Sessions Recorded at the Connect Tech Chat Theater at the 2024 NAB Show

1370 Unlocking the Future of Media with AI: Leading the Change

Join Dalet for an exploration into the transformative power of artificial intelligence (AI) in the media industry. In this session, Dalet will delve into the latest advancements, challenges and opportunities that AI presents for content creators, broadcasters and news organizations. The session will provide concrete examples of how AI can boost media workflows with real use cases, such as the complexity of multiple language requirements and how incorporating AI can automate translations of captions, graphics, voiceovers and more.

Speaker

  • Matteo De Martinis, Head of Product Management – Media Production, Dalet

1350 How to Use Virtual Production in Your Broadcast

Virtual production is elevating broadcast productions around the world, allowing them to create exciting coverage and appeal to new audiences. But how can you incorporate this into your existing workflows seamlessly, while also paying attention to budgets? In this session, hear from production specialists 4Wall and virtual production platform Disguise about the possibilities of virtual production.

Speakers

  • Mathew Leland, VP of Special Projects, 4Wall
  • Grigory Mindlin, General Manager for Broadcast, Disguise

1171 Leveling Up with Legends: Square Enix’s Storage Transformation with Nutanix Unified Storage

Square Enix develops, publishes, distributes, and licenses a portfolio of intellectual property including Final Fantasy, which has sold over 185 million units worldwide, Dragon Quest, which has sold over 88 million units worldwide, and the legendary Space Invaders. Find out how Square Enix faced was challenged with rapidly delivering content for new game titles, ensuring high file performance during high-traffic launches and segmenting network environments. Learn how Square Enix delivered the outcomes needed to consolidate, secure and drive operational cost out of the business with Nutanix Unified Storage.

Speaker

  • Brian Mitchell, Media & Entertainment, Nutanix

1115 Managing Ultra Low Latency in Live IP Video Workflows

Senior architect Ben Garverick will discuss necessities in delivering mission-critical video content efficiently, especially in time-sensitive scenarios like sports broadcasting.

Speaker

  • Ben Garverick, Senior Architect, Zixi

973 Shaping the Future of Television: Brazil’s Journey to TV 3.0 and the Paris Olympics Live Broadcast Trials

Following the success of broadcasting live the FIFA World Cup 2022, the SBTVD forum, Brazil’s leading broadcasters and their partners will broadcast the 2024 Paris Olympics live utilizing new TV3.0 technologies, effectively paving the way for Brazil’s new standard rollout in 2025. The trials aim to showcase the readiness and interoperability of the components necessary for the specification, while highlighting the substantial improvements in service quality that the standard will offer consumers. The trials are a significant milestone in digital terrestrial broadcasting, representing the first time the most advanced audio and video technologies are used to deliver a consumer service in the world. The technologies that will be used in Brazil’s TV 3.0 system include Versatile Video Coding (VVC) and MPEG-5 LCEVC for unprecedented video quality, along with MPEG-H audio for immersive sound experiences. This presentation will describe the preparation and objectives of the trials, giving an insight on the developments required by multiple technology companies to build an ecosystem for next-generation TV broadcast services.

Speaker

  • Fabio Murra, SVP Product and Marketing, V-Nova

1293 PRESTOplay for Addressable TV Advertising

PRESTOplay for Addressable TV Advertising, an extension of castLabs PRESTOplay suite, enhances existing hybrid video player SDKs to support the upcoming next generation of ad-insertion technology—currently referred to Client-Side/Server Guided Ad Insertion by the Industry (SGAI). This offering provides a transformative approach to ad insertion in streaming media, leveraging HLS Interstitials and DASH MPD Insertion events. It optimizes the end-to-end ad insertion performance and end user experience. This ensures a scalable, efficient and streamlined process for ad insertion, making PRESTOplay a powerful tool for everybody aiming to increase ad revenues while maintaining a superior viewer experience.

