Author: Tanya Rai

Miroslav Jeras, CTO, shares his predictions of 2023 trends within broadcast with TV Technology:

The growth in confidence to adopt virtualized playout workflows and transition to IP will continue, said Miroslav Jeras, Chief Technology Officer at Pebble, a provider of broadcast automation, playout, and management solutions.

“Broadcasters can deploy IP-based channels with less hardware whilst leveraging preferred workflows and with increased flexibility to launch and decommission event/pop-up channels quickly,” he said. “The importance of hosting this operational infrastructure in a standard data center environment is key. However, the transition to IP and virtualization isn’t seamless. Transporting media between premises and the cloud can be challenging and improving interoperability within the broadcast chain is in everyone’s interests. Working with a trusted vendor will be valued and adopting open standards geared towards on-prem installations, e.g., SMPTE 2110 and NMOS is encouraged. We predict new standards supporting cloud and hybrid systems will be published, which would be welcomed by both vendors and end users.”

Jeras concluded: “2023 will see the hybrid era persevere where on-prem and the cloud and interoperability with legacy systems will go hand in hand.”

Read the predictions of industry peers HERE.

Broadcast spoke to Miroslav Jeras, Pebble CTO about his 2023 predictions in broadcast tech:

“Broadcasters can deploy IP-based channels with less hardware whilst leveraging preferred workflows and with increased flexibility to launch and decommission event/pop-up channels quickly. The importance of hosting this operational infrastructure in a standard data centre environment is key. However, the transition to IP and virtualisation isn’t seamless.

“Transporting media between premises and the cloud can be challenging and improving interoperability within the broadcast chain is in everyone’s interests. Working with a trusted vendor will be valued and adopting open standards geared towards on-prem installations, e.g., SMPTE 2110 and NMOS is encouraged. We predict new standards supporting cloud and hybrid systems will be published, which would be welcomed by both vendors and end users.

“2023 will see the hybrid era persevere where on-prem and the cloud and interoperability with legacy systems will go hand in hand.”

Read the 2023 predictions of industry peers HERE.

Manuel featured in TVBEurope’s “Meet The” Series where they talk to a range of people working within the media and entertainment industry about their average working day in their roles. The piece can be found online here.

Talk us through an average day in your role  

No two days are the same and I wear two different hats! The first one is on a commercial/pre-sales basis – working closely in our sales team to work on quotes, technical offers, request for proposals, statement of works etc. The second is leading a team of Solutions Architects, making sure the teams needs are addressed, developing the team, assigning work, producing reports, improving internal processes to become more effective in how we deliver projects for our customers. I do all this from France and because our customer base here has increased, we now have new team members in the country to support the delivery of installing our software for TV channel playout in the region. All in all my role is multi-faceted covering operational efficiencies as well as driving sales revenue. 

How did you get started in the media industry? 

It was a bit by luck and opportunity. I started in Pebble in 2007 after graduating from an engineering school (with a focus on IT) in France. I wanted to work outside of France to gain international experience and decided to move to London. A customer support engineer role was advertised at Pebble and so I applied. I really liked the company, the culture and the role gave me the opportunity to travel. And because there were always new opportunities to grow I never left other than to have a sabbatical (to travel the world) and after that I returned back to France but continued to work for Pebble. 

What training did you have before entering the industry? 

I never received any broadcast training prior to joining Pebble, however the engineering diploma I studied at my IT Engineering School (the equivalent to a University) did help. When I first started I received internal training at Pebble to understand the media industry as a whole and how our solutions fit into the TV playout chain. And over the years I have continued to undergo several different types of training internally in order to deliver the best I can in the different types of roles I have worked in over the years. 

Why do you enjoy working in the industry? 

It’s the constant change in new technologies in the broadcast media industry that makes me enjoy it as much as I do. Things are changing quite quickly and at a really good pace – this keeps me interested in the sector and this is why I am still working at Pebble. It’s really exciting to be working on new workflows and technology and to see how what we do has such a positive impact in the way TV is broadcast to millions of homes right across the globe. And it’s such a small industry – you will always find friends and colleagues – it’s very sociable! 

What piece of advice would you offer someone looking to explore a role similar to yours? 

Be curious. And the soft skills are so important – being interpersonal, a ‘people person’, work on developing great communication and listening skills. If you like engaging with people, if you like technology and you like a variety of different challenges then being a Solutions Architect for a software company would be a great role to get into. Finally, be eager to learn and keep learning – this is true for every job but especially in broadcast. 

Miroslav Jeras, CTO at Pebble, talks here about virtualised playout, a topic on the minds of broadcasters right now as they come to terms with how it will affect their businesses, employees, customers and the wider industry.

The virtualisation of playout is not a new idea but its evolution accelerated rapidly as the pandemic took hold, changing the broadcast industry fundamentally within a timeframe that has not been seen before and, as Miroslav said, you would hope will not happen again.

“Effectively, the broadcast community turned on a dime,” he said. “Many pivoted, more or less overnight, to workflows to fit in with the patchwork of lockdown restrictions that were enacted around the world. If they had some of the required infrastructure already in place before the pandemic, they adapted it. If they did not, they quickly adopted it out of sheer necessity. “

The need to operate remotely, leveraging automation and using the cloud quickly became apparent, and concerns about adopting cloud workflows were soon alleviated. These changes were always going to happen, according to Miroslav – the pandemic just accelerated the process.

Remote Operation, Automation and the Cloud

“The move towards virtualised playout is one key long-term trend that those changes have promoted, and the benefits are considerable,” he said. “Virtualised playout enables broadcasters to deploy IP-based channels without the need for racks of proprietary hardware and without compromising preferred workflows. Meanwhile, the ability to launch and decommission channels for short term requirements has expanded tremendously, as well as the ability to host operational infrastructure in a standard data centre environment.

“That’s not to say that the process is seamless across the industry just yet. Depending on who you are working with and the kind of technology you’re using, the transportation of media between premises and the cloud can be challenging. These challenges can be mitigated by working with a vendor you can trust, who will carefully listen to your requirements and offer a solution that is right for your infrastructure and workflows. However, a need remains for more vendors and end users to adopt and embrace open standards, so that everyone uses virtualised playout systems in a compatible way.”

A difference of opinion also exists in terms of adopting a CAPEX or an OPEX model, based on the infrastructure already in place. “The key here is identifying what the challenge is and finding an appropriate solution to meet customer needs and access the benefits of using virtualised playout,” Miroslav said.

Read the article in full HERE.

Work with an expert partner to get the most out of your transition to IP

Click. That’s how simple SDI is – or was. Just plug in and you’re ready to go. No configuration, no network hassles. Easy. No wonder some broadcasters are hesitant to let go of their SDI workflows.

However, the fact is that IP is here to stay, and it brings a raft of benefits – scalability, flexibility and remote workflows. Media companies aren’t debating whether or not to move to IP technology, they’re looking at how to intelligently incorporate it into their business. This means finding a way for existing SDI gear and IP systems to play nicely with each other – and keep doing so into the future.

The vision of an all-IP facility isn’t practical for most broadcasters – unless of course they have plans to move premises and want to implement a technology refresh in the process. Otherwise, IP technology is going to be adopted piecemeal and slotted in where it makes the most sense, so it’s essential that these new parts of the workflow are integrated invisibly into the whole. IP connectivity needs to be as simple as the SDI set-up already in place.

Pebble has been closely involved in adopting and progressing the standards, which describe how to send media over an IP network, as well as the NMOS suite of protocols which provide an open and easy-to-use control-plane solution to leverage interoperability in managing IP-connected devices.

Read the article in full HERE.