Famous Notorious B.I.G. quote mo money, mo problems translated into the media asset management landscape by Alex Buchanan from NMR. More media means more problems, and to remedy we need a smarter MAM.
As The Notorious B.I.G. once lamented mo money, mo problems the same could be said of the Media Asset Management (MAM) landscape. The ability to produce media content has been democratised to such an extent that it's everywhere. Really, everywhere; from multinational broadcasters to mobile phones in the playground, and anyone who's been tasked with managing media and its associated storage, transformation and distribution is likely to have trodden a path from the chaos of files scattered everywhere, to the basic organisation of files and folders, before investing in a MAM system.
mo media, mo problems
In general, most companies want similar things from a MAM and most MAMs meet those requirements with varying degrees of functionality, flexibility and price. But when things begin to scale beyond a few thousand assets and some workflows, it's likely we be making demands of the assets that may not be possible with the data that already exists in the system, such as; find all the assets featuring my customer's logo so they can evaluate the effectiveness of a sponsorship deal , or find all the assets featuring a rock star so I can compile a tribute package . To achieve this we need to know more about our assets but we rarely have enough people, time or money to find out and we find ourselves thinking like B.I.G.: mo media, mo problems .
In this scenario, we need the MAM to be smarter; and to be smarter it needs to store more information about the assets. But what are the intrinsic values of a piece of media and how do you extract it?
What? We think this can be expressed as three main types;
Information about the content (e.g. file name, series, advertiser, brand, campaign, production personnel, etc.)
Description of what's in the content (e.g. speech, faces, music, products, graphics, on screen text, logos etc.);
Technical qualities of the content (e.g. technical quality control characteristics; flash patterns, picture quality, audio levels, etc.).
The about information is standard MAM metadata and should be populated automatically (if your workflow isn't doing this then please speak to us).
The in and of values require analysis of the content itself and, to be useful in a large-scale operation, must be time-based to allow accurate and fast identification. To recognise the value of a piece of content and increase efficiencies, the company needs the ability to quickly identify this information. Logically, it should be stored as metadata alongside the asset in the MAM and the business can then really begin to realise the value of the media content it's managing.
How? There are a growing number of solutions that utilise machine learning and computer vision techniques (debatably assuming the AI moniker) to automatically extract this type of data from assets. Generally, they should be able to ingest files and streams, perform some form of analysis to detect items of interest (e.g. faces, objects, logos, speech, quality markers, etc.) and give a value to the items detected (e.g. recognise an object as an oak tree), and then present the data in some way for further consumption.
A few exhibitors at IBC 2017 are showing AI products for media content. Some use commercially available analysis services from Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM, etc. A few are deployed on premises but most are in the cloud.
The challenge for users is to find a solution which is applicable to their business, rather than using a service which is too generic that can't easily be tuned to specific business requirements. For example, we recently heard of a well-known public cloud provider's analysis algorithms identifying a clock (the countdown timer which typically appears before an item of broadcast content) as an automotive speedometer. Which is not altogether surprising, but poses a challenge if the requirement is to find all the clocks in an archive and perform optical character recognition (OCR) tasks.
Similarly, the requirement may be to find images of a particular employee, but they're not a celebrity and the chances of a public analysis service being able to recognise them is very low. Furthermore, they are a private individual who doesn't want their identity to be stored on the internet.
There are, of course, similar challenges associated with the location of the AI services in relation to the content to be analysed. If the archive is in the cloud but the incoming live stream is delivered down an SDI cable, then where should the solution be deployed?
Summary Perhaps unsurprisingly for such a young market, there is some jostling amongst vendors and solutions providers to find the right approach and develop the best software to address the myriad media content management requirements of an enterprise against a landscape of data protection and privacy. As a business, this is the time to help the vendors shape the future of this AI as one thing is for sure; the amount of media content is only going to increase and, consequently, so are the problems associated with managing it and maximising its potential.
This guest post was written by Alex Buchanan, Chief Operating Officer of NMR and Project Manager of the ReCAP project. NMR build and implement tools to help companies manage and deliver media content. ReCAP (Realtime Content Analysis and Processing) is a project co-funded by a grant from the European Union's Horizon 2020, led by NMR. NMR will be demonstrating a beta version on the Vidispine stand (3.A23).
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Famous Notorious B.I.G. quote mo money, mo problems translated into the media asset management landscape by Alex Buchanan from NMR. More media means more problems, and to remedy we need a smarter MAM. 
