June 25, 2009

TWC Picks TVN for Company-Wide VOD

Satellite VOD provider TVN Entertainment has entered into a long-term agreement with Time Warner Cable for a company-wide deployment of TVN's VOD platform. TVN will provide Time Warner with VOD content delivery services and asset management tools, including TVN's ADONISS interactive system. (For the initial announcement, click here.)

"TVN's ADONISS platform will be deployed across the entire MSO's footprint and supply content from every major network, including the processing of all Quick Clips and Media Sales Content," said Jim Riley, chief sales and strategy officer at TVN.

In a statement, Time Warner Cable's EVP and CTO Mike LaJoie said: "We are continually looking for innovative solutions to help us manage our infrastructure. TVN's ADONISS interactive asset management toolset provides us with unparalleled control over our VOD assets."

The ADONISS system is a software suite that manages the entire VOD operation, Riley said. It handles content ingest, content prep, security such as encryption and watermarking, metadata support, and distribution. Riley identified the ability to dynamically modify metadata as key.

"(It) allows content owners and distributors a way to optimize VOD by responding to usage patterns and trends and updating otherwise 'static' business rules in the metadata, thus generating incremental revenue for all stake holders and presenting a better quality of experience for consumers," he said.

TWC is currently using MPEG-2, based primarily on legacy set-top boxes, Riley said, but MPEG-4 is on the horizon.

"Today we distribute in excess of 8,000 hours of MPEG-2 content, so there's quite a bit of upside in that codec alone," he said. "However, the entire industry is reviewing enhanced techniques for bandwidth efficiency, which includes advanced codecs like H.264 (MPEG-4) and IPTV architectures that lend themselves to more efficient distribution models."

- Ron Hendrickson