7ericssonBroadcasting television to mobile telephones has been tried intensively and the costs have been sky high. However, obviously, it is worth the efforts. Ericsson’s mobile broadcasting technology in bearing more and more fruits, making the company the largest provider of mobile infrastructure by now. At this year’s NAB Show, Ericsson Broadcast Services showcased the value it can bring to broadcasters and content owners around the world, besides address the challenges of the rapidly-changing TV market environment.

As broadcasters come under increasing pressure from the technical complexities of multi-screen video delivery, together with an ever-more competitive landscape and fragmented audience, Ericsson responded with the debut of its Broadcast Services business at NAB Show 2013, in Las Vegas, USA. The new division combines the global services expertise of Ericsson with the deep broadcast industry track record of Technicolor’s Broadcast Services division, which Ericsson acquired in July 2012.

Thorsten Sauer, Head of Broadcast Services at Ericsson, says: "While the TV and media domain is becoming increasingly competitive, with a proliferation of new players and platforms, it is existing broadcasters that are in pole position to build on their brand profile and viewer loyalty to take the lead in the next generation of TV anywhere.“

Indeed, while these broadcasters are leaders in content, they face the challenge of adapting to the fast-changing and complex technological landscape, and of responding to viewers’ changing demands and patterns of consumption.

"Most broadcasters do not have the time, the scale or the infrastructure to adapt effectively to today’s technical challenges such as media asset management, multi-platform multi-screen delivery, archiving and disaster recovery”, Thorsten Sauer added.

Outsourcing technical and operation management is the natural answer to broadcasters’ challenges, according to Ericsson. It enables them to focus on engaging their viewers and delivering the TV experiences that consumers want, not to mention making significant operational and capital savings by assuming responsibility for technical platforms, while speeding time-to-market and minimizing business continuity risks and tackling the challenges broadcasters today face.

Without doubt, Ericsson can provide huge value to the TV industry, since it is one of the undisputed leaders in both skills and global delivery of managed services for telecoms, and serves more than 950 million subscribers worldwide. By managing over 1.5 million hours of broadcast TV every year to world-class standards, for more than 200 channels, the company’s strong broadcast services foothold can’t be denied.

By Daniela La Marca