DirecTV’s forthcoming multi-platform on-demand service – covering set-top, Web and mobile content – will be enabled by the WatchPoint Workflow System from Ericsson’s Tandberg Television unit.
WatchPoint is a workflow management system that streamlines and automates the creation, management and distribution of media assets in multiple formats (e.g., MPEG-4 AVC high definition and standard definition, Windows Media and Flash video) to various platforms.
It is based on what TandbergTV warrants is an open, extensible architecture, which makes it able to integrate with multiple internal and external systems, including in-house proprietary, third-party and, of course, other TandbergTV products. TandbergTV said its system can adapt to customers’ existing workflow processes, and that it scales in volume and complexity to support new and expanding service offerings.
Hanno Basse, DirecTV vice president of Broadcast Systems Engineering, said, “Tandberg Television simplified a complicated process by automating our entire on-demand workflow, so we could focus our efforts on delivering a compelling lineup of video-on-demand services to our customers.”
DirecTV’s new on-demand service will launch later this fall. The company said it will offer thousands of titles, including movies, music and television shows through its DirecTV Plus HD DVR.