MEDIA TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION ISSUE- 44 • JUNEi 2020

tech-i | tech.ebu.chtech.ebu.ch/subscribe | June 2020 1 8 10

Issue 44 • -Junei 2020

Cover story: On pages 10 and 11, strategy leaders from four EBU Members share some initial reflections on how the COVID-19 crisis will 3 We must keep reaching our audiences impact on PSM and technology in the Antonio Arcidiacono on PSM in a post-pandemic world medium term. Our cover features some 4 News and events snapshots evoking the first weeks of Progress with Eurovision FLOW; BroadThinking moves online the crisis. 5 News and events Benchmarking speech-to-text; media distribution during the Top left to bottom right: screenshot COVID-19 crisis from a video by Loy Ramirez, Eurovision Labs Madrid; Bram 6 Making radio smarter and more social Tullemans, co-host of EBU VRT and NPO put innovative radio approaches to the test under BroadThinking 2020 online; work- the MARCONI project from-home coffee (Allie on Unsplash); 7 An intelligent approach to capturing and using radio metadata behind the scenes at a remote How a BBC project helps improve the audience experience production of RTL Direkt; reporter 8 Cheat sheet for the new EBU HDR Colour Bars with mask (Adobe Stock); COVID-19 A guide to the features included in the latest EBU colour bars statistics (Markus Spiske on Unsplash); the new EBU HDR colour bars; social 9 Looking at UHDTV codecs with expert eyes distancing at France Télévisions EBU Members test the latest video production codecs (Rodolph Chapeau); Hemini Mehta, 10 COVID-19: a disruptor and an accelerator co-host of EBU BroadThinking 2020 Strategy leaders from BBC, CBC/Radio-Canada, VRT and Yle online; detail from mural in Chicago by share their initial thoughts how PSM will change and develop @milt1coronado (@urbanmuralhunter, 12 Connecting with Gen Z through immersive journalism CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); Love Bergström, RTVE-funded research into the use of VR for journalism traffic reporter at (Elin Jensen); NCD Alliance media briefing 14 Testing times for the Live IP transition (Tedward Quinn on Unsplash); Good The third round of the JT-NM Tested programme was completed Friday in St. Peter’s Square, Rome despite the difficult circumstances (rdb466 on flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0); home 15 Sustainability matters: Using AI for smarter, more sustainable studio (master78 on flickr, CC BY-NC video encoding 2.0); RTL Direkt remote production; How AI-based encoding can provide energy and cost savings WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (screenshot 16 A case for capability mapping? from press briefing); work from home David Wood introduces a management tool with potential (josoroma on flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0); 17 Partner Profiles: Video Services Forum screenshot from video by Guillaume Laying the groundwork for audio and video transport Jumelet (DJ Mosta). 18 PSM and trust: well positioned for times of crisis The latest data from EBU Media Intelligence Service Editor-in-Chief: Antonio Arcidiacono 19 In the spotlight: Jordi J. Giménez Managing Editor: Patrick Wauthier 5G-MAG Project Manager Editor: Eoghan O’Sullivan [email protected] Design: Louise Tait Printed on FSC certified paper by Graphius (FSC CO14767) TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION Sign up to receive tech-i magazine, EBU Get an edge Technology & Innovation newsletters or © European Broadcasting Union event alerts: tech.ebu.ch/subscribe All rights reserved. The reproduction • Our goal is to be an incubator to of articles in tech-i is authorized only advance media technology. EBU Members are encouraged to with the written permission of the • We catalyse innovations so they follow and contribute to the work publishers. The responsibility for views deliver for all players of our Strategic Programmes and expressed in tech-i rests solely with • We stimulate active collaboration so Communities of Practice. the authors. that you get more than innovative technology – you get a real Visit: tech.ebu.ch/ourwork competitive advantage.

2 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 EDITORIAL We must keep reaching our audiences Antonio Arcidiacono, Director of Technology & Innovation, EBU

The COVID-19 crisis has sternly more natural to train young tested the ability of public generations to create and service media (PSM) to fulfil its produce multimedia content and basic remit. The need for services themselves. PSM can information, education and, yes, play a role here, guiding these entertainment is greater than new creators and moderating the ever. With trusted brands, communities that will emerge. universal access and experienced staff, EBU Members have been at REIMAGINED ENTERTAINMENT the forefront of the effort to help And thirdly, to entertainment. We society understand and come to have each experienced the terms with this ongoing impact of “de-socialization” on challenge. human behaviour. Social In this issue of tech-i, strategy interactions have been reduced leaders from several EBU to a minimum and are mediated Members have shared some as a virtual experience behind initial reflections on the likely videoconferencing tools. We medium-term changes to how have learned to live with virtual their services are produced and events and won’t go fully back to distributed (see pages 10–11). For where we were before. There is my part, I believe there are some certainly an opportunity to things we can say with certainty, reimagine here, offering smaller- looking again at those key pillars scale distributed community – inform, educate, entertain – but entertainment. also an overarching aspect that When it comes to large events, must be prioritized as we move the key ingredient to attract a beyond the initial shock of this mass audience will be the social pandemic. unicast-only strategy is dimension, that needs to be unsustainable in terms of translated into a collective virtual RELIABLE INFORMATION economics and resources. experience. Previous attempts to As the crisis reached Europe, the transpose a physical experience need for citizens to receive INTEGRATED EDUCATION – think about virtual museum accurate and timely information Turning to education, we have visits – have not been successful, became quickly apparent, seen a large-scale experiment in owing partly perhaps to limited throwing into sharp relief our home-schooling, where public image quality, but mostly ongoing discussions about the broadcasters have quickly because of the total absence of a networks and infrastructure used stepped in to provide new social experience. These to distribute media. It is starkly programming, often leveraging considerations should stimulate obvious that no single content from their huge reflection around new infrastructure can provide access audiovisual archives. Seamlessly entertainment models that could to all essential services integrating with national replace or improve the collective everywhere. curriculums, EBU Members have and social experience. Whether for daily news or for opened a fresh path to a new However, perhaps most urgent emergency alerts, we hybrid model for school, where importantly, all this informing, require reliable and sustainable physical classes can be educating and entertaining will communication and media complemented by content from be for nothing if we cannot reach distribution infrastructure. PSM. This experience should not the audience! We need to keep Broadcast and multicast, the be just a temporary one but this uppermost in our minds, latter with local storage should be the basis for a positive both ensuring that we pick the capabilities, are essential by-product of this crisis, right mix of technologies to elements for being able to reach contributing to the development distribute our content and that 100% of the population on 100% of future European citizens. the commercial arrangements of the territory. While less of an We are also seeing a whole ensure PSM are not beholden to issue for fixed applications, generation of students gaining gatekeepers. The crisis is creating where fibre optic networks are an accelerated understanding in opportunities for EBU Members, available, it becomes critical in the use of interactive audiovisual but we must ensure we are mobility, where the use of a tools. Tomorrow it will be even positioned to take advantage.

tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 3 NEWS & EVENTS

Bram Tullemans, who co-hosted Eurovision Flow BroadThinking 2020 with EBU colleague Hemini Mehta expands reach

The EBU has selected cloud provider Leaseweb as the preferred distributor for the Eurovision Flow multi-CDN solution. The agreement will accommodate the growth of the service for online distribution. Leaseweb also contributes to the technology stack and will take care of technical support. Eurovision Flow started life in 2016 as an EBU multi-CDN proof of concept, which grew into a full operational service. By aggregating demand, the EBU continues to bring scale advantages to its membership and reduce costs for online delivery. As of 2020, Eurovision Flow has outgrown its start-up Plan B for BroadThinking office, with an increasing user base from within and outside The agenda for the EBU’s and beyond. The event, free the EBU membership. With BroadThinking 2020 conference for EBU Members and with a the new partnership in place covered the usual landscape nominal fee for non-members, the Eurovision Flow brand can of online content delivery, attracted more than 200 expand further. players and platforms, with an registrations and maintained a Eurovision Flow load-balances understandable focus on how the steady attendance of at least 120 playout requests from online infrastructure and services might people throughout. users dynamically over several perform during the period of Despite one or two small content delivery networks widespread confinement. technical glitches, the conference (CDNs), optimizing Quality of As for all T&I events, the ran smoothly, with the usual Experience. It is a fully automated presentation videos are available high-quality presentations and redundant system, as traffic is on demand to EBU Members and high-value conversations, albeit redirected to the best performing those who attended the event: mostly moderated through the CDN while stacking their capacity. tech.ebu.ch/broadthinking2020 online Q&A interface. Indeed, It has proven to be ideal for As it became apparent early the biggest challenge was reaching worldwide audiences in March that COVID-19 would how to bring the all-important and is often combined as an quickly and severely limit networking aspect of such offload mechanism with its users’ the scope for international events into the virtual domain. own CDNs. Aside from providing travel, the organizing team for Having more social interaction a worldwide sales network, with BroadThinking realized a Plan can take an online conference to offices in the , the UK, B would be required. EBU staff another level and it remains an Germany, the USA and Singapore, had already switched to working area for further experimentation. Leaseweb adds a new multi-CDN from home, so everyone quickly The event served as a valuable management layer that enhances focused on the necessary pivot testing ground for running EBU the Quality of Service. to holding – in the third week of conferences and large-scale March – the EBU’s first entirely meetings online. The weeks online conference. since have seen a whole raft of successful events, from webinars AN EBU FIRST and roundtable discussions While the live streaming of to annual assemblies and events has been the norm for conferences. Both the MDN several years, this would be Workshop (9–10 June) and the the first time that an entire Network Technology Seminar conference was held online- 2020 (23–24 June) will be Find more information at only, and with the presenters online-only events. eurovisionflow.com and, for EBU distributed across the continent See: tech.ebu.ch/events Members, tech.ebu.ch/flow.

4 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 NEWS & EVENTS

An unprecedented test for distribution infrastructure

As the COVID-19 crisis took HD and so forth. But would quality limitations might be hold in Europe, writes Peter this alleviate congestion on the more appropriately applied to MacAvock (EBU), the resilience networks so many rely on to streaming manifests that target of broadcast and broadband enable working and education at mobile devices, while maintaining networks was put to the test. home? And what help could the high quality on large TV screens. These are unprecedented times. broadcasters offer in addition? When considering congestion EBU Members have all stepped and – let’s face it – the costs, up to the challenges, including EBU RECOMMENDATION EBU Members typically measure the rapid imposition of working- The EBU produced R 149, a their broadband traffic at four from-home, the provision of technical recommendation on points: CDN outputs (remember regular and reliable news to how to mitigate congestion on that pricing is linked to capacity their audiences under difficult broadband networks. Its main usage at this particular point); conditions, and so much more. provision is local dialogue, the Exchange peering point But how has the infrastructure which was largely underway in between EBU Members and for broadcasting and broadband EBU Member markets already. different ISPs; the last mile held up to this challenge? EBU Members are uniquely between broadband hubs The stay-at-home orders placed to mediate between and the individual’s home; across Europe provoked a rapid the stakeholders in broadband and the individual household shift in consumption patterns. distribution, being heavy users infrastructure. EBU analysis has Public service media saw a of internet infrastructure, trusted pointed to the last point as being sharp rise in their ratings, a brands, and experts in local the most critical in many cases. demand for regular reliable market conditions. But, I hear you say, EBU information and a rapid change Behind the dialogue are a Members are fundamentally in programming, as the sports few facts emerging from the broadcasters. What of schedules collapsed while COVID-19 crisis. The expected broadcasting? Surely it is demand for educational content congestion of internet immune to the congestion surged. infrastructure has not manifested that can afflict the internet? With governments fearing itself. OTT providers dropped As EBU Member ratings soar, that internet networks would be their top tier of around 15mbit/s broadcasting is the ideal way of overwhelmed, Netflix and other to 8-10 Mbit/s in some cases. reaching large audiences and OTT providers were asked to Even without this, the broadband indeed it does work very well. respond and did so by reducing infrastructure has proved EBU Members are at the the bitrates served to their remarkably resilient. forefront of addressing the surging audiences by around R 149 notes, nevertheless, that challenges posed by this unique 20%. This was accomplished the fixed-line infrastructure, situation, and we’re learning all by removing the top quality which tends to serve the biggest the time. If we write this article tier in their adaptive streaming screens, has been more resilient in six months’ time, it might look manifests. Thus 4K became than the mobile networks. Thus, quite different.

