With the 2012 NAB Show attendance rising back to pre-recession levels, we had the opportunity to speak with many attendees about their views of the show and the health of the industry.

Role Reversals

We knew that media companies are leaning heavily on their Finance departments. What we didn't realize was that Finance departments (as ROI analysts) are now managing the purchases for new software and equipment. Technical departments and Chief Engineers are less and less involved the final decisions on new products and services.

Business Intelligence

Forecasting and planning have always been essential to business health, and we learned that more and more media companies are embracing the idea (and investing in) business intelligence tools. Staying competitive requires decision-makers to quickly view the state of the company, analyze risks then make informed decisions. If you can implement a company-wide system that tracks trends, monitors ROI and sends projections automatically, you will be able to move the business faster with the peace of mind that you can better monitor and forecast with accuracy.

Up Economy?

Many people we spoke with at the show commented that there were more exhibitors this year than in the last 4 years. When doing the numbers, there were 44 more exhibitors (mostly exhibiting in smaller sized booths) in 2012 than in 2011. Despite the recession, exhibitor attendance was higher between 2008 and 2010, and then dipped significantly in 2011 before recovering again in 2012.

Many also said that they felt show attendance was down from last year. The numbers given by the NAB indicate that show registrations have been modestly increasing since the worst of the recession:

Year	Exhibitor Attendance		Show Attendees
2012	1,575	+2.8%	92,112	+0.2%
2011	1,531	-11.0%	91,932	+4.2%
2010	1,700	+1.8%	88,044	+4.8%
2009	1,670	+4.4%	83,842	-25.6%
Recession Hits
2008	1,600	0.0%	105,259	-5.5%

Workflow Evolution

For the last few years, the industry buzz has been around the concept of workflow to help media companies connect and automate back-office processes. We have noticed that many vendors selling workflow solutions have focused only on connecting their own hardware and/or software products  which only addresses the solution to a single problem.

The NAB Show still offered a few workflow "best practices" seminars that focused on one type of workflow (i.e. multi-camera live video and analysis workflow), but many of the attendees we spoke with said that they specifically were looking for an end-to-end workflow solution, and not a manage within each "silo" workflow approach. Thankfully, a few exhibitors this year spoke about broader reaching workflow solutions, including StorerTV!

Click for 5 Must See Workflow Examples for Media Companies >>

The problem we had discovered about workflow is that it can mean something different to each person. Many don't realize the potential of what a proper workflow engine can do. People are faced with a particular problem, and seek the solution for that problem. But an end-to-end workflow goes beyond a single solution  it is a business system  a means to connect, automate and manage each and every process within an organization. This idea is slowly being adopted by the industry, and we fully expect this idea to flourish in the next 2 years, as more media companies become aware of more workflow possibilities.

Software Stays King

Though many NAB Show exhibitors offer hardware systems, cameras, lighting, rigging, etc., we found that the dominant product being shown was software systems. As media companies evolve, they rely on their key hardware components to produce and store content, while their key software is used to edit, archive, distribute, manage, play, report and bill the acquired or produced content.

Many new software systems being promoted at the show were designed to help broadcasters and producers "monetize content". One such software was from our UK-based partner, Rights Tracker. As first time exhibitors, they were kept pretty busy showing their web-based rights management software.

Overall...

No one can deny that the industry is evolving. Today, broadcasters must do more with less  they need fast information about how their content is handled, and what the costs are. They need smarter systems that automate processes and alert them when problems arise. The industry is changing with the needs of on-demand viewing which opens up new opportunity to broadcast over multiple platforms. How will the industry keep up with the insatiable demand for content while increasing revenue? These are problems that have solutions, and it is up to the industry as a whole to embrace them and take the television experience to the next level.

 

When Engineers are faced with tight budgets, and hiring extra help is not an option, they are required to creatively "do more with less." The competitive landscape and an anemic economy are forcing media companies to change the way they do business by creating improved processes, reducing labor and centralizing business operations wherever possible.

One effective way to get more accomplished with less staff is by linking together existing systems so they can share data or trigger disparate operations without manual intervention. More and more companies are adopting workflow engines that automate business processes and provide the hands-on working engineers with a complete view of their tasks and operations. A workflow engine can be easily installed and configured to reduce human errors, and save thousands of dollars in operating expenses.

The CentriX workflow engine by StorerTV completely integrates back office systems like traffic and billing, program and promotion management tools with operations systems including MAM, satellite, transcoding, traffic and automation, as well as traditional financial tools like SAP, Oracle, SalesForce, SharePoint and Outlook. Alerts can be automatically sent to appropriate recipients via email or text message, and escalation procedures will ensure that each process issue is handled quickly and effectively, on time and on budget!

CentriX is not a product, it is a tool used by media companies to incrementally implement cost effective work operations. It can be used for small, simple operations or to cost-effectively manage the entire media content lifecycle in your Factory. A CentriX business workflow solution truly connects front office operations with the back office and can be implemented in months, not years, at a fraction of the cost of other "workflow systems" on the market.

 

Finance departments who rely on enterprise level data management systems to quickly analyze, report and react to current conditions, may not be getting a complete view of the financial health of their organization. Many times these business systems only monitor their general ledger and accounting tools, but leave out key information about what is happening in other parts of their back office. For Finance departments to see a true picture of revenue and costs analysis, they would need to tap into the entire network of databases across their media factories, harvest relevant data and organize that data into workable figures, reports and projections.

