THE MEDIA INDUSTRY TRANSITION TO IP: MAKING THE TECHNOLOGY CASE - Presented by and - Cisco
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THE MEDIA INDUSTRY
TRANSITION TO IP:
MAKING THE
TECHNOLOGY CASE
Presented by
and
EDITOR’S PAGE
MAKING THE CASE: TELEVISION’S
INEVITABLE TECHNOLOGY
TRANSITION TO IP
T
he signs are everywhere— annual Visual Networking Index predicts that globally, consumer
television is moving to internet video traffic will be 80% of all consumer Internet traffic in
IP. On the distribution 2019, up from 64% in 2014. Here a few more statistics from that re-
side, the rapid increase in OTT port to ponder:
services as well as advances in Internet video to TV will continue to grow at a rapid pace, increas-
fiber deployments have helped ing fourfold by 2019. Internet video to TV traffic will be 17% of con-
expand and diversify the options sumer Internet video traffic by 2019, up from 16 percent in 2014.
consumers have in how they ac- Consumer VoD traffic will double by 2019 with HD comprising
cess their favorite programs as 70% of IP VOD traffic in 2019, up from 59% in 2014.
well as news and sports. Behind By 2019, 72 percent of all Internet video traffic will cross content
the scenes, broadcasters and delivery networks, up from 57% in 2014.
related media enterprises are Moving to IP is not as easy as it sounds. In the television industry,
looking at new developments in the vast majority of video still exists in a baseband/SDI format and
cloud-based and virtualization transitioning to an all IP ecosystem will take time. We are an indus-
technologies and realizing the try built on standards and new products based on the SMPTE-2022-6
benefits of software-defined net- standard—which defines a unidirectional IP-based protocol for the
working and SaaS (software as a service) offerings. Many of these terms transport of real-time video, audio, and ancillary signals—will help
were practically unknown to the broadcast market as recently as five broadcasters maintain quality and reliability in the transition.
years ago; a testament to the accelerating pace of change. In this ebook, sponsored by Cisco, we take a look at several aspects
Why move to an IP-based environment? The reasons are obvi- of this transition, including raising the question of whether or not
ous: IP offers unprecedented scalability and flexibility in launching your facility is “cloud-ready” and examining the technology behind
new channels and efficiently operating existing ones. While the cost software-defined networks. We hope you find the discussions in this
savings may not be initially evident, the payout in terms of quicker ebook stimulating and informative, and we welcome your feedback
reaction time to market changes and expanded services for consum- on this important topic. n
ers pays off in the end. The cloud is also increasingly important to
broadcasters, in terms of archiving original content, managing exist- Tom Butts
ing content and helping broadcasters fulfill consumers’ mandate of Editor-in-Chief
providing any content to any device at any time. TV Technology
But perhaps the most compelling reasons come from Cisco, whose tbutts@nbmedia.com
CONTENTS
3 Finding Safety And 5 Believe It or Not, 6 A Software-Defined 8 Four Steps to Moving to
Productivity In the Cloud You Are Cloud-Ready Future for Broadcast? IP-Based Video Production
By Ian MacSpadden By Stan Moote By James Careless By James Careless
2 T H E M E D I A I N D U S T RY T R A N S I T I O N T O I P : M A K I N G T H E T E C H N O L O G Y C A S E
FINDING SAFETY AND
PRODUCTIVITY IN THE CLOUD
Broadcasters seek ‘business agility’
By Ian MacSpadden
F
or anyone who doubts the ability of cloud-based systems to satellite coming online that could deliver terabytes of data for his sub-
handle large-scale broadcast and media production capabili- scribers as an example. The only way to efficiently and cost effectively
ties, recent high-profile localized system failures at the NYSE provide that data is through an on-demand pull model.
and United Airlines should have them taking notice. Ian Fletcher, So the question arises: How can media companies find the means
CTO for Grass Valley, points to the July 8 failures, when the New to focus on their core content creation model, leverage the comput-
York Stock Exchange shut down for three hours and a computer fail- ing and storage capacity of the cloud, and still provide an acceptable
ure at United Airlines caused havoc with airline schedules, as exam- level of security? Jim Martinolich, vice president of integration tech-
ples of why broadcasters should be leveraging nologies for ChyronHego, which has been us-
the security and robustness of cloud-based ing a cloud-based distribution model for more
solutions and not relying solely on internal than five years, thinks cloud-based systems
systems. are the future.
