Hybrid Platforms

Service providers are moving quickly to implement hybrid video platforms capable of supporting Internet-delivered and multi-screen video services. As they do this, one of the major challenges is to deliver services with certain levels of security and reliability. Also, these hybrid and multi-screen services must offer some level of integration with existing Pay TV, Internet and mobile offers.

Companies operating in a green field environment, such as Netflix, Hulu or SeeSaw, have a very different set of requirements than do service providers that are tasked with managing millions of subscribers and delivering differentiated services over legacy multichannel infrastructures. The technology required is broad, and performs a variety of functions, including:

• Content management: and publication of video assets, including metadata and directories;
• User interface applications: that provide an environment within which users access and obtain programming;
• Conditional access systems (CAS): to ensure that the correct services are delivered to the people who pay for those services;
• Digital rights management (DRM): tools to ensure that digital content is protected from copying and sharing in unauthorized manners;
• Revenue assurance: to maintain accurate information about subscribers for billing and revenue sharing agreements;

and so on and so forth. The open question for service providers will be whether the platforms they currently have are competitive with, or superior to, the capabilities that exist in OTT (hybrid) and multi-screen video environments.