Distribution Playbook Success Stories from Aframe Customers Distribution Playbook Success Stories from Aframe Customers x Introduction To This Playbook < So what exactly is a playbook? In sporting terms, a playbook is the set of plans the coach uses to ensure the team succeeds. For Aframe, these ‘plays’ are really just a metaphorical device to bring together a series of different workflows that might be employed by a particular television project, in this case, global distribution of media rights. In the commercial ‘engine rooms’ of the large production and broadcast outlets, programme distribution teams demand powerful frameworks that enable them to control their content securely, easily and efficiently. This enables them to lower their sales cycles, which utlimately means more profitability for the corporation. In this playbook we’ve featured clients who have applied Aframe to manage their content portfolios across multiple platforms and business units with partners all over the world. By utilizing Aframe as a central resource for all screeners, the rapid review process allowed Keshet International to maximize cash flows from their licensing programs. Read why RDA chose Aframe specifically because of its unique clip-sharing feature. In the US, Veria Living relies on Aframe to instantly refine and share content with clients, replacing a cumbersome DVD production and distribution process. We hope this playbook gives you insight into why media outlets across the world are embracing cloud computing as a smarter way to review, approve and distribute high value video content. Find out more at http://aframe.com/distribution Share this... aframe.com UK & EU: +44 (0)800 197 6870 US: +1 978-799-9440 2 Distribution Playbook Success Stories from Aframe Customers Enabling Rapid Growth in Global Distribution Keshet International is a leading Israeli media company. Established in 1993, it creates innovative content for a variety of media platforms. The company’s core business is free TV with Keshet Broadcasting - a franchisee of Channel 2, Israel’s major commercial channel. In-house and independent producers, spanning all genres including entertainment, drama, factual, news and current affairs, provide Keshet programming. Keshet International is the group’s global distribution and production arm. Its back catalogue contains Israel’s most popular shows, including hit drama series Hatufim (Prisoners of War), which was sold to 20th Century Fox and adapted into Emmy Award winning show Homeland; hit interactive talent show Rising Star; International Emmy nominated docu-reality format Dear Neighbors; talent show Master Class; and ‘buddy comedy’ Traffic Light, winner of the International Emmy Award. Following the success of Homeland, new MD Alon Shtruzman and Head of Distribution & Acquisitions Keren Shahar, recruited a dedicated Sales team to help take other Keshet formats to overseas markets. Challenge Ziv Rabinovich was brought in to support the company’s rapid growth and overhaul the facilitation of the Sales process as Head of Operations, just as opportunities were exploding through the popularity of the Homeland franchise. He wanted to help make the sales process far slicker so that the team could focus on selling, rather than battling with technological obstacles. “One of the main challenges of TV distribution is sharing screeners. Sales people need the ability to share viewing copies of shows to their customers quickly and securely, but in a way that is convenient to the client,” said Head of Operations Ziv Rabinovich. For moving screeners around, the sales teams were using various file transfer technologies without efficiency. Problems arose because clients had to download the footage before it could be viewed, which presented further security concerns. It also put the onus on the client to work harder than necessary – not ideal during any sales process. The team even considered adapting their own website to host and show full episode screeners, but the infrastructure required to provide the necessary control of approved content, security and speed were huge challenges. < x Share this... aframe.com UK & EU: +44 (0)800 197 6870 US: +1 978-799-9440 3 Distribution Playbook Success Stories from Aframe Customers Solution By using Aframe as a central resource for all screeners, Keshet International is able to ensure that only approved content is available for the team to share. This helps manage version control, providing the correct language editions and distributing only approved episodes. The sharing features within Aframe offer the ability to quickly and easily share Keshet’s valuable content, whilst minimizing the risk of a security breach. A central operations team controls access to footage by carefully managing links to streamed content. Links can be set to expire and named individuals may only access very sensitive media. On most occasions the sales team offer online streamed versions of the programmes they’re selling, but sometimes they need the flexibility to offer clients an episode to