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MEDIA TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION ISSUE 45 • SEPTEMBER 2020
Flocking
to the cloud
Read about
• COVID-19 accelerating cloud adoptions
• New tools to do more with metadata
• BBC’s strategy for audio in connected cars
and more...
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020 1
tech.ebu.ch/subscribe
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7
Issue 45 • September 2020
Cover story: Among the many impacts
of the COVID-19 crisis, the acceleration
of solutions for remote cloud-based
production is one of the most striking
19
for media. Antonio Arcidiacono
outlines some of the new opportunities
(page 3), while Hans Hoffmann and
Ievgen Kostiukevych examine the
readiness of the infrastructure (page
15
6). We also present the example of
a Belgian project that demonstrated
what can be done (page 7) and
explain how the open source MCMA
framework can help media get more
from the cloud through microservices
(page 13).
3 Shaping the cloud for European media needs
Editor-in-Chief: Antonio Arcidiacono Antonio Arcidiacono on building together beyond the crisis
Managing Editor: Patrick Wauthier 4 News and events
Editor: Eoghan O’Sullivan 5 5G: first deployments and first impressions
tech@ebu.ch
Is the new technology living up to PSM expectations?
Design: Louise Tait
6 Pivoting to the cloud for production
Printed on FSC certified paper by Are media organizations ready for the cloud, and is it ready for
Graphius (FSC CO14767)
them?
7 How COVID-19 accelerated cloud-based production
© European Broadcasting Union
All rights reserved. The reproduction
Belgium’s RTBF and VRT were up and running with a solution
of articles in tech-i is authorized only within days of the lockdown
with the written permission of the 8 Partnership is central to radio’s in-car future
publishers. The responsibility for views BBC’s plans for maintaining radio’s prominence in connected cars
expressed in tech-i rests solely with
10 At the cutting edge of metadata for media
the authors.
A smorgasbord of new media metadata projects from around the
world
12 How does digital transformation happen in the real world?
A new Casebook from the EBU highlights best practice in digital
transformation
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION 13 Shifting to OPEX through serverless and microservices
Get an edge The open source MCMA framework helps broadcasters benefit
from microservices adoption
• Our goal is to be an incubator to
advance media technology. 14 Many languages, one interface
• We catalyse innovations so they EuroVOX helps reduce cost and complexity for transcription and
deliver for all players translation.
• We stimulate active collaboration so
15 Sustainability Matters: All together now – 100 sustainable
that you get more than innovative
technology – you get a real productions in Germany
competitive advantage. Reducing the environmental impact of film and television
production
Sign up to receive tech-i magazine, 16 Stepping up media quality – the challenge of the transition
EBU Technology & Innovation
newsletters or event alerts: tech.ebu.
David Wood discusses barriers to introducing new technology
ch/subscribe 17 Partner profiles: World Wide Web Consortium
How the W3C is weaving a better web for media
EBU Members are encouraged to
18 How did radio fare during the lockdown?
follow and contribute to the work
of our Strategic Programmes and A look at how audiences consumed audio in the early days of the
Communities of Practice. crisis
19 In the spotlight: Emily Dubs
Visit: tech.ebu.ch/ourwork Head of Technology, DVB Project
2 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020
EDITORIAL
Shaping the cloud for European media needs
Antonio Arcidiacono, Director of Technology & Innovation, EBU
COVID-19 has opened a door; it is PEACH personalization and
time for us to step through it and recommendation tools, the
embrace the new reality, realizing launch of the EuroVOX project
the positive opportunities it (page 14), the creation of the 5G
brings. In short, this means Media Action Group to represent
acceleration towards remote and the media industry in the 5G
distributed production that relies ecosystem (page 5), etc.
on IP infrastructure and the
cloud; and mature new PSM COLLABORATION
distribution infrastructures that The crisis has accelerated
integrate a new generation of innovation projects right across
IP-based broadcast, multicast the PSM community. It is helping
and edge-casting modes. us to bypass natural resistance to
The new remote production change, overcoming the
requirements that have emerged protection of the comfort zone.
strongly during the last few One example from the
months are helping us to find membership is the cloud-based
new solutions, steering existing production solution, co-
experiences in Live IP and developed by VRT and RTBF in
5G-supported production into Belgium, that quickly went from
new solutions that will become experimental idea to deployed
the new backbone for a cost- product (page 7).
effective and flexible production We have seen this same
strategy that can optimize impetus to join forces in a
resources. Ultimately the aim is common direction in the active
to help Europe’s public willingness from virtually every
broadcasters produce, EBU Member to participate in
recommend and customize our weekly roundtables where
content with new attributes that solutions and new ideas were
deliver value to citizens, as proposed to create new and
curious, informed and more effective offers for an
responsible individuals. audience looking again and with
more ‘attention’, towards PSM.
A EUROPEAN MODEL New initiatives, that will become
It is important to stress, however, public in the coming months,
that we are not going to ‘copy’ have finally got that convergent
existing models developed by quantum of energy that has
incumbent internet companies, allowed us to jump across to the
even if dialogue with them will be and good; we need to translate energy band where electrons
a crucial part of the process (see this into actions, and for this you flow without ‘traditional’
page 6). Rather we propose an need energy. My role and that of resistance. New projects are now
original way of serving European the T&I team is therefore to actively supported by a large
citizens and supporting catalyse the resources and the number of EBU Members and
European Media Sovereignty. expertise available in each EBU often in collaboration with the
AI-based language and Member, proposing new ideas whole media industry.
recommendation tools will be and related products and The combination of EBU
focused on informing, educating services, and aggregating those Members’ content and expertise
and entertaining the ‘new citizen’, resources to build that innovation is now permitting the creation of
using a common technological edge – the innovation that new product initiatives to better
base for a diverse range of remains one of the goals and inform, educate and entertain
applications/industries. A raisons d’être of public service European citizens. European
distributed online cloud-powered media. institutions are the additional
infrastructure will allow the The practical implementation accelerator that could help those
development of new formats, of our vision has been already initiatives to materialize and
interactively involving thousands translated into a series of continue to resonate well beyond
of end users. successful initiatives. These the critical period we are
The theory, however, is all well include the expansion of the currently living through.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020 3
NEWS & EVENTS
A wealth of knowledge
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a huge increase in the popularity
of webinars and the EBU is no exception. Over the past few months,
the Technology & Innovation team, in collaboration with contributors
from right across the EBU membership, has offered webinars and
roundtables on a multitude of topics.