Dave Rosen, vice president, Solutions and
Business Development at Sony, thinks the crit- SECURITY VS. ISOLATION
ical question that broadcasters and related me- Today, software continues to take over
dia enterprises need to ask is, “What business many of the functions in media production.
should I be in?” He explains that public cloud To manage the business’ hardware and soft-
providers have already given businesses across ware, SaaS solutions have to create an eco-
the board an ability to get back to their core system comprising connectivity, computing
competencies. “If I am in the business of mak- power, and storage. A private or self-hosted
ing movies, I shouldn’t be building data centers data center is a singular location using a spe-
and trying to keep bad guys out,” he said. cific number of machines, often with very fi-
nite resources that are able to only scale to the
INCREASING ACCEPTANCE resources at hand. A public data center like
Fletcher sees confusion about how cloud those of Microsoft, Amazon, and IBM are fully
Dave Rosen
and virtualized systems differ as the reason scalable and geographically diverse.
why more companies aren’t turning to the Steve Smith, CTO for Cloud Technologies
cloud. “A lot of vendors are talking about cloud services in a broad at Imagine Communications in Dallas, explains that true cloud-
sense,” he said. based services are not hosted by a specific machine but rather by a
A virtualized service is one that is taken offsite to a single location “something.” This may sound as nebulous as the term “cloud,” but
where a SaaS (software as a service) solution takes the service and it refers to how a software-based process can run across multiple
spreads the processing across multiple locations. He noted a change
in the level of acceptance as broadcasters become better educated
about the types of systems and their benefits. “It’s important that the cloud be integrated
“Last year customers were not sure about the technology, but to- into existing workflows so content can be
day it is the other way around, with clients and partners asking what managed across local facilities and the cloud.”
we have in the SaaS space,” Fletcher said. He feels the market now —Alex Grossman Quantum
demands business agility that only cloud-based systems can provide.
WSI, a Boston-based provider of weather systems, is using SaaS
to manage its huge amounts of data and deliver only what the client machines in multiple locations, and is never tied to a specific or
needs. “You have access to more data from a cloud-based service than singular device or group of devices.
the traditional method of downloading everything locally, whether it “Cloud providers have the skills and resources to make their plat-
was used or not,” said Jim Brihan, director of product management for forms robust and secure,” Smith said. “That is what they do and only
WSI. He sees an on-demand model replacing the original push model what they do.” Due to their sheer global size and resources, such pro-
for many data and content-based companies, referring to a new NOAA ´
T H E M E D I A I N D U S T RY T R A N S I T I O N T O I P : M A K I N G T H E T E C H N O L O G Y C A S E 3
viders have the money and staff to create safer data facilities than any rity of the localized portion of ingest and playout.
singular company could. “The cloud can provide huge benefits to broadcasters looking to
Grass Valley’s Fletcher concurs. “Broadcasters used to say ‘if we remain competitive in an increasingly more complex content man-
don’t own or control it, we don’t want it.’ But many now realize that agement and delivery market, said Alex Grossman, vice president,
they cannot build a data center as well as Amazon or Microsoft.” media and entertainment for Quantum. “The virtually unlimited
In fact data centers are less a hacking target than media enter- scalability and OPEX-based cost model of public clouds enables
prises, as hackers are often looking for the easiest system to get into. broadcasters to adapt to changing needs in their operations, rang-
One of the greatest benefits that Sony’s Rosen sees in SaaS is the ing from securely archiving owned content to expanding IP delivery
great equalizer that cloud computing presents. “The smallest compa- capabilities. By adding cloud services, broadcasters can also swift-
ny to the largest media conglomerate have the ly respond to fluctuating demands without
same access and cost for access,” he said. This making complex technology investments.
means that a small company that can’t afford However, it’s important that the cloud be in-
its own IT expert as well as a large corporation tegrated into existing workflows so content
that can employ dozens, can share the same can be managed across local facilities and the
level of service and security, evening the play- cloud.”
ing field in many ways.
THE NEW PARADIGM
BEGINNING WITH A HYBRID “I believe broadcast is dead and we are
Nevertheless, certain things don’t make moving towards a unicast personalized expe-
sense to do in the cloud, according to Fletcher, rience,” said Smith. Millennials consume most
who sees high-bandwidth transfers remaining of their media and entertainment from an
on the premises, while taking control and pro- on-demand pull model, while older viewers,
cessing services off the premises. Systems like for the most part, still partake in the traditional
WSI’s cloud-based weather system provides push model of broadcast, but that group will
users an interface to choose what material eventually phase out. “I think with the spec-
and data they need, which is then download- trum repack we will see some of the smaller
Steve Smith
ed locally and played off local hardware. “This broadcasters moving to a pure OTT play,”
Smith concluded.
Aspera, an IBM company, is already supplying SaaS services to
broadcasters, especially with sporting events. The functions for big
“I believe broadcast is dead and we are moving
events (broadcast, transcode, distribution) are perfect for the cloud
towards a unicast personalized experience.” as no capital expenditures (CAPEX) is required and the setup and de-
—Steve Smith ployment is much faster. “We see a lot of requests for our services for
Imagine Communications these time-bound events,” said Richard Heitmann, vice president of
marketing for Aspera.