Collaboration on speech-to-text benchmarking

A new open source benchmarking tool eases The process of choosing a commercially the task of assessing which speech-to-text available STT tool or developing one in- (STT) system is most suited to a given use case. house can benefit from the comparisons that Created in response to requests from the EBU BenchmarkSTT enables. membership, BenchmarkSTT can be integrated The tool was developed by the Flemish in production workflows to enable objective Institute for Archiving (VIAA), BBC, France comparison of the performance of different Télévisions, the Rai (Italy), Sveriges Radio Machine-Learning-based STT systems. (), SRG SSR () and For media organizations, automating STT others gathered under the EBU umbrella. services can deliver huge efficiencies when it For the code, documentation, and a comes to accessibility services or leveraging step-by-step tutorial, see: audiovisual archives. github.com/ebu/benchmarkstt

tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 5 Making radio smarter and more social Integrating broadcast radio with digital and social media was the goal of a recent project involving EBU Members in and the Netherlands, writes Mike Matton, head of international R&D collaborations at VRT Innovation.

MARCONI is a European Horizon The VRT/Pluxbox integrated radio production system 2020 project that aims to offer fully interactive and personalized radio solutions. As project partners, both VRT and NPO have experimented with innovative new approaches.

CHATBOTS FOR RADIO NPO has organized various pilots under the framework of MARCONI, including one on the use of chatbots for radio, together with consortium partner Faktion. Listeners to NPO Radio 5 were able to inquire about different radio shows (schedule, content, presenter), DJs, songs and competitions. More general questions were also welcome. Using a smart connection with the station’s editorial system, to handle frequently asked To fully focus on front-end questions about programmes, questions. prototyping during the hack songs and DJs could be As a conclusion, in this case the week, a lot of preparation was automatically answered, as all the chatbot was mainly successful as done beforehand. They organized information was already available. an additional service, but much a UX-focused workshop to get Another chatbot was developed less as an instrument to incite a an idea of the important front- for a large Dutch charity event, certain behaviour, like donating end elements and carried out called . money. observations at three VRT radio The goals of using chatbots stations (MNM, and were to engage listeners in a SMARTER INTEGRATION Klara) to really understand what programme and to entice them In winter 2019, VRT Innovation is used and needed while making into donating money or setting held a radio-focused hack radio shows. up events, as well as providing an week. Several VRT departments The hack group was split into additional service to web visitors. worked with technical partner two teams. The first focused The main learnings were that Pluxbox to prototype a proof of on user research and front-end you should start off small with concept (PoC) combining key design. They created clickable a simple conversation and then radio applications – rundown, mock-ups and wireframes and elaborate step-by-step. It is phone and chat, playout – in an gathered feedback from radio labour-intensive work to prepare integrated production system. producers. The second set up the chatbot, and to monitor and There were three aims. Firstly, the technical environment and adjust it at the same time, so you they wanted to gain insight into implemented the mock-ups in a need enough editorial capacity. how fully the playout system working PoC. It is quite a steep learning curve features would function via API At the end of the week, the PoC to create a well-functioning integration, especially in a live was presented to a large group of chatbot, so you need an expert situation. Secondly, they wanted radio producers and technicians. or a specialized company, which to test whether it’s possible to They have since proceeded was the case for NPO. You also build a highly modular system towards preparing this prototype need to make it very clear to users that can easily be tailored to a for actual radio productions and what they can expect, and guide radio station. Finally, they wanted refining it further in real studio them into using the chatbot in to find new use cases that might environments. the right manner. Events seem to arise from the integration of the be a good use case for chatbots, main building blocks of live radio. See: www.projectmarconi.eu

6 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 An intelligent approach to capturing and using radio metadata Chris Roberts and Luke Eldridge, who work on content production workflows at BBC Design + Engineering, explain how a metadata project called Fenchurch is feeding the ultimate goal of improving the audience experience.

We are always looking to improve the ways in which we create and distribute audio content to the audience. The amount of metadata required to provide compelling audience experiences can be large and there are limits to the resources that are available to do this. How can an organization with such a vast audio catalogue – 57 hours of new material is added to that catalogue each hour – keep up? The answer lies in harnessing the power of automation and artificial intelligence. BBC Design + Engineering is building systems that do the heavy lifting so that production staff don’t have to. One of the first of these systems has been developed by the Internet Fit Radio team. It is called Fenchurch. quality possible with the best ANALYSING CONTENT value. For example, avoiding the The plumbing that Fenchurch TAGGED FOR BBC THINGS application of speech-to-text provides could also be used By using speech-to-text, natural processing on music, or music to analyse content in different language processing and linked genre detection on speech ways, for example sentiment data, Fenchurch is able to break content. analysis for speech or genre a programme into segments A segment in a programme analysis for music. As new and tag each one with a BBC could be several different kinds research is carried out, new Things tag. BBC Things is a of content: a news bulletin, analyses can be tested with live single source of reference for a story within a bulletin, a data to see how they perform. the growing collection of entities music track, or a section of the Currently, this system is – people, places, organizations programme where an interview running 24/7 on one national and events – that matter to the is taking place. Each of these BBC radio station, with a wider BBC and its audiences. Having segments can be tagged with roll-out coming soon. the segments appropriately concepts (e.g. this interview The metadata generated and tagged allows them (and is about climate change), but captured by Fenchurch will be the programmes from which also have other properties used to improve the audience they come) to be searchable, that describe it, such as pace experience when listening discoverable and available for (relaxed or excited) or valance to audio content and aid the curation. (joyful or angry). Each tag or discovery of new content about By integrating with systems property allows this segment the things they love. further up the broadcast chain (or the programme in which it (i.e. studios and production resides) to be discovered by systems), Fenchurch is able to the audience with greater ease. gather much more information It lets the audience find what about how a programme was they are looking for, whether put together than would be they are searching by topic, or garnered from simply looking at being presented with content the broadcast output. A blend of that has some relevance to AI and standard data integration content they’ve already shown is used to deliver the best an interest in.

tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 7 Cheat sheet for the new EBU HDR Colour Bars The family of EBU test patterns now includes a new member: UHDTV Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG) Colour Bars. These bars were designed for use in high dynamic range (HDR) production environments. EBU Tech 3373 provides the details. The main features are outlined below. The bars are available in the 2160 and 1080 raster format. You can download TIFF and v210 versions of the new colour bars from tech.ebu.ch/publications.