Speaker

  • Thasso Griebel, Technical Lead of Player Development, castLabs

1438 Inside the Huddle: NFL+ Backstory Unpacked

Join “Inside the Huddle: NFL+ Backstory Unpacked,” as OTT analyst Ben Keen interviews the strategic minds behind NFL+, alongside its subscriber management partner, Cleeng. Explore the transition from Game Pass to NFL+ and the technological hurdles encountered. Gain insights into the NFL’s competitive strategy in the OTT market and its ongoing innovations, and learn how the NFL addresses subscriber churn amidst seasonal fluctuations. Don’t miss this exclusive opportunity to gain insider knowledge and discover the secrets behind monetizing America’s most loved sports content.

Speakers

  • Ian Campbell, Senior Director of D2C Product, NFL
  • Gilles Domartini, CEO, Cleeng
  • Michael Orloff, Director of D2C Strategy, NFL
  • Ben Keen, Independent Analyst

1172 20/20 Vision: Cure Asset Blindness with Nutanix Unified Storage for M&E

Media & Entertainment stands out as one of the industries facing the most significant storage complexities. With an unprecedented amount of content being produced and consumed, alongside technological advances ranging from 8K to spatial computing, file sizes and storage costs are soaring to new heights. Yet, many studio technologists find themselves struggling with crucial questions about their media assets. Nutanix Unified Storage solves these challenges with features including global asset visibility, boosted storage performance and active ransomware defense.

Speaker

  • Brian Mitchell, Media & Entertainment, Nutanix

1312 Connectivity to Mobile Assets in Live Broadcasting with IP Mesh and REMI

Simon Martin introduces IP Mesh and shares use cases in live broadcast event production, showing how IP Mesh can enhance complex OB productions in mobile environments by simplifying broadcast RF systems, communications and command & control using a single frequency, private, highly robust, long-range wireless network. Integration of a remote, mobile, private IP Mesh network with REMI / Remote Production workflow. IP Mesh gives you your network, wherever you need it.

Speaker

  • Simon Martin, Sales Manager, Domo Broadcast Solutions

1185 Android TV Management: Key Features and Benefits

With the proliferation of Android TV devices, device management is becoming an industry standard. Telcos, operators and service providers experience a shortcoming, especially in ad-hoc remote assistance and streamline operations. Legacy protocols such as TR 69 are not enough; collecting insights, sending scripts and performing OTA updates may take days or weeks for the entire fleet. With cloud-based device management solutions, you can do things instantly on a single device, group or the entire fleet and be specific to apps/features/patches/settings. In this session, Nadav Avni will share best practices for app management, device configuration and settings management, remote support, monitoring & analysis (telemetry), OTA firmware management, and much more that can be done via the Radix Android TV Manager, helping you optimize your Android TV device fleet (including AOSP and Google TV).

Speaker

  • Nadav Avni, CMO, Radix

1250 Open Caching in Action: Diffusing the Spikes of Streaming

The ever-increasing demand for live and on-demand internet streaming services are felt by telecommunications carriers and content providers alike. Moreover, the blossoming trend of major live events being exclusively offered through streaming platforms has created a new level of network demand. Open Caching (OC) is an industry initiative led by the Streaming Video Technology Alliance (SVTA), with the participation of companies from across the streaming video ecosystem, to address the efficiency of large-scale video streaming. Open Caching allows ISPs and content providers to bring content closer to the end-users allowing for efficient use of the network bandwidth that is scalable for high volume live/sporting events and on-demand streaming. This also results in improved QoE for end users. This panel dives into the real experiences and results of some of the earliest carrier and content provider adopters of Open Caching and explores future potential of this technology.

Speakers

  • Jonathan Candee, CCO, Qwilt
  • Michael Fay, Founder & CEO, Consultant
  • Sanjay Mishra, Associate Fellow for Network Infrastructure Planning & Design, Verizon

1341 Innovating Higher Education with Virtual Production

Discover how higher education institutions are responding to shifts in the media and entertainment landscape by adopting virtual production technologies. In this session led by Nick Rivero, co-founder of Meptik, gain insights into how universities are proactively preparing the next generation of professionals to thrive in an industry defined by innovation. With the rapid introduction of new technologies, students entering the workforce need to be equipped with the latest tools and skills. Through case studies and real-world examples, explore how institutions like the Savannah College of Art and Design are embracing virtual production stages as integral components of their curriculum, providing students with hands-on experience in a cutting-edge production environment.