All of the events below are available to view on demand – simply
visit tech.ebu.ch/publications and search for the relevant keywords.
Taking advantage
of automation
There are many good reasons
why EBU Members should
be looking to automation. If
otherwise tedious and potentially
error-prone tasks are automated,
programme-makers are free to
concentrate on more important
work; and machine learning
can create more data about
content, which increases the
value of that content. Automation
also facilitates more flexibility
regarding where operations can
happen, and where they are
resourced, including on location,
at broadcaster facilities, or in the
cloud.
For many broadcasters,
automation will be an unfamiliar
An update for the pyramid area, involving new techniques
and technologies, not to mention
The EBU has published an One of the most striking new terminology. EBU Technical
updated version of Tech 3371 changes is that there is more Report 055, published in June
and its ‘Technology Pyramid green in the Pyramid, reflecting 2020, aims to demystify the topic.
for Media Nodes’ graphic. The a greater maturity of product It describes several automation
Pyramid is a visual representation implementations overall, relative scenarios for media organizations
of user requirements, priorities to what the earlier version and explains the key concepts.
and the market’s progress in showed. Some layers of the The report also includes examples
creating and implementing pyramid were also renamed. The of how automation is being
standards and protocols in the updated Pyramid graphic is also used by EBU members for
SMPTE ST 2110 ecosystem of available as a PowerPoint slide development, deployment and
Live IP technology. for download. configuration activities.
The report was authored
by the Automation and
Provisioning subgroup within
the EBU strategic programme
on infrastructure & security. The
subgroup was chaired by Peter
Brightwell (BBC).
You can download EBU TR 055
from tech.ebu.ch/publications,
where you’ll also find a webinar
about the topic and the report.
4 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020
5G: first deployments and first
impressions
The EBU’s Darko Ratkaj examines whether 5G has been living up to expectations when it comes
to the promised applications for the media sector.
An article titled ‘5G: what it in Q3/2020.
is and what it might become’, The DVB Project continues
published in the March 2019 issue developing its flagship DVB-I
of tech-i magazine, looked at technologies aiming to provide
how this new technology could a unified service layer for
make EBU Members’ lives easier. DVB services that can run on
We sought to separate facts any infrastructure, whether
from the hype, to be critical but broadcast, broadband or hybrid.
open-minded. The first stage And that includes 5G.
of 5G standardization had just
been completed, the arrival of EBU REPORT
the first user equipment was The EBU is not idle either. We
expected, and the network roll- continue our efforts on building
out was about to commence. competence within the EBU
The focus was still on getting the community, especially through
technology right. our project groups, publications
We suggested then that 5G and events, and our involvement
could be useful to EBU Members, in 5G developments.
provided the suitable commercial The EBU’s main objective is
and regulatory conditions were to make 5G ‘friendly’ to EBU
put in place. How has the 5G for media story Members, both technically and
evolved since March 2019? commercially. We know that
FIRST NETWORKS this requires close collaboration
Although the world has changed networks and devices. They with the industry partners and
greatly in the past 18 months, 5G might arrive later if the market engagement with the regulators
developments have not brought demand materializes and and policymakers. Therefore,
many surprises. 5G-enabled viable business arrangements we have opened some of our
smartphones are in the shops are found. In that respect 5G technical working groups to
and you can try them. That is no different to other new external participants. The
is, if you happen to be within technologies. results are encouraging; a prime
the coverage of a 5G network, Meanwhile, the 5G example is the recently published
which are currently limited to standardization continues at Tech Report 054: ‘5G for the
some large cities. Perhaps this is a somewhat slower pace as Distribution of Audiovisual Media
understandable, as 5G is mainly physical meetings are currently Content and Services’.
used to provide consumer not possible. 3GPP has just A step up in this respect was
broadband – the same service finalized Release 16, with many the creation of the 5G Media
that is available on 4G/LTE new features and the work on Action Group (5G-MAG), a
networks, which already have Release 17 is well under way. cross-industry association with a
widespread network coverage, In ETSI, different bits of 3GPP mission to facilitate the adoption
and on fixed networks. Hence, specifications that, of 5G technology in the global
the network operators are taken together, define 5G media sector. These are still early
investing in 5G where it makes Broadcast have been collected in days, but 5G-MAG is up and
commercial sense for them. TS 103 720, due to be approved running and its work is gathering
However, best-effort pace.
broadband access will not excite GET INVOLVED! In a broader 5G context the
many professional users. For We organize industry-wide focus is widening to include
them 5G is attractive because collaboration to ensure 5G is fit commercial, regulatory
it is designed for very high for media. Individuals can join and policy aspects where
throughput, low-latency, high two working groups: 5G in new questions arise around
reliability, guaranteed QoS, and Content Production and 5G equipment availability, network
flexible deployments, including Deployments. Companies can security, resilience and coverage,
in private networks. Many of join 5G-MAG. safety, and health impact.
these features are beyond the See tech.ebu.ch/ourwork and We will keep you posted. Stay
capabilities of the early 5G 5g-mag.com. tuned and stay well.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020 5
Pivoting to the cloud for production
The quest to build and integrate cloud-based workflows for real-time live production has begun,
write Hans Hoffmann and Ievgen Kostiukevych. The EBU will ensure broadcasters get an edge
as the ecosystems evolve.
