The field trial in Portland, Oregon, involving Comcast’s carriage of seven local broadcast TV channels’ all-IP NextGen TV signals – still underway – is being deemed “successful.” 

“We integrated” the ATSC 3.0 technology with the cable network, said Anne Schelle, managing director of Pearl TV, who has been overseeing the process to identify video, audio and data issues as well to help the Pearl consortium evaluate business factors.

The Portland trial is approaching the one-year mark, and Pearl TV, the consortium that’s managing the broadcast aspect, said it is generating valuable information for future technical integration of ATSC 3.0 signals via cable. Although both sides – Comcast and Pearl TV – decline to reveal specific findings of the project, Schelle said the process is “successful” in helping the Pearl TV consortium (nine broadcast groups, several of which own Portland stations) prepare for future rollouts. 

The seven broadcast TV channels involved in the Portland NextGen TV project are KATU (ABC/Sinclair), KOIN (CBS/Nexstar), KGW (NBC/Tegna), KPTV (Fox/Meredith), KOPB-TV (PBS), KRCW-TV (CW/Nexstar) and KPDX (MyNet/Meredith). See chart.

*Source: B&C analysis of station ownership data

Also Read: Comcast Testing NextGen Signal Over Cable in Portland

Schelle said that Pearl TV is “discussing the technical integration considerations” with CableLabs, Comcast, Cox, and other large MSOs for future implementations of NextGen TV via cable. 

The Portland trial began barely a year after several prominent cable operators and industry groups challenged policies that would require cable to retransmit NextGen TV signals, especially if they duplicated conventional TV channels or offered premium services that exceeded traditional video retransmission or competed with cable’s advanced services. 

Also Read: Cable Clams Up on Its Next-Gen TV Recalcitrance

Schelle characterized the goal of the Portland test as seeking “to develop standards that cable might reference through CableLabs, SCTE” and other industry groups. She said that Pearl TV selected Portland for its technical test site because so many broadcast channels had installed ATSC 3.0 transmitters and because Comcast was willing to cooperate on ways to explore use of its infrastructure. 

“Comcast had facilities there that match up with” Pearl’s objectives, Schelle added, “and it had a team that was ready to go.”

Checking HDR, 4K, Decoder Capabilities

Schelle said that Pearl TV has “been working on the transition with cable companies to make sure … [about] technical integration. Although she declined to reveal interim results, Schelle checked off a list of factors that are being evaluated, such as formatted video and High Dynamic Range (HDR) video (a key feature in 4K television).

By late summer, the group will begin testing over-the-air reception as well as fiber distribution of NextGen TV signals.

“We’ve been working with Synamedia  [3.0 software provider] and others to make sure the decoders” operate successfully, Schelle explained, “to make sure we can get various formats working.” She expects that Pearl TV will run similar technical field trials with other MSOs, but did not spell out any timetable. 

So far, the technical tests have not involved service delivery to cable customers. Schelle acknowledged that she has “no idea about how many Portland homes have 3.0 receivers.”

“These are early days,” she said, noting that Pearl TV is “working with manufacturers” to track actual sales. That will help all parties get a “general idea based on utilization of applications.” She said the Pearl TV participants will eventually be adding more features. 

“There is value in these applications, such as emergency alerts, multilingual service [and] … rich-media alerting,” she said – emphasizing the potential enhancement for cable customers. “As we look at it, there will be applications that are seamless between cable and OTA, such as sports betting and shopping. We’ve developed an applications framework.” She describes the NextGen TV platform as one that will enable “opening up layers to applications developers. This “framework for enhancing content” has not been part of the Portland trial, which has focused until now strictly on technical factors. 

Next on Pearl TV’s agenda – either in Portland or elsewhere – is determining how addressable advertising is compatible between NextGen TV and cable systems. Pearl TV plans to demonstrate its concepts at the NAB Convention in Las Vegas in October. 

“We have to think about this in stages with the cable companies,” she said. “We’re working through the different technical aspects of integration… [including] ecosystems support.” The results of that process will “allow the business folk to have discussions when the time is right around business issues.”