As media companies handle more and more content, it is paramount to have the ability to monitor their value in many different incarnations. Amortization reports and managing the right to use certain content formats play a key role in determining operational costs and ROI. By implementing a workflow engine to connect back office systems with front office applications, the Finance department can create custom reports and dashboards that provide a quick overview of organizational assets and business processes. A world class workflow engine follows business rules and escalation procedures that automate repetitive and tedious tasks, like weekly analyses, cascading expense report approvals based on amounts and limits, or a live inventory status and value report.

Implementing an end-to-end business workflow does not have to cost millions of dollars or take years to complete. At StorerTV, our workflow experts work with media companies to define more efficient processes and identify business rules and escalation procedures. We integrate existing hardware and software systems to create a "media factory" and then automate the entire workflow with the CentriX workflow engine. CentriX securely allows the Finance department, management and executives to monitor each business process, create reports and effectively analyze the financial health of their business.

 

As companies are shaking off the effects of the recent economic storm, broadcasters and cable operators are faced with many decisions on how to better streamline their operations and generate new, untapped revenue streams.

Complete system integration and control over operational processes sounds like a viable solution, but having engineers customize an integrated workflow engine is extremely costly and time intensive. A task like this requires sophisticated coding that is flexible enough to grow with new business opportunities. Fortunately, a low-cost and highly effective workflow solution called CentriX, was just released by industry leading program management solutions provider, StorerTV. As described, CentriX is designed to provide leading media companies with an intelligent engine capable of automating and monitoring every task within an entire media factory.

CentriX uses open standards like the SMPTE BXF standard to integrate and automate both the human and technological processes across departments. Because it facilitates data communication, it can eliminate the need to perform repetitive data entry tasks in multiple, stand-alone systems. CentriX also provides an intuitive web-based dashboard that allows users to monitor the status of tasks and operations on one screen.

Other vendors who have introduced business workflows have limited the reach of their solutions to only their products. Although CentriX does seamlessly connect to StorerTV's other systems, like the SIMS contract rights and program management system, it also integrates with modern and legacy hardware and software systems.

"CentriX can fundamentally link any system to any system," says StorerTV Chief Operating Officer, Jay Batista. "It is the best priced solution on the market to completely unify disparate hardware and software systems and create an efficient, adaptive workflow to automate your media factory."

According to Mr. Batista, StorerTV has taken years of integration knowledge gleaned from tying their SIMS product to other systems and employed staff experts with years of experience in systems and software integrations.

"We are integration experts with a 25 year history of adapting to the needs of the industry," he says. "StorerTV has been consistently growing over the last two and a half decades, enhancing our products to exceed expectations at each unique station, group or network we serve. Simply put, our new workflow engine removes the operational silos that have kept broadcasters from recognizing efficiencies in their business, and because it is a scalable system, we can address a single operation, multiple systems or an entire media factory."

StorerTV had officially kicked off its 25th anniversary during the 2011 NAB Show by launching CentriX. They have invited to their booth (#N329) any business who is looking to connect and automate operational workflows to come and see a demonstration of this unique engine, or StorerTV's other integrated solutions.

For more information about CentriX or to schedule a demo, contact StorerTV at 262.241.9005 or visit www.storertv.com.

 

Peter Storer, Founder and President of StorerTV, spoke with Larry Jordan of the Digital Production BuZZ show last night about how enhancing operational workflows through technology eliminates redundant tasks and increases the bottom line ROI of media companies.

(Having trouble viewing? Click HERE)

To hear the entire March 31, 2011 broadcast or to learn more about Digital Production BuZZ, click HERE

 

Recently, Peter Storer, Founder and President of StorerTV, kicked off the company's 25 Year Anniversary Celebration with a message to his staff:

“We were able to stay around so long because we provided a quality product. We always believed in very personalized service and we listened closely to our customers to find out what it is they needed. That same philosophy will continue for the next 25 years as StorerTV grows with the needs of the industry.”

The Storer Legacy Video

As part of our 25 year landmark, StorerTV is proud to be launching two new products at this year's NAB Show: the QuantiX metadata and library management system, and the CentriX business workflow engine.

To see more, check out the brand new StorerTV website at www.storertv.com, or come celebrate with us at NAB (booth #N329)!

 

As we at StorerTV celebrate our 25th anniversary, we can take a look at the last couple of decades and note all of the technological changes that have impacted the broadcast television industry. One particular observation to point out is how technology has not only changed how content is distributed, but also how people view the content.

Our industry thrives on delivering new viewing experiences through additive features like secondary events, or interactive experiences like video on demand. Now more than ever, there is a need for multiple distribution channels to pump out even more content to a more diverse audience. Viewership rules have changed as more people demand instant access to content over a wide variety of platforms.

As new complexities get added, business rules have to change. Digital content from multiple sources now must be organized and monitored. Contract rights need to be checked on every format that gets distributed. Multiple integrations must easily connect hardware and software applications to efficiently manage data processes.

To stay competitive, media companies have been seeking end-to-end solutions that streamline their back-office operations and handle numerous formats, delivery outputs, content metadata, etc. Fortunately, industry groups and vendors like StorerTV have been collaborating on creating new, flexible technologies that use open standards to help distribute asset information to all departments, condense tasks, minimize process silos, and manage the flow of content to distribution.

Over the next 25 years, the needs of consumers will continue to adapt to the evolution of television. With these new demands on content delivery, StorerTV will continue to work with broadcast, cable and technology standards communities to develop solutions that give media companies complete control over their business operations: from connecting metadata with contract rights and media assets, to creating automated workflows that glue together the entire media factory.