Another NAB in the Books!
After a few days of rest and some time to reflect upon it, we can't help but think about the connections we made and the importance of in-person conversations. 2022 was a quiet return for NAB, after the enforced break for 2 years; this year felt like it was back and at full force, with busy halls and a real buzz and sense of ‘business as usual’.
Another NAB in the books! After a few days of rest and some time to reflect upon it, we can’t help but think about the connections we made and the importance of in-person conversations. 2022 was a quiet return for NAB, after the enforced break for 2 years; this year felt like it was back and at full force, with busy halls and a real buzz and sense of ‘business as usual’.
NAB is always an exciting experience, full of new technology, products, innovations, and a plethora of new buzzwords! This year’s event was no different, and while the latest AI technologies and monetization solutions certainly grabbed headlines and generated buzz, what truly made the event special was the people – a sentiment amplified by the fact most of us spent the last years primarily in virtual meetings.
Attending happy hours, learning from experts on the conference floor, impromptu encounters, and dinners with long-term clients and partners provided invaluable opportunities to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones. We were lucky enough to have a good, balanced mix across partners, clients, and new connections including: FX Digital, Bitmovin, Microsoft, NEP, Pix, Nevion, Three Media, Mux, Alice & Smith, Ease Live, Eluvio, Signiant, Tata, Phenix, and many others. We’d like to thank everyone for taking the time to meet with us in person and share some ideas, a meal, or a couple of beers.
From our perspective, some of the discussions that were front and center at the show were around monetization, user engagement (stickiness), and avoiding churn. These are obviously all related and have been key issues for VOD and live-streaming providers for some time, as they seek to maximize profitability while balancing the demands of consumers. That said, it was clear that AI was THE hot topic of the conference. It seemed like almost every exhibitor was trying to give themselves an AI angle! We saw numerous presentations, demos, and discussions focused on the potential applications of AI as it obviously has the potential to transform the way we work. But on the flip side, many exhibitors were still tentative about their exact AI offerings as we are still in the early stages.
Two areas caught our attention as they are close to the work we deliver for our clients. One of these is the use of AI in Media Asset Management (MAM) systems. AI-powered MAMs can assist with metadata tagging, asset organization, and asset retrieval. But even more so, AI can automatically recognize objects, people, and actions in video footage, and make it significantly simpler to surface specific content in a search and use it. This is an area we expect to see a significant change in over the next years as it has the potential to greatly enhance the capabilities of searching through assets – and that obviously also includes the end-user search experience.
Additionally, with the explosion of video streaming services, providers are turning to AI to provide personalized content recommendations, tailored to individual user preferences. We are starting to see technology to hyper-personalize user journeys based on user behaviour, preferences, or even the emotional state of users, which is detected by numerous factors throughout the experience. This leads to contextualized experiences and new content suggestions which aim at keeping users engaged for longer, and ultimately increase retention rates.
Thanks to everyone who met with us this year.
