Eluvio Launches Content Fabric For Internet Video Distribution

Eluvio Inc. today announced the launch of the Eluvio Content Fabric, a novel software platform for content owners to manage and distribute premium video (live and on-demand) to consumers and business partners without content delivery networks (CDNs). It enables content owners to deliver ultra-low latency, high quality video content — and reduce their reliance on complex and costly transcoding services, cloud storage providers, and aggregators. Monetization, versioning, dynamic personalization and rights control are intrinsic, making possible whole new classes of entertainment experiences.

The Eluvio Content Fabric’s patent-pending architecture was created by a team led by Michelle Munson and Serban Simu, the founders of Aspera and inventors of the FASP fast file transport protocol. Recognizing the inefficiencies and costs associated with video delivery, they founded Eluvio to address some of the hardest challenges facing today’s premium content owners.

The Eluvio Content Fabric is a global software overlay network that enables just-in-time video distribution directly from the source (stream or file). It eliminates the need to create additional copies of files used in distribution networks or storage facilities using a novel representation of media and data protocol implemented in a blockchain network to create a transformational direct-to-consumer media distribution platform. Eluvio has pioneered innovation in content-centric design, blockchain data protocols, machine learning, in-network processing and transport, and programmable media to create the Eluvio Content Fabric.

Eluvio is collaborating with multiple content providers to refine features in the platform. For example, MGM Studios, a premier public customer, is using the Eluvio Content Fabric for global streaming to web, mobile and TVE audiences of certain properties, including transcoding, multi-format encryption and DRM, access control, and audience reporting. The deployment is part of MGM’s innovation of a next-gen supply chain.

“The economics of today’s video ecosystem is defined and hampered by yesterday’s technologies, and we aim to change that,” said Michelle Munson, CEO and co-founder of Eluvio. “The Eluvio Content Fabric enables content owners to manage and distribute video and large form content in ways never before possible, opening publishers to more direct monetization opportunities, and reducing costs by minimizing core bandwidth and storage, and radically streamlining the traditional media distribution workflow.”

“At MGM, we’re constantly looking for new technology that can improve both our operations and the consumer experience,” said Jim Crosby, senior vice president, Digital at MGM Studios. “The deployment of the Eluvio Content Fabric started as an experiment to test this promising new technology, and it has exceeded expectations. It has delivered ultra-fast video loading, high quality playback, and a cost-efficient solution eliminating separate aggregation, transcoding and CDN services – and with its blockchain, provides us the ability to transact business directly on the content. We look forward to more to come with Eluvio.”

Key Capabilities and Benefits

The Eluvio Content Fabric provides a global software network that composes and distributes media dynamically. Key capabilities and benefits include:

• Single Source Video Experience: Output media is built just-in-time via the Fabric’s programmable software engine. This enables live, linear, on-demand or hybrid channel combinations to be served from the same source without pre-generating or distributing any files or versions across the network or storage facilities — saving distribution time, resources and costs.
• Ultra-Low Latency Delivery Without CDNs:In-network transport and transcoding are coupled with a novel representation and distribution of media that avoids all “copying” of file versions. This A/V pipeline transcodes, packages and delivers live and on-demand 4K video in real time, and intelligently routes content in the overlay network for the highest quality client experience. For live broadcasts, it delivers video globally with less than 3 seconds latency from start of ingest of the origin stream to the player.  For on-demand streaming, the time to first byte happens in a few hundred milliseconds with smooth playback at maximum client bandwidth.
• Trustless End-to-End Content Protection:It employs a state-of-the art zero trust encryption that protects content from the infrastructure from ingest through playout. Trusted operations on unencrypted content are protected by blockchain consensus and ledger reporting.
• Built-in Monetization and Audience Reporting: Every media asset is backed by a built-in blockchain contract which controls access to the content. This means all authorizations and accounting of a content’s life cycle — from audience reporting to rights management to version history — are realizable directly in the Eluvio Content Fabric, recorded in its ledger, provable, and tamper free.
• Personalization, Advertising, and Dynamic Content: All types of dynamic advertising, interactive experiences, and programming possibilities can be created using loadable code and blockchain contracts. Metadata and runnable code stored with the video/asset are read and bound to the output content on demand at the time of the request. This creates the ultimate flexibility for programming and availability windows which can be updated without remaking or redistributing any new versions.
• Persistent Versioned Media and Metadata: Metadata is stored with content objects, including time-coded tags, and is fully reusable by any tool or process interacting with the Eluvio Content Fabric. All content and its associated metadata and code is automatically versioned.
• Open Platform APIs for Developers: Open APIs allow content distributors to use the Eluvio Content Fabric to stream 4K/HD/SD video in all adaptive bit rate formats (DASH, HLS, etc.) to web, mobile, Smart TV platforms, IP STBs and game consoles with the appropriate DRM packaging. Custom and dynamic content, including graphics, advertising, or interactive hot spots can be deployed using the Content Fabric bitcode, and asset versions can be efficiently updated and managed via core APIs. Open source developer APIs are available here.

The Eluvio Content Fabric will be showcased during a series of open houses at IBC 2019 (Sept. 13-17, RAI Amsterdam) in Hall 1, balcony suites BS8 and BS9, demonstrating live, OTT, on-demand, linear, and recorded video experiences. To register for these events or to book a private meeting, visit  http://www.eluv.io/ibc2019.

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