Broadcasters are dramatically changing how they manage and distribute media in a complex environment, transitioning from automated playout to cloud-based content delivery. This Industry Insights roundtable explores the evolving landscape of media orchestration and playout technologies.

The discussion focuses on how broadcasters can use automation and cloud-based solutions to improve operations, manage complex workflows, and ensure content delivery across multiple platforms. Key benefits include automation, better resource management, and adaptability to hybrid cloud environments. Challenges such as integrating with legacy systems and balancing real-time demands with cost efficiencies are also examined.

Andy Warman, CTO for video, Imagine Communications: "Effective media orchestration (file-based content, live streams, and associated metadata) ensures the right content is available in the right place(s) and right format(s) for delivery at the right time. This includes ensuring that content rights and embargoes, censorship, and other constraints that impact who can watch where, when and on what device(s) are met."

Paul Schiller, product marketing manager, TAG Video Systems: "Media orchestration enhances broadcast workflows by automating key processes and enabling dynamic resource management. For example, systems with adaptive monitoring can adjust the intensity of stream monitoring based on compute resource, ensuring high-priority streams are monitored frame-by-frame while less critical streams are managed with reduced CPU loads only monitoring at specific user-defined intervals."

Tsviatko Jongov, product manager, MainConcept: "If orchestration is designed well, it can amalgamate workflows across broadcast companies, making them more streamlined, saving both time and money. Orchestration gives more control of the media process from format unification, up to a multi-format enabled playout."

Sean Bicknell, CRO, 7fivefive: "Media orchestration platforms are designed to apply to any workflow instance, supporting companies that are moving from on-prem to cloud, or even hybrid scenarios. By implementing the right media orchestration platform, the broadcast workflow is made more efficient and streamlined."

James Cranfield, global VP of sales and partnerships, Cinedeck: "Media orchestration improves workflows by automating tasks, reducing errors and enhancing collaboration across teams. By implementing media orchestration, broadcasters and content providers can speed up processes such as transcoding, delivery and ensuring content is ready for delivery faster."

Geoff Stedman, chief marketing officer, SDVI: "Media orchestration, especially when combined with effective resource management, takes advantage of automated media processing to accelerate and scale broadcast workflows."

David Edwards, product manager, Net Insight: "Broadcasters operate in a highly competitive and dynamic landscape. Modern broadcast systems are far from static. Orchestration is critical in empowering broadcasters to seamlessly configure, bring online and monitor new services with minimal effort."

Andy Rayner, CTO, Appear: "Orchestration is an essential component of any broadcast workflow, be it an appliance or software-based or hybrid workflow."

Klaus Weber, director of product marketing, Grass Valley: "An effective media orchestration system offers a unified solution for the configuration, control, and monitoring of dynamic broadcast media networks, whether SDI, IP, or hybrid."

Craig Wilson, product evangelist for broadcast and media, Avid: "Open, well defined APIs, with the ability to easily connect to other systems as part of the production chain."

Michael Demb, VP of product strategy, TAG Video Systems: "Effective media orchestration systems combine flexibility, scalability, and real-time monitoring."

Sean Bicknell: "A successful media orchestration system is designed to navigate and streamline the workflow process including those that are on-prem, hybrid and remote."

James Cranfield: "Media orchestration systems offer a plethora of benefits designed to streamline the entire broadcast workflow. These include centralised control, automation, scalability, compatibility with other tools, and real-time monitoring to streamline media production."

Geoff Stedman: "The most effective orchestration systems…activate the media applications needed to perform the task, automatically provisioning the infrastructure needed to support those applications, and including decision logic that reacts to the results of each step to guide what happens next."

Aaron Kroger, product marketing lead, Dalet: "An effective media orchestration system is most importantly flexible. Workflows, specifications, and distribution channels are constantly evolving and you need to be able to quickly adapt your existing orchestration workflows to accommodate."

Craig Wilson: "Often there is a desire to do too much too quickly…Greater success can often be achieved by starting with smaller initial goals to build expertise and knowledge, before implementing more expansive workflows and realizing greater gains overall."

