Exclusives

MESA Members at CES 2017: VR, OTT, AI and More

The Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) will be well-represented at the 2017 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show, taking over Las Vegas Jan. 5-8. Here’s a look at what some of MESA’s members will be showcasing at the largest technology show in the world.

TiVo will showcase its entertainment technology and audience insights solutions, with an emphasis on how to better-engage consumers on every screen out there. User experiences, advanced search and recommendations, metadata and data-driven TV analytics solutions, along with the company’s consumer products, will all be on TiVo’s agendas for those attending the conference.

“[With TiVo]TV service providers can differentiate their services with next-gen media discovery across multiple screens,” the company said in a statement. “Streaming and digital media portals can ignite engagement with highly personalized entertainment discovery. Consumer electronics manufacturers can offer advanced functionality with cloud-based, cross-platform experiences.

Ad sales providers and advertising agencies can target audiences and predict viewer behavior with data-driven tools and analytics.

Kaltura’s headlines at CES will revolve around its shortest time-to-market solution for OTT TV deployments. “We’ve helped build cross-device, multi-screen experiences for clients including international media companies like HBO, Viacom, and Turner; service operators like Vodafone, KDG, and Yes; and broadcasters like Mediacorp,” the company said in a statement. Additionally, the company will discuss the progress of OTT VR and 4K delivery to consumers, and what’s needed to make that a reality.

Management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company Accenture will be showcasing its latest offerings in the content creation and distribution and streaming services space. And during CES, keep an eye out for the results of the company’s annual Digital Consumer Survey for communications, media and technology companies … the 2016 edition polled 28,000 consumers in 28 countries, revolving around their use of consumer technology.

Look for Adobe to show off its new TV ad planning platform, which enables audience-based selling and more-accurate forecasting for media and entertainment companies. The TV Media Management (TVMM) platform comes via Adobe Primetime, and promises to help media sellers more easily align their interests with advertisers in today’s multiscreen TV world.

“As viewers are changing the way they consume their favorite TV content across screens, advertisers and media companies must find improved ways to measure, plan and forecast their advertising in order to maximize the value of that content,” said Jeremy Helfand, VP of Adobe Primetime. “Our TVMM platform capitalizes on the rich data in Adobe Marketing Cloud, enabling media companies to deliver great viewing experiences and letting advertisers target granular audience segments.”

ANG Digital, a provider of cloud-based “Middleware as a Service” (MaaS) solutions for the media and entertainment industry, will show off how its Generat.IO offering integrates with legacy systems and processes, allowing users to conform to requirements for digital special features and avails management.

“As formats, devices and platforms continue to proliferate, content owners are stretched to the breaking point. Workflows are too cumbersome, have too many handoff points between automated and manual processes, and no one has the manpower on hand to manage those processes anyway,” said ANG CEO Robert Gekchyan. “Most available solutions are either resource-intensive (and expensive) or involve a new (and expensive) enterprise-level software stack that either takes months to configure to your legacy platforms, or requires that you mothball them altogether. There has to be a better way.”

Dolby

Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision, Dolby Cinema … instead of just looking at Dolby at CES, look at every major consumer electronics company for news regarding the audio and visual tech company.

At CES, Dolby will share its latest Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision innovations, and will unveil new products announced at the show.

G-Technology

At CES, Western Digital’s premium storage brand G-Technology will share the latest expansion of its G-Drive portfolio, including the company very first solid state portable drive, the G-Drive slim SSD USB-C, which offers faster interface speeds with USB-C connectivity, along with expanded external storage for next-gen computers. The drive is available in 500 GB and 1 TB versions.

“G-Technology continues to embrace advanced technologies in its line of products, and is excited to announce its fastest portable consumer storage solution to date,” said Mike Williams, VP of advanced technologies for G-Technology. “The G-Drive slim SSD USB-C embodies our commitment to delivering products that offer exceptional performance, style, and reliability, while combining SSD technology with the latest USB-C interface ensures users will have the latest technology and performance at their fingertips.”

IBM

Tech giant IBM will be tackling CES from numerous angles: hosting an IBM Client Center at the Venetian, where it will be showcasing how cognitive solutions and advanced technologies are helping enterprises reinvent; hosting more than one CES SuperSession; and having its speakers at numerous panels.

Additionally, IBM is hosting presentations and offering design studio sessions, “where attendees can discuss how to explore new innovative business models and cognitive client experience, products and services with IBM subject matter experts,” the company said in a statement.

