The TV broadcast industry is undergoing a significant transformation with the shift towards public cloud technology as a replacement for legacy, on-premise hardware. This transition is driven by financial incentives, improved latency, and the need for more efficient software. Technology leaders from major media companies such as NBCUniversal (NBCU), Hearst, Scripps, Sinclair, and Vizrt discussed this ongoing momentum at TVNewsCheck’s NewsTECHForum conference. Here, we explore the common themes, overarching trends, and key points shared at the event.
Financial Incentives and Business Decisions
Evaluating Financial Viability
No broadcaster is fully committing to the cloud unless it makes financial sense. Even groups like Sinclair that have aggressively adopted the cloud are conservative in using it for live newscast control. The financial incentives are a crucial factor in the decision-making process, ensuring that the shift to cloud technology is both cost-effective and beneficial for the business. There’s clear acknowledgment among media companies that investing in cloud infrastructure can’t just be another deployment but a calculated move offering substantial ROI.
Sinclair, for instance, though pioneering in certain aspects of cloud integration like content ingest and distribution, still maintains a cautious approach toward full live newscast control. They understand that making sweeping changes without considering the financial and operational impacts could jeopardize their workflow and audience reliability. Hence, broadcasters are anchoring their decision to shift to the cloud on a solid, business-case basis to ensure that benefits like cost savings, operational efficiency, and enhanced production capabilities are met.
Conservative Adoption for Live Newscasts
Enthusiasm for cloud technology does not preclude a conservative approach when it comes to live newscasts. Broadcasters are wary of risking the quality and reliability of live production, which is crucial for audience trust. The conservative stance ensures the transition phase doesn’t lead to any disruptions. Broadcasters are keenly aware that live broadcasts demand flawless execution, and any latency, glitches, or unforeseen interruptions could severely damage their reputation.
Moreover, the critical need to maintain this trust and reliability underscores a methodical approach to integrating cloud solutions. Therefore, while cloud technology proves beneficial in terms of cost, scalability, and disaster recovery, broadcasters are judiciously balancing these advantages against the risks involved. This approach is paving the way for a gradual, well-orchestrated move to cloud-based systems, ensuring that every step is mapped out and potential disruptions are minimized.
NBCU’s Virtual Production Control Room
Leading the Way with Cloud Technology
NBCUniversal Local, the station group comprising NBCU’s NBC and Telemundo affiliates and regional sports networks, is a front-runner in producing local newscasts on the cloud. Newscasts at three Telemundo stations—KBLR Las Vegas; KTDO El Paso, Texas; and KASA Albuquerque, N.M.—are now using Vizrt’s Vectar cloud switcher and Ross OverDrive automation in a “virtual production control room.” This strategic move allows NBCU to harness the power of cloud technology to streamline operations, improve flexibility, and reduce the infrastructure burdens traditionally associated with on-premise systems.
Harnessing the capabilities of a virtual production control room, NBCUniversal demonstrates how effectively cloud solutions can be integrated into daily operations to enhance efficiency. By delivering newscasts across different locations using cloud-based switchers and automation, NBCU showcases a higher degree of operational agility and resource optimization. This approach indicates a significant leap forward, blending the modern efficiencies of cloud with the reliable processes of news production.
Infrastructure-as-Code Methodology
Michael Masek from NBCUniversal emphasized the successful ports of traditional devices to a cloud model, aligning with their guiding principle of an infrastructure-as-code methodology. By rapidly deploying cloud control rooms, NBCU could efficiently launch newscasts within tight timeframes, demonstrating how cloud solutions can strategically supplement traditional systems. This method allows for more seamless integration, faster deployment, and better scalability compared to traditional hardware-dependent models.
NBCUniversal’s infrastructure-as-code principle enables rapid configuration, management, and deployment of their virtual control rooms, allowing for precise control and easy adjustments. This step significantly streamlines production workflows and provides NBCU with the ability to adapt quickly to changing scenarios, be it during regular telecasts or in critical live broadcasting situations. The successful application of such methodologies not only reinforces NBCU’s leading position in cloud adoption but also sets a benchmark for other media companies aiming to navigate the cloud transition.
Hybrid and Cloud Models
Scripps’ Hybrid Approach
E.W. Scripps implemented cloud-based production with a hybrid model for its sports programming, combining replay cloud tools with on-premise hardware. This model allows flexibility and continuity without a complete overhaul of traditional systems. By blending the advantages of both cloud-based and on-premise systems, Scripps enables a more graceful transition, ensuring that key operations remain stable while new technologies are progressively adopted and integrated.