COVID-19 caught the world off- “The change that is now under way will be
guard. All industries urgently
needed to come up with even more dramatic than the transition to IP
solutions for business continuity. initially seemed five years ago. New paradigms
For broadcasters, this meant
finding remote and distributed need to be adapted – and very quickly!”
production solutions. And for
most of them, the cloud, in one
form or another, was the answer.
The real-life proofs-of- workflows may be enabled in the Audio Engineering Society or
concept that resulted have future, we must nevertheless ask the ST2110-WAN and GCCG
demonstrated clearly that using what portion of our production (ground-cloud-cloud-ground)
the ‘public cloud’ for remote and remains truly time-sensitive? projects from the Video Services
distributed media production, Where can compromises be Forum.
and even live, is a genuine value made in favour of greater SRT (open source) and
proposition for the future. And flexibility? RIST (standardized by VSF)
while some broadcasters have Up to now, broadcaster both solve at least one of
opted for ‘cloudifying’ their adoption of IP-based technology the essential puzzle pieces
existing workflows, others have for live production has focused in contribution applications,
successfully started using the on the ‘ST 2110 plus NMOS’ targeting video transport at
growing portfolio of native ecosystem. Though the complete low latency over unmanaged
media-tailored services from protocol stack isn’t quite there networks. Although both
cloud providers. These first yet, early implementations are asynchronous, they are
solutions have not been perfect have provided confidence that supported by major cloud
– far from it – but they have it will be the go-to solution to providers either as a native
provided quick and effective offer reliability and flexibility offering or with minimal
solutions under highly unusual for open high-performance integration required.
and difficult circumstances. uncompressed infrastructures. The change that is now under
ST 2110 plus NMOS provides way will be even more dramatic
STUMBLING BLOCKS a solid basis for on-site time- than the transition to IP initially
It quickly became apparent that sensitive infrastructures, like local seemed five years ago. New
most of the in-studio standards MCRs and local IBCs. However, paradigms need to be adopted
and protocols currently used are for high-quality live production, – and very quickly! The cloud
not designed for cloud-based uncompressed UHD/HD bit rates giants are investing much
systems. The architects had to can quickly make the use of more into R&D than a union
evaluate the connectivity type cloud-based systems impossible. of broadcasters can afford.
(public internet, direct, or WAN There is a clear need for new They will soon take the media
connection) and, depending mezzanine bit-rate compression industry by storm with new
on the options, consider link solutions that will ensure offerings that are not built on
properties like latency, reliability, manageable bandwidth and a legacy broadcasting mindset.
security, and bandwidth costs, even for high-value high- We will have to live with that,
requirements. quality cloud-based or hybrid adopt them, and use them to
Another stumbling block productions. our benefit or, in the longer
was that the public cloud is term, be bold with a European
asynchronous, both historically NEW STANDARDS? counterpart cloud like GAIA-X.
and by nature. Imaginative There is a lot going on. Some In any case, we need
hacks were required to enable of the big industry players to establish constructive
synchronous and time-sensitive are investigating ways of dialogue as a collective with
workflows. Public cloud retrofitting existing solutions cloud providers. By giving
providers are only now starting into a ‘cloudy’ future. In parallel, them early insights on what
to investigate offering multicast SDOs have launched initiatives kind of solutions work and
and PTP for their customers. to enable time-sensitive cloud which requirements are still
While the offer of native applications in a relatively to be addressed, there is an
media services is continuously seamless way. Examples include opportunity to shape these
expanding, and synchronous AES67-over-WAN from the upcoming offerings.
6 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020
How COVID-19 accelerated cloud-
based production in Belgium
In the rush to quickly address the challenge of producing television during a lockdown, ongoing
research at the Video Snackbar Hub provided the right solution at the right time. Karel De
Bondt (VRT) and Hugo Ortiz (RTBF) tell the story.
In actively seeking to understand
the future of broadcasting,
we had been eager to explore
how software solutions derived
from the live streaming and
gaming world could improve the
workflows of live multi-camera
video production. Through a
collaboration with the Video One of the first recordings of VRT’s Trial setup, with a special guest!
Snackbar Hub (see boxed text), Ketnet that used the cloud-based
set-up, on 26 March 2020.
we were studying the readiness
of cloud infrastructure for
live multicam production. We technology itself; rather, it was its operation in preparation for a
found that the combination of to train and engage everyone possible second COVID-19 wave.
cloud-based virtual machines involved in the production.
– each with a dedicated GPU The necessary buttons had TUTORIAL AVAILABLE
(graphics processing unit) – and to be pressed and everyone The lessons we learned have
the well-known live production had to communicate in a clear been gathered in a tutorial
software vMix enabled us to and timely manner. Even once paper called How to set up
produce live shows of moderate the lockdown had finished a cloud-based high-end live
complexity. And with the arrival and people in Belgium could remote multicam production
of the COVID-19 pandemic, what get back to work, content (see tinyurl.com/vsh-tutorial). It
initially served as a research producers at VRT and RTBF explains how to set up a virtual
study quickly became reality. continued to use this co-built machine (with dedicated GPU)
infrastructure. On top of that, in the cloud, suitable for live
LOCKDOWN! we have continued to improve multi-camera production. The
As of mid-March this year, paper also shows how to set
Belgium went into lockdown. up and run a vMix production
This served to accelerate our on this machine. We provided
work and brought it into the an overview at the EBU’s online
spotlight. By the end of the Network Technology Seminar
second lockdown week we had 2020. (EBU Members can access
produced live on-air content the video at tech.ebu.ch/
from the cloud with this setup. nts2020.)
