IBC: Planetcast Media Services To Showcase Its NexC Unified Cloud-First Offering

Planetcast Media Services, a global broadcast technology and media services provider, will be demonstrating its new end-to-end, single-window media management and delivery offering at IBC 2024 in the Amsterdam RAI Convention Center, Sept. 13-16, in Booth 5.H59. The event will witness the public EMEA debut of Planetcast’s cloud-first NexC architecture. NexC “empowers media companies to overcome the complexity challenge of today’s distribution landscape, enabling frictionless movement of content assets across each stage of post-production, content management, distribution, and monetization,” the company said.

“We are showcasing NexC’s capability to solve the complexity challenge faced by media companies today as they deal with even more formats, markets, devices, and distribution points than ever,” says Sanjay Duda, Planetcast Media Services CEO. “Media organizations find it increasingly cumbersome and costly to navigate the various stages of post-production, content delivery and monetization. Our in-house development team of over 250 professionals are meticulously building and upgrading NexC to offer a seamless integration of media asset management, cloud playout, over-the-top (OTT), and IP distribution. In addition to developing the NEXC product roadmap, the team also provides bespoke solutions tailored to specific customer needs, significantly reducing time and cost compared to outsourcing.”

As a comprehensive, cloud-based service suite, Planetcast says NexC “offers a unique Platform as a Service (PaaS) proposition. It integrates content supply chain management with upstream services like post production and content prep as well as downstream services like cloud playout, digital delivery, FAST and OTT into a single system, streamlining operations and enabling clients to meet the complexity challenge of today’s media industry.”

Duda explained: “NexC pairs flexible workflows with product-level customization, providing the best of both worlds. Its ability to scale and deploy solutions at significantly lower cost is highly popular among CTOs & CFOs with tight budgets.”

NexC integrates content supply chain management, content preparation, metadata enrichment, tagging, subtitling, dubbing, editing, playout, OTT platforms and FAST channels into a single system. The platform’s architecture is built on several core components, each accessible through Planetcast’s unified customer user interface (UI) and dashboard:

• Contido – content supply chain orchestration and media asset management
• Content preparation and localisation services – a full suite of core technical post-production services from quality control, technical and compliance checks to subtitling, dubbing, editing, and re-scoring
• RECASTER – a dynamic and robust IP transport solution, which delivers a secure internet stream from anywhere to anywhere, be it a linear channel or a live sports stream
• Scheduling, playout and distribution through Cloud BATS scheduler, Cloud.X playout and RECASTER digital delivery platforms
• MediaHQ – a white-labelled OTT solution for non-linear content distribution that has delivered complex, multi-award-winning online streaming solutions, from ingest to delivery, for major brands and live events worldwide, including the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, and Formula 1 for customers such as Foxtel Australia and Media Prima Malaysia
• FAST channel services – provided by Planetcastacross the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia, in tandem with established ad-tech partners in USA, Europe and Asia.

In addition to the core components of NexC, Planetcast’s team will also talk about the company’s other services, including:

• Post-production – a software and cloud-curated ecosystem of services with a high degree of process automation, plus AI-enabled capabilities to provide best of class services at impressive turnaround times and competitive rates
• Playout Disaster Recovery – cloud-based DR solution that provides incredibly cost-effective protection against broadcast service disruption

Duda said: “Our acquisition of Switch Media earlier this year highlights our drive to expand our solutions portfolio to provide customers with proven world-class OTT capabilities. As audiences become more reachable, we recognize that there is a growing need to leverage technology that will empower media companies to open new markets and broaden their audience-base. Switch Media’s modular and flexible solutions and versatile workflow engine, Planetcast ensures that its customers can power exceptional online content for viewers and drive OTT monetization.”