UK-based video technology company Synamedia announced that its CEO, Yves Padrines, is stepping down, and that he’ll be replaced by Paul Segre, formerly CEO of Daly City, Calif.-based cloud software company Genyses.

Padrines led Synamedia since 2018, when private equity firm Primera bought back Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions business and reformed its a privately held operation.  Synamedia didn’t offer much insight in regard to Padrines’ departure, only to say that he is leaving to “pursue opportunities.”

Also read: Synamedia CEO Yves Padrines on Password Sharing, Targeted Linear Advertising and the ‘New Bundle’

“I am incredibly proud of everything we have accomplished over the last few years, driving our investment in IP-enabled solutions and establishing a strong foundation for growth,” Padrines said in a statement. “I wish the whole Synamedia team every success as it doubles down on revenue-generating innovations that deliver real value to customers.”

Segre, who will be based in London, spent the last 18 years at Genesys, notably leading the $1.6 billion spinout of the company from Alcatel-Lucent in 2012, a move that was also backed by the Permira Funds. 

Synamedia counts Comcast’s Sky and Vodafone among the clients for its video platform and security products. 

“We thank Yves and wish him continued success as he pursues new opportunities,” added Abe Peled, Synamedia chairman. “Paul is taking over the reins of a business with an impressive customer roster, a strong pipeline and a reputation for award-winning innovation. Paul’s appointment signals our readiness and enthusiasm for the next chapter in our journey. His leadership track record, breadth of business experience, and ability to scale software businesses will be invaluable as we move forward with innovative solutions and services designed for the IP era.”

Video software provider Synamedia has announced that it is collaborating with Amazon Web Services in an effort to accelerate the adoption of cloud TV service worldwide.

Already, Synamedia’s Infinite cloud TV platform is being used by AWS’ Astro in Malaysia and E-Vision, a subsidiary of Etisalat Group, which operates a multicountry, multitenant OTT service.

Infinite is designed to allow video service providers to process, secure, distribute and monetize premium video across all devices, Synamedia says. The platform uses machine learning and AI to deliver a personalized TV experience.

Astro is utilizing Infinite to enhance its service to deliver premium video experiences to its subscribers across all devices. Subscribers can upgrade to new hybrid DTH and IP-enabled 4K UHD set-top boxes with a new UX and Synamedia Cloud DVR.

With E-Vision, the AWS platform currently live in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Infinite provides operators with a state-of-the-art platform to launch and run multiscreen OTT services.

Synamedia and AWS have also announced that they will host a webinar on June 10 at 10 a.m. ET titled “How to Build the New Pay-TV Bundle.” Registration is available online.

This story was originally published in Next TV sibling publication TV Technology.

LONDON & ATLANTA—Synamedia this week announced a partnership with Thomson Broadcast and Triveni Digital to offer an ATSC 3.0 channel-in-the-cloud solution to advance broadcasters’ uptake of NextGen TV, as well as a new professional ATSC 3.0 RF and IP receiver for MVPDs. 

“Our partnership was formed in response to broadcasters’ concerns over having to disrupt their current on-prem systems to trial ATSC 3.0,” said Elke Hungenaert, vice president of product management at Synamedia. “Our offering shows that a channel-in-the-cloud solution is readily available, while facilitating broadcast personnel to trial both operation and support of ATSC 3.0 with minimum disruption of their current on-prem systems.” 

The 3.0 channel-in-the-cloud solution will help stations looking to trial and deploy NextGen TV quickly and cost-effectively without disturbing 1.0 operations before buying ATSC 3.0 equipment for their facilities, Synamedia said.

“In addition, the channel-in-a-cloud system we built is demonstrable as a disaster recovery scenario, whereby switchover from on-prem to cloud-based infrastructure can be shown with less than a two-second disruption of the consumer signal,” said Hungenaert.

The companies bring their own unique technologies and expertise to the solution. Synamedia is drawing on its encoding and packaging capabilities from its video network portfolio; Triveni Digital on its GuideBuilder and Broadcast Gateway; and Thomson on its tower transmission products.

“The ability to trial ATSC 3.0 channels in the cloud will be a game changer for station operators in terms of capex savings, beginning with deployments of ATSC 3.0 lighthouse configurations using the cloud,” said Triveni Digital President and CEO Mark Simpson.

