We’re back from this year’s IBC event, and we’ve had a little time to collect our thoughts and reflect on what truly impressed us from 2016’s show. We’re sure you’ve read plenty of recaps, so what we really want to do is highlight a few forward-thinking technologies and talk about how they are propelling our industry forward.
Turns out there was plenty of cool stuff to be seen this year.
What Is IBC?
According to IBC itself, it is “the premier annual event for professionals engaged in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment and news content worldwide.” At Zype, we’re all about that and you bet we’re interested if there are potential technologies that can help our OTT video platform — and your video business — grow in cool and innovative and useful ways.
This year the show covered 15 halls in the RAI in Amsterdam with over 1,700 exhibitors. Nice.
Let’s get down to business.
Here Are The Forward-Thinkers That Stood Out To Us:
THEOplayer :
The player market is growing, and it’s really interesting to watch. Competition is healthy, and we’re seeing the newcomers take on old industry standards. We checked out THEOplayer, and we gotta say: it is amazing HTML5 technology, and existing players like JW Player are going to have to step up their game.
KeyOS :
DRM is complex and difficult to implement and maintain, so it’s great to see people thinking outside of the box to make DRM better. KeyOS is DRM as a service provider, and in a world where devices and compatibility are still an issue, a few incumbent licensing vendors are slowing market adoption for technologies that are more consumer friendly.
The technology to support this very important component of a video business is moving in the right direction, and hopefully the future for DRM makes sense for both the license managers and content publishers.
Opera :
Zype has known and works directly with Opera TV — and we love it. It’s an exciting app marketplace, especially in Europe, with top-tier publishers. Zype integrates with Opera TV today and we are excited to see this relationship grow.
Elemental :
We’re always on the lookout for technology that can benefit our customers, and in turn, their audience. Elemental has really cool live transcoding tech, and it’s now part of AWS — safe to bet that the future of live streaming is in the simplification of the technical processes in a way that does NOT compromise quality.
Bitmovin :
Just like THEOplayer, Bitmovin is doing some interesting things as a video player, and this just shows the growth that we are experiencing in the player market and the innovator's dilemma that pure-play incumbent player vendors like JW Player have in front of them.
Metrological :
You’d think the number of app marketplaces has reached a threshold, but you’d be wrong — there’s still plenty of innovation out there, and Metrological is a super interesting app marketplace, with a strong focus on Europe and Asia. Zype is excited to explore compatible integration with this distribution point in the coming months.
Our Takeaway
Video business technology is accelerating at a rapid rate and with exciting entries like these companies and technologies (above), we starting to see a very cool, very optimistic future for OTT and video collectively.
IBC was a fun and exciting time in a great location, ripe with forward-thinking innovators that will help shape the creation, management, and delivery of content for the entertainment industry. In Zype’s space specifically, and for any OTT services really, there are no formulaic rules to follow. With no rules, that leads to really wonderful ideas and creative solutions for anything else that might come along.
If you've been meaning to, don't let it slip your mind again! Request a Zype demo here.