“The world is awash in data, but businesses aren’t taking full advantage of it today. With IBM Watson, companies in all industries can harness data’s potential to uncover hidden opportunities that will set them apart. Watson gives systems the ability to understand, reason, learn, and interact so they can improve business outcomes and increase revenue.”

NeuLion

Look for digital video delivery tech company NeuLion to highlight its new partnership with Ultra HD channel INsight TV, with the pair launching a new OTT Ultra HD Entertainment platform, featuring native 4K content powered by the NeuLion’s digital platform.

“With a focus on the viewer experience, we are excited to partner with INsight TV to offer the best in Ultra HD entertainment combined with our technology platform,” said NeuLion president and CEO Roy Reichbach. “We are constantly pushing the envelope with new technology, new features and new services. Together with INsight who is doing the same thing in their field, this is another example of how we are delivering a best-in-class digital experience.”

Additionally, the company will share the latest personalization services it’s offering to OTT providers, covering everything from digital sales conversion to branding and advertising.

“Personalization is a key differentiator for OTT and TV Everywhere services,” Reichbach said. “As more and more services enter the marketplace, it is important to provide users with a unique, individual experience that increases subscriber activations and engagement. We are proud of our technology and the ability to offer content owners these features as part of the NeuLion Digital Platform.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers

PwC will see Anand Rao, partner with PwC Analytics, and artificial intelligence expert, moderating a panel on AI and machine learning, and the firm will be hosting a client reception, giving its partners the opportunity to discuss what they’re seeing at CES.

But if you really want to get an idea of PwC’s insight at CES, look for its analysts’ comments in media coverage, addressing IoT, increased mobile video consumption, and wearable technology.

Sony Electronics

The Sony Electronics press event at CES has become almost legendary at this point: held the night before on the show floor before it’s open to everyone, Sony’s regularly made the event a major spectacle, with flashy visuals, surprise speakers, and, of course, major announcements.

Holding its cards close to the vest, Sony hasn’t hinted much at what the 2017 event will bring. But after a big year in virtual reality, 4K, high dynamic range, and UHD Blu-ray, expect more hardware that builds on what Sony accomplished in 2016.

Source Digital

M&E tech product and service provider Source Digital will use CES to share its solutions for monetizing digital content, covering personalization, smart content and omni-screen use, all of which help increase consumer engagement and boost revenue opportunities.

“[CES] C Space provides the ideal forum for brand marketers, advertising agencies and content creators to discover how the latest technological innovations can actually create new, valuable marketing opportunities,” said company CEO Hank Frecon. “With the ultimate goal of reaching the right customer at the right time, Source Digital sees metadata as the foundation and force that brings consumer engagement to new heights with an immediate call-to-action. The subsequent result is the next wave of acquiring accurate metadata-driven digital consumer insights.”

The company’s open platform SourceSync.io will be among the highlights, with Source Digital exhibiting how it seamlessly interfaces with existing asset management systems and other production and post production data sources.

Technicolor

Of all of MESA’s members attending CES 2017, Technicolor is perhaps the busiest: a media and analyst event to cover virtual and augmented reality, broadband access and more; a slew of company reps on panels during the week; and heading up the Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA) new Working Group on Virtual and Augmented Reality.

“New devices, content and services are coming on to the market rapidly,” said Technicolor’s Mark Turner, chair of the CTA Working Group on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. “In recognition of that, CTA formed a working group to look at the key trends that are happening and explore how to advance the industry by putting a diverse set of subject matter experts in the same room to sort things out.”

You.i TV

Cross-platform video app company You.i TV will show off its new You.i Engine One, which offers media companies a simple solution for delivering VOD and TV Everywhere services across every device, an out-of-the-box solution that’s pre-integrated with top online video platform backends.

“Traditionally, launching new video applications natively across platforms forced tradeoffs in reach, user experience and time to market,” the company said in a statement. “You.i Engine One eliminates the need to settle, making premium video experiences faster, easier and more affordable than ever before.”

YuMe

Multi-screen video ad company YuMe recently unveiled a new, immersive, 360-degree video ad format for brands and advertisers, and its potential applications for virtual reality will be front and center with the company at CES.

“With issues of device availability and cost slowly moving into the rear-view, consumer adoption is growing rapidly and many are naturally drawn to brands on the leading-edge of this immersive format,” said Tripp Boyle, VP of emerging platforms for YuMe. “Brands who have already experimented with VR are realizing the benefits of higher engagement with consumers.”

YuMe will host a VR-centric Innovation Lounge at CES.