The solution also makes it possible for broadcasters to benefit from the NextGen TV standard’s ability to transmit IP packets over the air and over the top. “‘Channel in the cloud’ enables broadcasters to synchronize and orchestrate over-the-air transmission and cloud applications with an ATSC 3.0 signal, enabling a compelling, interactive and immersive experience,” said Aby Alexander, president, USA, at Thomson Broadcast.

Synamedia’s new ATSC 3.0 receiver takes advantage of the company’s Media Edge Gateway software-based integrated receiver/decoder (IRD). The new receiver will allow cable operators to trial 3.0 signals and deploy NextGen TV on a smaller scale with cost efficiency and flexibility by selecting features at their own pace, Synamedia said.

Not only will the new receiver make it possible for cable operators to capitalize on the ATSC 3.0 market, it will act as a bridge between the IP-based NextGen TV standard and MPEG Transport Stream-based ATSC 1.0 standard by allowing them to receive signals from broadcasters correctly, the company said.

“The promised benefits of ATSC 3.0, including high-quality video and audio, cross-screen capabilities, targeted advertising and interactivity, are closer than ever to becoming a reality,” said Julien Signes, senior vice president and general manager, Video Network, at Synamedia. “Cable operators are well-positioned to augment the value of these new services, and the availability of an ATSC 3.0 receiver for MVPDs is the key to unlocking widespread adoption for ATSC 3.0,” he said.

In lieu of product demos that would have taken place at the cancelled 2020 NAB Show, Synamedia has placed video demos of its products online. 

More information is available on the Synamedia website. 

This article originally appeared in Next TV sibling publication TV Technology.

Video software-as-a-service provider Synamedia has announced a new partnership with Google Cloud that it says will improve video streaming latency for clients to levels seen in broadcast television.

London-based Synamedia will leverage Google Kubernetes Engine, an enterprise-grade platform for containerized applications, to enable customers to scale as they grow with an end-to-end automation pipeline that can ramp up media processing workflows in minutes and recover from disasters more quickly. This video network “as-a-service” offering unifies previously siloed workflows on one platform, making operations more seamless and deployment faster.

Visit Next TV to read more stories like this one. 

Synamedia said its solution for live linear video delivery, combined with Google Cloud’s best-low latency network, can achieve times for content ingest to OTT device delivery in the range of five to seven seconds, roughly equivalent to what broadcast delivers.

Related: Synamedia CEO Yves Padrines on Password Sharing, Targeted Linear Advertising and the ‘New Bundle’

“As the live TV landscape shifts toward OTT delivery, the industry needs technology that matches what viewers have become accustomed to with premium digital TV services,” said Julien Signes, senior VP and GM of video network for Synamedia, in a statement. “Thanks to our partnership with Google Cloud, we are enabling the Infinite Entertainment viewers expect, without delay and with the highest quality.”

Added Anil Jain, managing director of media and entertainment industry solutions at Google Cloud: “By delivering Synamedia’s portfolio of OTT solutions, running as a service on Google Cloud, we can deliver high-uptime, low-latency, and scalable video services to businesses around the world.”

Video software-as-a-service provider Synamedia has announced a new partnership with Google Cloud that it says will improve video streaming latency for clients to levels seen in broadcast television.

London-based Synamedia will leverage Google Kubernetes Engine, an enterprise-grade platform for containerized applications, to enable customers to scale as they grow with an end-to-end automation pipeline that can ramp up media processing workflows in minutes and recover from disasters more quickly. This video network “as-a-service” offering unifies previously siloed workflows on one platform, making operations more seamless and deployment faster.

Also read: Synamedia CEO Yves Padrines on Password Sharing, Targeted Linear Advertising and the ‘New Bundle’

Synamedia said its solution for live linear video delivery, combined with Google Cloud’s best-low latency network, can achieve times for content ingest to OTT device delivery in the range of five to seven seconds, roughly equivalent to what broadcast delivers. 

“As the live TV landscape shifts toward OTT delivery, the industry needs technology that matches what viewers have become accustomed to with premium digital TV services,” said Julien Signes, senior VP and GM of video network for Synamedia, in a statement. “Thanks to our partnership with Google Cloud, we are enabling the Infinite Entertainment viewers expect, without delay and with the highest quality.”