In the future, broadcasters who add an OTT model could quickly
allows us to have more data available as we don’t have to push every- spin up channels for local or national events with strong social me-
thing to the station,” Brihan said. dia ties-ins. They could then offer tiered on-demand or live offer-
This “hybrid model” provides the benefits of leveraging cloud ings from free content with commercials to commercial-free UHD
computing for data aggregation, selection and distribution, but keep- content at a premium. The cloud could enable this by providing a
ing the playback locally. Even if the Internet connection is lost the cost-effective and secure way of creating virtual distribution chan-
data previously downloaded would all still be available locally and nels when they are needed and provide revenue streams not cur-
ready to play out. rently available.
“The hybrid model will help affect the transition over the next sev- “If a business does not work out they can just shut it down without
eral years,” said Fletcher, adding that his clients’ existing expensive dealing with ownership of legacy hardware, “ Smith said. This model
hardware has to phase out over time and allow a phasing in of a newer makes for a more nimble entry and exit into new businesses.
distribution model. Over time WSI plans to migrate all current products to the cloud
San Jose, Calif.-based Quantum Corp. is one of the hardware and all new ones will be cloud-based. “The handwriting is on the wall,
providers for the local data management portion of a hybrid model. and we are realizing the benefits of SaaS, as are our customers,” con-
Products like its StorNext line help improve the robustness and secu- cluded Brihan. n
4 T H E M E D I A I N D U S T RY T R A N S I T I O N T O I P : M A K I N G T H E T E C H N O L O G Y C A S E
BELIEVE IT OR NOT,
YOU ARE CLOUD-READY
Integration with public cloud services is easier than ever
By Stan Moote, CTO, IABM
O
ut of all the technologies broadcasters use, the cloud has to be multiplex, a streaming
the single most confusing. I believe this is due to the nature service, or additional
of the cloud itself. More than a decade ago, all signal flow dia- cable/satellite channel.
grams featured a cloud representing a type of remote transport mecha- To do this, you need
nism that magically delivered content into and from our plants. more video server ca-
The magic has continued, as the cloud has now become synony- pacity along with more
mous with offsite services, remote computing, and a way to leverage general processing and
the Internet to save money. switching gear. This
What many broadcasters don’t realize is that as they gradually takes time to plan, or-
move into an IT-based environment, they are actually now running der, install and test. In
their own private cloud services which puts them in a position to in- a true cloud scenario,
teract with other remote cloud services in a seamless manner. adding a new service
or channel should be
GOODBYE TO TAPE almost instantaneous
Take ingest and playout as an example. Tape-based activities have and seamless; no new Stan Moote
pretty much disappeared, especially after the 2011 Japanese tsuna- equipment, no extra
mi caused sources of tape to suddenly become scarce. The whole rack space, and no new
ingest-edit-playout analogy is now completely based on computer software licenses, just a simple request for additional cloud capacity
hardware, with only a tiny portion being custom SDI I/O modules. is all that will be required.
These systems are essentially your own private clouds, with con- Here is the magic. As our plants moved into the IT realm, this has
positioned us into being cloud-capable. Files and
streams can be moved directly from playout servers
into cloud services for editing, playout, process-
ing, transcoding, collaborative sessions, graphics,
private viewing, approvals, news services, Internet
channels, social media, live streams, and also han-
dling tasks such as adding in closed captions.
BREAKING DOWN SILOS
So what if you are not ready to jump straight into
trusting a cloud service? Take a look around your op-
eration. You will see how dependent you already are
on cloud services for email, search engines, remote
archives, newswire, ad sales and delivery, DRM, and
As an example of a cloud-based third-party production tool, Forscene provides a
pretty much all aspects of web and social media. The
virtualized process that can be integrated seamlessly with the broadcast workflow, saving reason this isn’t acknowledged is due to the siloed
time and money and providing real scalability. nature of broadcast operations. IT and cloud ser-
vices represent both the capability and reason to
trolled inputs, outputs and clearly-defined functions and capabilities. break down these operational silos and operate more efficiently.
So what is the difference between your current playout cloud and Sports is a perfect example. On the Internet, people can watch
cloud services? Besides the fact that your playout cloud is determin- the broadcast feed along with many other camera feeds, slow-motion
istic (meaning you can precisely handle live switching), your playout outputs, stats info, and melts in an instant. These are typically con-
system isn’t scalable. For example, your station may suddenly decide sidered as single, separate elements, each requiring their own media.
to bring up another service, be it a dot two/three channel on your Continued on page 6 ´
T H E M E D I A I N D U S T RY T R A N S I T I O N T O I P : M A K I N G T H E T E C H N O L O G Y C A S E 5
A SOFTWARE-DEFINED
FUTURE FOR BROADCAST?
