Medialaan Scoops IBC2018 Innovation Award For Content Distribution

Belgian TV Everywhere provider Medialaan scooped the highly coveted IBC2018 Innovation Award for Content Distribution for its remarkable advertising management system, developed using Yospace technology.

Viewers of Medialaan's Stievie TV Everywhere service benefit from tailored advertising, allowing them to catch up on live television while only seeing commercials that are fresh and relevant.

"Today's viewers are rapidly moving online and growing used to video with lighter ad load," said Tim Sewell CEO of Yospace. "Medialaan took the bold step to prioritise the OTT user experience over short-term advertising revenue potential. Long-term, its advertising will command a premium because it is targeted to the individual."

Viewers watching live channels on Stievie can rewind the live stream. What makes this solution unique is that, in startover mode, commercial breaks are made shorter by tailoring the spots to the individual, and breaks that have already been seen are made skippable, so the viewer can catch up with the live action.

While the amusing video describing the system to the audience at the IBC Awards Ceremony showed an infinite number of monkeys making the advertising selections for each viewer, the solution in fact depends upon the Yospace server-side ad insertion platform (SSAI). The result is a fully personalised, end-to-end stream management.

"Medialaan is absolutely delighted to win an IBC Innovation Award, surely the most prestigious prize in broadcast engineering," said Peter Coucke, solution architect at Medialaan. "I would like to thank Yospace for developing a truly ground-breaking, viewer-first solution for live monetisation, and IBC recognising what is a very forward-thinking project."

Michael Lumley, chair of the international panel of judges which selected Medialaan as one of just nine finalists across three categories, added: "This year's IBC Innovation Awards shortlist is a real global snapshot of the cutting edge of our industry, with all the hot topics of the moment represented, and entries from practically every corner of the globe. To make it to the final – and to win at IBC – is a tremendous achievement. Congratulations!"

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