Added Anil Jain, managing director of media and entertainment industry solutions at Google Cloud: “By delivering Synamedia’s portfolio of OTT solutions, running as a service on Google Cloud, we can deliver high-uptime, low-latency, and scalable video services to businesses around the world.”

Synamedia has announced the hiring of veteran video software engineer Nick Thexton as chief technology officer.

Thexton is a familiar face to the London-based video technology vendor. Prior to his last stop, serving as group CTO for German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1, Thexton was the top technologist for Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions division. That unit was sold in 2018 to private equity firm Primera Fund, which ultimately branded the asset as Synamedia.

Related: Synamedia CEO Yves Padrines on Password Sharing, Targeted Linear Advertising and the ‘New Bundle’

With Thexton’s appointment, Alok Gera, who served as CTO of Synamedia for the last 18 months, will move to the position of senior VP and general manager, North America, focusing on solutions for cable, telco and media customers in that region.

Visit Next TV to read more stories like this one. 

“Having spent years in R&D shaping many of the technologies that make up Synamedia’s portfolio, I have a deep affinity for the offerings and organization,” Thexton said in a statement. “My immediate focus will be an injection of ideas to support operators as they transition to IP broadcasting and develop new business opportunities. New initiatives will help video service providers win more eyeballs and build revenues in the IP era.

Added Yves Padrines, Synamedia CEO: “There are few individuals in this industry with Nick’s technical prowess and pedigree. With his passion for innovation, Nick will instill new levels of creativity into our R&D activity to keep our customers one step ahead in a competitive sector. With Nick at the helm, our reputation for impactful industry-defining innovation will continue undimmed.”

Synamedia has announced the hiring of veteran video software engineer Nick Thexton as chief technology officer.

Thexton is a familiar face to the London-based video technology vendor. Prior to his last stop, serving as group CTO for German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1, Thexton was the top technologist for Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions division. That unit was sold in 2018 to private equity firm Primera Fund, which ultimately branded the asset as Synamedia. 

Also read: Synamedia CEO Yves Padrines on Password Sharing, Targeted Linear Advertising and the ‘New Bundle’

With Thexton’s appointment, Alok Gera, who served as CTO of Synamedia for the last 18 months, will move to the position of senior VP and general manager, North America, focusing on solutions for cable, telco and media customers in that region.

“Having spent years in R&D shaping many of the technologies that make up Synamedia’s portfolio, I have a deep affinity for the offerings and organization,” Thexton said in a statement. “My immediate focus will be an injection of ideas to support operators as they transition to IP broadcasting and develop new business opportunities. New initiatives will help video service providers win more eyeballs and build revenues in the IP era.

Added Yves Padrines, Synamedia CEO: “There are few individuals in this industry with Nick’s technical prowess and pedigree. With his passion for innovation, Nick will instill new levels of creativity into our R&D activity to keep our customers one step ahead in a competitive sector. With Nick at the helm, our reputation for impactful industry-defining innovation will continue undimmed.”

Sixteen months after private equity purchased the assets under Cisco’s Video Services umbrella for $1 billion, rebranding the collective unit as Synamedia, the U.K.-based video technology vendor has emerged with a multipronged plan to serve the fast-changing video industry.

As its client base expands beyond satellite and cable pay TV providers to media companies and others involved in direct-to-consumer over-the-top distribution, Synamedia has expanded beyond traditional linear set-top provisioning and watermarking into areas including piracy disruption, search and discovery and advertising.

At CES in Las Vegas, Multichannel News talked with CEO Yves Padrines, who shared his perspective on the global video marketplace and how Synamedia — which counts Comcast’s Sky as an investor — fits into it. Here’s an edited transcript.

MCN: Synamedia has evolved from privacy prevention to what you call 'piracy disruption.' What is the market opportunity here?
Yves Padrines: If you look at the challenges we see in the market, there is this multibillion-dollar race on the content side. You have all of these giant media companies and large service providers spending billions of dollars in content production. Netflix spent $15 billion last year; Comcast spent $20 billion; Disney/Fox spent $23 billion. At the end of the day, all of this investment is sitting on the balance sheets of all these media giants, and they have to monetize it.