It turned out that the Another Video Snackbar Hub
hardest part was not the project that generated a lot of
interest during the lockdown,
The Video Snackbar Hub is a was the organization of two
community of like-minded webinars on how to continue
media players from both public media production during the
and commercial media pandemic. In these interactive
organizations. It’s designed to seminars, content creators
support and connect content and technologists from media
creators internationally while helping companies all over Europe and
them explore new technologies, ideas and workflows. Besides the US shared tips and tricks
collaborating on web video, podcasting, live streaming and future on how to adapt normal daily
broadcast technology, the hub also facilitates the exchange of work practices to the quarantine
knowledge with other innovative media companies. Launched as circumstances. People from
a VRT initiative, in close collaboration with RTBF, the Video all over the world joined the
Snackbar Hub now has 13 members, including Red Bull Media webinar, sharing thoughts and
House, TV2 Norway, SBS, Radio France, Yle and others. questions in the chatroom. Both
Visit: videosnackbarhub.com webinars are available to view on
the Video Snackbar Hub website.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020 7
Partnership is central to radio’s
in-car future
Asha Knight, Distribution Manager for BBC Digital Partnerships, outlines the organization’s plan
to maintain prominence for BBC’s audio services in connected cars.
My role within the listen to BBC Radio 1
BBC Digital Partners in the car but on
Team predominantly those rare occasions
looks at radio and where there was
music. Some of the nothing decent (e.g.
questions I seek to weekend evenings,
answer are whether which even now are
there is new exclusively reserved
technology out there for the kind of dance
that will help BBC music I loathe), I’d
reach new audiences experiment with
through its radio and plugging an AUX
music output; or how cable into an iPod of
we can work with predownloaded
existing partners to music.
improve, build upon Fast forward to last
or extend our radio summer when I hired
and music output in a a car with Apple
way that’s compatible CarPlay, enabling me
with BBC’s to stream whatever I
distribution policy. I wanted, wherever I
also investigate which wanted, from my
external influences will phone. These phone-
shape how people tethered solutions,
consume radio and though, are the tip of
music moving forward the iceberg: car
and how we can manufacturers are
collaborate in this. now predominantly
It is then, perhaps, focused on creating
unsurprising that a lot embedded connected
of my energy recently solutions within the
has been focused on car dashboard, with
connectivity in cars. no onus on the driver
This is particularly to use their mobile
important to us at the phone at all. For
BBC because roughly public service media
a third of all radio (PSM) organizations
listening takes place like the BBC, this
in the car, leaves us wondering,
representing around within connected
13% of all time spent vehicles that offer a
with the BBC by our diverse range of
UK audiences. (To put on-demand listening
that into perspective, options, how can we
that’s only a little help preserve and
under half the time evolve the unique
spent with our flagship television BBC Sounds on Apple CarPlay experience that radio gives
channel BBC One – so it’s clear drivers?
that a significant proportion of One response to this, was the
the value the BBC offers to its creation of BBC Sounds, which
audiences is in the car.) audio industry have changed is presented to users as “your
exponentially in the last decade favourite programmes, podcasts,
FROM AUX TO DASHBOARD and will continue to do so. Ten radio stations and music all in
Both the auto industry and the years ago, I would endlessly one place”.
8 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020
Join the
Since BBC radio began in 1922, directly from advertising.
we’ve put audiences at the heart In addition, in the emerging,
of our content and distribution. fractured market broadcasters
The BBC’s mission is to “serve all
audiences through the provision
are at risk of losing probably the
most important key to success connected
of impartial, high-quality and
distinctive output and services
in the digital world: the ability to
receive, own and use audience cars
discussion
which inform, educate and data.
entertain”. It is this need to
provide a broad range of RADIOPLAYER’S ROLE
content – consistently high in The best way to counter these Ben Poor, EBU
quality but diverse in nature, risks is to work together as an
providing something for industry to support car Connected devices, especially
everyone – that drove us to companies in delivering high for in-vehicle entertainment,
design BBC Sounds. When it quality hybrid radio experiences are key platforms for EBU
became clear that online into cars, direct to a fully Members. This is an area that
listening was increasing and that connected dashboard. The BBC brings both challenges and
new technologies and innovative is a shareholder in a joint opportunities for public
commercial products were venture, Radioplayer UK, that service media (PSM). It is
shaping audience expectations, aims to do just that. The about making use of
it was essential for the BBC to initiative offers a simple broadcast, for ensuring the
develop a service that could exchange. On one side, reach of content, alongside the
keep pace. Radioplayer will develop internet for personalization
technology and support open and attribution.
BBC SOUNDS IN THE CAR standards for hybrid radio, which The EBU Connected Cars
Now we have that service, all broadcast partners can work and Devices group provides a
alongside traditional linear with. It will guarantee carriage forum for Members to discuss
broadcast radio, we need to for all partners’ services (radio their projects and strategies,
ensure that it is working in every stations and apps), across as well as discovering what
environment in which it is used, Europe. might lie in the future.
including the connected car. On the other side, it will offer Engaging with both the auto
While creating a brilliant PSM car manufacturers a simple industry and the Big Tech
audio product is part of the solution: access to its basic companies is another key
picture, ensuring that these aggregated metadata delivery strand. Discussions like these
services – and traditional radio system along with a set of catalyse collaboration and the
– have due prominence and are designs, sample code, technical development of an aligned
accessed easily by drivers is support, and radio-product vision in a way that is good for
another crucial part. design principles. And all this at PSM and thus good for
We recognize, however, that no cost, providing the car audiences.
