A study by Rethink Research predicted that global rights sporting revenue would grow by as much as 75% over the next five years. Collaborative processes were especially set to play a significant role in this shift and that’s only becoming more true as pandemic life makes the ability to work remotely even more critical.
Now, sporting broadcasters face a reality in which success largely rests on their ability to deliver live sports to anyone from anywhere. In fact, as many sporting teams consider games behind closed doors, developing your capabilities in this area could be your only way to weather lockdown.
Media asset management (MAM) software is the best chance you have of achieving this goal, allowing as it does for remote collaborations that you don’t need to bend over backwards to achieve. Instead, automation, proxies, and more can add ease to even your most recently implemented processes. We’re going to look at how MAM solutions make that possible, and just how much your remote team could benefit from speedy implementation.
MAM’s technical bedrock
The majority of processes behind high-quality MAM implementations are nothing new. Still, systems like these bring those elements for success together in one, centralized platform. These then stand to form the technical bedrock of your remote processes, and they are -
Proxies
Independent of master copies, proxies are compressed versions of media files, reduced by as much as 98% in some cases. These have been floating around the sports broadcasting world for a while as even leading contenders like NFL shift away from traditional broadcasting services. And, as remote processes become a necessity rather than a choice, quality proxies are fast becoming a non-negotiable aspect of production.
The benefits that remote teams can enjoy from using proxies are ten-fold, and include vital considerations such as:
- Online editing without excessive bandwidth
- Ease when conforming with master copies
- Cloud-based storage/editing capabilities
And these are just a few of the main features. In short, quality proxies are the springboard on which remote processes become possible. And, high-quality MAM software allows for automated, quality proxy creation that can get that ball rolling without increasing your workload in the slightest.
Permissions
Sports broadcasting is a comprehensive process, relying on everyone from the club themselves to the editing team that bring games together for comprehensive viewing. As such, the ability to grant permission becomes more important here than ever before. After all, while you need to keep files safe and secure, you also don’t want to have to manually send clips to every relevant party.
Luckily, MAM implementations solve this setback too, by offering unrivalled permission-based capabilities. Most notably, systems allow you to set and save specific permissions, as well as assigning new users with ease. Aside from making it possible for you to tailor who can access which individual sporting clip, additions such as watermarking also make it possible for you to trace edits back to their sources as necessary.
Multi-user access
As mentioned, sports broadcasting involves many different people at any given time, even during the editing process. Not only will editors need to collaborate throughout projects on everything from commentaries to the clips used, but team managers may also want to overlook results as they develop.
For this reason, the multi-user access offered by MAMs is yet another invaluable benefit. Effectively, this addition allows you to take the collaborative processes possible in-office, and interpose them onto a remote landscape.
This is an effect that’s made possible thanks to a few different MAM features, including:
- Traceability for real-time team editing
- Integration with various editors (Adobe Premiere, Avid Media Composer, etc.)
- Cloud-based capabilities
Access to archive material
It’s also vital to note that successful remote broadcasting is about more than just real-time file editing, especially in the sporting world. The need to create highlight reels and recap shows means that archive access also takes on new levels of importance. And, this is yet another benefit MAMs make possible thanks to their metadata environments.
Such software offers a range of focused metadata benefits, any of which can take your team’s Ctrl+F search capabilities to levels they’ve never reached before. These include:
- Automated detection technologies (speech, object, etc.)
- Streamlined metadata ingestion
- Pre-selected archive terms
- Automated captioning
- And more
Key takeaways
- MAMs take the pain out of proxy creation
- Permissions allow for secure remote processes
- Multi-user access makes collaboration possible across even vast distances
- Searchable archives add ease to editing that even in-house teams struggle with
The collaborative workflows that MAM makes possible
In many ways, the technical MAM bedrocks mentioned above speak for themselves from a remote standpoint. Still, implementing any broadcasting shift of this kind can be daunting, especially when so many other sporting frontrunners are already championing this style of working. That’s why you may also want to think about the following ways that the above benefits can allow for collaboration that removes your broadcasting pain points at last.
Real-time editing
Ultimately, every MAM bedrock leads towards the real-time remote editing that your team will rely on for success here. Proxies and multi-user access mean that teams can easily edit media files from even standard broadband connections, while permissions and archive improvements can eliminate any delays that remote working may otherwise bring. The ability to trace edits as they happen could even see teams working together as well as they would if they were sitting right next to each other every step of the way.
Secure cloud sharing
Security is always a concern when you consider remote working, as this business model, by its very nature, means putting files onto potentially insecure networks. This is a risk that MAMs eliminate with the help of secure cloud sharing that uses everything from watermarks to preset permissions for traceability at all times. Far from risking your media, you may well find that applications like these make it easier than ever for you to oversee what’s happening at each stage of the editing process.
Much-needed oversight
Speaking of oversight, this is another notable remote benefit that you’ll find from your MAM implementation. High-quality solutions allow for ultimate editor control. Most obviously, this applies in the permissions setting we’ve already discussed, where you can literally cherry-pick who sees what, and even when that permission ends. The right platform will also allow you to take over productions as you see fit, and even add comments in real-time for smoother, faster editing processes overall.
Key takeaways
- MAM makes real-time editing easier than ever
- Security never needs to be a worry with MAM capabilities
- Oversight is possible from every angle with high-quality applications
MAM solutions offer sports broadcasters a remote hole-in-one
As over the top (OTT), platforms continue to take the sporting helm, broadcasters across the industry are feeling the increasing need for innovation and remote processes. Even before restrictions on large sporting events, each of the four top sports leagues was offering direct to consumer streaming. Now, that figure is much higher, and broadcasting teams need to work hard to keep up with this demand.
MAM software offers the ideal platform on which to do that by allowing remote processes that are, in many instances, easier than even the in-house efforts you’ve relied on until now. Even if you’ve avoided making changes in the past, your team — and your revenue — will surely thank you for taking the plunge and considering how remote work can become a permanent part of production moving forward.
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