The problem with all of that is you have streaming piracy, which is becoming an increasingly big problem for the industry. All of this content is available everywhere and a lot of it is hacked. An end user can now buy a device for $100 and be able to watch 3,000 to 5,000 channels for the next 12 to 18 months. And a lot of these illegal services offer very nice solutions. They aggregate all this content in a very nice way. Of course, they can spend money on the technology because they don’t have to pay anything on the content side. The experience is so good, even a lot of users don’t know it’s illegal.

MCN: So how do you slow that down?
YP: We’ve invested a lot over the last year to disrupt the streaming piracy ecosystem. One of the adjacent parts on the piracy side is credential sharing. So we launched at CES last year a product called Credentials Sharing and Fraud Insight. It’s an AI solution where we can identify when people are doing casual sharing in a way they’re not allowed to. It’s a way to keep honest people honest. If you have, for example, a family that’s supposed to be based in one household, and you see that this family has 25 people using your service — or maybe it’s four or five people and they’re never in the same location — maybe they’re not a family at all. So we’re offering this AI solution to media companies, direct-to-consumer operators and pay TV operators as a way to be able to monitor this problem and decide what they want to do. They can stop the service, or they can upsell new services like family packages.

You also have a lot of people hacking credentials. There are over 4.5 billion credentials and passwords you can buy on the dark web for $4 or $5. Disney+, as soon as they launched, there were millions of hacked accounts after just a few weeks. And it’s not just a problem for video, it’s a problem for providers of WiFi and broadband.

MCN: With products like Infinite, Synamedia is also getting involved in search and recommendation, yes?
YP: Because you have this explosion of content, you also have this explosion of choice with all these direct-to-consumer and OTT platforms available. We strongly believe there is a need to help the end user to find this content, to help with unified search. We also believe that the long-term winners in the business of video aggregation will be the ones who own the broadband, or they will have access in a cost-effective way to broadband. They are going to have this new bundle of solutions where they are providing broadband, mobile and TV. And they’re going to have a way to aggregate all of the content to high-end broadband subscribers.

MCN: As others are moving towards developing the OTT advertising market with advanced solutions, Synamedia is investing in linear. Why?
YP: TV advertising is still the most cost-effective way to promote services and products to the mass market. The linear side is still worth $120 billion in revenue per year. And for streaming and VOD, it’s still less than $20 million. The problem with linear advertising is that you don’t have very good measurement, and you don’t have very good targeting solutions available. So we co-developed with Sky a solution called AdSmart, which has been very well-deployed and successful in the U.K. and has launched in Italy as well. This lets you push targeted advertising on pay TV set-top boxes. We’re now working on the next generation of targeted advertising solutions that will bring better measurements and targeted solutions for linear.

Sixteen months after private equity purchased the assets under Cisco’s Video Services umbrella for $1 billion and re-branded the collective unit as Synamedia, the U.K.-based video technology vendor has emerged with a multi-pronged plan to serve the fast-changing video industry.

As its client base expands beyond satellite and cable pay TV providers, to media companies and others involved in  direct-to-consumer OTT distributoin, Synamedia has expanded beyond traditional linear set-top provisioning and watermarking, into areas including piracy disruption, search and discovery, and advertising. 

At CES in Las Vegas earlier this month, Next TV caught up company CEO Yves Padrines, who shared his perspective on the global video marketplace, and how his company—which counts Comcast’s Sky as an investor—fits into it. 

NTV: Synamedia has evolved from privacy prevention to what you call “piracy disruption.” What is the market opportunity here?

Yves Padrines: If you look at the challenges we see in the market, there is this multi-billion dollar race on the content side. You have all of these giants media companies and large service providers spending billions of dollars in content production. Netflix spent $15 billion last year; Comcast spent $20 billion; Disney/Fox spent $23 billion. At the end of the day, all of this investment is sitting on the balance sheets of all these media giants, and they have to monetize it. The problem with all of that is you have streaming piracy, which is becoming an increasingly big problem for the industry. All of this content is available everywhere, and a lot of it is hacked. An end user can now buy a device for $100, and be able to watch 3,000 to 5,000 channels for the next 12 to 18 months. And a lot of these illegal services offer very nice solutions. They aggregate all this content in a very nice way. Of course, they can spend money on the technology, because they don’t have to pay anything on the content side. The experience is so good, even a lot of users don’t know it’s illegal.

