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SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition

Integrating MAM throughout the Broadcast Enterprise

MAM for Broadcasting


The arrival of digital asset management for broadcasting as Media Asset Management has so far had limited deployment, but raised many questions about the need for MAM in a broadcast operation. This is no surprise, and is probably the norm for the early stages of any transition from manual to automated processes. I say transition because MAM in broadcast operations is not new. Rather its a transition from manual processes for handling physical media and related content information to automation-assisted processes for handling digitized media and associated metadata. About a year ago, I had a conversation on this subject with the Director of Engineering for a major market network affiliate. It went something like this:
What are your plans for automation in your transition to DTV? Well, the automation system we have now works well for us. I dont see any need to change it, except to add some additional channels. That makes sense, but have you thought about how you will handle digital content delivery? I know youre doing it manually now, but once the network and syndicators start delivering more packaged content, it becomes difficult to manage manually especially for several channels. Also, youve got to consider that the metadata in these packages needs to go to traffic and program management, as well as to automation. Id like to show you what were doing with MAM to deal with some of these issues. MAM? No one has ever been able to show me how it makes sense for us. Our operation just isnt that complicated. We may look at an add-on to our ingest process to handle content deliveries, and some kind of link to our program management system.

He knew that new capabilities were needed to handle new requirements, but just didnt think of these as part of MAM. This point of view is hardly unique. In fact, it illustrates the failure of broadcast software and digital asset management companies to show how MAM fits the needs of a typical broadcast operation. As I learned from the rest of our conversation, he had seen presentations of comprehensive MAM solutions from several companies, but came away with the idea that it was all too big, complex, and expensive for his needs. The apparent value just wasnt there. Nevertheless, a look at the flow of metadata required by this example illustrates the inefficiencies that an integrated MAM system can improve.

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition October 20-23, 2004 Pasadena, California

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition

Integrating MAM throughout the Broadcast Enterprise

MAM Combines Broadcast and IT


Some of the confusion about the new MAM is a result of the concurrent arrival of advances in both broadcasting technology and IT, and the effect of these new technologies on the requirements for a MAM system. The transition to digital media formats, and the associated concepts of media file transfers, metadata wrappers, and content proxies all add new requirements for a complete MAM solution. Likewise, the apparent merging of broadcasting and IT suggests that XML and everything-over-IP must be parts of the solution. In effect, implementing a MAM system today is like deciding on a game plan while the rules of the game are changing.

The Scope of Media Asset Management


Broadcasting is a media business, and most systems within a broadcast operation include some media asset management processes. This applies equally to both business and operations systems, and to all types of broadcast operations including networks, multi-channel head ends, cable channels, and local stations. However, the volume and type of media asset management tasks vary widely among these different operations. This is one reason why the case for automated MAM is difficult to make for broadcasters in general. Attempting to define the scope of a complete MAM system is sure to raise different views of the functions to be included. In fact, an open-ended view is both expected and appropriate for a system that must be configured to fit a diverse group of broadcast operations, and integrated with a wide variety of existing broadcast systems.

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition October 20-23, 2004 Pasadena, California

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition

Integrating MAM throughout the Broadcast Enterprise

With that in mind, the definition of MAM we will use here combines core components and task components. Core components provide the infrastructure required to support the enhancement of existing systems and the introduction of new content processes. Task components define the scope of the MAM system, and the task categories listed here are among those commonly included in broadcast MAM systems.

