Miranda Integrates Linear Playout and On-Demand Delivery with New VOD Publishing Solution

“Broadcasters and specialty channel playout operators throughout the world have been telling us the same thing: it has become a huge burden on operations to deliver linear content that has just aired via VOD and other non-linear delivery platforms”, says Michel Proulx, CTO at Miranda. “The number of VOD platforms supported, and the number of assets to be delivered, is increasing month by month, and this is stretching their operations to the limit.”

Tightly integrated with Miranda’s iTX IT-based automation and playout system, the new VOD Publishing solution simplifies on-demand content generation significantly by allowing the same assets, workflow and scheduling system to be used for both linear playout and VOD file creation.

The integration of VOD file publishing within iTX ensures that linear playout schedules can be quickly converted to produce C3, C7, Premium and other VOD variants. This directly addresses the increased cost and time challenges presented by popular “TV Everywhere” and “Catch Up TV” initiatives.

Further leveraging the integration with iTX, the VOD Publishing solution provides all the elements required to create professional, on-demand content across multiple platforms, with integrated support for Nielsen watermarking, Closed Captions, AFD and Vchip metadata.

“One of the most important aspects of VOD under the Nielsen C3 and C7 initiatives is that VOD views are counted towards the overall viewership that a broadcaster earns for its programming”, added Michel Proulx. “But the requirement to include Nielsen watermarks in VOD files has led broadcasters to adopt brute force approaches to creating on-demand content, which in many cases require a complete playout chain to ‘print’ or ‘dub’ the VOD assets. This is no longer necessary with the inclusion of Nielsen watermarks in our VOD workflow, and this represents a huge step towards optimizing on-demand workflows.”

Miranda’s VOD Publishing solution also integrates tightly with its channel branding tools, and this automates the insertion of rich branding graphics into VOD files. This unique capability allows broadcasters to strengthen their brand promotion across multiple platforms. For instance, they can drive audiences to linear channels where revenue is currently concentrated.

Existing iTX users can implement a highly streamlined and cost-efficient VOD system by sharing their existing iTX infrastructure, as well as their media and schedule databases used for linear playout. However, the VOD Publishing solution can also be used as a standalone system for on-demand video compilation.

Miranda’s iTX is a software-based television production and playout platform, which allows broadcasters and media operators to unify and streamline ingest, media management, workflow organization, schedule management, automation, master control and playout for multi-format television. By handling all stages of the production and delivery process under a consistent user environment, the iTX system delivers unprecedented increases in efficiency, scalability and speed of response for media businesses.