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1 Space to add your own branding 2 100% HLG bars to test HDR levels are correct 3 75% HLG bars to test HDR levels are correct 4 Bars that show as ITU-R BT.709 75% bars when display-light is converted to SDR 5 Bars that show as ITU-R BT.709 75% bars when scene-light is converted to SDR 6 Area at minimal nominal video level (0%) 7 Area at reference/graphics white (75%) Linear luma ramp from sub-black (-7%) to super-white (109%) to confirm the chain is monotonic 8 and linear, and that there is no clipping 9 Marker at the maximum nominal video level (100%) 10 Text area (e.g. production title) 11 Letters to check if a cable is missing when producing in UHD over 3G-SDI (2SI) 12 Patterns to check if 3G-SDI cables have inadvertently been swapped or are missing

13 Saturation test signals that help to estimate which colour gamut a monitor can reproduce

14 Near-black test signal (-4% to 4%) to check monitors and if sub-blacks are maintained in the chain

8 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 Looking at UHDTV codecs with expert eyes With UHD and HDR driving the availability of new production codecs, Dagmar Driesnack (IRT) describes how the EBU and its Members collaborate to assess how well they perform.

Video production equipment Frank Hlawitschka and Sandra Groß uses different codecs and (both WDR) taking a much closer settings to balance competing look during a break in the tests requirements on power consumption, speed, cost, bitrate and quality. Cameras and video editing systems have traditionally been influential in popularizing specific formats. Although file-based workflows have provided more liberty to choose the best codec for the job, the introduction of UHDTV and HDR are making the choice harder again. To help its Members evaluate the visual quality of new video production codecs, the EBU organizes expert viewings, with vendor representatives present as observers. The last series of such tests concerned HD material with standard dynamic provides a set of codecs, of each sequence was scored by range, but the advent of UHD arranged in codec families. With the expert viewers participating resolution and the availability of these come further choices, such in the testing. HDR (high dynamic range, via as bit depth, colour sampling, the HLG and PQ variants) gave transfer functions, and coding RESULTS PUBLISHED rise to the need for new tests. type (long GOP or I-frame only). The production codecs tested Thus, the EBU Video Systems Based on the plans revealed at performed impressively during groups set out to organize a IBC2019, the EBU Video the expert viewings. Detailed test week of testing at the beginning Systems group identified reports for each codec family of this year. The viewing sessions more than 200 (!) possible are available to EBU Members as were hosted in Munich by the IRT, combinations to test. After a EBU BPN 121 to 123 (see tech.ebu. which organized them together voting round by EBU Members, ch/publications). A supplement with the German UAG Beyond 45 of these were selected for describes the test procedure in HD/Produktioncodecs group actual testing. It should be noted detail. The fourth report is to be (ARD, ZDF, ORF, SRG). that the focus was on real- published later. world products, not laboratory There are already plans for WHAT TO TEST? prototypes. Therefore, vendors further EBU codec tests. If the One key question was what were asked to send products COVID-19 situation allows, these exactly to test. The simple act implementing Apple (ProRes), may include testing of mezzanine of choosing between the typical Avid (DNxHR), Panasonic codecs in IP facilities. There are options for the three main (AVCUltra) and Sony (XAVC) also plans to look at the actual format parameters – resolution codecs to EBU HQ and Members’ codec performance range of the (1080p or 2160p), dynamic range facilities, where the coding of same codec in different devices, (SDR, HLG or PQ) and frame the test sequences took place. as device-specific configurations rate (25, 50 or 59.94 frames) – The coding used high-quality are sometimes used and already generates 18 possible video material with varying may alter the base codec’s combinations to test*. It is also complexity. Seven generations performance. a challenge for manufacturers to of video were encoded, bringing develop codecs for all different the total to 315 sequences! The * Note this is already a restricted uses, and unrealistic to cover PSNR (peak signal-to-noise ratio) set, as it leaves out additional them with a single codec. Each of all sequences was calculated frame rates and the ‘8k’ (4320p) manufacturer therefore typically and the 1st, 4th and 7th generation resolution.

tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 9 COVID-19: a disruptor and an accelerator We invited strategy leaders from the EBU membership to share some early reflections on the likely medium-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on how public service media use technology. Here we feature views from Belgium, Canada, Finland the UK.

Peter Archer underlying capabilities like CONTROLLER, PORTFOLIO content and data management) STRATEGY, BBC (UK) become even more mission critical. The COVID-19 pandemic will In the longer term, one lasting bring a number of lasting effect of COVID-19 and the likely changes to how public service ensuing recession, may be the media (PSM) organizations think strengthening of technology about and use technology. In giants like Amazon, Google and particular, I think we will all be Apple, who are not only well significantly more reliant on placed to weather the economic communications technology, be storm, with significant cash it video conferencing or reserves, but are able to cross- collaboration software. Many of promote and cross-subsidize us could yet be working away their services to cash-strapped from HQ for months; these consumers. technologies have already (Much) more speculatively, the Mika Rahkonen demonstrated their value in rise of consumer video-calling supporting more agile ways of that we have seen during the A lot of media companies take working in the longer term and pandemic could lead to an great – and deserved – pride in being embedded in business as increase in high quality cameras having been able to maintain all usual. The challenge will be to in the living room (e.g. to enable of their operations almost change our ways of working to video calling via TV). This itself unaffected by this emergency if make the most of them post- could create the necessary you look at those operations pandemic. We’ve also seen long-term conditions for from the outside. Now that IS a production technology used in computer vision technology, with remarkable achievement. new ways to great effect – implications for the sorts of But there’s something more. enabling new creative ideas and content we make and how And, as is often the case, the more efficient ways of working. audiences interact with television tech issues are more than tech More broadly, though it’s too programmes. issues. With all our hands pretty early to draw firm conclusions, I much tied to the daily, weekly or expect the pandemic to Mika Rahkonen monthly operative stuff, we need accelerate the uptake of online HEAD OF STRATEGY, YLE enough time and space (very, services, particularly VOD (FINLAND) very preferably face-to-face) for services, across all age groups. innovation and new ideas, both This means the online products It turns out you can do anything great and silly; and not just for of PSM organizations (and from anywhere – but that’s not the present moment or the near enough. future but years from now. An overarching theme has been Otherwise, we will see those that people working for Yle can digital leaps done around us but do pretty much anything from not by us. anywhere: people can participate in radio talk shows from their Dan Boudreau living rooms via an app; another EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT app means that people can OF MEDIA TECHNOLOGY AND record video interviews wherever INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES, they are; people can make CBC/RADIO-CANADA multi-camera television (CANADA) productions remotely using a distributed model. We even built The New Maison de Radio- a church inside a television studio Canada (or the NMRC as we call to be able to broadcast a it) will be our new innovative, religious service. eco-friendly broadcast centre in I’m sure these digital leaps are Montreal, scheduled to be fully Peter Archer the case everywhere. operational in 2021. It will be