Speaker

  • Nick Rivero, Co-Founder, Meptik

1331 Operational Optimization. Driving Efficiency to Compete in an Ever Evolving, Hyper Competitive Multiplatform World

Since its launch in 1985, InDemand has been providing premium Video On Demand and Pay Per View entertainment to North American TV operators and direct-to-consumers. In this discussion, InDemand’s Lacy Pack and LTN’s Rick Young will spotlight lessons learned about how driving efficient operations and service delivery, including the impact of AI, is transforming methods to automate production and live content delivery in order to support the unique requirements across today’s myriad business models and consumer platforms.

Speakers

  • Lacy Pack, EVP/CTO, InDemand
  • Rick Young, SVP, Head of Global Products, LTN

1061 Modernizing Decentralized Production

Migrating your media production into decentralized infrastructure expands capabilities, but it also introduces new complexities and concerns when designing your production environment. Building a complex multi-vendor media production that includes the functionality and security you need combined with the automation that you want can be a daunting undertaking. At Diversified, the business has evolved with the needs of its clients and the future of their markets so they can maximize opportunities to connect with fans, viewers and customers while expanding their total addressable market through best-in-class advisory services and technology solutions. It helps clients understand, optimize and transition to decentralized infrastructures, traditionally known as “cloud,” enabling them to get to market quicker and expedite monetization.

Speakers

  • Tom Carlisle, Director of Cloud Innovation, Diversified
  • Dustin Provorse, DevOps Architect, Innovation Development, Diversified
  • Steven Southern, Director of Innovation Development, Diversified

972 Breaking Boundaries in VR: Introducing PresenZ 6DoF by V-Nova Studios

Gianluca Meardi presents the V-Nova PresenZ 6DoF video format. This innovative format is poised to transform virtual reality storytelling by offering cinematic photorealism coupled with six degrees of freedom. This allows viewers to navigate pre-rendered scenes in real-time, moving beyond fixed viewpoints to achieve a fully immersive experience. V-Nova Studios, a business unit of V-Nova dedicated to crafting immersive 6DoF films, distribution and monetization, will also provide a preview of movie content soon to be released in this new format. The PresenZ technology, which integrates V-Nova’s point-cloud compression, not only enhances storytelling in VR but also facilitates the re-mastering of existing movie libraries. Attendees will get an exclusive look at the development of photorealistic, immersive movies that promise an unprecedented level of engagement, allowing audiences to step into and explore movie scenes like never before. Join V-Nova for a presentation that will redefine the boundaries of cinematic experience.

Speaker

  • Gianluca Meardi, Managing Director of V-Nova Studios, V-Nova

1058 Streaming Technology and the 2024 GRAMMY Awards

The annual GRAMMY Awards attracts millions of music lovers who tune in to see breakthrough music acts and legacy artists recognized and watch historic live performances. The combination of the Bitmovin Player and Nomad Media’s CMS provided the Recording Academy with a reliable and scaled solution to deliver live streams seamlessly across a broad range of devices including Amazon Fire TV, Android mobile, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, Roku, Samsung smart TVs, and web browsers. The Bitmovin Player empowers the Recording Academy to deliver high-quality streams to the broadest range of devices and guarantees playback quality on any screen through modular architecture, including low latency and configurable adaptive bitrate streaming, which ensures a smooth and seamless viewing experience for audiences, regardless of their location. In addition to covering the streaming technology behind the GRAMMY Awards, relevant highlights from the latest Bitmovin Video Developer Report will showcase key streaming technology trends.

