The time to migrate to IVPS is now

Carlos Prieto, regional director of Ooyala in Spain and Portugal, explains in this Tribune the advantages of integrated video platforms (IVP), as an evolution of traditional online video platforms (OVP).

The broadcast of video content is undergoing rapid transformation. Both in its format, with the change from the flash standard to Html5 in online video, and in the form of distribution where video on demand platforms evolve at great speed. But if there has been a true revolution it is in who has the power to decide over the content. Nowadays, the audience is much more demanding and has a large catalog to choose from, so getting their attention has become a tough struggle.

One of the keys for content generation companies is information about user preferences, tastes or usage trends. Integrated video platforms (IVP) have arrived along this line, as an evolution of traditional online video platforms (OVP). IVPs, connecting the different video processing tools, create and use common data, and with their analysis, they offer us very important data for new content generation strategies in addition to taking advantage of that knowledge through advanced video workflows and delivery systems that maximize resources, from pre-production and production to distribution and monetization.

This information will help companies that work with IVPs to invest their money more efficiently in the content that is truly in demand by their audience. In addition, it makes it easier for them to develop faster and simpler processes, since much of the work is automated and the information is collected by the same platform, which can cross-reference the different data collected at different points in the workflow. Companies can also analyze the action taken to improve results for future actions and optimize coordination between the different teams involved in the process.

With the huge growth of content creators and distributors, managing multiple content sources and large libraries is the new normal for broadcast media operators. IVPs reduce complexity for these content companies, whose operating budgets may not have grown to the level of the increase in content demanded in today's market.

Entertainment content managers will obtain, through these IVPs platforms, the necessary information to attract their audience and prevent them from fleeing to the competition. Thanks to the in-depth analysis of the data provided, managers can identify what users are looking for to make them stay longer and gain their loyalty, an increasingly ephemeral loyalty, by offering related content in the appropriate way, time and format.

Organic integration

Therefore, providers such as They spread it are working on improving their platforms, with proposals such as Ooyala Flex – content logistics platform and cornerstone of the transformation from Ooyala to IVP – and Ooyala video which, with their full integration and joint use, facilitate total optimization and control of operations related to audiovisual content. The continuous search for improvement in the operation of the platforms and the results for content managers has led to the incorporation of new functionalities in Ooyala Flex, new features that Ooyala will present at the next edition of IBC (International Broadcasting Convention; Amsterdam, from September 14 to 19). Among them, the inclusion of temporal metadata and new dynamic deadlines, which allow the generation of richer metadata and will help improve contextual searches by reducing time in locating and distributing content.

In addition, Ooyala will also show the integration of this platform with Microsoft Azure, both in the Azure Transcode service, which adds transcoding resources (changing video formats depending on the platform) to the cloud from Ooyala Flex, and in the Azure Video Indexer service that will generate greater metadata information by applying artificial intelligence and process automation.

The video sector is changing at breakneck speed and these types of platforms offer managers great advantages, especially if we make an organic integration throughout the process. This will achieve a reduction in costs, increase the return on investment, greater speed and agility in the processes and a very important point in the current video business, improve audience loyalty.

Carlos Prieto

regional director of They spread it in Spain and Portugal