Making An t Out Of Archive

Content owners have traditionally archived material on the basis that it is a resource worth keeping in perpetuity, but this simplistic approach is no longer fit for purpose.

While vintage programming can be transferred into the production server to flesh out a TV schedule, the spread of online distribution platforms has dramatically increased the demand for more diverse content, which broadcasters are under pressure to meet. Whats more, the intelligent use of archived material from audio and video media to ancillary information such as subtitle tracks can be worked into a significant revenue stream.

Archived material can go a long way to strengthening and refreshing a broadcasters inventory to fuel on-demand access, international sales or to enhance new productions. Invariably though, detailed knowledge about the content is unavailable or it is in a state where it cannot be easily unlocked.

If assets are stored on disparate hard discs, siloed servers or on shelves as tape, there will be considerable wasted time, effort and cost in locating, retrieving and collaborating on content creation and onward distribution. Time to air is impacted and the archive is effectively devalued.

An archive system used solely for preservation or for legal compliance realizes very little of its true value and barely justifies the ongoing cost of acquisition, documentation and maintenance.

Archives are being mined in increasingly ingenious ways for greater public access and historical understanding, refreshed programme sales, and new revenue. Here are four examples:

With a million hours of TV and radio material split among over four million physical items, the BBC archive is the worlds largest audio visual collection. Making the most of it to ensure greater public access and to extract commercial value is a considerable challenge.

This twin approach is consistent with the repackaging and re-release of vintage programming on iPlayer and the intent to launch download to own service BBC Store. Managed by BBC Worldwide, the Store is expected to include 4,000 hours of archive material with around 1,000 new hours added each year.

One recent initiative, in-conjunction with the Imperial War Museum (IWM), was documentary I Was There: The Great War Interviews' which used previously unseen footage shot for 1964 BBC series The Great War'. The original 16mm rushes from 280 eyewitnesses of the First World War were held at the IWM and restored, digitised and painstakingly synchronized with (often missing) magnetic sound tracks. A selection of the interviews was then served onto iPlayer as part of the Corporations wider WW1 centenary activity.

The IWM is also behind the completion of a part-finished 1945 film documenting concentration camp atrocities assembled with the help of director Alfred Hitchcock.

The official Allied forces documentary, compiled with 35mm and 16mm footage shot by combat and newsreel cameramen accompanying troops as they liberated occupied Europe, has been digitised, restored and completed using previously unseen material. Retitled German Concentration Camps Factual Survey' with a re-recorded commentary and new soundtrack comprised of authentic recordings made on the battlefields of Europe in 1944-45 (also held in IWM's collection), the work will be released in cinemas and broadcast in 2015 as part of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Covering some of the most significant moments of modern history, 85,000 films from the British Path archive is freshly available on YouTube in a move the archive hopes will open up new revenue.

The 3,500 hour library has been available to view for free on British Path s website since 2009, following digitisation in 2002, but roll out on Googles network means anyone can now comment on, share and embed the vintage videos.

The bargain British Path struck is that newspaper websites get the content for free, while ad revenue (from pre-roll and banner advertising) is divided between the archive and Google. Munich-based Mediakraft Networks managed the distribution to YouTube and is tasked with repackaging the archive with a contemporary spin.

As custodians of one of the largest and fastest growing digital sports rights portfolios in the world, Perform Group recently went live with a asset management system that integrates deep archive and nearline storage with fast turnaround production. Not only does this allow it to produce more content more efficiently than before but it facilitates the browse, retrieval and assembly of sports news content across Performs 14+ network of worldwide offices.

Only by reimagining the archive as a unified repository of assets, which are integral to production, content preparation and content delivery workflows, can its value be transformed. IBC2014 presents a special conference session explaining the best ways to monetize the archive at the IBC Conference. Learn more about this and the IBC Conference Programme online now.

LINK:	http://www.ibc.org/page.cfm/action=library/libID=2/libEntryID=231/list...
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