IP is revolutionizing the production process
By James Careless
B
roadcasters are starting to embrace video over IP using soft- personnel will be able to perform their functions using IP-connected
ware-defined networks, virtualized cloud processing, and desktop PCs, rather than working in traditional master control facil-
software-defined infrastructure. Entire production opera- ities. “By leveraging evolving IP and cloud technologies we are able to
tions spanning the creation and management of broadcast-specific move beyond what’s currently possible with traditional proprietary
acquisition, editing, playout and distribution/storage functions are ‘Big Iron’ broadcast infrastructures,” said Vince Roberts, CTO and
now using specialized software running on servers and in the private/ EVP of Disney/ABC Television Group’s Global Operations.
public cloud. In doing so, these broadcasters are moving away from Fox Networks’ Engineering & Operations is actively experiment-
dedicated, broadcast-only proprietary hardware such as audio/video ing with SDNs, including the seamless switching of uncompressed
switchers, traditional editing suites, and signal routers. broadcast signals using SDNs and commercial-off-the-shelf Ether-
On a larger scale, they are taking the first steps towards making net switches and servers. Fox Sports has gone one step further by
traditional master control rooms obsolete. deploying Game Creek Video’s “Encore” production mobile, which is
equipped with Evertz IP-enabled gateways and routers to carry and
THE END OF ‘BIG IRON’ switch more than 6,900 IP-based video channels.
Case in point: Disney/ABC Television Group is moving its broad- “We are looking to SDNs and IP in general to create flexibility in
cast playout, network, and delivery infrastructure into the cloud us- our broadcast plant,” said Thomas Edwards, vice president of engi-
ing Imagine Communications’ VersioCloud, an IP-enabled, integrat- neering and development at Fox Networks Engineering and Opera-
ed playout-in-the-cloud platform. In the simplest sense, Disney/ABC tions. “Being able to spin new channels up and down using software
´Continued from page 5 distribution. The entire process is virtualized and integrates seam-
Then there is the whole social media aspect of handling feeds for lessly with the broadcast workflow—which saves time and money
Twitter, Facebook, and countless others. and provides real scalability, (Fig. 1).
Realizing the potential income from digital content distribution, The key to this operation is getting media into the cloud for live
many sports rights holders now split the licensing for broadcast and streaming, and using these streams as files and proxies for the rest
digital rights content. On the production side, budgets in digital of the activities on a remote basis, including having rights manage-
rights are a fraction of those in broadcast, so conventional broadcast ment tables predefined so there isn’t any worry about delivery con-
production workflows that require traditional broadcast equipment tent where it isn’t authorized.
are not a viable solution. By A final word about IT and the
pushing IT-based streams into Take a look around your operation. You cloud: Make sure the IT people
cloud-based distribution, digital will see how dependent you already are on in your organization are trained,
rights content producers have
cloud services for email, search engines, remote and understand broadcast op-
instant access to create subclips erations, needs and specialized
archives, newswire, ad sales and delivery,
and highlights packages and requirements. Taking general
broadcast these streams seconds
DRM and pretty much all aspects of web broadcast courses like the ones
behind the live action, without and social media. IABM provides (www.theiabm.
the need for any additional hard- org), are ideal ways to assure
ware. yourself that you can take advantage of cloud services, whether it be
Windows Azure Media Service (WAMS) is a Platform as a Service testing the waters by using cloud services for disaster recovery and
(PaaS) cloud offering that ingests media assets, encodes them and business continuity, or moving 100% to cloud in the future. n
provides on-demand streaming. These streams and metadata can
be used directly by third-party production tools, such as Forscene, Stan Moote has worked worldwide in the broadcast industry for over
making subclips or full highlights packages instantly. Once the clip three decades and has a clear understanding of technology combined
is complete and the metadata has been edited or added, the sequence with a solid business twist. You can see many of Stan’s articles and con-
is dropped back onto Azure for faster-than-real-time conform and tact him directly at ca.linkedin.com/in/stanmoote.