10 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 At VRT, the adoption of game engine technology enables the creation of virtual environments, opening new possibilities for creating high-quality content from home.

working has also placed even Dan Boudreau more emphasis on having the home to roughly 2,600 CBC/ right IT security measures in Radio-Canada employees upon place and educating people on completion. best practices. Despite COVID-19, we needed Our viewers and listeners are, to ensure that the project kept now more than ever, looking for moving forward. reliable content from trustworthy Even with very few people on sources. The importance of site, our project team has been analysing data to make sure we able to quickly reconfigure are optimally fulfilling this need pre-installed equipment to allow has never been more apparent. remote-controlled operations – a Tools and formats facilitating tangible benefit of the flexibility user participation in public and agility brought by IP and IT debate through civilized technologies in the NMRC. These conversations will further remote capabilities include Tom De Wispelaere increase in importance to ensure streaming any real-time audio/ connectedness and trust, and to video signal from the building. Tom De Wispelaere counter the growing digital This has allowed engineers and HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY divide. Moreover, COVID-19 has technicians to continue TEAMS, VRT (BELGIUM) effectively demonstrated the configuring systems and to see added value of data visualization the result of their actions, in real VRT had already come a long as a powerful tool to tell good time, while at home. It is yet way on its digital transformation stories from big data. another reason that IP journey. This enabled us to adapt The crisis has also helped us technology was the way to go, even our most critical processes re-evaluate the ways in which and we will be one of the first in to the COVID-19 crisis, prioritizing technology can drive us as an the industry to implement end- the wellbeing of our staff and organization. Editing in the cloud, to-end ST 2110 IP broadcast business continuity. And like the integration of cloud services technology in a multiplatform most organizations, our people and storage, and the (TV/Radio/Digital) facility. have experienced a crash course fundamental shift towards The broadcast industry is in setting up their VPN and virtualization in almost all going through a digital organizing videoconference aspects of our business make transformation, and COVID-19 is meetings from home. even more sense now. accelerating this change. We’ve Not surprisingly, the disruption And virtual production seen a significant increase in our of COVID-19 has also caused an pipelines and virtual sets, market shares, but most acceleration in changes that were through the adoption of game interestingly we have had a already underway and will engine technology in our steep increase in how many continue to have an impact as we broadcast environment, are Canadians access our online prepare our move to the new exciting examples of how platforms every day. Social VRT building. immersive technologies can start behaviours are changing and the Collaborative remote video to augment our productions and IP technology we are setting up editing and playout have been allow our creative people, even at the NMRC is positioning us enthusiastically embraced by our working from home, to deliver well to take that challenge users and have become the de content with high production head-on. facto standard for VRT. Remote values in a post-pandemic world.

tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 11 The four keys to connecting with Gen Z through immersive journalism Research funded by Spain’s RTVE has identified quality, authenticity, immersion and ease of consumption as the keys to successful immersive journalism, write Beatriz Gutiérrez-Caneda, Sara Pérez-Seijo and Xosé López-García (all of Universidade de Santiago de Compostela).

Members of Generation Z are the profile. Then they watched the content itself (sensationalism, present and future target following five immersive adaptation of the topic to the audience for media experiences using a VR headset format, etc.). organizations. These young or, for the BBC production, a These issues were later digital natives demand high- smartphone: discussed in focus groups held quality multimedia products, are 1. The 360-degree video report after each session, opening up interested in a disparate range of Fukushima. Vidas interesting discussions, especially topics, and also expect intuitive Contaminadas, produced by about ethics and immersive and fast consumption of content. the Spanish newspaper El País. journalism. In the case of immersive 2. 6x9, a virtual reality experience The group sessions made it journalism, they especially value by the British newspaper The possible to obtain significant what brings authenticity and Guardian (restricted to over data for determining the truthfulness to the story. 18s). consumption model of these Gen Virtual reality (VR) and other 3. Cervantes VR and 4. Tarraco, Z users, as well as their immersive technologies are two different spherical video perception of and relationship increasingly used in fields as productions published by the with immersive journalism and diverse as video games, public broadcaster 360/VR experiences. onboarding campaigns, cultural Radiotelevisión Española activities and by NGOs. And (RTVE). COMMUNICATION FAILURE journalism is no exception. Since 5. Hebron: One Street, Two Sides, Our research identified a set of 2015, the use of 360-degree a report produced by the BBC, common weaknesses that hinder video and VR to create news has with lower levels of immersion the users’ awareness of, access grown continually, leading to the compared with the others. to, and consumption of development of a whole new After that, participants 360-degree non-fiction videos screen grammar. completed a specific and VR news experiences. Many media are producing questionnaire for each Among the most significant, the 360-degree reports and experience, in which they failure of communication documentaries and factual VR answered several questions strategies stands out, since only reconstructions, with the aim of related to the consumption one of the 20 users knew in allowing users, rather than process, features and user advance about the products passively watching a story, to interface (simplicity, usability, included in the sessions, even gain first-hand experience as a accessibility, physical discomfort, though the participants included witness to unfolding events. Thus etc.); to technical aspects of the people from the fields of storytelling becomes “story- experience (height of the communication and journalism. living”. camera, image quality, feeling of Most of the remaining immersion and so on); and to the weaknesses identified were GROUP STUDY Our research focused on how Gen Z (people born around 1994–2011) consume 360/VR content. The aim was to identify potential weaknesses, but also strengths and future lines of action. We conducted an experimental study with 20 participants, aged from 18 to 24. (One of the experiences tested is restricted to people over 18.) The experiment was conducted in group sessions, with each one having four steps. Users first answered a preliminary questionnaire to determine their