download. With Aframe they can choose to let recipients download a proxy or the original format version, all with the peace of mind that all activity is logged in the system. Using the cloud enables Keshet to deliver content to people with blazing speed, not to mention convenience. Recipients can choose to view content in browser on computers, tablets and smart phones. This rapid review process gives the sales team the opportunity to vastly reduce sales cycles, eliminate wasted time battling technology and concentrate their efforts on building relationships and closing deals. Results “Aframe is, at least in part, responsible for the significant improvement in sales at Keshet International. The control of media, secure and immediate sharing and the cost effectiveness of the service have definitely contributed to the success of Keshet formats worldwide,” said Ziv. Share this... aframe.com UK & EU: +44 (0)800 197 6870 US: +1 978-799-9440 4 Distribution Playbook Success Stories from Aframe Customers Making TV Distribution Slicker RDA TV is a media rights distribution company specializing in sports content and highly successful action- entertainment programming aimed at young male audiences. RDA also brokers programming deals with channels and networks across the globe to maximize the exposure, revenue and brand growth of its clients. It works on behalf of some of the world’s leading sports brands including UFC, TNA Wrestling, Real Madrid TV and Liverpool FC. Challenge When you are selling some of the world’s most exciting sports programming to some of the biggest and most respected broadcasters around the world, being able to share content quickly is an essential part of the sales process. Traditional approaches to distributing screeners by DVD pose significant time delays, costs and security risks. RDA demanded a vendor that could expedite distribution for their entire programme catalogue. “We were looking at ways to drive efficiencies into our sales cycle and we knew the daily process of burning DVDs and sending them by courier was expensive, incredibly time consuming and not actually that useful to our customers or our team,” said RDA Sales Manager Paul Benson. Solution RDA TV chose Aframe specifically because of the unique clip sharing feature, which would allow consumers to playout any desired clip in a matter of minutes. Aframe automatically creates h.264 web proxies out of any high resolution media asset uploaded, so footage can be sent instantly for review on a standard web browser or mobile device – no dedicated hardware or software is required. RDA users simply select their desired clips, enter the recipient’s email address and send a message with the link to see the clip in a universally accessible video player. They can also enable the recipient to download the original format of the clip and if the recipient is an Aframe user they can comment on the clip too. This saves ripping hundreds of DVDs and excessive courier costs and makes the review process lighting fast. Share this... aframe.com UK & EU: +44 (0)800 197 6870 US: +1 978-799-9440 5 Distribution Playbook Success Stories from Aframe Customers x x < With Aframe’s simple to use interface, RDA control who has access to the media. Aframe’s permission controls ensured the IP was protected and clients could be monitored at all times - project owners had the ability to invite users and specify their level of access and functionality within each collection. RDA’s high value content is completely secure in the cloud - all Aframe servers are linked so that 3 copies of media are always saved - 2 in the origin location, 1 replicated on the opposite side of the country - with triple security from FACT accreditation, 256-bit encryption and its triple-backup datacenter network. Results Moving HD content around the world in an accelerated and secure fashion made working within tight deadlines possible for RDA. “Since using Aframe we have been able to provide a much quicker, more professional and slicker service, which ultimately improves our bottom line” said Paul Benson. Share this... aframe.com UK & EU: +44 (0)800 197 6870 US: +1 978-799-9440 6 Distribution Playbook Success Stories from Aframe Customers Global Review, Approval & Distribution Veria Living TV is a forward thinking 24/7 television network offering the world’s largest line-up of first- run, original wellness programming – connecting viewers in a contemporary and accessible manner to the benefits and joys of living a healthy lifestyle. Veria Living has produced an enviable catalogue of productions such as Good Food America, Rock Your Yoga and Yoga Sutra, which have embraced viewers throughout the world with a mixture of food, fitness and health segments. Challenge Veria’s program library of over 1,200 hours of HD programming (equivalent to 60TB) was spread out over dozens of external hard drives. Traditionally, the sales team would find out what shows were of interest to a perspective client and then put in a request with the media manager internally to create some DVD screeners.