Industry News

Video software and data insights platform JW Player’s VUALTO, acquired in May 2021, is now fully integrated with JW Player.

As such, two offerings formerly provided by VUALTO are now available to JW Player customers.

Introducing Broadcast Live (formerly VUALTO CONTROL HUB) and Studio DRM (formerly VUDRM). “These integrated offerings enable broadcasters and other content owners with adaptable, scalable, secure and intelligent solutions for video orchestration and encryption,” JW Player says.

JW Player CEO Dave Otten comments, “After months of integrating our teams, products and services, we’re proud to unveil our new offerings to the market. Our complete video delivery platform now enables broadcasters, publishers and other content owners to better engage and connect with audiences anywhere on any device, while ensuring the peace of mind that their content rights will be protected.”

Broadcast Live is a video orchestration product for Live, VOD, Live2VOD and VOD2Live. ‘Developed specifically for media workflows, Broadcast Live brings integration with encoders, streaming servers, workflow rules and DRM into a single set of APIs and GUI. The pluggable architecture also allows for easy integration with third-party and existing customer systems. With comprehensive channel configuration, event scheduling, monitoring, clipping and syndication, Broadcast Live enables premium viewing experiences with significant cost savings.”

Studio DRM is a multi-DRM solution that makes content protection easy for broadcasters, sports OTT platforms and other premium content rights holders. It is highly scalable and uniquely flexible, allowing content owners to request DRM encryption keys on the fly. Studio DRM also supports the latest content protection standards including CPIX, CMAF, and CBCS. Formerly known as VUDRM, the solution has long been a leader in DRM innovation and was one of the first to implement support for PlayReady, WideVine and FairPlay, as well as ABR streaming with DRM encryption.

In May 2021, JW Player acquired VUALTO to create a comprehensive platform that empowers customers with independence and control in today’s Digital Video Economy. The combined result is a single platform for broadcast-quality live and on-demand video delivery across mobile, web and OTT platforms; secure content delivery with industry leading DRM services; and unique insights, intelligence and monetization features to help grow revenue.

As demand for remote operations continues to increase across the industry, Imagine Communications has enhanced its ADC playout automation ― enabling media companies to access and control their broadcast chain from anywhere. This capability enhances existing media workflows and provides for more efficient operations utilizing remote staff, Imagine claims. It also supports new operational models including hub-and-spoke deployments and unified broadcast operations from a centralized broadcast center.

ADC Flex is an addition to Imagine’s ADC automation platform. Running natively in a web browser, ADC Flex provides a remote-ready control platform that can be added to existing ADC deployments. Or, it can be used as the basis for new facilities and new channel launches.

Imagine notes, “ADC Flex lets operators monitor and control channels, schedule content ingest and manage content from anywhere with internet access ― providing operational efficiencies, while maintaining mission-critical functions. With its modern HTML5 web user interface, ADC Flex is tailored to broadcasters’ specific operational needs, offering an identical look and feel whether the operator is in the machine room, at a remote location, or working from home; all that is needed to communicate is a secure data connection.”

Screens can be customized to suit workflow requirements and user preferences. Permissions can be assigned to users and groups, and favorites can be assigned for commonly used layouts. Since it is built using HTML5, ADC Flex can run on Windows, MacOS or Linux. Control panels and supervisory screens can also be created for tablets where mobility is required.

Sencore, a video delivery specialized, has brought to market the latest feature release for SCP 2100 Internet delivery encoder.

MPEG2 encoding and transcoding has been added as well as SCTE 104 to SCTE 35 ad insertion conversion. With the addition of these two features, the SCP 2100 is, in the words of Sencore, “an extremely versatile edge device for acquiring, compressing and backhauling content across the internet.”

The SCP 2100 allows operators to have a single solution for acquiring and transporting their content over the open internet, regardless of codec, interface or streaming protocol, it adds. It has support for a variety of physical inputs, including MPEG/IP, HDMI, SDI, ASI, QAM and 8VSB. It also has support for both H.264 and MPEG2.

“Once the signal has been compressed, rate-shaped, transcoded or repackaged, it is transported as Zixi or SRT across the internet or as MPEG/IP with SMPTE 2022-1 Forward Error Correction,” Sencore notes.

