Harmonic And Sony Partner To Demonstrate New SaaS Technology For ATSC 3.0 Hybrid Service Delivery At the 2019 NAB Show

Posted by Harmonic

Harmonic and Sony Electronics announced an innovative demonstration of advanced, hybrid ATSC 3.0 functionality that expands cloud services and enhances the end-consumer experience for ATSC 3.0 TVs. Harmonic’s VOS^®360 SaaS delivers both the over-the-air (OTA) and the over-the-top (OTT) components of hybrid services that run on advanced TV software developed by Sony Electronics. At the 2019 NAB Show, Harmonic will demonstrate its unified solution with Sony Electronics, highlighting practical hybrid services use cases that are currently implemented at the Chicago 3.0 ATSC 3.0 trial by Weigel Broadcasting Co. The implementation reflects both companies’ commitment to enabling the innovative capabilities of the ATSC 3.0 standard and support for the successful deployment of hybrid ATSC 3.0 services.

“With ATSC 3.0, broadcasters are taking a giant step toward delivering the best of what over-the-air and over-the-top have to offer,” said Jason Clement, vice president of software development at Sony Electronics. “Our activity with Harmonic is already making a huge impact on the next generation of television, as evidenced by the Chicago 3.0 deployment. We continue to be enthusiastic about ATSC 3.0’s ability to deliver dynamic new viewing experiences for consumers.”

“The delivery of hybrid services is a breakthrough capability of ATSC 3.0 that combines the latest improvements in over-the-air TV with a more personalized experience for viewers,” said Kyle Walker, vice president, technology at Weigel. “Using Harmonic’s ATSC 3.0 SaaS and Sony Electronics’ innovation in the TV software, Weigel was able to launch hybrid services quickly and with minimal equipment at our Chicago 3.0 test station.”

The ATSC 3.0 technologies developed by Harmonic and Sony fully support the delivery of hybrid services, in which some components of the service are delivered over the air and some components are delivered over a broadband connection. Using DASH on both delivery paths provides the common layer that unifies broadcast and OTT, making it possible for broadcasters to implement hybrid services without reinventing an entire streaming ecosystem.

The advanced applications shown at the NAB Show will include occasional UHD with seamless adaptability based on bandwidth, time-shift TV with trick-play, catch-up and start-over requests served over broadband, accelerated channel change, and robust OTA delivery by combining broadcast and broadband. The demonstration’s broadband connection between Harmonic’s VOS360 SaaS and Sony connected TVs illustrates how the companies’ innovations support the delivery of targeted content, including addressable advertising, allowing broadcasters to offer a more personalized user experience and open up new monetization opportunities.

“Collaborating with Sony — one of the biggest drivers of innovation in the media and entertainment industries — we are able to bring the promise of hybrid ATSC 3.0 television services to life using our award-winning VOS360 SaaS solution,” said Tim Warren, senior vice president and chief technology officer at Harmonic. “A year ago we touched on the potential of ATSC 3.0 hybrid services, and we are excited to demonstrate an actual implementation that has successfully been deployed in the real world at this year’s NAB Show.”

Harmonic will demonstrate its ATSC 3.0 solutions for hybrid service delivery at the 2019 NAB Show, April 8-11, in Las Vegas at Booth SU810.―BCS Bureau