After the months of frantic build-up, IBC 2011 has come and gone. With record attendance of over 50,000 visitors descending on Amsterdam’s RAI, the RGB team was certainly kept on its toes during the five day event!

News was plentiful at the show and as expected multiscreen deployment displays were a massive talking point. James Cameron was one of this year’s keynote speakers, and he urged attendees to rethink current production cycles of 3D content. Social TV was also a dominant theme at the show, with the IBC Daily declaring it as the future of television.

For RGB the show was a huge success, with more customer and prospect meetings than ever before and a steady stream of traffic to our booth. Our news announcements at the show, including the launch of our new eVIA adaptive streaming ad insertion architecture, as well as our on-stand deployment with leading European operator Swisscom, proved huge hits and scored us coverage, not once, not twice but four times in the IBC Show Daily – the Holy Grail of IBC.

For those of you unable to join us at the show, we’ve collated some of our key photographic highlights from the IBC floor:



And so this posting brings our special IBC blog series to a close. Thanks to all those who popped by to see us on our booth – we look forward to seeing you all again soon! Stay tuned for more to come as a busy North America trade show season heats up with TelcoTV and Cable-Tec Expo on the way.

As we reach the final stretch on the road to IBC, our special blog series moves on to a hot topic that’s been at the forefront of industry debate since the show last year.

Online and mobile viewing of premium video content including TV programming, movies, sports events and news is now mainstream. Driven by the increasing availability of low-cost, high-resolution desktops, laptops, tablets, and internet-enabled TV sets, consumers have rapidly moved through the ‘novelty’ phase of acceptance to expect that any media should be available essentially on any device over any network connection.

Where there is video service, there is often an advertising strategy in place to monetize the service. However, with numerous reports declaring the end of traditional TV advertising, it is vital that operators move quickly to ensure their business models remain lucrative.

In order to monetize premium video services over new protocols, a new video ad insertion infrastructure, leveraging open-standards, is required. At IBC, RGB Networks will be showcasing how it can help operators meet this need with its new adaptive HTTP streaming ad insertion ecosystem, which provides hyper-targeted ad insertion capabilities for the integrated delivery and monetization of video to multiple screens. Read today’s press release for more information.

HTTP streaming works via client playback of a sequence of HTTP-requested short video files or ‘chunks.’ Adaptive HTTP streaming allows the client to request chunks of the same content, encoded at different bitrates and resolutions (called profiles), so that, as network bandwidth changes, the client can download the best possible quality chunk at any point in time. This technology enables greater flexibility within the advertising industry – particularly in Europe – providing operators greater control over the adverts streamed to their target audience.

Operators will also be able to personalize content and advertising streams – a key factor in maintaining viewer interest going forward. Through adaptive streaming ad insertion, operators are provided with hyper-targeted advertising capabilities down to the neighborhood, device or even the individual. The ability to monetize their video services through effective ad targeting across not just one, but all devices, will be the ultimate differentiator for businesses looking to stay ahead of the pack.

On the whole, it’s clear that there is a lot of potential for the advertising industry going forward. While the traditional models may be classed as dead, new methods are breathing new life into the industry.

For more about RGB’s eVIA adaptive streaming ad insertion architecture, please download our white paper. And don’t forget to visit us on stand 4.C78 at IBC to see the technology in action.

As we quickly approach IBC, today’s IBC special blog turns to the issue of sports. With big events, such as the European Champions League Final, drawing in viewing figures of 160 million through 113 broadcast partners in more than 220 territories, it’s safe to say that the transmission of sporting events is big business. As such, sports is one of the dominant themes for IBC this year, and the focus of this blog entry.

The countdown has already begun for the 2012 London Olympics, with 325 days remaining until the ‘greatest show on earth.’ Indeed, with the event already being heralded as the first truly digital Olympics, the organizers will be looking to outreach to as many viewers as possible around the globe, with both live and on-demand content.

Key to this will be the effective delivery of content to multiple screens – providing consumers with the ultimate flexibility in terms of how and when they view all the sporting action. However, operators will need to ensure that their networks are up to scratch and able to support the demands to play out these services to such high numbers of viewers. At this point in the evolution of multiscreen, and given the importance of this event, viewers are not going to tolerate any delay or jitter.

Secondly, the Olympics, and of course other large-scale sporting events, present an enormous revenue-generating opportunity for broadcasters. Advertising slots will be at a premium, but the real goldmine here will be making sure that advertising content is tailored to particular zones, devices, and even individuals – but more on that in our next posting.

So what are the essential steps for broadcasters looking to capitalize on this lucrative opportunity:

• Multi-device IP video strategy – You don’t need to start with all devices at once, but you need to start now with a plan that will give you the flexibility and scalability to get there over time. Integrating infrastructure originally intended to target only one type of device can be challenging, but with the right knowledge and tools, operators can easily and cost-effectively deploy IP infrastructure that will give them a future-proof multiscreen solution.




• Ready your infrastructure – With all the content available from an event as large as the Olympics, making sure that your infrastructure can cope with the bandwidth-hungry video services that will result is critical. RGB Networks’ integrated multiscreen solutions enable providers to use their current headend space and bandwidth more effectively, without the high cost associated with upgrading their existing network infrastructure. Integrating a number of key functions into a single, high-density platform, including transcoding, transrating, grooming and aggregation, helps optimize both CAPEX and OPEX, as well as bandwidth on the network.




• Real-time transcoding – Given the excitement of a mega-event like the Olympics, many people are going to want to watch events live and on the go. With an immense global viewing audience, operators must make sure they deploy a robust solution that can handle the enormous demands for reliable, high-quality content delivered in real time to a large number of devices, requiring a vast number of different output profiles.




• Remember ROI – There is a great opportunity to be had through advertising. Whether capitalizing on social TV, or personally targeting audiences, this should be an integrated part of a provider’s strategy. Tune in later this week to find out more on this topic!

Is the delivery of live sporting content a big focus point for your organization? Let us know your thoughts on capitalizing on this huge opportunity!