The Cable Show kicks off this week and as a result we can expect to see a flurry of announcements for new products and services. Alcatel-Lucent and Avail-TVN got an early head start by announcing two initiatives focused on TV Everywhere, the cable/telcoTV answer to over-the-top video threats.
Alcatel-Lucent is partnering with thePlatform to offer a “…multiscreen video platform that supports the delivery of live scheduled TV, Video-on-Demand (VOD) and ‘TV everywhere’ services to a variety of screens, allowing pay-TV subscribers to access their video content in the home or on the go, on whichever device is most convenient to them at the time.”
The partnership will bring Alcatel-Lucent’s Velocix content delivery network (CDN) platform together with thePlatform’s mpx video management platform, which acts as a TV Everywhere operating system of sorts. The new offering will consist of:
- Multiscreen Cloud — A central element of this component is thePlatform’s cloud-based mpx video management system which provides the central logistics system for multi-screen video publishing.
- Multiscreen CDN — The Multiscreen Content Delivery Network – based on Alcatel-Lucent’s Velocix Digital Media Delivery Platform – enables service providers to build and operate their own dedicated CDN as an alternative to shared third-party CDNs.
- Multiscreen Clients — The Multiscreen Clients are a suite of subscriber applications, each designed to support video playback on either a PC, tablet or mobile device.
Avail-TVN also announced a new TV Everywhere platform called AnyView. The new platform aims to allow “… service providers to cost-effectively and quickly extend the traditional VOD and linear television experience to authenticated, broadband-connected devices such as PCs, Macs, tablets and smart phones.” Trials are expected to begin in July.
AnyView is an IP-based platform using adaptive bitrate technology to deliver appropriate data rates to the device being used by the end customer. It’s an MPEG-4 based product and Avail-TVN says it will eventually support a “… range of iOS, Android, OS X and Linux operated devices, including iPad; iPhone; iPod touch; PCs; Macs; and Roku.”
Of important note, Avail-TVN says they have already secured multi-platform distribution rights from content providers including “… a number of major and independent studios and a growing number of programmers.”
Both developments illustrate the ongoing momentum of TV Everywhere, where more vendor solutions are beginning to materialize, as video service providers, cable, telco, and DBS alike, begin to demand more solutions to combat the OTT threat. There will be more to come. Many more.