12 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 WEAKNESSES consumption of a product too Communication Detected in difficult or complicated, they Users did not know or had not heard about will just move on to another Communication these products. (Only one person did, All the one. Also, compatibility strategies fail. because this individual participated in an products problems between content and NGO.) some types of smartphone Users, frequent consumers of content from Social All the should be solved. social networks, did not recall seeing these networking fails. products. products on their timelines. Immersion: although there is Accessibility and usability Detected in no clear preference for a Access to the products is not quick (five particular topic, they are clicks) and, in several cases, there is not Major problems The great concerned about the story that even a link between the landing page and of accessibility majority of is presented to them. The the page where the product is (requiring and usability. the products. format serves to provoke an users to search on Google). Further, there is not a site search to ease this task. interest in issues that otherwise would not have attracted their The app can be monothematic or can Need to contain diverse content, but either way, The great attention. Users want to feel download a users must download it to consume the majority of part of the story. They value specific app. product. It is distinct from the media news the products. very highly the strategies and app. resources that boost Content is not properly tagged and/or there The great immersion, such as the use of Content is not a specific section for the immersive majority of dispersion. real images or surround sound, products. the products. the perspective, or even the The confusion between the terms Confusion of audiovisual language used. ‘360-degree video’ and ‘virtual reality’ Some of the terms: 360° vs is very common. Media usually use the products. VR. Authenticity: again, the story concept VR to refer to 360-degree videos. matters and users want to Content and format Detected in know everything about it and in Some of the Low quality. – the most realistic way possible. products. They are enthusiastic when The view is not realistic, so it decreases the Some of the there are elements such as real Unrealistic view. user’s sense of place. products. videos or images and tend to Others Detected in value less content based on Problems related synthetic images. The great to compatibility – majority of with specific the products. As a response to these smartphones. weaknesses identified and to the Dizziness The great demands of the users, several and physical This feature depends especially on the user. majority of lines of improvement have been discomfort. the products. proposed: the inclusion of more levels of interaction and more Table 1. Weaknesses identified in immersive journalism experiences gamification logic in 360-degree video and VR content; the use of related to the usability and Gen Z users value the most: real images and evidence; accessibility of the websites and quality, ease of consumption, boosting the dynamism in the apps where the 360-degree immersion and authenticity. productions; the commitment to videos and/or VR productions new issues with a preference for are available for consumption. Quality: Gen Z is used to social topics; and, finally, the Table 1 lists the general watching audiovisual products improvement of dissemination, deficiencies detected in the in high definition from a very access and consumption of these experiences analysed, young age and, moreover, in immersive experiences. deficiencies that can be large quantities, so they do not extended to many immersive tolerate inferior quality content. products offered at present. Easy consumption: precisely FOUR KEY ASPECTS because they are digital Taking into account the users’ natives, they find new assessments of the experiences, technologies intuitive, easy, fun the weaknesses they highlighted and so on. They are impatient and the conclusions drawn from and, in the current scenario, This study was supported by a the discussion groups, we have saturated with content and research grant from RTVE as part identified four key aspects that information – if they find the of its Impulsa Visión programme.

tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 13 Testing times for the Live IP transition

As the global crisis unfolded, the March 2020 JT-NM Tested event was cancelled. Fortunately, writes the EBU’s Ievgen Kostiukevych, the test programme for Live IP equipment had already introduced self-testing, so all was not lost. Far from it!

While the transition away Tested. This was judged to have from traditional SDI-based been a success and thus a full production towards IP-based self-testing regime (covering infrastructure has now gained all test fields, including the considerable momentum, there cybersecurity testing) was is still some way to go before introduced for the third round. a sufficiently wide range of The physical gathering would standards-compliant equipment then be used to validate those is available. The JT-NM Tested self-testing results. However, as programme is designed to give the scale of the COVID-19 crisis prospective buyers – including became apparent, we had to act EBU Members – a view on fast and pivot the programme in which IP production equipment a short time frame to make self- supports a range of key testing the main focus for this interoperability protocols. round. In May 2020, we published With the cancellation of the the third set of catalogues that face-to-face event that was to provide a snapshot of how have taken place in Houston, vendor equipment conforms Texas during March, the range to key parts of the SMPTE and of what could be validated by AMWA NMOS standards. The the JT-NM Tested team was test plans for this third round narrowed. In the absence of a had three parts: SMPTE ST 2110, physical event, it was impossible with AES3 audio transport (ST for the expert teams to validate 2110-31) included for the first all of the self-testing results time; AMWA NMOS TR-1001- and award the resulting JT-NM This positive experience 1, with the testing of registries Tested badges. It was decided to demonstrated the promise of and controllers added; and award a new category of badge adopting a similar approach for cybersecurity testing. indicating that the product has future testing rounds and other The impact of the COVID-19 been “self-tested according to tests. crisis meant that the catalogues, the JT-NM test plan”. At the time of writing, the JT- and the related badges awarded An exception to this was the NM team continues to monitor to participating vendors, differed testing of NMOS controllers, the global situation closely, with from those originally intended. successfully performed by the the likelihood that there will be team remotely over a cloud VPN no new iterations of the testing HOUSTON, WE HAVE A solution. This allowed the award programme in 2020. It will, PROBLEM of standard “JT-NM Tested” however, continue to evolve in Recognizing that global badges for the products that 2021, with the main accents on interoperability events demand had taken part in these tests. the real-world challenges that substantial commitments from And so, in May 2020, the end users face when deploying all parties involved, we saw ST 2110 and NMOS TR-1001- large-scale Live IP solutions. that self-testing would need to 1 catalogues were published be transparently objective and and the badges – both “JT- JT-NM is the Joint Task Force ideally PICS-driven (protocol NM Tested” and “JT-NM Self- on Networked Media. The EBU’s implementation conformance Tested” – were awarded to partners in the consortium statement). There had already the participating vendors. The are AMWA (Advanced Media been moves towards requiring publication of a report on the Workflow Association), SMPTE more self-testing, with a outcome of the March 2020 (Society of Motion Picture and mandatory “pre-testing” exercise cybersecurity tests will be Television Engineers) and the introduced for participants in considered following a thorough VSF (Video Services Forum). the second round of JT-NM analysis of the available results. See: jt-nm.org

14 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS Using AI for smarter, more sustainable video encoding

Jean-Louis Diascorn, senior product manager for compression encoders at Harmonic, explains how AI-based encoding can provide energy and cost savings for video delivery.