we are not alone in this. All manufacturers support its Ensuring free and fair access
broadcasters – both PSM and standards and include all to in-car platforms for PSM is
commercial – have a vested stations and services. essential, now and in the
interest in adapting and securing I wrote above about how I future. Important aspects
radio’s central position within accessed audio in cars ten years include prominence and
cars, which is the primary reason ago versus today. I believe that discoverability, as well as
the EBU Connected Car Group in another ten years’ time, when finding agreement on the need
was formed (see separate I switch my car on, BBC Radio 1 to maintain the direct link
article). will be as easy to find as it is between PSM organizations
Without some protection, now. Additionally, the service will and their audiences. The
whether delivered by regulation be flawless, the metadata will be Connected Cars and Devices
or commercial negotiation, richer, and when the dance group is an ideal place to
broadcasters will lose the music kicks in, a BBC Sounds define and work towards these
essential benefits that provided podcast will be recommended goals.
the foundation for the pre- to me and will be as easy to
digital market: prominence for access as the radio is. For more information contact
radio in the infotainment space; One thing is for certain, we – Ben Poor (poor@ebu.ch)
editorial control over what the radio industry – won’t be or visit: tech.ebu.ch/
content is delivered and how; able to achieve this unless we connected-cars
direct attribution back to the work together.
content-maker’s brand and – for
commercial broadcasters – the
ability to receive revenue
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020 9
At the cutting edge of PITFALLS OF
OFF-THE-SHELF AI
metadata for media
Hanna Lukashevich, Fraunhofer IDMT
Applying off-the-shelf AI-based
solutions for automatic metadata
extraction often delivers unexpected or
The annual MDN Workshop is a veritable treasure trove undesired behaviour and unsatisfactory
of resources and inspiration for getting more out of results. This mismatch between the
expectations and results is rooted in
metadata. Here we present just a small selection of the
various types of bias that are introduced
models and use cases that were presented at last June’s
along the AI pipeline. The developer of
event. the AI solution makes multiple non-
Unlike most other EBU T&I events, the presentations technical decisions on the choice of
from the MDN Workshop are not behind a login – we metadata categories and classes, and
want to spread the metadata gospel far and wide! selects representative training and test
Find these and many more contributions from the data along with evaluation measures for
Metadata Developer Network at: tech.ebu.ch/mdn2020 quality control. Often these decisions
are strongly influenced by the most
easily available high-quality datasets
and are not necessarily consistent with
later use cases.
AI is not magic. The mathematical
concepts within AI require consistency
of assumptions on data across training
and at deployment. As every business
is unique, AI components must be
adapted, but it is usually worth the
effort to achieve a solution that really
fits the business.
PERSONALIZING NEWSLETTERS
Figure 1: AI-based tools allowed France Télévisions journalists to tell new
stories during the local election campaign in spring 2020.
IN BELGIUM
Emilie Nenquin, VRT
POLITICAL STORYTELLING IN FRANCE
Matthieu Parmentier, France Télévisions Big Data, User Data, Metadata, … There
are many buzz words, but what can
In February 2020, tools allow the production of we do with all this data? At VRT we
campaigning began for local meaningful statistics for each want our data projects to generate
elections across 36,000 debate. Combining data from immediate added value for the end
French cities. A few weeks several debates enabled new user. Data sources are ingested into
before, France Télévisions had stories to be told, making use our data lake if they are needed for a
launched a new department of charts, timelines or maps use case and only if that use case
dedicated to data and AI, and (Figure 1). Beyond political generates direct value to the end user.
this period of political debates, the same tools help This principle was applied to
campaigning offered an ideal with describing content and optimizing our digital communication
opportunity to conduct some extracting insights to enrich based on user data and metadata. We
first experiments. metadata and serve concrete performed different tests with
When it comes to political use cases such as indexation, impressive results. Personalized
debates, commentators and recommendation or newsletters for our on-demand
data journalists can benefit marketing. These analysis platform, based on location or topic,
greatly from tools that take tools are now are in resulted in increased open and click-
advantage of speech-to-text, production, available for other through rates of respectively 30% and
facial recognition, OCR applications. They were used, 55%. This personalization reduced the
(optical character for example, to analyse the churn rate (unsubscribes). And alerting
recognition) and natural 16,000 sentences written by users to the fact that content on our
language processing France Télévisions’ employees video platform would disappear within
technologies. By recognizing asked to describe their work six days drove an average of 3–7% of
and classifying topics experience during the recipients to watch that content in the
associated with their COVID-19 lockdown. days after receiving the message.
respective speakers, these
10 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020LINKING METADATA FROM END
TO END
Sports odds and
racing results
Mark Gülbahar, IRT
The dwerft project aims to maintain
Radio schedules
all metadata created throughout
processes along the entire media
value chain. Why? Because metadata
is key when we talk about searching
and finding audiovisual content. And
key to being found as a content
provider across all distribution
platforms.
Classified advertisements
Although precise metadata does
Television schedules exist, it gets lost within the various
processes. Creating metadata
Figure 2: At ABC, the Doc2Vec technique is used to distinguish radio manually, as it is – still – done
and television guides from similar content nowadays, is highly expensive, and
the same goes for AI.
ANALYSING SCHEDULES IN AUSTRALIA We’re following a completely
Lizbeth Moore, Trish Hoyne and Michael Easthope, ABC different approach that we believe
could revolutionise the future of
Last year, the information governance team of Australian media production, by gathering,
broadcaster ABC set out to see if it could produce a single structuring, and reusing all metadata
set of data that would consistently identify and describe created throughout the entire
every programme broadcast or published on ABC – production process on a semantic,
television, radio or online – since 1932. Using EBUCore, meaningful level.
