HITS

IBC 2022: Irdeto Goes After Credential Sharing; Synamedia Debuts New SaaS Solutions

Here’s a look at what some of MESA’s members — including Irdeto, Verimatrix, Xperi, LucidLink and Synamedia — shared during the IBC Show in Amsterdam.

Irdeto

Digital platform cybersecurity firm Irdeto shared that its multi-DRM solution Irdeto Control now had extended concurrent stream management and geo-enforcement capabilities to effectively address service abuses, including piracy and credential sharing, and allow operators to define and monetise their over-the-top (OTT) offerings, using diverse concurrency models based on subscriber, content and device segmentation.

With these new capabilities, pay TV operators and media companies are enabled to quickly introduce new OTT business models and accelerate revenue growth by addressing new customer segments and increasing average revenue per user (ARPU).

Irdeto Control concurrent stream management leverages DRM-based “heartbeats,” known to be more secure and accurate, to replace the traditional player-based heartbeat method, which requires custom development for each device/player.

Irdeto’s approach is app agnostic and does not require custom code to be developed or maintained at the application or platform level. It prevents any attempt to circumvent the systems’ heartbeats, enabling operators to accurately enforce content and service usage rules in real-time.

Irdeto Control also extended its geo-IP enforcement offerings, adding capabilities for pay TV operators and streaming services to dynamically perform “blacklisting” and “whitelisting” of subscribers’ device IP addresses, offering vast flexibility to enforce geo-restrictions from a subscriber level, content level or both. Based on subscribers’ location, operators can deploy targeted strategies by country, region, or city. The new capabilities also include innovative tools to detect and block VPN and proxy services, impeding any attempt to circumvent the geo-restrictions.

In addition to these new capabilities, Irdeto now co-hosts Widevine SDK as part of Irdeto Control (Hosted Widevine Services) to further extend its current industry-leading availability and SLAs (99.999%). This new offering provides additional benefits to operators and media companies with improved user experience (low latency), managed change control, and dedicated monitoring capabilities to guarantee the required scalability and resiliency for high-profile events. Irdeto Control can assist operators in expanding consumer offerings with insight-driven data while offering the highest degree of DRM protection, availability, scalability and operational simplicity.

Irdeto also announced the rollout of Irdeto Server Side Ad Insertion (SSAI) by MultiChoice Group, a leading African entertainment provider. Irdeto SSAI, launched in January, maximises addressable live ad inventory of OTT video at scale while delivering a seamless ‘TV-like’ viewing experience.

Verimatrix

Verimatrix announced that Madrid-based NexPlayer has integrated its NexPlayer multi-screen player SDK with the Verimatrix StreamkeeperSM Multi-DRM platform, as well as its accompanying Verimatrix Watermarking tools, to help further protect its customers’ entertainment content.

NexPlayer works with any device, including Android, iOS, Smart TVs such as Samsung, Hisense and LG, game consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation, Unity games and HTLM5 browsers.

It offers unique code control that ensures viewers enjoy the highest quality, most secure and reliable playback experience. In June 2021, Verimatrix announced an initial integration with the Verimatrix Video Content Authority System and the Verimatrix Multi-DRM Core solution, the predecessor to today’s Verimatrix Streamkeeper.

Verimatrix Streamkeeper Multi-DRM delivers studio endorsed best practices for content protection, with meticulous focus on ensuring superior video viewer experiences. An adaptive cybersecurity tool that goes beyond DRM, Streamkeeper allows video service providers to manage revenue risk in a world of continuously changing threats.

By harnessing the power of both Streamkeeper and its Watermarking tools, NexPlayer customers will be able to quickly and seamlessly use both client and server-side watermarking that secure the entire path of video consumption spanning nearly all platforms.

With protection during post-production and distribution, video service providers and others can quickly identify piracy and shut it down in moments.

“Verimatrix is pleased to announce the evolution of this integration partnership with NexPlayer, as it further validates the demand for content protection solutions that instil unmatched confidence while also enabling a speedier time to market with super secure streaming content such as live sports, premiere movies and even content inside video games,” said Sebastian Braun, senior director of product management for Verimatrix. “This use of Streamkeeper and Watermarking brings video service providers a uniquely powerful ability to detect pirated streams as well as their origin across OTT networks and even securely employ multi-camera angles for events.”

Xperi

Xperi announced at IBC that it is growing its footprint within the European market by bringing solutions for pay TV operators that combine the technologies of TiVo OS and Vewd. The combination of TiVo’s video service platform and Vewd’s suite of streaming media solutions establishes Xperi as a leading independent media platform for smart TVs, connected cars and pay TV operators, the company said.