6 T H E M E D I A I N D U S T RY T R A N S I T I O N T O I P : M A K I N G T H E T E C H N O L O G Y C A S E
on COTS hardware and the cloud, rather than having to build or re- of SDNs and software-defined infrastructure.
configure physical master control production facilities, will allow us “The problem is that most broadcasters are comfortable with the
to field new services far quicker and much more inexpensively,” he industry-specific proprietary technology they are accustomed to, and
said. “This is vital, because we’re going to have to be a more agile they are scared of moving into SDN, COTS data centers, and virtualized
broadcaster in order to stay competitive in the future.” production in the cloud,” said Kovalick, founder of Silicon Valley-based
The trend towards SDNs specifically, and software-defined infra- Media Systems Consulting, and TV Technology’s cloud columnist. “They
structure in general, is readily acknowledged by equipment suppliers just don’t grasp how much is possible by moving to a true software-based
such as Dallas-based Imagine Communications. “We foresee the day production model—and how much money they can potentially save.”
when our broadcast customers are buying COTS data equipment from This possibility is not lost on Lawrence Kaplan. The co-founder of
IT companies such as Arista, Cisco and HP, and we are providing the Omneon Video Networks recently launched the SDVI, an IP-focused
broadcast-specific software that run on these systems, alongside tra- SaaS company that provides and manages virtualized production ap-
ditional SDI-based equipment,” said John Mailhot, systems architect plications for media clients; both on their premises and in the cloud.
for IP convergence at Imagine. “That’s why we’re not competing with According to Kaplan (who serves as SDVI’s president/CEO),
Grass Valley’s GV Convergent SDN control system transparently manages facility routing
as the industry migrates from SDI to IP infrastructures.
those suppliers; we’re forming strategic partnerships with them.” broadcasters who cling to traditional forms of video production and
Grass Valley is also onboard the SDN train with the company’s playout are “wasting” millions of dollars, because such functions
GV Convergent SDN control system software. “Broadcasters see the can be done much less expensively using a virtualized broadcast fa-
value in moving from SDI to IP, with the tremendous potential of cility. Those broadcasters who migrate to SDN by building in-house
saving infrastructure cost,” said Louis Caron, GV Convergent SDN data centers could also be wasting money, “because such 24/7 fa-
product manager for the Montreal-based provider of broadcast and cilities tend to be at peak usage 25% of the time, at most,” he said.
production technology. “GV Convergent SDN provides a technolo- “The rest of the time, you are paying for capacity that isn’t making
gy-agnostic operation paradigm requiring no additional training for you money.”
the operators when migrating to an IP infrastructure,” he said. GV Whatever the economics, broadcasters are likely to take their time
Convergent SDN is currently being tested by selected broadcasters moving to SDN-based production/playout; in part because this para-
according to Caron. digm shift will have such an enormous impact. “Think back 40 years,
when broadcasters were still using 2-inch Quad tape and CRTs,” said
VIRTUALLY SPEAKING Fox’s Thomas Edwards. “Broadcasting has changed radically since
Despite the introduction of SDN products by Grass Valley and then, but the biggest changes—such as SDNs, virtualized production/
Imagine Communications, media consultant Al Kovalick believes playout, and software-defined infrastructure—are just starting to oc-
that these vendors’ clients have yet to fully embrace the full potential cur now.” n
T H E M E D I A I N D U S T RY T R A N S I T I O N T O I P : M A K I N G T H E T E C H N O L O G Y C A S E 7
SPONSORED CONTENT
Presented by a Partner of
Four Steps to Moving to
IP-Based Video Production
By James Careless
Migrating to an IP-based production, playout, and its network facilities.
distribution infrastructure is conceptually simple Broadcasters can also save money and increase flexibility by moving
their master control functions from dedicated facilities to ‘virtualized
with this four-step approach. Begin by scoping
facilities’, where all of the control, playout and switching is done in the
the project’s goals, and then considering what IP- cloud using standard IP-connected PC workstations. The Disney/ABC
based technological options exist to realize these Television Group is moving its broadcast playout, network, and deliv-
goals. Next, make a plan that translates these ery infrastructure into the cloud for these very reasons.
ideas into a process, and execute the plan. That’s Clearly, the impetus to move to IP-based production exists today.
all there is to it. But given the millions (if not billions) of dollars at stake for broad-
casters and video producers, such a paradigm shift has to be done
with careful planning and forethought.
INTRODUCTION
Broadcasters and video production houses are grasping the advan- STEP ONE – SCOPING THE PROJECT:
tages of moving from dedicated, function-specific production hard- WHY IP MAKES SUCH A DIFFERENCE
ware and software, to IP-based solutions where the acquisition, edit- Fundamentally, “IP-based video production” refers to providing
ing, playout, and distribution/storage functions they require are all the complete range of broadcast/production functions—acquisition,
software-based. In this connected world, these functions can be run editing, playout, and distribution and storage—as software applica-
on internal data centers, and/or private/public clouds; all of which tions operating on standard servers whether on premises, in a pri-
use the same IP-connected commercial off-the-shelf priced servers, vate/public cloud, or a blend of both (the so-called hybrid solution).
