TVBEurope sits down with Imagine Communications president Steve Reynolds to discuss the rise of AI, the use of actual intelligence, JPEG XS, partnerships with other media tech vendors, and more
By Jenny Priestley
Published: May 4, 2023 Updated: May 5, 2023
TVBEurope sits down with Imagine Communications' president Steve Reynolds to discuss the rise of AI, the use of actual intelligence , JPEG XS, partnerships with other media tech vendors, and more
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Everybody's talking about artificial intelligence, whether you work in the media tech industry or not, AI is the big talking point at the moment.
AI isn't new to the media tech industry, vendors have been employing the technology for quite some time.
But with the rise of generative AI such as chatbots and AI-driven images, more and more media tech vendors are considering what the technology could offer as we go forward.
Steve Reynolds One such company is Imagine Communications, which has been looking at how AI could enhance both its video and production products. We haven't launched any products yet that include AI, he tells TVBEurope. There's a little bit of uncertainty right now in the market as to how things like ChatGPT are going to be used, so it's a little bit speculative for us right now to build any of that technology into our products.
But, adds Reynolds, from a technology standpoint obviously, Imagine is looking very closely at what it could be doing with AI and machine learning to enhance its products. Bottom line, we want to help our customers make content more efficiently, and we want to help them monetise audiences more effectively, he adds.
There's no question [AI and ML are] going to be a big piece of the future. There'll be some growing pains that we have to go through, there'll be regulatory stuff, there'll be business model stuff that's got to get figured out, but we're definitely keeping an eye on it.
Imagine's Aviator platform One of the ways AI is already being employed is in creating metadata. Imagine's Aviator is cloud-native platform that uses metadata to enable broadcasters, MVPDs and digital-first providers to plan, make and monetise premium-quality linear and OTT content from a single, unified platform.
Currently, Aviator does not employ AI, relying instead on Imagine's product team to create algorithms that deliver repeatable and valuable results. Graham Heap our product manager says, we're still in the phase where we're getting significant gains out of actual' intelligence, explains Reynolds. Moving forward, can AI and ML improve that? Yes, of course it can. And so those are the kinds of things that we're doing research on now to understand where we can continue to improve. But as a first step, just getting the metadata built into the system is pretty dramatic. That's what this Aviator framework is all about, tying together the plan, make and monetise pieces of content delivery.
CLOUD AND JPEG XS Another big topic of conversation within the industry is the rise of the ultra-low latency codec JPEG XS. Imagine has implemented the standard into its Selenio Network Processor, its IP media processing platform.
JPEG XS is high quality with low latency, explains Reynolds, and if you're doing production in the cloud, or you're doing contribution into cloud, both of those things become critically important.
At NAB 2023, Imagine launched Magellan Connect which extends the path-routing capabilities of Magellan into the cloud. It means users can include cloud infrastructure as a part of their entire video path. The reason that we're doing that is because as customers implement these hybrid topologies, they need to be able to see the entire topology, they can't have this kind of dotted line where it says prem' on one side and cloud' on the other, explains Reynolds.
They need to be able to see across the line and into what's happening up in the cloud, because ultimately, the endpoint for JPEG XS is somewhere up in the cloud, and you need to be able to control that.
Just before NAB Show, Imagine announced a partnership with Vizrt to integrate the Viz Vectar Plus cloud live production solution with Aviator. The aim is to provide a single cloud production/playout product to enable live production workflows for sports, news, and live events to feed downstream live linear workflows.
Imagine is not in the production business, states Reynolds. We're more on the origination and monetisation side of the business and so we work with partners on the production piece, and that link with Vizrt is getting tighter.
Imagine also announced a strategic partnership with Amagi, to provide significant benefits to TV networks and broadcasters, including a better-managed path for cloud migration, hybrid operations and orchestration, improved monetisation through advertising, and extensive reach into FAST and CTV platforms.
We're working with partners that have deep expertise. Amazon's a great example. Vizrt is a great example. Amagi is a great example. IntoPIX is a great example. We're really trying to work with companies in this space who are experts at what they do, he concludes.
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
29/04/2024
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
First Light
Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
27/04/2024
Two environmentally-focused groups are partnering to engage the unscripted TV world in finding better ways to address climate change. Reality of Change is an ec...
27/04/2024
Sarah Garcia has been promoted to weekend anchor at KTLM McAllen, Texas, known as Telemundo 40. Starting April 27, she will anchor Noticias Telemundo 40 weekend...
27/04/2024
CBS Sports said it launched a new 24-hour free, ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to the UEFA Champions League....
27/04/2024
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts received $35.4 million in compensation in 2023, up 11% from the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed by th...
27/04/2024
Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, which sees the actor study dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz with students in Los Angeles, debuts on PBS ...
27/04/2024
Remember Leave It to Beaver? Bewitched? Dragnet? When cable ratings were rising?...
27/04/2024
Next up for the weekend binge at Catchy Comedy is Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Every weekend, Catchy Comedy features The Catchy Binge, a marathon of a classic sitcom....
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
26/04/2024
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
Orders1 of $5.5 billion; book-to-bill of 1.06x
Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 17%,...
26/04/2024
Five Considerations For Communications Modernization In The 21st Century
In the digital-enabled battlespace, the Joint Force needs to shoot, move and communica...
26/04/2024
CBS Sports has launched Champions League as a new, 24-hour streaming channel that will serve as the year-round destination for nonstop highlights of the UEFA ...
26/04/2024
Despite tough competition in the streaming space, Roku reported solid results in Q1 2024, beating revenue expectations, with total net revenue up 19% YoY to $88...
26/04/2024
LONDON AND TORONTO Pinewood Toronto Studios has appointed Sarah Farrell as general manager of the Studios in downtown Toronto....
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
26/04/2024
Heading into the upfronts, Warner Bros. Discovery said it launched Olli, a first-party data platform advertiser can use for converged, targeted advertising camp...
26/04/2024
CBS has renewed the drama The Equalizer, which will see season five on in 2024-2025. Queen Latifah stars....
26/04/2024
The CW has entered into an exclusive multiyear broadcast partnership for the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The 73rd Miss USA Pageant will air ...
26/04/2024
Fuse Media isn't mincing words in a campaign urging its young viewers to register and participate in the 2024 elections....
26/04/2024
Dead Boy Detectives, a series from Neil Gaiman about a detective agency staffed by ghosts, debuts on Netflix April 25. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri are in t...
26/04/2024
The Story Collective has gradually repurposed the former Mortlake Brewery to include production offices, workshops and sound stages
By Matthew Corrigan
Publi...
26/04/2024
Perkett joins the company following a 25 year career in product management, product marketing, engineering and user experience (UX) across multiple industries
...
26/04/2024
Teradek, the industry leader in wireless video transmitters and receivers, announced today the launch of new Bolt 6 LT 750 and Bolt 6 Monitor Module 750 RX with...
26/04/2024
NEW YORK Amagi has appointed Richard Perkett chief product officer (CPO)....
26/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2024 NAB Radio and Television Board of Directors elections. The...
TVBEurope sits down with Imagine Communications president Steve Reynolds to discuss the rise of AI, the use of actual intelligence, JPEG XS, partnerships with other media tech vendors, and more
