An extension of the Dalet Galaxy five MAM, NRCS and Workflow Orchestration platform, Dalet OnePlay is a new-generation studio automation solution designed to modernize live productions, increase audience engagement and open up new revenue opportunities while optimizing operational costs and reliability. Dalet OnePlay was designed to be the perfect complement for show production, making it an ideal solution for newscasts, sports magazines, live and live-to-tape studio shows.

We sat down with Dalet OnePlay Product Line Manager Raul Alba before IBC 2018 to get the lowdown on how to transform live production with studio automation and unleash untapped opportunities for broadcasters.

With the wide range of playout and studio automation solutions available on the market today, what is the problem that Dalet OnePlay sets out to solve that the others haven’t been able to do?

Dalet OnePlay addresses three main problems that show productions face today:

1. How to create and distribute more content to more platforms using the same resources
2. How to mitigate operational errors across the media workflow
3. How to ensure seamless collaboration between the newsroom and the control room

Most broadcasters cannot afford to run every production device manually. It’s simply too costly and too cumbersome. Dalet OnePlay solves this and much much more. With a modern and efficient web-based user interface, which runs both on desktop and tablet, Dalet OnePlay offers an intuitive experience to control all core production device types, including video switchers and servers, cameras, audio mixing consoles, graphics, lighting, routers and more.

Unlike most playout and studio automation systems that rely on standard protocols like MOS to integrate with the newsroom, Dalet OnePlay is natively part of the same media workflow platform: Dalet Galaxy five. This offers full, bi-directional collaboration between the newsroom or show preparation team and the control room. For example, the timing information and duration of a show – elements that can change on the fly – are available in real time to every user. They collectively have more control over what’s happening during the show and have the ability to make critical adjustments or fine tuning on upcoming stories as the show is happening.

As a result, everything can be controlled both from the production side and from the editorial side, and users will know what will play at what moment and what is automated; you have more control not only over the editorial content of your stories, but also over how precise the playout will be. This reliable, flexible and efficient workflow allows media organizations to shift their operations forward and get more content to more platforms in a shorter time frame using the same resources, all while ensuring audiences receive consistent and high-quality experiences across all devices.

Further to that, Dalet OnePlay offers a very lean and flexible experience for mixed workflows where certain events are scheduled and played automatically and others are adjusted and played manually according to what’s happening live inside (and outside) the studio.

Last but perhaps one of the most important aspects is the native connectivity between Dalet OnePlay, the Dalet Workflow Engine and the Dalet Galaxy five MAM platform. This is a very unique and powerful combination that enables producers and editorial teams to associate rule-based automated processes as a macro or secondary event of the show. This means they can schedule and automate social media posts or any custom distribution workflow with any element from the library in synchronization with the show. For instance, a post teasing audiences on social media before a guest comes in, or a trailer with the best plays from recent games before a sport magazine starts. While some of this happens today, it’s largely done manually, and by large broadcasters who have the resources to do so. Orchestrating and automating these provide limitless options while opening it up to content creators with fewer resources and will redefine how audiences can be engaged on many devices before, during and after your show!

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What viewing statistics are driving the need for this type of playout and live production workflow with multiplatform distribution that media organizations should be aware of?
 

According to eMarketer, there are at least 162 million US adults monthly using a smartphone as second-screen device while watching TV. Yes, that’s about 50% of the US population!

Broadcasters need to tease their audience on social media by sending timely updates and notifications directly to their mobile devices in order to maximize engagement and retention. As eMarketer very rightly points out, “few viewers are giving the TV set their undivided attention” nowadays.

In the past, our customers had to produce content for single outlets; now they have to produce for many complementary channels. Some of this content is produced live, and the time to make it available on social media, online or over the top to any other outlet must be as short as possible. Without a tight connection between playout and posting on non-traditional outlets, broadcasters are more likely to lose time and thus make their content less valuable. By shortening this time and automating the publishing to different outlets, they are adding value to the content that’s being generated.

What kinds of operational efficiency savings and new revenue opportunities can be achieved with Dalet OnePlay?

Optimizing operational expenses is a key factor for every customer. We all know that in today’s competitive landscape, broadcasters need to produce more content than ever before. And they have to produce it to the highest quality standards, in a shorter period of time, for more devices at the same budget – if not a more reduced budget. Dalet OnePlay helps broadcasters automate operations and increase agility, ultimately streamlining their entire show production workflow.

The tightly connected, modern workflow eliminates any lag time between when the actual production happens and when this content can become available online. As long as everything is properly prepared, the segment that should be published to social media will be automatically cut and published with all corresponding graphics and digital assets. Indeed, an Instagram post will need different graphics and have a different aspect ratio in comparison to a Facebook, Twitter or YouTube post.

As a result, broadcasters can add more value to their content and open up additional revenue streams. Resources are freed to create more and higher quality content that will further  engage and retain audiences, thus scaling their production output and increasing ROI.

How will Dalet OnePlay support the evolution of viewer habits over time?

Dalet OnePlay was created for constant production of studio shows and events – one of the few pieces of content that millennials are actually watching live, be that on traditional TV or more likely, online and OTT. By working with a system that enables reliable, consistent and orchestrated output of quality content before, during and after the show, at a lower cost and on multiple platforms and devices, content creators can become more successful and strengthen audience retention while driving new viewers to their content channels.
 

Want to go further? Meet Raul and the Dalet Team at IBC2018!