IP switches/routers, and software defined storage employed by the In simple terms, moving to IP-based production means moving
world’s IT industry and its business customers. away from the current model of dedicated-function broadcast/vid-
The reduction in equipment/ eo production hardware. This
service costs from such a move include the VTRs/media servers,
is akin to going from hand-made “Moving to an IP-based software defined SDI routers/switches, audio/vid-
automobiles to Henry Ford’s infrastructure … is a must for broadcasters.” eo mixers, and separate editing
mass production line. Freed Thomas Edwards, VP of Engineering and rooms. Taking their place is a
from the broadcast/production Development at Fox Networks Engineering desktop/laptop-driven produc-
equipment ghetto—where the and Operations. tion model. This is one where
relatively small size of the mar- all the necessary functions are
ket keeps per-function prices software-based and content
high, as compared to the exponentially larger global IT equipment is stored, accessed, and shared like any other form of data across
market—broadcasters and video producers can take advantage of less IP-connected workstations and networks.
expensive Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) IP/IT equipment in their By adopting this IP-based approach, broadcasters and video pro-
day-to-day operations. Using such commodity-priced services and ducers can enjoy all of the advantages of managing video just like
equipment, they will literally be able to “do more with less.” any other form of data. This includes using commodity-priced serv-
“Moving to an IP-based software defined infrastructure—one ers and IP switches/routers rather than proprietary broadcast/video
where all aspects of production are IP-connected and based on soft- production-only equipment, configuring and deploying new program
ware-controlled IT platforms—is a must for broadcasters who need offerings as software applications rather than having to build and
to be agile and flexible to stay competitive,” said Thomas Edwards, man new physical playout facilities to support them, and sourcing
VP of Engineering and Development at Fox Networks Engineering staff from the world pool of IT/IP-trained engineers—rather than the
and Operations. “With this new approach, broadcasters such as Fox dwindling number of broadcast/video production-specific engineers.
can spin up new channels as need be, without having to spend time to The implications of such a transition are profound. No longer
build specially dedicated physical facilities.” Fox is currently research- do broadcasters and video producers have to build old-style editing
ing this option, and is starting to integrate IP-based functionality into suites, equipment rooms, and master controls. Typically all aggre-
8 T H E M E D I A I N D U S T RY T R A N S I T I O N T O I P : M A K I N G T H E T E C H N O L O G Y C A S ESPONSORED CONTENT
gated in the same location for ease of connection and maintenance. questions need to be asked. Where will the funding come for this
Instead, by moving to an IP-based model, they can locate each ele- upgrade? What will the timeline be for execution, who will help (in-
ment wherever they see fit, editing and Master Control functions on house staff, external suppliers, or both) design, integrate, and deploy
standard PC workstations in their offices, and content storage, access, the upgrade, and how can it be tested while the existing legacy system
and playout on servers located in the same place, in other locations, is running, such that there will be no gaps when the new IP system is
or in the cloud. brought online?
The bottom line: Moving to IP-based production frees broadcast- The answers to these questions will vary from project to project.
ers and video producers from the straitjacket of old-style dedicat- One thing is certain: The chances of success are improved by bringing
ed-function production equipment allowing them to do their work in qualified experts during the scoping process to ensure that the best
with the freedom and cost-efficiencies
of any other IP-connected data-centric
business.
The decision to update either part
or all of a broadcast/video production
plant to IP is influenced by the specific
needs and budget of a given company.
A practical rule of thumb is to consid-
er a initial move into IP in areas of the
operation where legacy equipment is
due for replacement. “Moving to IP in
such areas first gives your engineers a
chance to get their feet wet in IP/IT,
and also positions your plant for the
inevitable full migration to IP-based
video production that is coming,” said
Tom Ohanian, Media Segment Strat-
egist at Cisco Systems. “At the same
time, your production process will ben-
efit from the connectivity, efficiencies,
and cost-effectiveness of moving to IP
today.”
This is where the process of “scoping Figure 1: (Caption for photo showing wiring before and after): One of the benefits of this transformation is the
the project” begins, by deciding which move away from cable-intensive point-to-point signal management in traditional Master Control rooms, to
the clean, minimalist cabling allowed by moving to IP and its virtual switching capabilities.
areas of the broadcast/production plant
would benefit from a migration to IP-
based equipment. In a general sense, the areas that can be upgraded equipment and design are adopted. This leads us to the next step: De-
are acquisition, editing, playout, and distribution/storage. ciding what IP-based equipment to use and in which areas of broad-
To scope the project properly, consider what aspects of the broad- casting/production.