MAM System Core Components


Moving of Content Sharing of Metadata among local and remote media storage devices (broadcast/IT servers and archives) including proxy copies of content, among MAM processes and adjacent systems via standard protocol(s)

Transcoding and Wrapping to convert content among multiple digital media formats Workflow Management Proxy Generation Search and Retrieval Desktop Integration subdivides content processes into work elements that can be ordered and tracked creates low-resolution copies of content suitable for distribution, viewing and editing on standard office desktops creates time- or metadata-based indices that can be used for rapid search and retrieval of content and proxies provides access to MAM functions and metadata, combined with other broadcast systems, at standard workstations throughout the facility from theft or unauthorized use

Content Protection

MAM System Task Components


Content Acquisition Authoring and Editing Rights Management ingests or captures, assigns identification, and encodes to create digital audio/video media suitable for transmission creates and/or prepares content for transmission tracks and enforces contractual rights for the usage of content

These MAM components provide the capabilities needed to enhance and integrate your existing broadcast systems to support increased content handling for multi-channel operations, and new process requirements brought on by digital media files.

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition October 20-23, 2004 Pasadena, California

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition

Integrating MAM throughout the Broadcast Enterprise

When deciding what MAM means for your facility, this list of components should be viewed as a menu of options, not a set of requirements. The importance of any one component will depend on the nature of your operation. Some may not apply at all; others may be needed to support anticipated future requirements.

MAM as a Toolkit
Viewing MAM as a new system for managing content throughout your operation immediately raises valid concerns. Doesnt it include features that we dont need? What about our existing systems? We already have several databases of content in traffic, program management, and playout automation. Does a MAM database duplicate those? How do we keep these databases in sync? Instead, by considering MAM as a toolkit for improving the content management processes within your existing systems, it becomes easier to see the possible benefits without the baggage. You can now decide which MAM tools might solve your specific problems, and evaluate how different MAM products meet those requirements. Look at your current processes for content and metadata acquisition. Heres a likely scenario similar to the real-world situation discussed above: Your existing ingest system was designed for tape delivery and conventional satellite recording. These methods still work for local spots and syndicated programs, but national spots now arrive as digital content files on several delivery service edge servers, and syndicated program deliveries will soon follow. There are manual workarounds for using these new methods of delivery with your existing systems, but at the same time youre anticipating an increase in daily program acquisitions for your new DTV channels. Also, the metadata associated with this delivered content must be available to both traffic and automation, yet the workaround requires manual entry of these data. In addition, your promo and programming departments are asking how they can have access to delivered program content from their desktops. Much of the programming for the additional DTV channels will require new promos, as well as program descriptions for the PSIP EPG. A choice of the right MAM tools can extend the reach and integration of your current systems to handle these new requirements. For example, the ability to move digital content files among servers and archives is a core component of the MAM toolkit. This includes automating any required transcoding or rewrapping of delivered files to match the required format for your storage and playout equipment. The MAM system should also include an extensible database for content metadata, and a method for sharing or exchanging those data among your systems. Finally, a MAM browse subsystem for content proxies can provide access and desktop editing of program material from standard PC workstations on the stations office LAN.

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition October 20-23, 2004 Pasadena, California

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition

Integrating MAM throughout the Broadcast Enterprise

By understanding the contents of the MAM toolkit, a plan can be developed to overcome specific deficiencies in your current systems, and add needed support for new content processes. In the next sections, well cover some the major steps in this process.

Where to Begin
Any good strategy for moving ahead begins with understanding your starting point. This is especially true when the anticipated benefit of a new system is to improve existing systems already in place. That is the case with MAM. Its potential is to enhance the quality and efficiency of your operation by improving your existing content processes. MAM itself has no product. It doesnt result in a schedule (like traffic), or an on-air broadcast (like playout automation). Instead, MAM can provide essential enhancements to these and other systems, and the tools to integrate them. From this perspective, deciding how MAM fits into your operation is not just about adding new processes to utilize the tools that MAM provides. It is also about using those tools to streamline

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition October 20-23, 2004 Pasadena, California