Speaker

  • Igor Oreper, Chief Architect, Bitmovin

1147 How Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Improve the Efficiency of Video QoE Monitoring and Troubleshooting: Introducing Nala 2.0

Till Sudworth will discuss today’s data-driven video ecosystem and the challenges of dealing with the data explosion required to ensure a superior QoE to protect user satisfaction and engagement. Believing the solution lies in AI analytics tools, he’ll show how NaLa, NPAW’s second-generation AI companion app, works and addresses these challenges.

Speaker

  • Till Sudworth, Head of the BU Video, NPAW

1344 Optimizing Media and Entertainment Workflows with a Hybrid Cloud and Global Namespace

The media and entertainment (M&E) industry thrives on collaboration and agility, but traditional on-premises infrastructure can hinder remote work capabilities and content accessibility. This presentation explores how a hybrid cloud approach, combining on-premises hardware with cloud storage and compute resources, empowers M&E teams to enhance collaboration, increase agility, and reduce operating costs. This presentation will delve into the benefits of a hybrid cloud solution for M&E workflows, with Shawn Wallbridge discussing cloud adoption strategies and explaining how a hybrid cloud approach with a global namespace empowers M&E organizations to unlock new levels of efficiency, collaboration and innovation.

Speaker

  • Shawn Wallbridge, Systems Engineer, Qumulo

1051 Hyperscaling Innovation to Meet New Demands

Demand for hyperscale connectivity is changing everything. The integration of AI with high-speed internet connectivity has opened up myriad innovative applications across various fields such as gaming, simulations of real-world environments, sports betting, and more. These applications not only require fast and safe internet connections but also benefit significantly from the low latency that modern networks can provide. As the insatiable hunger for real-time processing and analysis of vast datasets increases and the rate of innovation accelerates, content distribution, production and postproduction executives are increasingly in the hot seat. While there is great opportunity there are also infinite risks and challenges in protecting massive digital ecosystems. Don’t miss this panel produced by Segra and Ciena and featuring senior execs for a riveting discussion about how to best navigate the fast-changing digital landscape and steering their organizations toward innovation while ensuring operational resilience and data security.

Speakers

  • Ben Edmond, CEO and Founder, Connectbase
  • Jonny Elliott, Chief Information Officer, Toyota Racing Development
  • Bob Gold, Principal, Bob Gold & Associates
  • Craig Williams, Vice President and Chief Digital Information Officer, Ciena

1345 Optimizing Media and Entertainment Workflows with a Hybrid Cloud and Global Namespace

The media and entertainment (M&E) industry thrives on collaboration and agility, but traditional on-premises infrastructure can hinder remote work capabilities and content accessibility. This presentation explores how a hybrid cloud approach, combining on-premises hardware with cloud storage and compute resources, empowers M&E teams to enhance collaboration, increase agility, and reduce operating costs. This presentation will delve into the benefits of a hybrid cloud solution for M&E workflows, with Shawn Wallbridge discussing cloud adoption strategies and explaining how a hybrid cloud approach with a global namespace empowers M&E organizations to unlock new levels of efficiency, collaboration and innovation.

Speaker

  • Shawn Wallbridge, Systems Engineer, Qumulo

1300 The Changing Terrain of IP Protection in the Broadcasting Industry

Learn the latest patent and trade secrets strategies and tactics tailored for advanced tech developers. As the Federal Trade Commission nears its decision to ban non-compete agreements, the need for robust trade secrets and patent protection programs is more important than ever. Failure to strengthen these protections could be an area of vulnerability for your company. The takeaways for attendees: crucial knowledge to maximize and safeguard their company’s most valuable IP assets.

Speaker

  • Wayne Bradley, Patent Attorney, McAndrews, Held & Malloy

1296 Game On: Enhancing Broadcast Workflows Through Network Slicing

As the world becomes more connected and the number of connected devices outpaces the population, congested connectivity has become a reality, especially at highly populated events (e.g., live entertainment and sporting venues). Although any industry can benefit from the ability to leverage dedicated slices in a private network, the media and entertainment industry (particularly broadcast and venue use cases) stand to benefit tremendously. This advanced network infrastructure — with each slice dedicated to a specific workflow — has the power to revolutionize how media is produced, distributed and consumed. It can also help optimize fan experience and in-venue operations.