Additionally, the recent announcement of Vestel as the first original equipment manufacturer (OEM) to offer TiVo OS, provides further proof that OEMs are searching for a neutral platform aimed at providing them significantly more control over the user experience and helping consumers cut through the clutter of streaming and linear content options with simplified, universal discovery.

“I’m excited about the growth we’re seeing within the European market, with our solutions offering a content-first entertainment experience on a neutral platform,” said Gabriel Cosgrave, GM of EMEA for Xperi. “With the announcement of Vestel offering Powered by TiVo Smart TVs, the Vewd acquisition and TiVo’s IPTV solutions for operators, our offerings in the region provide for expanded access for customers in multiple markets.”

TiVo also has signed an agreement with a major operator to launch its innovative voice search product in Poland, providing access to a broader range of content options and a user-friendly way to find and watch preferred content.

TiVo’s Conversation Services solution removes barriers to a seamless user experience by putting the user in control, making it easy to navigate and complete tasks with simple, intuitive commands and helping users find specific content using only their voice. To find their favourite content, a user simply needs to speak into their remote. The solution is powered by machine learning, and enables providers to deliver meaningful content to users, providing an extraordinary entertainment experience.

LucidLink

SaaS-based remote collaboration specialist LucidLink has had its technology deployed across VICE Media Group to diversify that company’s postproduction model and move its production workflow to the cloud.

VICE Media’s news team initially ran a 30-day trial of LucidLink during the pandemic, employing ‘cloud NAS’ technology to enable content to be stored in the cloud and dynamically streamed and cached to local devices. VICE Media’s news team used LucidLink for teams working remotely with the day-to-air content from regions in the field to the finishing teams taking broadcast content to air. The trial was successful, resulting in VICE Media moving its entire production workflow to the cloud.

“We wanted to deploy a solution that would enable remote from home productivity in the short-term, but we also wanted to try and build something that would stand us in good stead post-COVID,” said Dominic Brouard, postproduction infrastructure manager for VICE Media Group. “That meant we wanted a tool that would work sustainably from the speed of production. It also had to meet the terms of the cost model, the infrastructure it sits on, and be enterprise-ready and security-focused.”

Implementation of LucidLink has eliminated the company’s previous challenges in downloading files or sending drives, which were time-consuming processes that were becoming unsustainable.

Synamedia

Independent video software provider Synamedia used IBC to show how its latest solutions protect, enrich and deliver world-class video services with a commitment to reduced total cost of ownership (TCO).

Deployments of its multi-tenant SaaS offerings including Synamedia Iris for addressable advertising; Clarissa for business insights; OTT ServiceGuard for streaming anti-piracy; and CSFEye to minimise credential fraud activity and password sharing, all were on display. The entire SaaS portfolio uses the Synamedia Cloud common framework, creating a cohesive experience across all products and features common workflows for operations and management of services.

The complete Synamedia Go cloud video suite, which offers service providers everything they need to rapidly launch a streaming service and customize it to increase value, was among the IBC highlights. Go is a flexible, SaaS-based modular video platform that balances functionality with speed-to-market for VOD and live streaming services.

Following the acquisition of Utelly in May 2022, Synamedia has now transformed the Go.Aggregate and Go.Recommend packages for content discovery across multiple streaming services and live TV. Synamedia demonstrated Go’s ability to connect everything – extending search and discovery across music, audio books, podcasts, short-form user-generated content, and more.

Synamedia’s most recent acquisition, Quortex, a cloud-native SaaS solution for just-in-time processing of live and recorded streaming, provides the resources required at any given time, cutting operational costs and reducing energy use dramatically. Ideally suited for disaster recovery, long-tail and niche revenue-generating content, Quortex complements software-defined Vivid Workflow as-a-Service (WaaS) with solutions for service providers of any size that deliver premium OTT services for live events and sports, disaster recovery, and more.

Synamedia will debut two new SaaS solutions as it expands its Vivid WaaS offer, with Vivid Connect for cost effective backhaul transport services and Vivid Record for time-shifted TV and cloud DVR. The Vivid portfolio showcased also included Vivid WaaS PowerVu, Vivid Low Latency Streaming, and Vivid Compression.

Synamedia also announced it will launch Fluid EdgeCDN, a new portfolio of services for scalable, smart, and efficient CDN operations. Features include a sophisticated traffic prediction engine that allows ISPs to sell excess CDN capacity with a share of the revenue going back to the rights holder.