The hybrid approach affords Scripps the reliability and control of on-premise systems, with the cost and scalability benefits associated with cloud solutions. This tactical combination not only ensures continuity in their operations but also allows them to leverage cloud tools for enhanced replay and disaster recovery functionalities without the need for significant capital infusion. This balanced adoption of cloud technology is particularly useful in sports production, where real-time operations are crucial, and any transition must be seamless.
Standardizing Functionality
Leveraging cloud tools, Scripps seeks to standardize functionality across various equipment acquired through pre-COVID acquisitions. This helps address diverse systems within the group and ensures uniform efficiency and performance, making the transition smoother and more manageable. Standardization minimizes complexity and enhances consistency across operations, which is critical when integrating multiple systems temporarily working in silos.
By adopting cloud solutions for standardizing functionalities, Scripps can unify different operational components into a cohesive system. This standardization is crucial in centralizing control and ensuring that all equipment functions seamlessly together, which is particularly beneficial as Scripps continues to evolve and expand their operations. It also drives operational consistency and simplifies troubleshooting, thereby reducing the overall complexity of their production ecosystems.
Hearst’s Cloud History
Longstanding Use of Cloud Services
Hearst Television, which already relies on cloud services for news production, emphasized its use of TVU Networks bonded systems for live feeds and content sharing. This longstanding use of cloud technology highlights the benefits of cloud solutions in enhancing content acquisition and sharing capabilities. The adoption of bonded cellular systems ensures reliable connectivity and higher data transfer speeds, thereby improving the quality and timeliness of live feeds.
Hearst’s strategy in integrating cloud services into news production processes has provided a robust framework to meet the demands of modern broadcasting. It not only streamlines content sharing between various locations but also ensures the reliability and quality of live feeds necessary for effective news coverage. This method demonstrates the practicality and advantages of cloud technology, allowing Hearst Television to maintain high standards of news delivery.
Cautious Approach to Critical Functions
Despite its reliance on cloud services, Hearst remains cautious about outsourcing essential functions like news control rooms to public cloud compute. This careful approach ensures that critical production tasks are not compromised, maintaining the quality and reliability of their broadcasts. By adopting a judicious strategy, Hearst can leverage cloud benefits for non-critical areas while keeping essential functions firmly within controlled environments.
This cautious stance assists Hearst in protecting the integrity and quality of their broadcast functions, which are vital for maintaining audience trust. By keeping critical production tasks on-premise and experimenting with cloud solutions for less sensitive functions, Hearst ensures a well-balanced and secure approach. This hybrid strategy of cautious adoption and utilization showcases how broadcasters can thoughtfully integrate cloud solutions without compromising on the essential elements of their broadcast operations.
Sinclair Tackles Tickers and Incremental Moves to Cloud
Gradual Transition to Cloud-Based Systems
Sinclair, a pioneer in migrating content ingest and distribution to the cloud, is gradually transitioning playout at its local stations. This methodical migration ensures a smooth transition, minimizing disruptions and maintaining operational efficiency. Their incremental approach to cloud adoption allows Sinclair to address specific operational segments piece by piece, ensuring that every transition phase is thoroughly evaluated and optimized before moving forward.
In moving to cloud-based systems, Sinclair effectively blends innovation with caution. The gradual switch provides ample opportunity to evaluate the performance and benefits of cloud technology in real-world scenarios. By addressing various segments incrementally, Sinclair can maintain stable operations while gradually introducing cloud capabilities, ensuring both operational continuity and innovative advancement.
Feasibility Studies for Specific Components
Sinclair focuses on feasibly moving efficient segments such as news tickers to the cloud. This planned approach underlines the need for clear ROI and incremental integration, ensuring that each step of the transition is both practical and beneficial. By conducting comprehensive feasibility studies, Sinclair evaluates the cost-effectiveness, operational impact, and potential benefits of transitioning specific components to the cloud, thus ensuring that every move is justified and well-informed.
This methodical approach allows Sinclair to quantify the potential benefits and mitigate any risks associated with the cloud transition. By prioritizing components that would benefit most from cloud integration, Sinclair maximizes cost efficiency and operational improvements. Such strategic planning and cautious implementation set a precedent for other broadcasters considering cloud transitions, highlighting the importance of thorough assessment and planning.
Overarching Trends and Consensus Viewpoints
Incremental Adoption
The gradual, cautious shift towards cloud-based production is a common trend. Broadcasters are not switching entirely to the cloud but rather assessing and incrementally adopting cloud solutions as and when it makes fiscal and operational sense. This measured approach helps mitigate risks associated with sudden transitions and allows for a more manageable and controlled integration of cloud technology into existing workflows.
