Changes in the way viewers are consuming video are transforming the TV business, not only for programmers and networks but for the vendors providing the industry with equipment and services.

One of those companies, LTN Global, has had to pivot from a focus on hardware to software to keep up with the demand for producing more events — and creating more channels to put them on — while keeping costs manageable.

“It’s a great time to be a vendor in this business,” LTN Global executive chairman and co-founder Malik Khan said. An industry of cable replacement products has been created and that’s changing the nature of how video is distributed, he said.

Khan pointed to ESPN Plus as an example of the appetite for content and customization sweeping the industry. The subscription over-the-top sports service streams 10 times as many live games as all of ESPN’s cable channels, he estimated.

“That’s a tsunami,” he said. “That’s a massive amount of changes and it requires you to scale your operation 10 times, but not at 10 times cost; maybe at one and a half times cost. That in turn leads to a fundamental change in infrastructure.”

One change in the infrastructure is moving from high-priced SDI (serial digital interface) equipment made specifically for the broadcast business to more generic, cheaper equipment based on internet protocol. A 32-port, 100 Gigabits-per-second Ethernet switch costs about $150,000 and can carry about 2,000 high-definition signals. A 1024-by-1024 SDI switch with a similar capability would cost about $1 million. With Ethernet, equipment costs run about
$75 per stream, compared to $400 per stream using SDI equipment.

In addition to cost savings, IP-based equipment can carry multiple signals simultaneously and reduce data center space.

Moving Into the Cloud

The other change is replacing hardware-like mechanical switchers by moving functions to cloud-based software. For LTN, the ability to pivot to cloud-based software is anchored by the company having its own really fast, really ubiquitous, reliable network, Khan said.

“That has allowed us to do many things and it is fueling our ability to work with something like 15 of the top 20 media companies in the world,” he said. “We have some of the largest media companies building their entire infrastructure on LTN. They trust us.”

LTN helps media companies do everything from creating channels to managing the production of sports, news and other events by being able to bring camera feeds into a remote producer who can switch cameras, switch audio, create graphics, handle closed captioning and tackle data integration — and do it in real time.

WarnerMedia’s Turner has worked with LTN for years. LTN distributed CNN channels around the world and more recently worked with NBA TV. The companies’ relationship has evolved with technology, said Peter Scott, VP of innovation and emerging media at WarnerMedia.

“It’s nice that we can now send video through the public internet, which obviously saves us a lot of cost incurred through satellite and fiber,” Scott said. LTN’s added production capabilities and cloud solutions “give us a buffet of technology offerings,” he added. “As a client, we really like the flexibility.” 

Now, LTN is helping WarnerMedia figure out how to create more professionally made content for more people at a controllable cost. “We’re always looking for solutions that provide great quality and at the same time save us some money and provide flexibility,” Scott said.

LTN’s ability to take raw content and create personalized channels and experiences at scale is something big media companies want to take advantage of, Scott said.

Now, WarnerMedia is working with LTN on dynamic ad insertion to give viewers ads they’re more interested in, he added.

“Listen, I think this is a great company because they see the future and they’ve invested in creating this backbone to deliver content over the internet,” Scott said. 

Restructuring for a New Landscape

LTN recently reorganized, creating three different divisions to align with the needs of its customers. One deals with maintaining full-time channels, the second deals with event production and the third handles core network services.

The traditional way of producing an event meant sending a 53-foot truck to an event and staffing it with 20 to 40 people. Expensive satellite capacity was also needed. The way LTN now works, only a small contingent of people need to be on-site to handle cameras and feed the video to the cloud over the internet. 

“All of the value-added [production] is done in our central facility in Kansas City,” Khan said. “What that allowed us to do is to take the same team and do three events a day instead of one event. It also allowed us to get the best-of-breed equipment and use that same equipment for multiple games, rather than having one truck that has great equipment.”

Having the best people and best equipment means more consistent quality as the volume of work goes up, he said. It also cuts production costs: Shoots that once cost $50,000 to $250,000 are now down to $10,000 to $20,000.

“The digital domain has a voracious appetite for events,” Khan said. “[Producers] can now do that and create a franchise at a very low cost.”

More productions at lower cost is good for clients and it’s also good for LTN. According to Khan, LTN has grown revenue by 75% from 2020 to 2021. (LTN is a private company and doesn’t share financial data.)

Khan said LTN is close to signing a contract with a customer under which it will be responsible for producing, decorating, monetizing and distributing about 5,000 events a year. All of those tasks will be done primarily using software, so there are very few people involved in the process. 

“There’s a whole layer of automation and FAST [free ad-supported streaming television] services in the cloud that are now coming into play, so we’re doing things that required millions of dollars worth of hardware in the past,” he said. 

Khan said LTN is unique in that it builds most of the technology it uses itself. “That means we have to eat the dog food we create,” he said. 