NTV: So how do you slow that down?

YP: We’ve invested a lot over the last year to disrupt the streaming piracy ecosystem. One of the adjacent parts on the piracy side is credential sharing. So we launched at CES last year a product called Credentials Sharing and Fraud Insight. It’s an AI solution where we can identify when people are doing casual sharing in way they’re not allowed to. It’s a way to keep honest people honest. If you have, for example, a family that’s supposed to be based in one household, and you see that this family has 25 people using your service. Or maybe it’s four or five people, and they’re never in the same location. Maybe they’re not a family at all. So we’re offering this AI solution to media companies, direct-to-consumer operators and pay TV operators as a way to be able to monitor this problem and decide what they want to do. They can stop the service, or they can up-sell new services like family packages. You also have lot of people hacking credentials. There are over 4.5 billion credentials and passwords you can buy on the dark web for $4 or $5. Disney+, as soon as they launched, there were millions of hacked accounts after just a few weeks. And it’s not just a problem for video, it’s a problem for providers of WiFi and broadband. 

NTV: With products like Infinite, Synamedia is also getting involved in search and recommendation, yes?

YP:  Because you have this explosion of content, you also have this explosion of choice with all these direct to consumer and OTT platforms available. We strongly believe there is a need to help the end user to find this content, to help with unified search. We also believe that the long-term winners in the business of video aggregation will be the ones who own the broadband, or they will have access in a cost-effective way to access broadband. They are going to have this new bundle of solutions where they are providing broadband, mobile and TV. And they’re going to have a way to aggregate all of the content to high-end broadband subscribers.

NTV: And as others are moving towards developing the OTT advertising market with advanced solutions, Synamedia is investing in linear? Why?

YP: TV advertising is still the most cost-effective way to promote services and products to the mass market. The linear side is still worth $120 billion in revenue per year. And for streaming and VOD, it’s still less than $20 million. The problem with linear advertising is that you don’t have very good measurement. And you don’t have very good targeting solutions available. So we co-developed with Sky a solution called AdSmart, which has been very well deployed and successful in the U.K., and has launched in Italy, as well. This lets you push targeted advertising on pay TV set-top boxes. We’re now working on the next generation of targeted advertising solutions that will bring better measurements and targeted solutions for linear.

The year 2020 is here and TV will, once again, never be the same. Streaming video, subscription services, pirates, connected TVs, interactive programming and much more have changed the way, the where and the how of content consumption.

And it doesn’t stop there. There is so much more that will continue to change. Think of what we already know for 2020:

• Next-Gen TV will start to make ATSC 3.0 a household name.

• New over-the-top services from titans like NBCUniversal and WarnerMedia will join the battle for streaming TV viewers.

• The rumor mill for more mergers and acquisitions is already full, and will continue to reshape the business landscape of video.

Collectively, our industry will thrive if we plan for what’s next. To do so, broadcasters, OTT companies, content owners and technology companies should look ahead. Here are a few predictions:

Bundling: Meet the rebirth of pay TV and the growth of streaming and subscription VOD. Bundling is already happening, but it will increase exponentially. The cross-service TV bundle will move center stage as the perceived wisdom that cord-cutting is decimating the traditional pay TV sector will prove false. With the world’s media powerhouses launching streaming services into an already crowded market, consumers will be confronted with too many siloed options. The result is that many services won’t survive and some cord-cutters, tired of searching for content, may ultimately watch less. To avoid this fate, traditional pay TV programmers and new players will join forces to offer converged, curated “new pay TV” bundles that better meet consumer demand.

Piracy: Whether it’s casual credentials-sharing or the illegal sale of passwords and illicit streaming, piracy will continue to grow. We will see the industry raise the volume about the impact of casual credentials-sharing and the toxicity of streaming piracy and fraudulent, for-profit sharing. While individual operators facing severe piracy situations are already calling for more to be done to combat pirates, we are only at the start of this battle to protect both the value of premium content and operator revenues.