U.S. financial markets moved downward on Monday, with the Dow Industrials shedding 320.04 points to finish the day at 35,650.95 and the Nasdaq index losing 217.32 points, finishing at 15,413.28.

While the general indices were down, several broadcast media industry stock prices finished the day in the green.

Sinclair Broadcasting Group gained $0.49, to finish the day at $25.92, while Saga Communications was also on the rise.

That said, many companies were down, including Cumulus Media and Beasley Media Group, which saw its shares dip below the $2 mark to $1.96.

“Conversation experience management software” that combines voice optimized content management, cross-platform deployment, and voice-specific customer insights.

Who knew that such a technological advancement would be important to an audio content and distributor with podcasting and radio stations at the core of its business?

J.D. Crowley and the C-Suite team at Audacy did.

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It was inevitable. Years ago, ABC sold off nearly all of its radio stations and its national programming arm, now part of the Cumulus Media family. As of today, three big-market AMs tied to ESPN, ABC’s sibling within The Walt Disney Co., were all that remained of the company’s once-sizable radio broadcasting arm.

With the FCC’s blessing, ownership of those radio stations will soon end. Call it Good Karma, for Disney, ESPN and the buyer.

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When it comes to Wall Street wizards who have an active pulse on broadcast media, there are perhaps no two more-attuned analysts than Craig Moffett and Michael Nathanson. Over the last several years, their MoffettNathanson has served as a leading voice of how media companies are performing and trending.

Soon, their equity research firm will be a sibling to Silicon Valley Bank.

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Audacy says it is ramping up its interactive voice capabilities. The company announced a partnership with Voicify, which provides “conversation experience management software.”

“As part of the partnership, Audacy will leverage Voicify’s services to drive interactive voice capabilities across the Audacy platform and make station-branded skills more easily accessible for listeners via any voice assistant-enabled device,” the media company said.

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It said it also will license Voicify’s “Voicify Conversation Experience Platform” to create and deliver interactive voice ads and “voice commerce experiences” for advertisers. It said that platform enables marketers to deploy personalized voice experiences to consumers automatically on smart speakers and other platforms.

Audacy Chief Digital Officer J.D. Crowley was quoted saying, “As we continue to expand and enhance the Audacy direct-to-consumer platform, adding new interactive voice capabilities and enabling voice commerce experiences across a wide range of devices is an important area of future growth, especially in an age where flexibility and speed to market are a must have for our advertising partners.”

The companies cited research from Emarketer that one-third of the U.S. population are using voice to conduct searches.

They said we can expect “high-profile campaigns for several marquee brands” soon.

Submit business announcements to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Audacy to Use Voicify for Interactive Voice appeared first on Radio World.

LOS ANGELES — He’s a national icon, on a scale perhaps even bigger than that of Frank Sinatra to the U.S. or Cliff Richard to Great Britain. From classic ballads including “Volver, Volver” to “Por Tu Maldito Amor,” Vicente Fernandez is perhaps the most iconic of all Mexican recording artists, with popularity spanning generations across Latin America and in U.S. communities with Hispanics of Mexican heritage.

Fernandez died on Sunday (12/12) at 6:15am local time, at a hospital in Guadalajara. He was 81 years old. News of his passing was first shared on his Instagram account, which had previously offered health updates after a recent fall in his home, which required an operation and injured his cervical spine; some 1.93 million likes have been made to the posting.

Within minutes, radio stations in Los Angeles and across the U.S. raced to scrap programming and devote their airwaves to Fernandez — recognizable to non-Hispanics perhaps for his trademark oversized sombrero.

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This isn’t what you want to see when you look up at a tower.

But it is what Matt Ruedlinger of Fullwave Tower & Broadcast found last Friday when his crew showed up at WMGI(FM) in Terre Haute, Ind., a 50 kW Class B station owned by Midwest Communications and operating at 100.7 MHz.

“We received a call that a tree had fallen on one of the lower guy wires and when we arrived found it like this,” he told us.

“After running a few analysis scenarios, we developed a controlled drop plan and removed the tower. Everything went as well as possible with no damage to the transmitter building or nearby power lines.”

This was not related to the recent tornadoes that made headlines. The station is operating from a backup tower and plans a new structure.

Send your interesting radio photos and stories to radioworld@futurenet.com.

The post Something Ain’t Quite Right With This Tower … appeared first on Radio World.