EBU CCDM and the EBU media value chain, along with the With dwerft, all data for a
EIDR (Entertainment Identifier Registry) content and video production can be queried or edited
services data models, the team developed a semantic data at any point in time, and the manual
prototype, abcCodex. takeover of data becomes obsolete.
The prototype uses these data models, pattern Linking to external ontologies and
recognition and natural language processing to transform knowledge bases (such as DBPedia,
digitized radio and television guides in newspapers and IMDB, etc.), as well as other features,
magazines held by the National Library of Australia into a complete the solution.
set of semantic data that describes the ABC’s scheduled More details on the architecture, as
broadcast events and programme information. The well as some of the novel, ground-
prototype will make this information available to internal breaking scenarios in development,
users at ABC, audiences and stakeholders to browse, are available here:
search, query and integrate using ABC’s in-house semantic dwerft.de/en/scenarios/
service platform.
GETTING SMART ABOUT DATA PLATFORMS
Jürgen Grupp, SWR; Fabius Klemm, SRG SSR
“Poor data quality is the unintended consequence of data
silos and poor data & analytics governance.” This statement,
from a 2019 Gartner report on data management, sounds
so true if you have ever encountered the atonal triad of
application integration: siloed applications, limited APIs, and
vendor-specific data models. Aargh!
What can we do? We need to break up the silos. We need
to link our data and create value from them. And we need
to speed up integration. But how? Our current integration
Figure 3: Adding a new integration pattern for
patterns – “point-to-point” and “bus” – won’t suffice. We
data
must add a new one: smart data platforms (Figure 3).
Smart data platforms reduce vendor lock-in and increase
data ownership. They reduce time-to-market and increase opportunities to exploit potential. They are
cloud-ready and an ideal source (and target!) for AI applications. If this all sounds appealing, you can
learn more by watching our presentations from the 2019 and 2020 MDN workshops.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020 11How does digital transformation
happen in the real world?
April 2020 saw the publication of the Digital Transformation Initiative Casebook, a report
showcasing inspiring projects from across the EBU membership. Sasha Scott, who led the
report’s creation, explains how the Casebook, and a forthcoming Playbook, can help Members.
Digital transformation means
different things to different
people, with many associating
it primarily with technology and
tools. Even if the media industry
has developed a broader and
deeper understanding of the
term in recent years, it is still a
valid question to wonder how
operating remits or workforce
agreements fit into the digital
transformation picture. However,
when you start to unpack these
issues and see what they look
like for Members, the links and
the complexities become clear.
practices of technology – to provides a lens for looking at
UNBLOCKING build PSM that are more agile, your own company and asking
TRANSFORMATION experimental and adaptable to “does this, or something like
At Rai, long and highly politicized change. Approached like this, this, exist in my company? Could
negotiations over a new public ‘digital’ is the context; it’s the it, and if not, why not?” And
mandate resulted in the legal world we live in. understanding the “why not” is
obligation to become a digital It’s not always an easy message crucial.
and multimedia organization, to get across. Our first step was The Casebook is the first of a
to drive innovation, and even to develop a framework that pair of complementary reports.
to raise digital literacy levels in brought all these enablers for The second – the DTI Playbook,
Italy. Similarly, France Télévisions transformation together, but it available later this year – focuses
negotiated a landmark legal remained a bit in the abstract. on the design and execution of
agreement that enables the So, we wanted to make it real company-wide transformation
company to recruit new staff through the work of Members. initiatives. The two reports
with the digital skills needed for This is why we have written the will combine as a tool to help
their transformation and develop DTI Casebook. It contains 18 Members refine their own
a training programme to upskill examples that cover the broad approach to transformation.
current staff. These were major spectrum of transformation, Just as we were finalizing the
blocking points before. from leadership to data, and Casebook, COVID-19 spread
Both these examples show from partnerships to innovation. throughout Europe. Now, nearly
that despite being far from The point is that successful five months on, we can clearly
‘digital’ issues themselves, they transformation needs a holistic see both the huge disruption and
were highly strategic activities approach across all the dynamics acceleration caused by the crisis.
that have proved critical in and domains of a PSM company. The principles in the framework
enabling the transformation of Without the big picture, efforts and the examples in the
these companies. This is why we will only ever be partial, and Casebook still hold true. I would
always emphasise that digital impact therefore limited. argue, however, that the crisis
transformation can never be has moved the imperative for
reduced to technology alone. CASEBOOK & PLAYBOOK transformation from important to
At the EBU Digital It was really important to us that critical, and the cost of failure has
Transformation Initiative (DTI), the stories were told through the risen exponentially. At the same
our focus is organizational voices of the people responsible, time, seeing how Members have
change – speeding up the so the reader really gets the feel responded is both encouraging
way things work, flattening for what transformation looks an inspiring.
hierarchies, being data-driven, and feels like on the day-to-day, EBU Members can download
developing future skills, and operational level. The Casebook the DTI Casebook here:
leveraging the processes and is not a ‘how-to’ manual, but it ebu.ch/digital-transformation
12 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020Shifting to OPEX through
serverless and microservices
Alexandre Rouxel describes how an EBU-led open source project enables media companies to
shift from CAPEX to OPEX for a range of functions by embracing serverless architecture and
microservices.
Most broadcasters today a service – so the scaling of
are using cloud services the underlying containers
in some ways, but the to absorb the workload
cloud continues to change is managed by the cloud
fast, and attractive new providers. With the functions
possibilities have opened. directly exposed to the
The latest trend is towards users, the development of
‘serverless’ architecture the related applications or
and what is known as services is simplified and the
FaaS – function as a time to market is reduced.
service – opening the door The MCMA group has
to an entirely new way of worked closely with the
running media services. cloud providers to optimize
Importantly, by adopting the use of native cloud
FaaS, media companies services and still provide
can shift their costs from interoperability across
CAPEX to OPEX, a key providers. CICD (continuous
benefit of moving to a integration and continuous
cloud-first strategy. Schematic overview of MCMA delivery) pipelines are an
essential part of MCMA.
