Complete Coverage:NAB Show 2013
Adobe Systems has announced that it has launched Adobe
Primetime platform for advanced TV systems and that Comcast and the NBC Sports
Group have signed on as launch partners.
Adobe Systems first announced its intention to bring
together a complete platform for the delivery and monetization of content for
programmers and pay-TV operators across all platforms last year and has since
been launching aspects of the Adobe Primetime, which is now being formally
launched.
The platform uses Adobe's video publishing, player, DRM,
advertising and analytics solutions to help simplify the distribution of
content, improve digital video quality and develop new revenue.
As part of that effort, Adobe has also announced technology
alliances with a number of companies supplying encoders, cloud platform
providers, and content delivery networks (CDNs). These partners include Akamai,
Amazon Web Services, Cisco Systems, Elemental Technologies, Envivio, Harmonic,
iStreamPlanet, RGB Networks and others.
In announcing the full launch of the product, Adobe noted
that "Comcast Cable has incorporated several of Adobe Primetime's modular
components across certain Xfinity Web properties to deliver and monetize
IP-delivered video to their subscribers."
As part of deployment, Comcast is using a broad range of
Adobe Primetime capabilities, including the player, DRM, ad insertion, ad
serving and analytics.
"Adobe offers the right technologies to help us streamline
TV services and bring them anywhere our customers want to watch their favorite
content," said Sree Kotay, senior VP and chief software architect, Comcast
Cable. "As the industry continues to expand where consumers watch content and
the different ways they can watch it -- Adobe Primetime has created a
programmable video solution that supports our multiplatform roadmap."
NBC Sports Group also launched with Adobe Primetime, and now
uses the solution to offer live sporting events, including Major League Soccer
(MLS) and National Hockey League (NHL) games, as well as Golf Channel content.
"NBC Sports Group is using Adobe Primetime to bring major
sporting events online," said Rick Cordella, senior VP and general manager,
Digital Media, NBC Sports Group. "Our viewers expect to watch television
programming on any connected device, and Adobe's broad collaboration through
the industry ensures that we can deliver a TV-like experience across devices
while integrating their Adobe Primetime platform into our existing
infrastructure."
Highlighting the importance of the effort to deliver more
content to more devices, Adobe also released a study showing rising use of TV
Everywhere, mobile and other digital platforms.
Drawing on close to 20 billion video starts, 10 billion ads
served by Adobe media customers and the analysis of more than 450 million
Facebook posts in 2012, Adobe released a Digital Index report showing that TV
Everywhere adoption increased 12-fold; mobile video viewing grew by 300%;
Facebook users are twice as likely to engage with video compared to non-video
content; and pre-roll ads now account for 82% of all video ad impressions in
long-format content.
Even though mobile video starts increase more than threefold,
the report noted that 89.6% of video consumption is still taking place on
desktops.
The report also noted that events like the Summer Olympics,
March Madness, UEFA Euro 2012 soccer and the NBA playoffs were driving growth of
TV Everywhere use.
"We are at a watershed moment when it comes to
engaging with video content and ads online," said Jeremy Helfand, vice
president of monetization at Adobe. "Consumption of digital video, and
especially broadcast content, is growing at a staggering rate and consumers
expect to be able to view their favorite content on any connected screen."
