Pilat Media Demonstrate Live Playout Preview

Press Release: 3 September 2002

London, 3rd September 2002 - On its stand 321 in Hall 8 at IBC 2002, (RAI Exhibition and Congress Centre, Amsterdam, 13-17 September), leading software solutions provider Pilat Media will be demonstrating how, by linking its scheduling tools closely to the server based video and audio content, it can help broadcasters both improve the quality of their programme junctions and save time and money.

The new feature, called 'Live Playout Preview', is a major new enhancement to Pilat Media's Integrated Broadcast Management System (IBMS), already used by over 20 broadcasters worldwide including BSkyB, Discovery Communications Inc and UPCtv. 'Live Playout Preview' allows presentation schedulers working with promotions, commercials, and other interstitial material in IBMS to preview actual content on their PC.

'Live Playout Preview' solves the problem of identifying the right promotional content or version from a text description, and assists with look and feel of junctions. 'Live Playout Preview' is analogous to 'print preview' in Word documents, allowing the user to see easily the presentation impact of changes to content. The feature displays all transitions and DVE's available in your playout systems, and allows users to fast-forward, rewind, etc. Key benefits include:

No need to make distribution (VHS) copies in order to review or preview interstitial material - saves time, and money on VHS media and storage;
Centralised control and distribution e.g. of viewing rights & bandwidth utilisation;
Saves time when selecting promotions or interstitial elements - can easily preview to confirm content is correct.

"Live Playout Preview will both save time and improve the quality of programme transmissions", said Pilat Media's chief technology officer, Bob Lamb. "This development is further evidence of our strategy to provide our customers with significant innovations which bring content closer to business processes underpinning the broadcast value chain".

Pilat Media's IBMS system is based on an Oracle database, and Live Playout Preview uses Oracle InterMedia for content storage, metadata extraction and content retrieval. The feature works with streaming services provided by Real Networks, Quicktime or Windows Media.

The play list is constructed using SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language pronounced "smile" a W3C recommendation), which enables authoring of interactive audiovisual presentations. SMIL is used for "rich media"/multimedia presentations which integrate streaming audio and video with images, text or any other media types. No specialist broadcast equipment is required, as the applications works on a standard PC (850mhz or higher, Windows 2000 upwards.)

Pilat Media will also be showing IBMS's core channel management and advertising sales modules at IBC, which drive small single or large multi-channel TV operations, from content acquisition to transmission; and from advertising campaign planning to final scheduling. Currently, over 1000 channels are Powered by Pilat across the Americas, Europe and Australasia.

-Ends-

Notes to editors:

Pilat Media is a UK company, currently 150 strong, operating from headquarters in London and offices in the USA, Australia and Israel.

Pilat Media's IBMS (Integrated Broadcast Management System) is a new generation software system for managing the business of broadcasting. It is the world's most comprehensive solution, designed to maximize revenues and reduce costs by integrating airtime sales, content programming and media trafficking across an unlimited number of different channels or stations, regions or even countries, all under a single centralized, scalable and digital ready system. Al these have been historically serviced by several, typically dispersed systems. IBMS' functional breadth, depth and flexibility to suit all types of broadcasters are unrivalled, making it the first truly global system of its kind.

IBMS' first version was originally developed by Pilat for BSkyB, to support their fast growing multi-channel programming needs. Pilat Media was established in 1999 to further develop and market the system as a generic product. IBMS's scope was subsequently more than doubled by adding the advertising sales functionality in partnership with Network Ten of Australia. Since then Pilat Media has rapidly established itself as a rising force in the market for business management software for broadcasters. Today, Pilat Media's software solutions have been selected by 35 broadcasters in Europe, North America and Australasia, representing a wide spectrum of business models, organizational size and transmission technologies - digital and analogue, on terrestrial, cable and satellite platforms. Additional clients include CTV (Canada), Discovery (International), five (UK), TV New Zealand, Playboy (US), Sky Italia and TV4 (Sweden).