Incremental adoption ensures that broadcasters can continuously evaluate and adapt to the changing landscape of cloud technology, making necessary adjustments without significant disruption. This trend reflects a pragmatic approach, balancing the advantages of cloud solutions with the practicalities of maintaining operational stability. Through staged implementation, broadcasters can leverage cloud technology where it offers clear benefits while avoiding over-reliance on an entirely new system all at once.
Improved Latency and Interoperability
Improved latency and interoperability between vendors’ systems have contributed significantly to cloud adoption. This improved technical environment allows broadcasters to consider cloud solutions more seriously for live production, making the transition more feasible. Advances in technology have enabled vendors to offer systems that seamlessly integrate, thereby addressing one of the critical challenges previously hindering cloud adoption.
Enhanced interoperability ensures different cloud-based tools and traditional systems work cohesively, streamlining operations and reducing latency issues. These improvements have significantly bolstered broadcasters’ confidence in cloud technology, making it a viable option for more aspects of news production, particularly live broadcasts where real-time operations are paramount. The strides in latency reduction and system compatibility mark a pivotal shift, reducing constraints and opening new possibilities for cloud integration.
Disaster Recovery (DR) Planning
Cloud as a Tool for Disaster Recovery
Broadcasters increasingly see the cloud as a valuable tool for disaster recovery. Cloud tools enable the replication of control room functions at alternate locations, ensuring continuity during emergencies like hurricanes, thus enhancing the resilience of broadcast operations. The cloud’s ability to offer scalable, redundant solutions makes it an ideal component for robust disaster recovery strategies, providing broadcasters with a safety net to maintain operations in unforeseen circumstances.
The cloud’s flexibility and scalability are vital in crafting disaster recovery plans, allowing broadcasters to quickly adapt and continue essential services amidst disruption. By leveraging cloud-based backups and replicated control room functionalities, broadcasters can mitigate the risks associated with hardware failures or natural disasters. This proactive approach enhances operational resilience, ensuring uninterrupted service and reinforcing trust with their audience even during challenging times.
Practical Benefits of Cloud Solutions
Many broadcasters are adopting a pragmatic approach of testing cloud solutions with POCs before a full-scale roll-out. This involves evaluating the practical benefits and cost-effectiveness of cloud solutions on smaller scales. Such localized tests provide valuable insights into cloud integration’s real-world implications without committing fully to a complete overhaul. An example of this was seen during major events like the Boston Marathon for Hearst.
Proof of concept (POC) strategies enable broadcasters to identify potential benefits, challenges, and areas for improvement in a controlled environment. This incremental and carefully evaluated approach allows broadcasters to refine their strategies, ensuring that full-scale rollouts are both practical and effective. By focusing on tangible benefits and addressing any challenges upfront, broadcasters can confidently transition to cloud solutions that enhance operational efficiency without compromising service quality.
Cloud as an Attractive Option for New Entrants
Viable Alternative to Heavy Capital Investment
For stations launching new segments or needing infrastructure overhaul, the cloud presents an attractive alternative to heavy capital investment in legacy systems. This is especially relevant for new entrants or existing stations looking to modernize their operations. Instead of investing heavily in physical infrastructure, stations can leverage cloud solutions for scalable, flexible, and cost-effective operational enhancements.
The cloud’s ability to provide infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) reduces the need for significant upfront capital expenditure, allowing broadcasters to allocate resources more efficiently. This is particularly beneficial for new entrants who may lack the resources to invest heavily in traditional systems but still require robust infrastructure. By adopting cloud solutions, stations can quickly set up and scale operations, ensuring they meet industry standards while maintaining financial prudence.
Innovative Potential and Strategic Advantage
The television broadcast industry is experiencing a major transformation as it shifts from traditional, on-premise hardware to public cloud technology. This evolution is largely driven by financial advantages, enhanced latency, and the demand for more efficient software solutions. At TVNewsCheck’s NewsTECHForum conference, technology leaders from prominent media companies like NBCUniversal (NBCU), Hearst, Scripps, Sinclair, and Vizrt gathered to discuss this ongoing shift.
During the conference, these industry leaders highlighted several key themes and trends driving the move to cloud technology. A primary factor motivating this change is cost savings. By transitioning to cloud-based systems, companies can significantly reduce expenses related to hardware maintenance and upgrades. Additionally, public cloud technology offers scalability, enabling media companies to manage fluctuating workloads more effectively.
Improved latency is another significant benefit of cloud technology. Faster data processing and transmission speeds enhance the overall viewer experience, which is crucial in maintaining audience engagement in a competitive market. Furthermore, cloud solutions provide more efficient software, allowing for greater flexibility and innovation in content creation and distribution.
The discussions at NewsTECHForum underscored the importance of adopting advanced technologies to stay competitive in the rapidly evolving broadcast industry. As more media companies embrace cloud technology, the industry is poised for significant growth and transformation.
