Author: Zuzanna Lenart

Miroslav Jeras, CTO at Pebble, believes the Dynamic Media Facility (DMF) reference architecture and the Media eXchange Layer (MXL) are the areas which R&D needs to be laser-focused on in the coming years

What impact have the current global uncertainties had on Pebble’s R&D and product development in recent months?

Since the dark days of 2020, Pebble has been a completely remote company. Our staff, including our development teams, can be located anywhere. Equally, our customer base is also global: our successful installations can be found around the world.

This gives us a large degree of isolation from perturbations in specific geographies and markets. Our agility means we can quickly shift to address opportunities and avoid challenges.

More widely, the disruption of international trade has caused everyone to look carefully at how their businesses are structured. In our industry, what advertisers decide has a big impact on broadcasters, who in turn will either pause or, better, advance plans for technology, seeking the right platform to help them manage increasingly unpredictable complexity.

What do you foresee as the biggest challenges in R&D and product development/deployment in the coming years? 

Our business is software. We are continually evaluating the latest in software design techniques and functionality to best support our products. Our customers choose Pebble because we have a long-established reputation for reliability, so we only adopt new ideas and new ways of working when we are absolutely certain they meet our high standards of resilience.

One key issue that affects the media industry is the need for standards in interconnectivity. In the rush to software-defined technology, the temptation was for each vendor to push ahead with an architecture that best suited their specific needs. Our role in providing automation and orchestration often involves integrating signal and control flows across the products of multiple vendors, which potentially means providing the bridge between different control layers and operating systems.

It has become clear that interoperability through open standards in the area of control results in the ability to deliver reliable and feature-rich solutions even when working on large-scale systems with multiple vendors and platforms. The AMWA NMOS suite of specifications have, over the years, enabled discovery of media nodes (IS-04), establishing stream connections (IS-05) and more recently the ability to control various processing functions and monitor relevant status parameters that indicate health issues impacting workflows (IS-12 and BCP-008).

As industry bodies continue to lay out their vision for the future of software-defined media, initiatives like the Dynamic Media Facility (DMF) reference architecture and the Media eXchange Layer (MXL) aim to guide the industry by fencing off areas which are in immediate need of interoperability. These are the areas which R&D needs to be laser-focused on in the coming years by engaging with the initiatives, actively contributing, or even leading them.

Where do you see the most opportune areas for innovation in your area of the market?

Broadcast automation systems were originally created–even before we entered the market 25 years ago–to simplify and secure playout operations. Everyone recognised that the principal driver was to ensure accuracy in playout, gain a commercial edge through the ability to add or change commercials late, and to control operational costs and redeploy staff to more creative, fulfilling roles.

Broadcasters and media enterprises now need much more. They need support to make smarter decisions and to do so more quickly. Live content, and particularly sport, remains the killer app for broadcast, and delivering the best experience for audiences while maximising revenues opens new opportunities and brings new challenges.

Agility is a word used perhaps too often these days, but broadcasters are looking for more than just management of complexity; but actively driving innovation in unpredictable environments.

What are you working on that excites you as a product team, and what can we expect to see at IBC2025?

Our development programme is dependent on a dialogue between the product team and our users worldwide. It must be a genuine dialogue to combine today’s demands with the potential of new technology. Remember the quote (probably incorrectly) attributed to Henry Ford: “If I gave my customers what they asked for, it would be a faster horse”.

What can you expect to see at IBC? Of course, I’m going to say it will be really interesting but you’ll have to be in Amsterdam in September to find out the details.

This article was originally published in TVBEurope.

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In 2000, Pebble was founded with a clear purpose: to build the most dependable and capable automation solutions for broadcasters. Twenty-five years later, that vision remains firmly in place, refined, evolved and shaped by the transformation of media technology, audience expectations, and the increasing complexity of broadcast operations across the globe.

From the early days of robotic tape libraries and fiddly D-connectors to the software-defined, multi-channel, cloud-ready systems of today, playout has undergone a revolution. Pebble has lived that journey, not just witnessing the changes but driving them quietly, consistently, and with a singular focus on automation excellence.

Evolution with Purpose

At the turn of the millennium, automation systems were fundamentally about machine control: getting the right tape in the right VTR at the right time. Today, they manage hundreds of channels simultaneously, deliver content to multiple platforms, adapt dynamically to localisation requirements, and handle complex graphics, metadata and audio workflows.

Pebble’s strength has always been in anticipating change. We understood early that broadcasters needed not only scalable systems, but ones that are agile, secure, and able to support hybrid deployment models. That foresight is embedded in our flagship technologies: Pebble Automation, Integrated Channel, and Pebble Remote, which now underpin some of the most sophisticated playout environments in the world.

Trusted Across the MENA Region

Our journey over the last quarter-century has been shaped by partnerships with leading broadcasters, and nowhere is that more evident than in the MENA region. Pebble systems power a diverse set of operations, from high-profile public broadcasters to innovative media hubs pushing technical boundaries.

In Saudi Arabia, for example, Asharq Media will shortly start deploying a 3+3+3 SMPTE ST 2110 channel configuration using Pebble’s Integrated Channel and Automation platforms, enabling seamless redundancy for critical news delivery replicating their 3+3+3 2110 setup in the UAE that went on air five years ago and was one of the first 2110 NMOS-driven playout setups in the world. Also, in KSA, Intigral’s 8+8 channel expansion for Saudi Telecom brings together playout, ingest, and content management in one unified Pebble environment, simplifying workflows and futureproofing operations.

In Jordan, Al Mamlaka TV leverages Pebble’s technology for a tightly synchronised disaster recovery system, while Tanzania’s Azam Media has scaled up to 12 fully redundant channels, supporting their rapid growth.

These projects reflect the diversity and demands of today’s broadcast landscape. They also speak to why broadcasters in over 70 countries place their trust in Pebble.

Technology that Adapts

Modern computing can do almost anything. But not every solution is fit for the unique challenges of live broadcasting, especially in a world where viewers expect flawless delivery across multiple screens and platforms.

That’s why our systems are built with resilience, agility, and security at their core. Pebble Automation delivers five-nines uptime as standard. Integrated Channel allows customers to deploy playout wherever it makes most sense: on-premises, in the cloud, or both. And Pebble Remote provides secure, web-based control and monitoring, supporting remote operations that became vital during the pandemic and remain essential today.

We don’t dictate how broadcasters work. Instead, we provide tools that adapt to evolving workflows, that simplify operations, and that make it easy to do the right thing, even under pressure.

Looking Forward

Broadcasting has never stood still. As streaming platforms move into live and sports content, they are discovering just how hard live playout really is. Meanwhile, traditional broadcasters face their own pressures: rising costs, fragmented audiences, and the urgent need to modernise operations without disrupting on-air output.

Pebble is focused on helping them meet those challenges without compromise. Our approach combines proven technology with an openness to new ideas and continuous investment in our solutions.

The question broadcasters face today is not just about technology. It’s about viability. How do they deliver high-quality content, with all the customisation and flexibility today’s audiences demand, in a way that is sustainable, both financially and operationally?

Pebble’s answer is clear. With 25 years of experience, we’ve developed tools that deliver feature-rich playout, unmatched reliability, and trusted service. And as our customers in MENA and around the world have shown, the future belongs to those who choose solutions built to adapt.

This article was originally published in BroadcastPro Middle East.

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