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition

Integrating MAM throughout the Broadcast Enterprise

and improve the quality of your existing processes. This is an important distinction, and should help you to focus on your actual requirements - and realistic objectives - when confronted by the enterprise-wide MAM solution. Before discussing how to proceed, however, lets clarify this concept of enhancing and integrating your existing systems. Perhaps to state the obvious: There are practical limits to the extensions that are possible to legacy systems. Just because new IT technologies like Web Services, .NET, and ActiveX make enhancement and integration possible in general, does not mean that your existing systems can take advantage of them, or that it can be done at an acceptable cost. Part of planning for MAM extensions to your operation is evaluating the ability of your existing systems to support these extensions. In some cases this means choosing between replacing a system or retaining it and forgoing the benefits that MAM extensions will bring. This evaluation process requires expertise in four areas of your existing operation: content workflow, broadcast software systems, broadcast equipment, and IT infrastructure. You will need the active participation of your current software and hardware vendors, as well as your proposed MAM supplier, in addition to your own operations and office staffs. Using the ideas described above, moving ahead with a MAM strategy begins by determining how the desired MAM process enhancements can be implemented within your existing systems, or by new systems that replace them.

Build Bridges - Share the Wealth


In the simplest terms, media asset management is about moving and sharing moving copies of content, and sharing its associated metadata. In the world of digital media, moving content means transferring files among broadcast or IT equipment under the control of a MAM component - sometimes with the assistance of a transcoding or wrapping process. File transfers are generally well-defined processes using protocols provided by the broadcast equipment or IT operating system platform. Sharing or exchange of metadata can be more problematic due to the diversity of metadata used by broadcast systems, and the sometimes limited methods of communication supported by each system. Nevertheless, implementing methods for the sharing or exchange of content metadata among broadcast systems is a prerequisite for any integrated MAM solution. The terms sharing and exchange are used to indicate that using common content metadata across systems can be accomplished either by the sharing of a common database, or by the exchange of metadata whether by messaging of changes or periodic reconciliation of separate databases. Remember, also, that the metadata to be shared can include proxy copies of the content as well. Since metadata can be handled exclusively in the IT domain, the methods available for sharing or exchange include the full range of IT standards.

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition October 20-23, 2004 Pasadena, California

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition

Integrating MAM throughout the Broadcast Enterprise

A common database for content can be shared via ODBC (Open DataBase Connectivity) using the query language SQL. This standard is widely supported among database management systems and is available on virtually all current operating system platforms. SQL has been an IT standard much longer than newer Internet-derived protocols like XML, and many legacy system platforms can use this method. For the exchange of metadata between systems with independent databases, an emerging standard is Web Services. This XML-based messaging framework utilizes the standard Internet protocol (IP) to provide near real-time data exchange that is both extensible and platform independent. More sophisticated data exchange between systems, including real-time communication, is possible using distributed object technologies like .NET and J2EE. In general, these options are limited to the most (technologically) current systems, and require custom software development on one or both partner systems. All these enabling technologies can provide the connectivity needed to bridge the silos of metadata maintained by broadcast systems. As each system is linked to the MAM database, components of the MAM toolkit can be used as extensions to the system.

Integrate Access Share the Desktop


Extending access to content and its metadata beyond the operations areas of the broadcast facility is one of the principal objectives of MAM. However, realizing the value of this access in

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition October 20-23, 2004 Pasadena, California