cast/production plant would benefit by moving to IP, and for what
reasons. Besides the need to replace aging legacy equipment, there STEP TWO – WEIGHING TECHNOLOGICAL OPTIONS
may be good economic reasons to upgrade an area to IP such as get- The move to IP-based process brings broadcasters and video pro-
ting more performance out of limited physical space. ducers alike into the data center mainstream. This means that they
A case in point: Game Creek Video’s new “Encore” production can now turn to major IT equipment/applications companies like
truck, which it built for Fox Sports, includes an uncompressed 10 Cisco for the systems, services, and support they need to migrate
Gigabit Ethernet infrastructure and compact IP signal routing equip- their facilities to the IP world. Better yet, broadcasters and produc-
ment that allows Encore to handle up to 23 terabytes (Tbps) of data. tion houses can now enjoy the economies of scale that accompany
That is enough capacity to move up to 6,900 uncompressed HD-SDI working with global companies, bolstered by specialized software de-
video signals far more than could be achieved with legacy non-IP veloped by broadcast-centric providers.
routing equipment in the same limited space. This is why Disney/ABC is moving its global linear playout facili-
“IP can be a great way to boost your production facility’s capaci- ties into the cloud, using IP switches and other technology from Cis-
ties economically, and within a small physical space,” said Ohanian. co and software provided by Imagine Communications. In this new
“It can also help you grow your business by providing extra capacity model, Disney/ABC’s master controls in Burbank and New York are
and flexibility to do more, such as spin up new channels on a soft- disconnecting their on-site playout servers in favor of controlling re-
ware-controlled basis.” motely-located, cloud-stored-and-served video feeds. (If they wanted
Once potential areas for IP upgrade have been selected, further to, Disney/ABC could close these control rooms and operate their
T H E M E D I A I N D U S T RY T R A N S I T I O N T O I P : M A K I N G T H E T E C H N O L O G Y C A S E 9SPONSORED CONTENT
channels from anywhere. But since the master controls already exist, dropping dedicated video lines in favor of IP streams during the 2012
and moving to IP allows their technicians to handle more channels Sochi Olympics. With IP, video files can be kept on-site in data servers,
in future without being expanded, it makes economic sense to keep in the cloud, or both. The day of the video sorting robot and jammed
these locations in use. video closet are over.
Acquisition: Legacy video cameras are islands whose outputs have Clearly, knowledgeable IP-centric companies have the know how
to be manually incorporated into the broadcast plant or recorded to and resources to help broadcasters and video producers move into
removable media that then has to be manually connected to the broad- the IP age. This includes working with broadcasters and video pro-
cast plant. Plug an IP-based camera into an IP network, and presto: The ducers to plan the process carefully and accurately.
network sees it instantly and can make its system controls and output
available to authorized personnel anywhere in the world. STEP THREE – DEVELOPING THE PLAN
Editing: A traditional editing suite is a function-specific space Once the project has been scoped and the equipment designers,
requiring all kinds of dedicated machines for managing video, au- integrators, and suppliers have been chosen, it is time to make the
dio, and mixing. An IP-based editing suite is software-based. Its plan to turn these ideas into reality. This is also the time to decide
controls can be called up and used on any appropriate workstation whether such a plan would work better in a new facility—one with
on the facility’s network. new IP cable runs, and located on less expensive real estate—or in the
Playout: Legacy playout means video tape players, dedicated me- broadcaster/production house’s existing facility.
dia servers, or a mix of both, requiring function-specific spaces. If “One great thing about moving to IP is that you can disperse your
more playout capacity is required, more machines have to be added. data center functions across various locations and into the cloud as
An IP-based playout facility has no such limits. The video files can be well,” said Tom Ohanian. “No longer are you forced to try to fit all of
in one location, and the control systems located in another, all con- your machines into the same physical space!”
nected by IP networking. Need more playout capacity? Simply load Whether for a partial or total rebuild, the plan should work out ev-
and manage the new files into a private/public cloud from a desktop ery step of the IP-based project a time-centered, step-by-step sched-
PC, no new machines needed. ule. Allowances must be made for backup facilities to take over when
Distribution and Storage: Distributing video through legacy primary facilities must be taken offline for construction—say if the
means dubbing and sending out DVDs/tapes, hiring expensive video data servers are being installed in a former Master Control equip-
landlines, or similarly expensive satellite uplinks. As for storage? The ment room—and continuation of service must be assured at all times,
best legacy systems use monstrous tape/DVD sorting robots, the worst preferably with redundancy if possible.
simply put such materials in a closet. IP-based distribution is far sim- As well, checks must be made with suppliers and integrators be-
pler and cheaper, which is why NBC Sports saved millions of dollars by fore work begins to ensure that they can and will commit to the time
Legacy versus IP-Based TV
Legacy TV Production: IP- Based TV Production:
• Uses dedicated purpose, proprietary • Uses less-expensive OTS computer
VS
technology that cannot be easily technology that is easily expanded and
expanded and updated; only replaced. upgraded, and serves many function.
• Has to be housed in one location, due to short • Can be housed in multiple locations, and
cable runs and need to service connected by LANs and private/public
equipment directly. Internet.