LTN’s technology operation is aligned with its full-time network organization because it’s a 24-hour, nonstop operation with very exacting reliability requirements. “We’d rather build the technology in that business and then use it on an ad hoc basis for individual productions,” he said.

LTN is also involved in the transition of stations from the current ATSC 1.0 digital broadcast technology to the new ATSC 3.0 broadcast format. 

“We are the main conduit by which 3.0 is being implemented in all the cities it has been implemented in,” Khan said. All of the station feeds, both 1.0 and 3.0, go over LTN’s networks. Instead of connecting all of the stations with fiber, each station simply links up to the LTN network. 

The transition from ATSC 1.0 to ATSC 3.0 will also lead to more production, more programming and more revenue. Some of that revenue will come from gaming and sports betting. LTN’s network will make sure neither video nor betting data is delayed. Otherwise, viewers watching a basketball game might try to bet on free throws that have already been made — or missed.

For Khan, keeping up with the accelerating pace of technology will be his company’s biggest challenge. It can’t afford to get comfortable with its own technology. 

“We have to continue to build infrastructure ahead of demand,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s out of control, but you can really mess up on execution in a big way if you don’t keep up.” ■

Fox News Channel daily show The Five, featuring five co-hosts discussing the news of the day, is built on the banter of its personalities. But in this work-from-home time, the remote talent has to work a bit harder to make the banter happen.

“What makes The Five a success is the chemistry, the back and forth,” said co-host Greg Gutfeld. “It’s what people come to see. If we’re not in the same room, it reduces our ability to read faces and moods.”

Co-host Juan Williams sets up in a van parked in front of his home in Washington, D.C. Co-host Dana Perino is working out of a bedroom in her New Jersey home. Jesse Watters, also a co-host, is in a beach house in New Jersey.

Gutfeld is actually schlepping to the midtown Manhattan studio each day. He sports a mask heading into and out of the office every day, washes his hands “like a crazy person,” he said, and does not socialize with co-workers.

“I like to go to the office every day,” Gutfeld said. “I really do enjoy leaving the house and going in.”

Executive producer Megan Albano is also working out of the Fox News headquarters.

Keeping Busy at Home

Williams mentioned an “ordinary white van” that pulls up in front of his house each day around 2:30 or 3 p.m. Since late March, he’s been climbing in for the 5 p.m. show.

Williams normally spends Monday-Friday in New York to shoot The Five. In the days after the coronavirus took hold, Williams would go to Fox’s Washington bureau each day. Recently turning 66, he said, “I don’t think there’s any reason for me to have unnecessary exposure.”

Perino has been working from home since March 23. She shoots The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino at 2 p.m., reads to children for the online segment “Story Time with Dana Perino,” shoots The Five at 5 p.m. and records a podcast. She upgraded her house’s WiFi to accommodate both her and her husband working from home.

Some viewers have noticed the train that zooms by near her house, tooting its horn.

“I’ve actually been able to fulfill all of my responsibilities in a pretty seamless way,” Perino said.

Watters began working from home last week. One hitch saw the show start without Watters, who was having WiFi issues. That worked out after a few minutes. Garbage bags are used to keep the sunlight out of the house. Watters got some laughs on the program last week when he revealed his pink shorts along with a suit jacket and tie.

“It’s a beachy vibe, but it works pretty well,” he said of his home studio.

Besides enjoying going to work, Gutfeld noted how pretty much everything works once he gets there. Garbage bags are not needed in the windows at 1211 Avenue of the Americas. “Everything is there, and you know it’s going to work,” he said.

In a nod to social distancing, Albano said the show shot on two floors in mid-March. Today, two control rooms dictate the action.

Much of the public has become accustomed to Zoom meetings and social gatherings since the pandemic took over, and the funky delays that make conversing challenging. Albano calls the remote hosts on The Five “a real-life scenario.”

The hosts deal with a one- to two-second delay that can make the quick quips a bit harder to deliver. “It’s just not as smooth,” Albano said.

Watters described not being able to read body language from home. “Our show is built around banter, around our close proximity on the set,” he said. “With a two-second delay, the quick retorts don’t translate as well.”

Perino, for her part, mentioned “verbal bumper cars” at times taking place.

The awkward pauses aside, Williams said the remote setup and its delays have pushed everyone to be a better listener. “We’re forced to listen to each other more intently,” he said.

More Viewers Tuning in

Ratings for The Five have skyrocketed. The 5 p.m. hour is challenging from those who work 9 to 5, but most of those folks are stuck in their homes. “People are home, and they’re invested in the story,” Albano said. “Hopefully they get some comfort in watching The Five.”

The show averaged 3.87 million total viewers in March, up 53% from March 2019. Daily briefings from President Donald Trump have helped ratings too.

Inconveniences aside, the hosts of The Five said they’re happy to be working with so many layoffs across the country. “We’re incredibly lucky to be working,” said Gutfeld.

They hope they add a bit of levity to viewers’ lives at this trying time. “We try to make everyone else’s lives at home a little less boring,” Gutfeld said.