The proof of the severity of the problem is found in the numbers. Synamedia recently unveiled the findings from analyses of two video service providers, which uncovered more than 3 million viewer credentials were compromised across both the dark and open Web over the course of just six months. Additionally, the analysis found these particular video service providers are likely to be losing more than $72 million of potential annual subscription-fee revenue due to password-sharing from roughly 500,000 non-paying users.

These statistics illustrate a microcosm of the real impact piracy is already having in the industry. In order to survive, video providers must defend their livelihood with state-of-the-art technology, the intelligence of experts who think like pirates do and who know how they work, so they can move even faster than the relentless thieves. Simply, they must stay ahead of the game.

Latency: Achieving synchronized latency between live broadcast and OTT streaming at scale will become a ‘must-have’ as live sports streaming goes mainstream. This will require optimizing the entire end-to-end chain for low latency. Using a low-delay encoder is a moot point if the content delivery network (CDN) platform and player introduce delays down the line. Operators will also start to converge their broadcast and IP streams at the headend to help minimize any delay and optimize their workflows.

At the same time, we will also see a flurry of activity around ATSC 3.0 as U.S. broadcasters prepare the technical, commercial and legal ground for rollouts that will open up new application opportunities. It’s no secret that the way TV is viewed has changed since ATSC 1.0 was rolled out. There is no longer one screen in the home where viewing takes place. The TV-watching experience has changed, the platforms have grown in size (or shrunk in some cases) and the options have expanded. With ATSC 3.0, there’s more of nearly everything: More immersive experiences, more personalization and more content and related services.

Hybrid Operations and Cloud: As the move to the cloud accelerates, we will see greater adoption by pay TV providers of solutions to find the optimal balance between capital expenditures and operating expenditures. For example, solutions that offer the ability to launch, scale up and scale down high availability channels for smarter hybrid on-premise and public cloud deployments while keeping a tight control on costs.

From the viewers’ perspective, a hybrid approach takes into consideration their desire for accessible content, superior experiences and reliable services. Consumers expect to be able to watch any show they want, on any device they want, at any time they want. To keep up, companies must consider a blend of broadcast and IP to deliver more viewing options, must have cloud DVR and greater flexibility for a complete viewing experience.

Addressable Advertising: We expect to see new ecosystems and partnerships to address the growing demand for linear TV addressable advertising. This will include more pay TV operator and broadcaster collaborations based upon sharing advanced advertising platforms and audience data to create solutions matching the needs of advertisers and agencies. The entire industry will also need to work together to define a standard way of measuring addressable advertising audiences and outcomes.

However it all plays out, there’s one prediction that is certain to come true: It will be another exciting year in the ongoing evolution and revolution of the TV industry.

Jean-Marc Racine is chief product officer at Synamedia, a London-based video software and services company.

Synamedia said the platform combines multiple broadcast and broadband workflows to provide broadcast quality on any screen.

The solution can be deployed on premises, in the cloud or in a hybrid situation. The tools cover acquisition and multiplexing, encoding, transcoding, ad insertion, packaging, content protection, origin services and IP transport.

The solution also supports Adaptive Bit Rate for live streaming.

Synamedia announced the product at the ANGA Com event in Cologne, Germany

Related: Sky Invests Former Cisco Video Software Vendor Synamedia

“By removing the need for pay-TV operators to juggle separate broadcast and broadband workflows and giving them the virtual keys to a brilliant new world of software innovation, they can launch new services faster to boost subscriber numbers and revenues,” said Julien Signes, senior VP and general manager of video processing at Synamedia.

Synamedia was formed last year, private equity firm Permira Funds re-purchased Cisco’s video software business, then rebranded it. 

LAS VEGAS--UK satellite TV company Sky has invested an undisclosed sum in Synamedia, the video software company repurchased by private equity firm Permira Funds last year and rebranded as Synamedia.

Both Sky, and its new corporate parent, Comcast, are longtime Synamedia customers, said the Syndamedia announcement, which was made at CES in Las Vegas.

