Broadcast Tech & Engineering News – Bell Media launches Addressable TV

LISTEN: Dielectric has taken part in its share of RF installations at iconic transmission sites, from atop Mount Wilson in Los Angeles to One World Trade Center in New York City. Dielectric recently installed an antenna system to support transmission for WEDW-DT, part of the Connecticut Public Television (CPTV) PBS member network that has now improved reach into the coveted New York City television market. Mechanical Engineer Shane Cyr joins our publisher Shawn Smith on Broadcast Dialogue – The Podcast to talk about the installation’s unique challenges, the company’s 80-year legacy, and more.

FEATURE: The Western Association of Broadcast Engineers (WABE) fall conference is on the move due to a labour dispute. Still set to take place Nov. 27-29 in Vancouver, the event is moving to The Pinnacle at the Pier in North Vancouver. The WABE Awards are also now open to nominations. Read President Tessa Potter’s September update here.

Bell Media has announced it’s launching Addressable TV (ATV) across its linear and Video on Demand (VOD) content on CTV, CTV2, and Noovo, leveraging tech that tailors ads to television viewers. Also available on a handful of Bell’s English- and French-language speciality channels, ATV will reach viewers via the Bell Fibe TV app across Connected TV, mobile, and web platforms, and is set to launch on next generation set top boxes later this year. Tapping into household insights, including Bell’s own first party data, to target an advertiser’s core audience, the service is launching with 19 pre-built segments. Bell says the the ability to build custom segments using Bell Analytics is on the way, in addition to offerings from Environics and thinktv. Read more here.

RT-RK, a Serbia-based embedded software development house, has announced a strategic collaboration with Google to elevate the Common Broadcast Stack (CBS) for Android TV OS devices. The partnership aims to introduce innovative features and ensure CBS remains the trusted middleware solution for TV operators and retail devices. Leveraging the existing foundation of CBS, RT-RK will contribute expertise to further elevate the platform’s capabilities and enhance the overall user experience. 

Avid has announced the commercial availability of Avid | Stream IO, a new flexible subscription-based software platform for production ingest and playout of news, sports, live entertainment and other TV content. With a flexible architecture that can be configured to ingest or play out IP streams and SDI streams, Avid | Stream IO allows news, sports and live content producers to migrate from legacy workflows and on-premises deployment to cloud and IP workflows. The platform also allows media companies to combine different ingest sources in a single configuration, supporting all common production formats​, including SDI at launch, with compressed IP streams SRT / RTMP, NDI, and SMPTE 2110 to follow later next year​. 

EditShare has entered into an agreement to merge with cloud-native video solutions provider Shift Media. The combined business will operate as EditShare, with Shift Media products – MediaSilo, Wiredrive, and Screeners.com – folding under the EditShare corporate brand. With video creation continuing to accelerate across entertainment, advertising, corporate communications, higher education, and a concurrent explosion in video technology, the companies say combining EditShare and Shift Media will deliver a comprehensive open solution enabling creative teams and content creators to seamlessly store, edit, collaborate, and share their content. Ramu Potarazu, Shift Media’s CEO, will lead the combined company under the EditShare banner, while current EditShare CEO Conrad Clemson will leave the business to pursue other opportunities. ParkerGale Capital and Marlin Equity Partners, previous backers of EditShare and Shift, respectively, will maintain their positions as primary investors and board members of the combined company.