Content libraries are the lifeblood of streaming services, broadcasters, production and post houses. These repositories hold everything from blockbuster movies to niche documentaries. However, the true value of these libraries can only be realized when they are organized, easily accessible and ready for distribution. As media companies of all sizes look further into content monetization opportunities alongside migration initiatives from legacy on-premise environments to a cloud-based infrastructure, this is where content library normalization and reconciliation takes center stage. Post recently spoke with TMT Insights and Bitpress, experts in media technology, content delivery and management, about how they’ve come together to help content owners understand the true state of their content libraries.
According to Brian Kenworthy, VP of media operations at TMT Insights (https://tmtinsights.com/), many media companies grapple with the challenge of maintaining an accurate and up-to-date view of their content libraries.
“The sheer volume of content, multiple formats and sources, complex rights management, and the rapid pace of content creation and acquisition, all contribute to this struggle,” says Kenworthy. “As a result, organizations are missing out on the opportunity to fully maximize the value of their media assets. It is common for media organizations to hold complex, legacy and unmanaged media elements across video, audio, commercial breaks, subtitles, images, captions, multiple versions or languages, etc. Most large libraries are in such a mixed condition produced over decades that many organizations don't know their assets' true state. So, it’s a pretty simple question we can ask our clients: What if you could significantly reduce the time it takes to reconcile large asset catalogs and archives, enabling swift migration to the cloud and rapid service and distribution of assets?”
Given the vast content volumes and variability, establishing best practices for managing media inventory has become a pivotal part of media workflows. Implementing a solution to transform the state of content libraries, enhancing their usability and accessibility, presents a logical and potentially lucrative opportunity for service providers.
Russ Moffat, Bitpress (www.bitpress.com) co-founder explains why media companies should reconcile their libraries.
“Media companies invest significant resources into developing a content library that can be monetized to generate revenue,” says Moffat. “Reconciling a media content library involves a series of strategic steps, yet the disparate nature of media content and data makes it time-consuming and costly for service providers to ingest and analyze. Beyond the obvious organizational benefits of making digital asset management more efficient, reconciling content allows companies to identify and eliminate obsolete content, reducing storage costs. It is akin to normalizing content — transforming and monetizing content libraries into high-quality assets ready for distribution on any platform.”
A complex set of elements can determine the value of a content library.
“If you need to prepare your media assets for FAST, OTT, or broadcast distribution, reconciling content requires a robust system that will increase post production efficiency,” Moffat explains. "Essentially, it's about adding more data intelligence to your post production workflow.”
Brett Beers, SVP of engineering at TMT Insights, explains how the company is working with Bitpress.
“We’re two companies backed by post production, operational and engineering expertise,” says Beers. "Together, we have created a service and technology solution that transforms and optimizes catalogs with speed and scale, delivering libraries ready for distribution on any platform. It starts with TMT Insight's professional services designing and engineering the right-fit workflows, deploying and implementing the technology, and managing the entire process end-to-end. Bitpress contributes its suite of applications, including VideoPress, AudioPress, AdPress, SubPress and MasterPress, which automates content processing through a series of in-house developed algorithms and machine learning technology.”
Many media companies are still relying heavily on manual processes. By automating critical tasks and reducing manual effort, turnaround times can be significantly reduced.
“Users now have insight into all their in-bound media assets from a single interface and a tailored cloud-based solution for high-volume catalog reconciliation and bulk distribution projects,” notes Beers. "TMT Insight's operational management software, Polaris, offers an aggregation layer that enables transparency across the media workflows and offers media organizations timely and valuable insights - visualized in one place - to make better business decisions about their content. This partnership is turning massive-scale problems and processes into non-issues, which has created excitement around using Bitpress tools with the Polaris operational management software and managed services. Teams can manage and visualize their content library enrichment project at any stage alongside every other aspect of their content and media supply chain all from a single user interface."
Bitpress co-founder Morgan Holly notes how this solution can address pain points, citing a recent project in which more than 20,000 audio files needed to be ingested into a DAM for distribution.
“Manually reviewing everything would have taken a team of over 30 audio engineers nearly a year to complete,” states Holly. “Roughly 75 percent of the files were analyzed, conformed to a reference file, exported using Bitpress AudioPress technology and ingested into the DAM. The remaining 25 percent of the files required detailed review by a smaller team of audio engineers to ensure they conformed to the reference audio file. At the project's conclusion, the audio files were ready for distribution at a significantly reduced price and time compared to a fully manual process.”
Knowing the state of a content library is necessary before starting an archiving project or delivering content to the cloud for distribution and monetization. TMT and Bitpress have delivered a solution that solves an industry challenge, where assets must meet expected standards or delivery requirements. Content providers, studios and post facilities will have more insight into the integrity of their content, taking a giant step toward optimizing it and, ultimately, maximizing its value.