Speakers

  • Malcolm Brew, Lead Technology Consultant, Neutral Wireless Ltd.
  • ErinRose Widner, Global Head, Business Strategy Emerging & Creative Technologies | Media & Entertainment, Verizon Business
  • Sam Yoffe, Senior Systems Engineer, Neutral Wireless
  • Mark Smith, Head of Innovation, IBC

1400 The Mission to Move to IP

The migration to IP is revealing new possibilities in the broadcast industry and beyond. For modern houses of worship, delivering their message in broadcast-quality video efficiently and reliably online and across multiple locations every day is essential to forging connections and fostering outreach. To meet the demands of their mission, a growing number of houses of worship are investing in technology overhauls at their broadcast centers, moving from SDI to leverage the benefits of IP-based solutions. Hear from this panel of industry experts as they share their technical knowledge and hands-on experiences in designing and installing the latest broadcast infrastructures for this distinct space.

Speakers

  • Gil Parente, CEO-Owner, AVnew
  • Steve Reynolds, President, Imagine Communications
  • Keith Vidger, Principal Technology Consultant – Media & Entertainment, Panasonic
  • Chris Winnie, Senior System Engineer, Skylark

1422 Beyond the Screen: Pioneering AI Dubbing in Cinema

This session delves into the intricate journey of integrating AI dubbing technology into the film industry, highlighting both the challenges encountered and the solutions developed. As providers of a pioneering solution, Zaibr Innovations aims to share its comprehensive learnings with film industry professionals, emphasizing the evolution of engines, the hurdles in adoption and the critical importance of maintaining the integrity and protection of voice actors’ rights. This discussion will pivot around the pivotal role of AI dubbing in enhancing the localization process, making content more accessible and engaging for a global audience without compromising the originality and essence of the performance. It addresses the initial skepticism and the subsequent embrace of AI technology, underscoring the significance of a collaborative approach that respects the creative process and safeguards the interests of all stakeholders involved. By focusing on a solution-oriented approach, this session aims to illustrate how AI dubbing can be integrated into the film industry not as a disruptive force, but as a valuable tool that complements existing practices. This session is crafted for professionals seeking to understand the practical application of AI dubbing, its impact on the industry and how it can coexist with traditional methods to enhance storytelling and reach.

Speaker

  • Hermann del Campo, Managing Director, Zaibr Innovations

1442 Revolutionizing Broadcasting: The Transformative Impact of AI on Content Creation

Join Stockfolio as it delves into the transformative role of AI in broadcasting, highlighting its impact on content creation, distribution and viewer engagement. This session will showcase how Pixt AI leverages cutting-edge AI technologies to streamline production processes, enhance narrative development and tailor content to audience preferences, setting new standards in the broadcasting industry. Discover practical insights and the future potential of AI in enhancing creative outputs and operational efficiency.

Speaker

  • Linslet Oh, CEO, Stockfolio Inc.

1443 What Media Brands Can Learn from 1,000 Superfans

Brad Altfest explores how media companies can learn from the concept of “1,000 superfans” which proposes that content creators can find success by gaining thousands of superfans instead of millions of less-engaged followers. Learn why superfans matter, how to platform and monetize them, the impact of influencers, and how to engage next generation audiences. The discussion will explore ideas on interactive experiences that support segmentation based on behavior, preferences and feedback; streamline access to exclusive content, perks, discounts, etc.; prioritize social features to encourage reviews, testimonials, ratings, and sharing content; simplify the collection of first-party data from superfans to create content and products; identify opportunities to show appreciation and gratitude for their support; an dintroduce opportunities for e-commerce integration.

Speaker

  • Brad Altfest, Director of Media & Entertainment, Agora Lab