TV TECH: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2024 NAB Show?
STEVE REYNOLDS: The 2024 NAB Show is going to feature a number of technologies and solutions that focus on the rapidly evolving CTV segment, which includes streaming, FAST and AVOD. The focus of those trends is going to shift this year from technical enablement toward a more business-savvy view of “how can we do this profitably?” We’ve all seen the broad industry move toward ad-supported models for CTV, so that will be a key topic this year.
NAB Show will also continue to highlight the technologies that empower migration to cloud, such as virtualized production and playout, as well as the inevitable transition to SMPTE ST 2110. We’re starting to see how those technologies are being folded into the mainstream of the TV business, because they enable more cost-effective, more scalable, and more flexible solutions to the challenges of multisite and multimodal operations.
TVT: What will be your most important product news?
REYNOLDS: In January of 2024, Imagine announced the acquisition of the REV broadcast sales and order management platform from Marketron. This product is a significant addition to our portfolio of cross-platform advertising solutions. Rereleased within the Imagine portfolio as CrossFlight, the cloud-based platform will enable proposals, sales and order execution across all video inventory types, including linear, digital and CTV. CrossFlight is going to allow buyers to create cross-platform campaigns to combine reach and impressions across all these forms of inventory and empower sellers to represent that converged inventory to fulfil those campaigns.
Imagine will also be highlighting the latest advancements in our Aviator platform. Aviator is our comprehensive solution for multisite and multimodal origination, enabling broadcasters and publishers to create unified environments that serve linear, digital and CTV streaming. At NAB Show, we will feature advanced capabilities for multisite orchestration and automation, which are aimed at creating the most flexible, scalable and cost-effective playout systems in the industry.
TVT: How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?
REYNOLDS: CrossFlight represents the first OMS (Order Management System) in the industry that will be truly audience-aware across all inventory types. At Imagine, we have long advocated that the OMS must represent the entire audience as a single view of inventory—rather than having siloed audiences across delivery platforms (linear, addressable, on-demand, FAST, etc). CrossFlight will empower exactly that view—giving sellers the ability to aggregate the audience to enable cross-platform revenue and optimization, while giving buyers the ability to optimize reach, frequency and pacing in a set of campaigns that adhere to the well-established set of broadcast-quality rules.
Aviator is the leading orchestration and automation platform for media companies that are moving towards hybrid operations. Rather than taking the approach of building separate and distinct operational platforms for linear, streaming, FAST or other CTV models, Imagine has created a truly unified solution with a converged automation layer, a consistent user interface, and the ability to plug in media supply chain components and playout engines from other vendors. We believe this open approach to integration and orchestration provides our customers with the lowest total cost of ownership, as well as the most flexible path to implementation.
TVT: What is it about NAB Show that brings you back every year?
REYNOLDS: NAB Show is the highlight of the year for Imagine, every year. It’s a unique opportunity to talk to our customers, to learn from other experts at the conference sessions, and to showcase our innovations. The organizers of the conference and the exhibits do an amazing job, given the sheer scope and scale of the show. We’re always delighted with the opportunities they provide for Imagine to share the lessons we have learned, the advancements we have made, and the exciting new products and solutions we are bringing to the market.
