Tandberg Intros CMS, Plans Ad Demos
Tandberg Television has introduced a centralized multiplatform content management system (CMS) for service providers. Its new WatchPoint CMS is designed for the centralized management of any metadata format, content type, and workflow process. The file-based content ingested into and stored in the CMS may include VOD programs, advertising, music, and games.
From a central location, WatchPoint CMS can manage assets coming from different content providers, via multiple ingest methods, and with different metadata.
Service providers need metadata separated from content assets, said Andrew Rowe, VP software product management at Tandberg. "For example, a service provider is getting an MPEG-2 asset in a CableLabs VOD metadata format, but may need an MPEG-4 to put on IP," he said. "They’re going to need a different format."
Although WatchPoint will be able to work with EBIF or tru2way set-tops, it doesn’t necessarily need to tie to interactive applications, said Rowe. It could help drive marketing promotions with metadata alone. For example, simple marketing promotions such as weekend price discounts can be set up and customized.
Tandberg will host the first public demonstrations of WatchPoint CMS at the NAB Show in Las Vegas later this month.
In other Tandberg news, at The Cable Show this week the company will demonstrate dynamic ad insertion and ad swapping into live, time-shifted program streams with its Xport Time-Shifted TV product for network-PVR integrated with its AdPoint platform.
The demonstration will show the capture of a live program on one screen, while on a second screen, the same program will be re-started with ad placements dynamically changed within the time-shifted stream. Xport Time-Shifted TV is both SCTE 35 and SCTE 130 compliant for ad insertion and features a centralized rights management engine. It supports all types of time-shifted TV variations such as Start Over, DelayTV, Operator Selectable or Subscriber Selectable Recording.
Xport was announced in September 2008.