Seeking to meet increasing customer appetites for on-demand video, Verizon unveiled new wholesale delivery capabilities this week designed to help entertainment and media companies deliver personalized video content to smartphones, tablets and other devices. The announcement was made at this week’s National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference being in Las Vegas, with Turner Broadcasting, Hearst Magazines and The Associated Press among the first to explore Verizon Digital Media Services.
The Verizon Digital Media Services (VDMS) solution will automate processes needed to format, manage, and deliver digital media to virtually any device or platform on a large scale, according to the company’s statement. The automation of what was a manual process will help content owners and digital retailers more effectively produce and distribute programming, helping content owners and digital media retailers address mass-market content management and distribution challenges. It will also ultimately enable “unicast” video streams to wide range of viewing screens based on individual consumer preferences.
In a prepared statement, Mike Millegan, president of Global Wholesale at Verizon said, “Verizon is creating a first-of-its-kind automated digital utility. With this unique delivery platform, built on top of Verizon’s high-IQ infrastructure, content owners, entertainment companies and digital media retailers will be able to create new business models that capitalize and deliver on the promise of digital entertainment.”
While most of the patent-pending technology is being created by Verizon, the company is also teaming with multiple technology software and hardware suppliers to develop the solution including Technicolor, Motorola, and Alcatel-Lucent. The new service will leverage Verizon’s global IP backbone and data center infrastructure.
Our observation: Verizon has invested heavily in cloud-based software and applications as a service for the business. Their move to “un-complicate” video delivery to personal devices in a cloud-based IP network also presents a win-win opportunity for Verizon, content supplies, and end-users, and it is a natural evolution both for the company and the industry.