FREE & OPEN SOURCE ‘microservices’ involves breaking Enhancements have been
An EBU project called MCMA, the media services – which made over time to streamline
standing for Media Cloud could be used for anything from accessibility and simplify the
Microservice Architecture, speech-to-text to publishing learning curve for deploying and
provides a painless way of content to social media platforms managing cloud infrastructure.
adopting serverless architecture – into small functions that can MCMA comes as a set of
and implementing media be spun up and run directly in a libraries – developed on different
workflows in the cloud. Created ‘container’ on the cloud. cloud platforms, AWS, Azure
as an open source project, free Because cloud providers use and GCP – that allow you to
to use and available on GitHub, a pay-as-you-go principle and sequence services and to track
it offers reusable services that linear charges, also imposing and manage jobs. The libraries
can apply to all applications and a maximum running time of 15 and foundational services take
infrastructures across multiple minutes for any single function, into consideration security and
cloud providers. the costs are entirely predictable. management best practices
As proof that it is production- There is an incentive to define the for cloud infrastructure. MCMA
ready, MCMA has been used at microservices so that they won’t provides three main types of
Bloomberg for almost two years hit the time constraint barrier services related to:
now, across a variety of media – more is better! Keep in mind, • Data storage and operations;
workflows from production however, that there will be a ‘cold • Job execution and
to distribution. A primary start’ effect: if a resource needed management; and
contributor to MCMA, Bloomberg for a function is not requested, • Service definition and
reports that the implementation the container is stopped, and it abstraction.
of MCMA-based workflows has takes some time to spin it up. The MCMA group, chaired by
improved leveraging of cloud- Bloomberg’s Chief Architect
based resources and alignment SIMPLIFIED DEVELOPMENT Loïc Barbou, has begun a
with both technology and Another benefit of FaaS and standardization process at
business goals. MCMA is that developers SMPTE and the Open Services
To benefit from serverless and can remain focused on the Alliance for Media. The core of
FaaS, it is necessary to have a development of the functions the standard proposal is about
strategy for the architecture, defining the application. The work job management, message
configuration and deployment happens one level of abstraction formatting and activity tracking.
of your code. This is precisely up from the previous approach Learn more about MCMA:
what MCMA offers. The use of known as IaaS – infrastructure as tech.ebu.ch/groups/mcma
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020 13Many languages, one interface
EuroVOX is the result of an EBU collaborative development that is helping Members to reduce
cost and complexity when it comes to transcription and translation. Ben Poor explains how it
works.
Translation and transcription
tools have become commonplace
at broadcaster facilities, as
journalists and programme-
makers use of and produce
content in multiple languages
and for multiple purposes. In
a globalized world, the ability
to shift seamlessly from one
language to another helps to
ensure the flow of news, culture
and entertainment.
Typically, EBU Members make
use of language tools from
different vendors to fulfil different
use cases. Some tools might be
stronger in a given language, infrastructure. multiple transcriptions using
or others for a particular type To deploy the EuroVOX core different vendors and re-render
of content. And the quality and layer, both code and Docker the video in a choice of outputs.
performance of these machine- images are available to deploy in These include a re-spoken audio
learning-based tools will vary over the cloud or entirely on-premise. track, burned-in subtitles in the
time as models are updated and Adapters for several different original language, or embedded
refined. vendors are already available, subtitles in multiple translated
meaning you need only to add languages – a versatile tool for
INTEGRATION COSTS & LOCK-IN your credentials to start using making content truly multi-lingual.
One of the challenges of using them. Alternatively, writing AudioVOX also allows an editor
multiple tools from multiple adapters for additional vendors to rapidly make corrections to
vendors is that each one involves or your own technology is the transcription, translations,
integration into your existing straightforward. or even the timing of sentences.
production workflows. This leads The advantage of implementing This ease-of-use increases the
to added costs over and above EuroVOX on your own amount of content that can
the usage fees for the tool itself, infrastructure, even if you use be transcribed and translated.
and a tendency towards vendor a limited set of vendors, is that Additionally, the tool is designed
lock-in. it allows the freedom to easily to be integrated into existing
Fortunately, the EBU has change vendors at a later stage. production workflows.
developed a solution for this For example, if your organization EuroVOX users can also
problem. decides to start producing access regularly scheduled
EuroVOX is an open toolkit content in a new language that benchmarking to compare the
that allows single integration to requires a new vendor, you can performance of different vendors
multiple language tool vendors. change or add providers at the and automatically propose the
It consists of a core layer that push of a button. A one-time right vendor for the right task.
serves as a single open API for integration of EuroVOX avoids the The roadmap for the project
machine-learning-based language need for additional integrations of includes adding real-time
tools, along with additional tools other tools later on. transcription and speaker
that provide a tailored interface diarization, as well as methods to
for specific production tasks. EuroVOX TO AudioVOX enhance tools like AudioVOX with
For EBU Members, the Other tools available in the collaborative editing – allowing
EuroVOX core layer is already project include AudioVOX (see teams of producers to work
freely available for deployment. screenshot), which uses the core on the best transcription and
It is currently being deployed layer to provide a web-based translation for content.
by IRT and the Eurovision News tool for easily transcribing and
Exchange on a trial basis, with translating audio and video To learn more about EuroVOX,
more members interested in content. This makes it possible to to try it out for yourself, or to
either using an EBU-hosted ingest video content, transcribe join the collaboration visit:
service or running it on their own it using a choice of vendors, add tech.ebu.ch/eurovox.
