M+E Daily

With major shifts in video consumption habits, customer demand has forced broadcast and streaming companies to change their production and distribution models. This brings business
challenges that then turn into technology challenges.

Anyone familiar with delivering media knows that digital media supply chains are built using many different systems: one dedicated to transcode, another as a metadata system of record, another for quality control (QC), another for delivery.

Not to mention the manual processes needed to confirm receipt and ensure that all these systems are working correctly.

Some vendors have attempted to provide “orchestration” services to tie these systems together, but the reality is that this is a band-aid fix for an industry-wide problem.

The disjointed systems continue to need monitoring beyond whatever top-level management platform is used.

This type of legacy operation also relies on defining each vendor system separately (a separate transcode profile, a separate metadata transformation schema, a separate artwork definition, a separate delivery setup, etc.).

It’s a broken environment that does not support the new era of content demands. Media supply chains need to orchestrate and automate everything necessary to successfully make a delivery, publish content and maximize monetization.

This includes transcode, metadata transformation, delivery instructions, QC and delivery confirmation (where available).

YOUR MEDIA SUPPLY CHAIN IN THE CLOUD

To operate in the new content era, media companies need to connect the dots across all of their traditional fragmented silos. An integrated media supply chain connects each process and each team, so that data flows smoothly. Integration delivers continued, uninterrupted content workflows for an exquisite customer experience.

In the business of producing content, this should start at content ideation, continue through capture, packaging and distribution, and flow efficiently to the consumer.

Gathering key data across the chain is vital to making strategic improvements quickly and often. Cloud infrastructure enables this connectivity through speed, flexibility, and centralization.

When we talk about a unified global supply chain that’s cloud-centric and cloud-native, we also refer to the implementation of advanced services that enable the retention of customers — for any business.

These are the key benefits of implementing an Ateliere-powered content supply chain in the cloud:

* Operational islands are connected through a pro- active technology platform that allows the business to pivot based on their needs.

* The business back-end and user experience front-end are integrated, enabling a better customer journey that increases retention.

* Actionable data is gathered and analyzed meaning- fully, so that you can understand your viewers’ habits (what they watch, when, where, on what devices). This data is critical to developing content recommendation strategies to retain your audience.

* Competitive advantage: given the dynamic nature of the industry, where one day you’re offering just SVOD and the next day you need to roll out AVOD, the right technology infrastructure becomes your business enabler.

In other words, you’ll have a better handle on your consumer, allowing you to run your content warehouse more efficiently and deliver the goods (i.e., the right content) to the right viewers, at the right time, on their preferred devices, across any geography — when they’re ready to buy!

GAIN OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY WITH NO CODE LOW CODE

Ateliere’s integrated supply chain includes built-in package templates that allow end users to orchestrate microservices quickly and easily without the hiccups.

The Ateliere Connect platform manages microservices such as transcoding, metadata transformation, QC, and delivery instructions, through one simplified tag-based template.

These templates allow you to easily automate deliveries by providing factory-level automation of the entire distribution supply chain.

Ateliere has created package templates for the most common over-the-top (OTT), broadcast and cable delivery destinations, including Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, Peacock, Sky, Star and more.

Delivery requirements are constantly changing. Whether a platform has updated its video spec or a metadata schema, or if there’s a new requirement altogether, the ability to adjust or create new distribution workflows is critical.

On Ateliere’s Connect platform, users can create additional package templates on their own.

You can easily add pre- and post-rolls, specify detailed video instructions to burn in or embed captions, add audio configurations, as well as adhere to specific naming conventions. Ateliere allows you to automate the different delivery requirements quickly and easily by creating tag-based packages.

The best part? All of this is doable without the need for heavy technical expertise or a large headcount.

* By Dan Goman, Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Ateliere Creative Technologies *

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