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition

Integrating MAM throughout the Broadcast Enterprise

the form of improved efficiency, accuracy, and agility in day-to-day workflow requires integration of MAM functions into the users interaction with their primary systems. For example, access to MAM has value to the programming department only when it is available within the program management system. Likewise, access to extended program metadata can improve the accuracy of the EPG for schedule changes only if these data are available to the playout automation system. For fully automated processes, this integration depends on the moving and sharing of content files and metadata described above. Manually driven processes, however, demand an additional level of integration at the users PC desktop. As any computer user will confirm, one of the most frustrating and inefficient work environments is one that requires switching among multiple desktops or systems to share data among applications. Regardless of the server platforms used for your various broadcast systems (e.g. Windows, Linux, Unix, AS/400, mainframe), the overwhelming majority of client PCs in broadcast operations and offices today are based on the Windows operating system. In that context, widely available tools such as copy, cut, and paste via OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) provide simple methods of moving data at the desktop. Beyond this manual data sharing, fully transparent integration of desktop components between systems requires sharing of a common database, or custom integration using.NET, J2EE, or Web Services again noting the caveat mentioned above regarding legacy systems. If some of these options are starting to sound too complicated, remember not to overlook the most basic method of integrating for improved efficiency, namely having MAM and other system components visible concurrently on the same desktop. The human mind is very adept at correlating two sets of information simply by having them in view simultaneously. For all these options, the key to integrating MAM with other systems is to choose a MAM product that offers an enabling framework based on IT standards like .NET, Web Services, J2EE, or ODBC, and to use the methods supported by your existing broadcast systems. The degree of integration needed at different points in the workflow, and the associated benefits in efficiency and accuracy, can vary widely. These considerations need to be balanced against the cost of implementing the integrated process at each point. Judging the value of MAM integration prior to implementation is difficult, and for that reason a conservative strategy for the initial rollout of MAM makes sense. The most important consideration for long-term strategy is choosing a MAM toolkit that offers the most potential for integration as the benefits become clearer and requirements expand.

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition October 20-23, 2004 Pasadena, California

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition

Integrating MAM throughout the Broadcast Enterprise

All that Metadata


The prefix meta means simply: an underlying definition or description. In the case of broadcasting, our data is content. Therefore, broadcast metadata defines and describes content. With that in mind, it is easy to see that different uses of content require different types of content descriptions. For example, a playout automation system needs to know the identification, media location, and timing (SOM-Duration) of the content. Conversely, a program management system is concerned with financial and contractual information for content - such as purchase cost, usage rights, and payment terms. All of these are metadata for the same content, but each system has little need for the metadata of interest to the other.

XML is the answer. Now what was the question?


You have probably noticed that any discussion of content metadata inevitably includes some reference to XML. This is with good reason. As the new IT standard for extensible and platform independent data exchange, XML is ideally suited to handling exchanges among participant systems when each system creates or requires only part of the data. In simple terms, XML allows each pair of participant systems to share only the data items of mutual interest and to define new items as needed without breaking the communication among other system pairs.

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition October 20-23, 2004 Pasadena, California

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition

Integrating MAM throughout the Broadcast Enterprise

In the world of broadcast systems, this characteristic of XML is especially valuable since the limited usage of metadata by each participant system is a result not only of the application, but also the fixed limitations of some legacy systems. For example, a legacy traffic system may not be designed to handle VChip ratings for programs, even though the playout automation system requires that item to control the logo inserter. In that case, VChip data may have to be entered in the ingest system, and merged with the scheduled content data from traffic within the playout automation system. Integrating MAM requires normalizing the metadata (i.e. creating a consistent set of terms and descriptions) used by existing systems and by the MAM database. It can also mean creating new items of metadata specifically to overcome limitations in some systems, or to handle new requirements as they arise. If the MAM system database and data sharing tools are based on XML, this process has nearly unlimited potential for getting the most out of your MAM integration.

Planning for MAM


As this overview illustrates, the successful introduction of MAM into an existing broadcast operation is a process of integration, not the installation of a new stand-alone system. It takes evaluation and planning, and requires objective judgment to balance the potential current and future benefits of MAM against the cost of implementation. Depending on your need for enhancements to the content process, as measured by anticipated rising costs or inability to handle new requirements, evaluation and planning can be followed by deployment at a measured pace. To be certain, the landscape of content technologies in broadcast and IT will continue to evolve at an unpredictable rate. A well-considered plan for upgrading your content processes, reviewed perhaps every six months, is an essential tool for meeting new requirements as they arise.

John Wadle VP Technology OmniBus Systems, Inc. john.wadle@omnibussystems.com

SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition October 20-23, 2004 Pasadena, California

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