Verizon is unveiling new “content-to-consumer” delivery capabilities at the NAB Show to help entertainment and media companies satisfy and capitalize on consumers’ growing appetite for live and on-demand, personalized video content on their smartphones, tablets and other devices.
Verizon Digital Media Services is a first-of-its-kind solution that will automate previously manual workflow processes associated with formatting, managing and delivering digital media to virtually any device or platform on a large scale. As a result, content owners and digital retailers will be able to more effectively produce, manage and distribute premium programming to consumers when, how and where they want to view it. Verizon Digital Media Services will help content owners and digital media retailers tackle wide-scale content management and distribution challenges. It will also ultimately enable high-quality and reliable “unicast” -- individualized video streams -- tailored to fit consumer preferences on virtually any viewing screen.
“Verizon is creating a first-of-its-kind automated digital utility,” said Mike Millegan, president of Global Wholesale. “With this unique delivery platform, built on top of Verizon’s high-IQ infrastructure, content owners, entertainment companies and digital media retailers will be able to create new business models that capitalize and deliver on the promise of digital entertainment.”
Greg Ireland, consumer video industry analyst for global technology research firm IDC, said, “The incredible scale and comprehensive capabilities to be offered by Verizon Digital Media Services make it a groundbreaking new distribution platform for the digital media industry. This is a significant and much needed development in highly fragmented market.”
Melanie Posey, vice president of hosting and managed network services for IDC, said, “Verizon is making a bold play in the digital media distribution space by creating an innovative new category of service based on an automated supply chain model. It’s likely that Verizon Digital Media Services will stimulate new thinking about different ways to package, deliver and consume all forms of digital media content.”
Companies including Turner Broadcasting, Hearst Magazines and The Associated Press will be among the first to explore Verizon Digital Media Services’ capabilities. To deal with the expected explosion in digital media demand, digital media retailers and content publishers would otherwise need to make multimillion-dollar capital and IT investments. Instead, VDMS will proactively adapt to the rapid pace of technology and allow customers to focus on accelerating their business.
Verizon Digital Media Services will offer a solution that will allow studios, networks and other content owners to:
· Capitalize on an integrated delivery platform, from intake to distribution outlet.
· Allow real-time visibility and control throughout the digital media supply chain.
· Achieve significant economies of scale.
Strategic Alliances for End-to-End Solution
Although the majority of the patent-pending technology is being created by Verizon, the company is also strategically teaming with Technicolor and leading technology software and hardware companies to support advanced capabilities for its automated content-to-consumer solution.
Vince Pizzica, group president for Technicolor’s Digital Delivery Business Group, said, “We are excited about teaming with Verizon to bring unprecedented scale, expertise and digital workflow support to the digital industry. Technicolor offers the art of content preparation by bringing its vast experience in content creation, creative and post production services and digital workflow expertise.”
Other vendors contributing to the Verizon Digital Media Services offering include Motorola, which is providing advanced software that enables media transformation and automated workflow management; Alcatel-Lucent, which is enabling content delivery and adaptive streaming technology for unicast; and HP, which is providing high-performance ProLiant server technology.
Most Connected Global IP Backbone, Security and Solutions Leadership
The new service leverages Verizon’s global IP backbone and data center infrastructure with leading managed security to enable a carrier-class, scalable solution that content companies have been seeking to automate their digital media supply chains. Over the last three years Verizon has made significant capital investments to create the high-I.Q. networks that are accelerants of innovation and support the economy of the future. For more information, visitwww.verizondigitalmediaservices.com.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 94.1 million customers nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 194,000 and last year generated consolidated revenues of $106.6 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.