Tsviatko Jongov: "While the most important and vital aspects of media workflow orchestration is managing the transport, conversion and archival of the video and audio content viewers want to watch, you also need to consider metadata…"

Sean Bicknell: "Media orchestration can present several challenges, including scalability, real-time data processing and integration. However, some high-end media orchestration platforms…prevent some of these issues from occurring…"

James Cranfield: "While media orchestration systems are key for streamlining the broadcast workflow, they can often present challenges. These challenges include integrating with legacy systems, managing costs, training teams on new technology, ensuring data security and maintaining compatibility across various platforms."

David Edwards: "Building up an orchestration system requires good design…It is critical that product APIs are well designed and well written…"

Andy Rayner: "One big challenge is the control APIs of all of the processing components…The AMWA NMOS toolkit has come some way to providing a unified interface…There is further industry work underway…"

Ian McPherson, global strategy leader for media and entertainment, games, and sports at Amazon Web Services: "Broadcasters are leveraging media orchestration tools to scale the volume of content they ingest and process. For example, A+E used cloud-based orchestration to scale incoming content ingest and processing by 400% to meet volume demands and expanded delivery specifications (streaming, broadcast, FAST, and beyond)."

Sean Bicknell: "Many companies offering media orchestration are providing high-end, user-forward platforms to streamline broadcast operations from any starting point."

James Cranfield: "Media orchestration tools are evolving day by day and are being integrated in new and innovative ways by broadcasters and content providers. Across the industry, cloud-based and hybrid workflows are being adopted…"

Geoff Stedman: "As broadcasters face increasing demand for their content, they are turning to automated processing guided by orchestration tools with integrated resource provisioning to help them meet tight delivery timelines."

Ian McPherson: "Cloud-based media orchestration ensures that content is properly formatted and packaged to meet the unique requirements of various platforms and end point destinations."

Andy Warman: "There is an interplay between media orchestration and the delivery systems that enables content to reach target audiences."

Paul Schiller: "By incorporating real-time analytics and monitoring capabilities, media orchestration systems ensure content is delivered seamlessly across platforms."

Geoff Stedman: "Today’s content is very often destined for multiple delivery platforms, each with their own idiosyncrasies in terms of formats, composition, and metadata."

David Edwards: "Broadcast operations are built around multiple pieces of equipment and workflows all coming together to operate as one. A well designed orchestration system forms the heart of that workflow and pulls together broadcast operations. But simplicity is the key."

Aaron Kroger: "Media orchestration through workflow automation ensures that content flows quickly, easily, and is properly formatted for any and all distribution platforms."

Klaus Weber: "As the demand for new content grows, media organizations must develop strategies to enhance the efficiency of content production, from creation to distribution."

Tsviatko Jongov: "The biggest area of gain from a well-designed orchestration process will be time…This then naturally brings cost savings and allows higher throughput."

Sean Bicknell: "Much of the broadcast and media workflow has been on-prem and hardware-based for decades. Media orchestration tools are driving towards a workflow where this is not needed…"

Aaron Kroger: "Efficiency is easily gained through automation and orchestration…Additional efficiencies can also be gained by utilizing on demand/just in time deliveries…"

Andy Rayner: "Management of any resources, be they media assets or production tools, is necessary. Scale is a key element here…"

Sam Peterson, COO, Bitcentral: "Managing complex media workflows in today’s broadcasting environment requires not only advanced technology solutions but also purposeful partnerships."

Ian McPherson: "The first is simplifying the media orchestration workflow to leverage the power of the cloud and minimize the content transfer between workstations and external vendors."

Craig Wilson: "Defining clear use cases is a must."

Rick Young, SVP and head of global products, LTN: "The days of only control room personnel driving playout and channel creation are long gone."

Benjamin Shirley, product manager for broadcast, MainConcept: "By breaking the system down into smaller less complicated pieces it can help broadcasters manage complex media workflows."

James Cranfield: "As media workflows get more complex, so must the strategies that broadcasters are using to help manage them."

Geoff Stedman: "By applying supply chain thinking and techniques to complex media workflows, broadcasters can create an optimized media supply chain that enables them to achieve efficiency and agility in their media operations."

Stephane Cloirec, VP for video appliances and software product management, Harmonic: "The complexity of media workflows keeps increasing…By continuously integrating new features to support evolving formats and platforms, next-generation playout systems enable broadcasters to address emerging workflows while driving down their infrastructure costs."