Related: Cisco's Just Sold Video Services Unit Rebranded as ‘Synamedia’

“We’ve long collaborated with the team at Synamedia to help bring great content, products and entertainment to millions of customers across Europe and this investment will help deepen our innovative partnership,” said Andrew Griffith, Sky’s group chief operating officer, in a statement.

“At a time of accelerated evolution in the pay-TV industry, this investment is a fantastic endorsement of our product vision, R&D roadmap and service portfolio from Sky, Europe’s leading media and entertainment company,” added Yves Padrines, Synamedia CEO.

Synamedia also touts AT&T, Charter, Cox, Disney, Liberty Global, Rogers, Sky, Verizon and Vodafone as clients. 

Private equity firm Permira has closed its $1 billion re-purchase of Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions unit and has declared the rebranded “Synamedia” open for business.

Related: Cisco's Just Sold Video Services Unit Rebranded as ‘Synamedia’

Cisco announced the name change in September, then laid out its management team and vision a week later at the IBC Show in Amsterdam.

Besides declaring itself operational in today’s announcement, Synamedia also said that it has hired former Rovi and TiVo chief revenue officer, Dave Longaker, as senior VP and general manager, Americas.

The company boasts more than 590 patents, covering technologies including cloud digital video recording, video processing, security and client software. Synamedia’s team is spread across the U.S, UK, Israel, India, Belgium, China and Canada. Workers provide end-to-end video services to customers spanning advisory, delivery, implementation, training, system integration and customer support.

Synamedia also boasts a client roster of more than 200 pay-TV and media customers including AT&T, Astro, beIN, Bharti Airtel, Charter, China DTH, Comcast, Cox, Disney, Foxtel, Get, Liberty Global, Oi, OSN, Rogers, Sky, Shaw, Tata Sky, Verizon, Viasat and Vodafone.

“While we are in a golden age of TV, our customers face challenges including the rising cost of content, soaring piracy levels, and the impact of large OTT challengers on the market. As an independent entity focused on this sector, we will help our customers optimize their current infrastructure and capitalize on OTT and IP distribution to expand consumer choice and convenience, secure their income and generate new revenue streams,” said Yves Padrines, CEO of Synamedia.

Padrines formerly served as VP of global service provider EMEA for Cisco. The company is also led by Chairman Abe Peled, who was chief executive of NDS back in 2012, when Cisco acquired it for $5 billion and used it as the foundation to force it s Service Provider Software Solutions business.

After repurchasing Cisco’s Service Provider Video Software Solutions business for $1 billion in May, private equity firm Permira today announced a new name for the company, Synamedia, and said it has plans to introduce its executive team and roll out its strategy at the upcoming IBC show in Amsterdam.

Permira said its deal will close in the first half of Cisco’s 2019 fiscal year (we’re currently in the first quarter). According to the private equity firm, "Syna" means "together" in Greek, “reflecting Synamedia's ambition to bring together broadcast and OTT media services and enable clients to deliver exceptional customer experiences.”

The company will be led by Chairman Abe Peled, who was chief executive of NDS back in 2012, when Cisco acquired it for $5 billion and used it as the foundation to force it s Service Provider Software Solutions business. Yves Padrines, current VP of global service provider EMEA for Cisco, will serve as CEO.

Last month, Yvette Kanouff, the head of Cisco's Service Provider business, announced that she is leaving to start her "third career chapter.”

According to Permira, Synamedia will focus on empowering “telcos, media and pay-TV providers to optimize their current infrastructure and capitalize on OTT distribution to expand consumer choice and convenience, secure their revenue streams, and develop new offerings.”

At IBC, the company will be demoing enhancements to its VideoGuard anti-piracy service, a renewed investment into Evo middleware product, and a cloud DVR solution. Other demos will focus on Multicast Adaptive Big Rate streaming and broadcast-equivalent streaming latency.

"Synamedia enters the market at a time when the TV landscape is being redrawn,” Peled said in a statement. “Building on a 30-year heritage in the pay-TV industry, a market leadership position, and an unrivaled reputation for innovation, we will hit the ground running as a private, independent entity committed to help customers boost engagement and revenues by capitalizing on the myriad opportunities that IP distribution and cloud-based services bring.”