A decade ago, power-efficient, now available, especially systems prediction model to determine green deployments were a with artificial intelligence (AI) what resolution is best to hot topic in the broadcast and encoding. encode in order to achieve the media industry. New system AI-based encoding provides highest QoE and CPU savings. designs for video equipment several key benefits, including Dynamic resolution encoding were created with the intent to the ability to achieve better is especially useful for complex minimize carbon emissions. bitrate savings, higher quality and fast-moving content, such Since then, video streaming of experience (QoE), and as motor racing. has emerged, allowing greater resource optimization in terms With this technique, rather flexibility for the end user to of CPU, power and rack space. than encoding content at the full choose the video content they Ultimately, with AI compression, resolution, for example 1080p at want to watch and where to performance can be improved 4 Mbps, video service providers watch it. Yet, as OTT continues more quickly, or with less human can encode content at 720p to grow in popularity, the energy resources, enabling the industry using the same bit rate. Dynamic consumed by video content to test next-generation use resolution encoding ensures delivery systems is no longer cases that would otherwise be there are fewer artifacts, so the insignificant. A massive amount too costly. picture quality is better and of processing power is required fewer CPU resources are used. to deliver OTT services. USE CASES When the movement in a scene AI encoding employs a two- is less obvious, service providers LOW CPU, HIGH QOE step approach. It starts with an would encode at a higher Over the last few years, offline learning phase where resolution to deliver more detail. technology has also evolved test files are fed to an offline Another application for AI is in a myriad of ways and offers learning system. The second dynamic frame rate encoding. solutions to improve OTT phase implements the use of the With this method, encoding is systems. Software-based video results. After the learning system performed at several different delivery systems have become produces a prediction model, it variable frame rates (VFR), such critical to enabling the rapid is then downloaded into the live as 15 fps, 30 fps and 60 fps. launch of new business models. video delivery system. Depending on the content, the Reducing equipment density The principle is captured in AI engine will decide whether and decreasing the amount of Figure 1. to encode at a lower or higher power needed for video service A key application for AI is frame rate. On average, the distribution is an important topic dynamic resolution encoding. frame rate will be lower than again, but new technologies are This approach relies on a without VFR, resulting in the encoder using less processing power. Overall, this technique Figure 1. Concept of has shown to provide about 30% implementing AI for CPU savings. video distribution Dynamic resolution encoding and dynamic frame rate encoding can be combined Offline to optimize bandwidth Test Files Learning System consumption, QoE and encoding density for streaming and Prediction model broadcast delivery. In the future, AI will be used increasingly in encoding algorithms and included in next- generation standards. AI-driven video compression and content- Encoder Packager Mux aware encoding promise an Live System exciting and less power-hungry future for video distribution.

tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 15 IN MY OPINION A case for capability mapping? David Wood introduces a management tool that may be useful for your organization.

Meet business architects. They are The capability map can be used people who, among other things, as a bridge between creating a work out what company strategy and knowing what needs architecture is needed to achieve to be done to achieve it. Once its business model. Some, but not completed, the capability map can all, organizations include them in be used for many purposes, their staff. They have their own including areas such as prioritizing terminology and management activities. It is a view of the science. One of their tools is the organization that is independent capability map. Believe me, it’s of specific projects, processes or well worth investigating. technologies. It is thus distinct An EBU Technical Committee from an organizational structure, group (led by Nick Hopewell, BBC but I am sure you get this. and Jürgen Grupp, SRG SSR) will Capability maps can be applied shortly publish a generalized to any organizational unit from a “You can see capability map for public service given department to the whole more clearly the media organizations. But what are company, but they are usually capability maps and are they applied to, and are most useful for, capabilities that useful? the whole organization. In a sense have the greatest The ‘space’ in which a capability the capability map tells us the map lies could be thought of as a potential of the organization. impact for your level of abstraction above the You may be wondering what customers.” traditional company organization kinds of questions capability maps chart. It is a diagram that sets out have helped to answer in industry the organization’s capabilities, a at large? And are any of them term for the collective abilities that important for media can be applied to achieve specific organizations? outcomes. Simplified examples of The idea, when you’ve completed Figure 1: The figure shows a simplified structure of a media company capabilities are your capability map, is that you company capability map. The “create content” or “deliver can see more clearly such things sample boxes lettered A to G content to users”. as the capabilities that have the would include those things that The map is a view of an greatest impact for your serve the audience directly, organization but it is not the customers, where there are gaps, such as programme making organizational structure, as Figure or which ones might need to be and delivery. The boxes above them concern policy decisions. 1 illustrates. The capabilities can be strengthened for new services. It The boxes below them include seen as the organization’s skills (as can help to identify where supporting services such as opposed to the skills of an resources should be focused and human resources. individual). where technology could be best used to lower costs or enhance THE STRUCTURE OF THE CAPABILITY MAP resources. It can also show where outsourcing of capabilities might Mission/Business Plan make sense. Capability maps can be a useful tool for EBU Members. It should be said that not all managers find the concept understandable, and some argue that it is more Policy-setting Capabilities academic than practical. Equally, many organizations have found it ABCDEFG useful to create and use them, so it is certainly worth looking into. It Frontline/Core Capabilities takes time and energy to create a capability map, but that can be Media offset against multiple types of users Support Capabilities analysis it makes possible. Be sure to look out the EBU Capability Map when it has been published!

16 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 PARTNER PROFILES Laying the groundwork for audio and video transport The Video Services Forum (VSF) has a long history based on supporting the transport of broadcast video and audio over long distances. But it might be that you have never heard of it, writes Brad Gilmer, Executive Director. The VSF, building on the work with a programme that has of the Pro-MPEG Forum, focused on professional video created the SMPTE 2022 family transport. Several industry of transport standards. More trends have been discussed at recently, it worked for almost this conference including video two years to write VSF TR-03 transport over SONET networks, and VSF TR-04, which became the rise and fall of ATM SMPTE ST 2110. Now it has (asynchronous transfer mode), released the RIST specifications and critically, the prediction for broadcast video transport early on that the dominant over the generic internet, and transport stack for video would work is continuing on expanding become IP over Ethernet over ST 2110 for use in WAN SONET. environments. JT-NM EISENHOWER’S SPEECHES The VSF has actively sought to It may be helpful to understand partner with other organizations Brad Gilmer, Executive Director, Video the history behind the VSF in Services Forum in the industry. One important order to understand its focus partnership is with the EBU, on transport technology. In where both organizations serve the 1950s in the United States, on the administrative group there was only one telephone of the Joint Task Force on company, American Telephone Networked Media (JT-NM). The & Telegraph (AT&T). During this VSF, with the support of FOX time, AT&T was asked to build and Riedel Communications, a special broadcast terrestrial has provided space at The network, linking the New York- Woodlands, Texas and based broadcast centres of Wuppertal, Germany for a series the “Big Three” broadcast of JT-NM Tested events. The networks of the time, ABC, CBS EBU, with the support of other and NBC, with local stations organizations, has developed across the nation. Essentially, the premier testing programme the government asked AT&T to separate and special broadcast for SMPTE ST 2110, AMWA build a separate, technologically terrestrial network. These NMOS, PTP and JT-NM TR-1001 completely different overlay video transport subject-matter equipment. (See page 14.) The network on top of their wired experts helped each other with VSF continues to sponsor the telephone service. Speaking technical issues, including the IP Showcase Theatre at IBC frankly, the driver behind informal loan of specialized and NAB with the help of Wes this initiative was President video transport equipment Simpson (Telecom Product Eisenhower’s desire to be able to when necessary. In 1997, after Consulting), who has curated speak live on national television numerous twists and turns, this this very successful event. (Note directly to the citizens of the group was formally organized as that the IP Showcase will be country in times of crisis. the Video Services Forum. The continuing over the summer as a This new network was VSF currently has 80+ members virtual event.) completely separate because it made up of users, manufacturers Membership in the VSF is open relied on technology that was and service providers. to users, manufacturers and the new and different from wired providers of video transport telephone circuits. An informal TREND-SPOTTING services. We continue to evolve group of video transmission In addition to foundational as an organization and look subject matter experts from work on a number of industry forward to continuing our long AT&T along with the Bell initiatives discussed above, relationship with the EBU. Regional Telephone Companies the VSF holds a yearly worked together to build this conference called VidTrans, More information: vsf.tv

tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 17 MEDIA INTELLIGENCE PSM and trust: well positioned for times of crisis As a tide of misinformation rises, investing in trust is a key performance marker for quality media organizations. Dominik Speck, Visiting Researcher at the EBU Media Intelligence Service, takes a look at recent data on how credible the audience perceives different media to be.

Generating an unprecedented degree of uncertainty, the COVID-19 crisis highlights the importance of trust. But how well do the media perform in credibly updating the public when even experts are strikingly unsure about which information to rely on? Public service media (PSM) are in pole position here: they already enjoyed rather high levels of trust prior to the outbreak. PSM have the most trusted news brands in 16 of 26 markets surveyed in 2019 for the Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report (Figure 1). Furthermore, Figure 2: Net Trust Index (% of citizens who tend to trust minus % of citizens who tend not to trust) at EU level. (Source: EBU based on Standard Eurobarometer data shows a clear Eurobarometer 92) trust gap between traditional media – radio, television and, to a lesser degree, the written press – and “new” digital media (Figure 2). At EU level, trust in the internet and social networks has seen significant declines during the past five years, compared to almost stable trust in traditional media. In short, higher trust is placed in media where PSM play a central role. It thus comes as no surprise that citizens rely on PSM for trustworthy information during Figure 3: Average daily Viewing Share (%) of PSM evening news by target groups. (Source: EBU based on data from 29 Member organizations.)

the current crisis. Even so, the 86% of PSM television news users boost in usage of PSM news rate the coverage of ARD and is remarkable: across 29 EBU ZDF as trustworthy – the highest Members surveyed by the EBU’s attributed credibility of all media Media Intelligence Service, daily within the country. And 90% of viewing of evening news had Czech Television news viewers increased by 20% on average in consider the crisis coverage March 2020 compared to the first of their public broadcaster as quarter of 2019 (Figure 3). For trustworthy – to just give a couple young citizens (aged 15–24), the of examples from EBU Members. increase was 44%. While research shows that Access detailed reports and generally the use of a medium other material on both trust in Figure 1: Citizens turn to PSM for does not necessarily imply trust media and how PSM have been trustworthy news. (Source: EBU in its news coverage, citizens performing during the COVID-19 based on Reuters Institute Digital consider PSM information on crisis at: www.ebu.ch/mis- News Report 2019.) COVID-19 as credible. In Germany, publications

18 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 OUR COMMUNITY Conference videos on demand A selection of recent additions to our rich library of videos from EBU Technology & Innovation events, available to Members from: tech.ebu.ch/presentations

A PINCH OF BROADCAST IN DATA-DRIVEN VIDEO MINIMIZING COVID-19’S THE OTT SOUP WORKFLOWS IMPACT ON RADIO EMILY DUBS (DVB PROJECT) DANIEL WEINBERGER PRODUCTION How DVB-I helps to bring the (BITMOVIN) GIOVANNI RIDOLFI (RAI) simplicity of broadcast to OTT Using data to target the key user Part of the EBU COVID-19 Radio experience metrics Production Roundtable

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY ADVANTAGES OF MULTI- BBC ARCHIVES DURING STREAM YOUR LARGE-SCALE SOURCED CACHING COVID-19 EVENT SOLUTIONS STEVE DALY (BBC) FRANCK CHEVALLIER MARTIN SCHMALOHR (IRT), Part of the EBU COVID-19 (LIMELIGHT NETWORKS) JULIAN HORSTSCHAÃÀFER Open Archives Roundtable Using multi-CDN to address the (WDR) challenge of large-scale events Player-based hybrid-CDN service including a cache server

IN THE SPOTLIGHT Jordi J. Giménez 5G-MAG PROJECT MANAGER

WHAT ARE YOUR CURRENT RESPONSIBILITIES? I became the 5G-MAG Project Manager in April this year. We aim to facilitate collaboration within the media industry on the analysis, implementation and deployment of 5G solutions to create benefits across the entire value chain, from content creation to end-user consumption.

WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER AS YOUR FINEST ACHIEVEMENT SO FAR IN YOUR CAREER? I cannot highlight one specific achievement but I am certainly proud to have contributed to collaborative work in, for example, EBU groups, DVB study missions or, more recently, 5G standardization. You can always feel like you are part of something significant.

WHAT ARE YOUR PREDICTIONS FOR MEDIA TECHNOLOGY IN THE FUTURE? The media industry is immersed in IP-driven technological evolution. The is a need to automate processes, to enable remote operations, and also to adapt to new user behaviours, especially with young audiences. I am sure more changes will come with the availability of new technologies.

WHAT, FOR YOU, ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FOR EBU MEMBERS TODAY? I see two main challenges in terms of distribution: to retain the prominence of PSM among audiences that might be confronted with an increasing number of platforms and services; and then to guarantee economic sustainability and universal access for reaching audiences across such platforms.

TELL US ABOUT SOME OF YOUR INTERESTS AWAY FROM THE WORKPLACE. Beyond technology, which also occupies part of my free time, I enjoy walking or cycling around cities, discovering their natural and cultural spots. A bit of sport to stay healthy is also part of my daily life.

tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020 19 Metadata Developer Network Workshop 2020 09–10 June Exceptionally held ONLINE. Join free of charge.

tech.ebu.ch/events/mdnworkshop2020

NTS 2020 23–24 June Exceptionally held ONLINE. Free for EBU Members, EUR 50.- for non-members

tech.ebu.ch/events/nts2020

tech.ebu.ch/events20 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | June 2020