At the NAB Show in Las Vegas, Tightrope Media Systems will unveil a software upgrade for its Cablecast broadcast automation platform for live and on-demand online video content. Version 6.1 adds features intended to address viewing habits across smartphones and tablets, along with open APIs to maximize front-end presentation flexibility for community TV station web developers.
A new VOD Chaptering capability in version 6.1 is designed to allow users to insert chapter markers at important points in the content, along with searchable descriptions of the marked events. Viewers watching the VOD version of a program can jump directly to a section of interest, such as a council meeting agenda item or a scoring play in a sporting event.
VOD programming and live streams are accessible online through the new Cablecast Public Site, which provides a front-end layout of a TV station's schedule, live streams, VOD content and programming highlights. Category names are customizable, and galleries can be updated dynamically based on customer-defined search criteria.
For customers with multiple channels, the site now allows viewers to switch between channels - for example, from public access to education. The Cablecast Reflect cloud-based service continues to offer customers the ability to deliver Cablecast's adaptive bit rate H.264 streams.
Each Cablecast system comes standard with the Cablecast Public Site, a ready-to-use website that stations can serve as a standalone web portal, or integrate into existing websites. