcast’s live streaming platform is instrumental for global sporting events like FIFA, Asian Games as there has been a paradigm shift in the viewing pattern of such events, this shift in viewing pattern has opened up new revenue streams for the broadcasters. Planetcast’s live streaming technology is aimed at helping the broadcasters to increase revenue by monetising their digital viewership”.

    Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India business head- digital Uday Sodhi said, “There has been a paradigm shift in the viewing pattern of sporting events in India. For SonyLIV it is of paramount importance to deliver a premium video streaming experience to our audience and Planetcast has played a pivotal role in achieving that goal. Planetcast has not only provided the latest technology but also brought in their decades of expertise in the TV broadcast sector to keep us ahead in such a highly competitive space.”

    Planetcast’s streaming service is the professional-grade service for streaming media to audiences of any size on any device, reaching global audiences with high-quality, custom-branded videos— with no additional infrastructure. Our solutions are designed to support streaming needs for multi format (android, Windows, iOS etc.) and multi device (Tablets, PC or smartphones etc.) uni/multi-cast streams with multiple capabilities of formats and video players.