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Key Takeaways from NAB

Discover what transpired at this year's NAB Show

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show took place this year from April 14-19 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The annual conference is one of the world's largest and most comprehensive media and entertainment professionals’ gatherings. NAB welcomes over 1,600 exhibitors showcasing new-to-market innovations and 65,000 trade visitors seeking to create superior audio and visual experiences. From cutting-edge displays and immersive technologies to the latest production workflows and business models, NAB covers it all in one place.

Every year, Lumine team members attend the conference to learn more about the latest developments within the media landscape and to further understand how our media companies are shaping the future of this rapidly evolving industry. This year was no different. Lumine was represented on the floor by two portfolio companies – WideOrbit and Velocix.

WideOrbit, acquired earlier this year, helps media companies do more business by making it easier to buy and sell advertising. WideOrbit is a platform that ties everything together – from programmatic and digital ad sales to cash-in-advance payment. WideOrbit showcased its extensive suite of media-buying products and services offering unique solutions in automation for radio, analytics, and the marketplace.

Velocix, acquired by Lumine in 2019, specializes in content delivery networks (CDN), which are used to distribute digital content such as video, music, and software to end-users. CDN technology is crucial for the delivery of high-quality, low-latency streaming video, especially as the demand for online video continues to grow. At the event, they showcased their latest carrier-grade cloud TV applications, including their Hybrid-cloud Origin, which transforms efficiency by streaming high-volume but infrequently viewed content from the cloud.

We spoke to our team members who attended the conference to learn more about the key learnings and takeaways from this year’s NAB Show.

Remote Production and Cloud-Based SolutionsMicrosoftTeams-image (40)

The media industry is constantly evolving, and two trends that are currently dominating the industry are remote production and cloud-based solutions. Remote production has been steadily gaining popularity in recent years, but the pandemic accelerated its adoption. This allows media companies to produce content without physically being on location, enabling producers, editors, and other personnel to work from different locations and collaborate effectively.

These solutions offer scalability, and cost savings, and allow media companies to store and access their data and applications over the Internet. Cloud-based solutions are also crucial in the media industry as they offer video transcoding, enabling media companies to convert video files from one format to another quickly and efficiently without investing in expensive hardware.

By using cloud-based solutions, media production teams can also capture and analyze data on audience engagement, content consumption, and other key metrics. This information can be used to inform content production strategies and to optimize the performance of media content over time.    
Cloud-based solutions also offer greater scalability for media production teams. With cloud-based solutions, teams can easily scale up or down their resources as needed, without the need for expensive hardware upgrades or new infrastructure investments. This allows teams to be more agile and responsive to changing production requirements.

As the media production industry continues to evolve, cloud-based solutions are likely to become an increasingly important tool for media production teams to work more efficiently, collaborate more effectively, and produce higher-quality content. With benefits such as increased flexibility, scalability, and automation, we will be seeing more media companies turn to remote production and cloud-based solutions to optimize their production workflows.


IP-based Workflows and Infrastructure

In the media industry, IP-based workflows and infrastructure are becoming increasingly popular due to the benefits they offer. One of the latest trends in IP-based workflows is the use of software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV). SDN and NFV enable media companies to virtualize network functions such as routing, switching, and firewalls, allowing them to manage their networks more efficiently. This technology also enables media companies to provision resources quickly, allowing them to scale their networks up or down as needed.

The biggest advantage of IP-based workflows and infrastructure is the ability to share content between different systems and platforms easily. This allows media companies to collaborate more effectively and produce content faster. Additionally, IP-based workflows and infrastructure enable media companies to automate many of their processes, reducing the risk of errors and freeing up staff to focus on more complex tasks.

IP-based workflows and infrastructure will continue to transform the media industry by offering more efficient and cost-effective content production and with the rise of SDN, NFV, and cloud-based infrastructure, more media companies will be able to manage their networks and store and process data more effectively.


Unified Communications in Broadcast & Media Production

Unified communications are rapidly becoming a critical component of broadcast and media production by offering tools and technologies that allow media companies to collaborate seamlessly, regardless of location or device. Unified communications technologies provide a centralized platform for teams to communicate and share content, helping MicrosoftTeams-image (41) teams work more closely together and share content more easily. This can be particularly important for media companies that work across multiple locations or have remote teams.

Another trend in unified communications is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies. These technologies can help automate many tasks associated with media production, including scheduling, transcription, captioning, and translation. This enables media companies to produce content more efficiently, reducing costs and increasing productivity. 

Unified communications also offer advanced security features, which are critical in the media industry, where the protection of intellectual property and sensitive information is paramount. These security features include multi-factor authentication, encryption, and secure file sharing, ensuring that media companies can communicate and collaborate without compromising security.

Unified communications are becoming increasingly relevant to broadcast and media production. With the rise of cloud-based communication platforms and AI/ML technologies, media companies will continue to collaborate to improve efficiency, automate more of their processes, and enhance security.


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