Star India.

Leading the change in the Broadcast industry

News Corporation owned STAR TV, a leading media and entertainment company, commissioned global digital content services group Prime Focus Technologies (PFT, part of the Prime focus Group) to deploy the world's first integrated, multi-platform content operations infrastructure specifically for broadcasters. The infrastructure – based on PFT's award-winning CLEAR™ technology platform – manages end-to-end digital workflows. This unique initiative allows STAR TV to drive operational efficiencies within its organization, take more creative control of its content and leverage the opportunity to monetize new multi-platform delivery models.

The M&E industry in India was facing two major discontinuities:
1. Transition from tape to file and
2. An increasing number of platforms and content demands of each of these platforms.
Both these discontinuities meant substantial investment in new technology which is a proven and agile integrated solution that caters to content right from ingest to delivery. At the same time it was imperative to find a technological solution which drives cost efficiencies while adding new revenue streams.

Prime Focus Technologies will help STAR TV with three key components:
1. The creation of a dedicated network infrastructure connecting the digital media supply chain to STAR TV. Under this model, production companies, brands and advertising agencies are connected by PFT fiber to the broadcaster and ultimately to playout locations and multi-platform delivery channels to enable end-to-end file based operations.
2. The deployment of an integrated content operations platform. The CLEAR technology platform puts STAR TV's content at the center of its organization, enabling concurrent rather than sequential workflows and driving efficiency growths across the business.
3. The creation of multi-platform processing, packaging and delivery infrastructure. This component allows STAR TV to both monetize their content aided by data modeling and cataloguing, and to quickly customize content for distribution across different platforms.

Our offering to Star TV includes:

1. Content Acquisition as files:
a. Shows TX Masters, Program Edits, Rushes, Movies & TVC's
b. A ready high-speed network connecting the top production houses, advertisers, agencies and post houses.

2. Content Preparation & Delivery:
a. For Television: QC, Transcoding and delivery as file.
b. Other Platforms: QC, Conform, Packaging, Editing, Promo creation, delivery as file or stream.

3. Content Services:
a. Mastering & Bulk Digitisation.
b. Digital Archiving.
c. Sub-titling.
d. Cataloging.
e. Dubbing.
f. Restoration.

4. CLEAR portal for content access & workflow management.

By adopting the CLEAR platform, experience the following benefits:

1. Speed / Operational efficiencies:
a. Placing the content in the centre of the workflows has enabled concurrent workflows leading to reduction in time from acquisition to play-out.
b. Increase in speed of delivery of contents from creation to broadcast uplink and digital platforms.
c. Unified Multi-Platform processing at the acquisition stage itself, thereby allowing multi –platform delivery at no extra cost.
d. Reduction in error and elimination of piracy through concurrent subtitling
e. Format Agnostic as content is uploaded to the CLEAR platform in virtually any format.
f. Overall increased speed in content management.

2. Cost efficiencies and increased monetisation:
a. Savings in cost of tapes procurement, used for shooting & uplink.
b. Pay-as-you-use model has allowed STAR TV to shift Capital expenditure to Operating expenditure.
c. The infrastructure has been designed keeping in mind STAR TV's existing technology investments and the same have been incorporated.
d. Additional digital platforms have been incorporated at no additional cost, leading to increased monetisation opportunities.