14 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS
All together now – 100 sustainable
productions in Germany
The German film and television industry has come together to collaborate on reducing the
environmental impact of their productions. Philip Gassmann, a Munich-based expert in
sustainable production, describes some of the steps being taken.
Creating a nationwide system When it comes to car fleets, PROOF OF CONCEPT
for green film and television allowing only hybrid, natural I am very confident that we
productions in Germany. This gas or electric cars results in a can lower the emissions of
was the main idea behind a 50–90% reduction in CO2 and our industry dramatically by
project that has been over other harmful substances. Also following these rules. And that
three years in the making within related to transport, flights are is what we’re testing right
the “Green Shooting” group, only allowed if the equivalent now. As a proof of concept,
initiated by the MFG (Film Fund train ride lasts longer than five the “100 Green Productions”
Baden-Württemberg) and joined hours. This again has a major are combined with a scientific
by the Film Fund Hamburg. The impact on our carbon footprint. evaluation of the project, and
group meets several times each When the crew reaches the the efficacity of the measures
year and attracts more members destination, hotels are often and the system itself.
every time. another big CO2 factor. We Another key finding: a
The project has now evolved encourage productions to sustainable film or television
into an unprecedented initiative switch to sustainable hotels with production is on the winning
involving almost every major renewable electricity or to use side financially-speaking as well,
German television channel (both apartments and houses, which since our aim is to save energy,
public and private), along with have a much lower impact in fuels and materials. And even on
several production companies, general. the creative side, many green
film funds and associations. Turning to the production technologies offer new creative
Together they have committed site, diesel generators must be tools and possibilities.
to “100 Green Productions” avoided or replaced by hybrid So, watch this space… to be
during 2020 and 2021. systems, which usually also continued!
means at least 50% less CO2. Big
GREEN GUIDELINES LED units and innovative lighting
I was asked to write the rules systems can replace many
and guidelines for this effort. I conventional light sources and
wanted them to be as simple help reduce both consumption The EBU has established a
and – most importantly – as and the size of the generators sustainability working group.
effective as possible in terms required. Constructing sets For more details please
of environmental impact and with sustainable materials and visit tech.ebu.ch/green
success. We ended up with a especially reusing them has or contact Hemini Mehta
set of 17 guidelines that cover proved to be another huge (mehta@ebu.ch).
the most important aspects of positive factor.
this issue subdivided into three
categories:
1. Reduction of CO2 emissions,
the main driver of climate
change;
2. Using fewer natural resources;
3. Protection of the environment
against harmful substances.
© MFG Baden-Württemberg
Our main focus is on the use of
energy and fuels, as this is where
we have the potential to achieve
the highest savings in terms of
CO2 emissions. Switching to
renewable electricity in general
means 80–90% less CO2 in
Germany. And there are many
other important steps we can
take.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020 15IN MY OPINION
Stepping up media quality – the
challenge of the transition
David Wood suggests that having to replace user’s equipment can present a decisive barrier to
the evolution of media systems
How difficult is it to introduce a successful, and indeed aspects of
new system, once one is the second step. But will that be
established? In media, one of the the exception or the rule? The
barriers making that ‘step up’ ever cable television delivery system
more difficult once a base service is DVB-C, developed in the 1990s,
available, is that you may have to was certainly a success. A second
persuade people to change what step, DVB-C2 was developed a
they are already using and may be decade later and offered higher
happy with. capacity, more advanced
Look at radio. By the time DAB compression, and greater flexibility.
was developed in 1989 there were A version specified for Japan could
already about 400 million analogue carry 8K video – how forward-
radio sets in daily use in Europe. In thinking can you get? The set
the beginning, DAB seemed makers (and me) were enthusiastic.
(including to the author) to be the Did DVB-C2 actually get used? You
brightest star in the universe: more know the answer - it is no…the
radio stations and better sound transition was going to be too
quality. Who could ask for more? difficult.
Today, thirty years later, DAB (or About eight years ago, new
the more advanced DAB+) is image and sound systems requiring
certainly successful in some new equipment were developed;
countries, but it has not swept the UHDTV-1, UHDTV-2, and Next
world. Recently, the Republic of Generation Audio. They can offer
Ireland even turned off its DAB+ better images and sound. Going
trial services, which were barely further, today, new compression
listened to. Back in the day, did I technologies have been developed,
and others underestimate the and should be available in the
difficulty of persuading people to coming years. They will reduce the
change what they already have? If I bandwidth needed by new systems,
said today: “How about changing and thus make it more feasible to
to a DAB+2?”, what would you say? broadcast them, as far as radio
How about the internet? Since spectrum is concerned. But will
the 1970s, the basic Internet that be enough for success?
Protocol has been IPv4. It has been
at least twenty years since an MOST DIFFICULT BARRIER
improved version, IPv6, was When it comes to making decisions
developed as an intended about introducing new services,
replacement for IPv4, with a much maybe the hard decisions will not
larger capacity for internet be about technology alone, but
addresses. It then sounded (once about whether and how the new
again, including to the author) an systems can be introduced,
“Making the obvious need and an obvious step carrying with them the acceptance
up as internet use grew. Yet today, of all? Will all those in the chain
transition to the IPv4 still routes most internet who need to be, be persuaded to
next step in the traffic. Changing to IPv6 requires change their equipment?
people to change equipment – and Though far from the only barrier,
media experience this, it seems, is asking a lot. a lesson of history may be that
can be a mountain making the transition to the next
DIGITAL TV: AN EXCEPTION? step in the media experience can
to climb if users Maybe having taken a first step to be a mountain to climb if users will
will need to digital television, it is also going to need to change their equipment.
be a lot harder to take the next This may be even the most difficult
change their step up? The transition to digital barrier to the evolution of the
equipment.” television’s first step was media.
16 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2020You can also read
