Media Distillery Launches Ad-Break Detection Solution

Media Distillery, a provider of AI-powered video analysis, has released a new solution, Ad Break Distillery, that identifies the exact start and stop times of ad breaks in broadcast video, enabling video platform operators, service providers and broadcasters “to enhance monetization opportunities for on-demand viewing while also improving user engagement.”

With a gradual shift of viewership from linear viewing towards on-demand streaming services, and ever-intensifying competition for audience attention, providers of live TV and/or on-demand content need to differentiate and engender loyalty by personalizing experiences according to viewers’ preferences, Media Distillery says.

The explosion of OTT and VOD has raised the bar for video services, with advertisers expecting to be able to target and create personalized ad experiences, as well as setting consumers’ UX expectations regarding the presence and duration of ad breaks.

Many broadcast channels have ad breaks that can last up to 5 to 8 minutes. These long periods of advertising have several drawbacks, however, Media Distillery says.

Ad Break Distillery. This solution automatically detects the beginning and end of ad breaks in live broadcast video and delivers time markers as actionable metadata.

With Ad Break Distillery, broadcasters and operators of video entertainment platforms can:

• Create new ad inventory: Replace existing linear ad breaks with dynamically inserted and personalized ads for catch-up and replay.
• Enforce trick-play restrictions: Apply restrictions during ad breaks but allow viewers to freely navigate through the content: no more complete limitation due to not knowing where the ad breaks are.
• Repurpose broadcast content for FAST and AVOD: Extremely useful for content archives where existing ads no longer hold value – for instance, ads for campaigns that have ended, promotions that have expired, ads for products that no longer exist, or ads on foreign channels, all cases where the ads offer no current value to the advertiser or the viewer.
• Bring the OTT experience to Replay: Elevate catch-up and replay viewing experiences to be in line with OTT UX with shorter and personalized ads.
• Ad skipping subscription model: Offer a premium subscription that allows ad-skipping.

Ad Break Distillery builds on the same core technology as EPG Correction Distillery, Media Distillery’s product that detects a program’s true start and stop times, so that viewers have a VOD-like experience for catch-up and replay. EPG Correction Distillery today improves catch-up and replay experiences for over 1,000 channels around the globe.

Ed Barton, Caretta Research research director, says: “In today’s competitive media landscape every video platform can benefit from granular metadata to enhance the user experience and the potential for monetization. However, our research shows that creating good metadata can be an expensive and lengthy process especially for super-aggregators attempting to create a more immersive and visual user experience,” says.

“We’re seeing operators adopting Media Distillery’s technology to ensure catch-up and replay time markers are correct, the right key frame images are extracted and time markers for ad breaks are accurate, creating ad replacement revenue potential for video distributors and improving the viewing experience for audiences,” Barton adds.

Ad Break Distillery offers integration options. Through AI-powered video analysis, Ad Break Distillery generates ad break markers that can be integrated directly into the video platform or delivered via integration with a video service’s existing EPG metadata provider.