• Is labor-intensive. • Is software-driven and not labor-intensive.
• Requires substantial money and time to launch • Can easily be re-programmed to launch
new program production and playout facilities. new production and playout services
• Is difficult to repurpose old facilities and equip- without new investment or major time
ment as the market changes. expenditures.
• Can be repurposed again and again to
keep up with an evolving market.
• IP-based technology can improve
operations in all areas of broadcasting and
video production.
10 T H E M E D I A I N D U S T RY T R A N S I T I O N T O I P : M A K I N G T H E T E C H N O L O G Y C A S ESPONSORED CONTENT
schedule within the plan. Any impacts on the highest grossing sports app in history,
the broadcaster/production house’s own Cisco Media Industry IP Solutions while MLBAM’s 10 million daily streams
departments must also be assessed and Cisco offers a range of media industry IT/ are among the Web’s largest such traffic.
IP solutions for broadcasters and media
dealt with in advance. This kind of performance, which is built
companies wanting to implement their own
Finally, the money to pay fort the plan Media Data Centers. upon Cisco’s Media Data Center Architec-
must be budgeted and a tracking process ture based on Cisco’s IP routers / Switches
put in place to ensure that the project’s The first step is in creating such a poli- as well as Cisco UCS system, is “not only
cy-driven Infrastructure is to implement a
progress and expenditures are monitored one of the great stories in American sports
scalable, stateless, computing layer. Cisco’s
at all times. Add in extra time and money UCS server family can provide this capabil- business in the past 12 years, but one of the
to allow for delays and overages—because ity through a selection of servers that are great stories in American business,” said
these happen—and the plan should be robust, cost-effective, fast and reliable: Major League Baseball commissioner Bud
www.cisco.com/go/ucs
ready to go. Selig.
The next critical step is to create fast, dense, MLB’s MLBAM succeeded because they
STEP FOUR - EXECUTE THE PLAN and scalable networks that are also reliable scoped the project carefully, brought in
Knowledgeable experts and suppliers and easy to expand/upgrade thanks to being Cisco as a key partner early, and worked
software-defined. Cisco’s Nexus data center
are vital during the first three steps of the switches fit this bill:
closely with this company and its suppliers
IP-transition process. They are critically im- www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/switches/ to devise and then execute their plan. Cis-
portant during this final stage of translating data-center-switches/index.html co played a key role in keeping the MLBAM
the plan into action, which needs to be done project on time and on budget.
Finally, broadcasters and media companies
in strict accordance to its scheduled time- need scalable, addressable, and program- When it comes to executing IP-based
lines and goals. mable storage that supports fast, multi-user upgrades for broadcasters and produc-
The key: Make the right choices storage. Cisco’s UCS Invicta products answer tion houses, the same logic follows. Mov-
this requirement:
throughout the process, from scoping the ing into IP successfully requires partners
www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/
project to executing the plan, and the right servers-unified-computing/ucs-invicta- who not only know this technology, but
results will follow. series-solid-state-system/index.html have a proven track record underpinned
A case in point: Major League Baseball by substantial intellectual and equipment
Advanced Media (MLBAM) is the IP-en- resources.
abled data center-based service that lets MLB serve out 10 million When it comes time to execute your plan, don’t do it alone. Bring
baseball video streams daily to Web-connected PCs, smartphone, in an IP technology partner who can archive the IP upgrade on budget,
and tablet-using subscribers. If you’ve ever seen live professional on time, and as specified.
baseball streaming on the Web, chances are that you are watching
MLBAM-delivered content. The company also serves up video for CONCLUSION
clients such as ESPN, WWE wrestling, and Sports Illustrated’s 120 The time to start moving to an IP-based infrastructure, whether
Sports. on a partial or total basis, has arrived for broadcasters and production
All of this content is managed, stored, and served by MLBAM’s houses. Given that such IP upgrades involve the very core of these
U.S. six data centers, which are powered by Cisco’s IP Infrastructure companies’ money-making infrastructures, they need to be accom-
as well as Cisco’s Unified Computing System (UCS). Cisco UCS brings plished in a thoughtful, well-planned manner, with the active sup-
together virtualization, network access, storage access, and comput- port of knowledgeable IT data partners. n
ing power into a centralized architecture for data centers. The entire
system is managed by MLBAM’s Chelsea Market headquarters in New James Careless is an award-winning broadcast/IT journalist with credits
York City, home of their Transmission Operations Center. at Business Week, the Huffington Post, PCWorld, StreamingMedia.com,
Results speak for themselves: MLBAM’s “At Bat” mobile app is and TV Technology.
T H E M E D I A I N D U S T RY T R A N S I T I O N T O I P : M A K I N G T H E T E C H N O L O G Y C A S E 11You can also read
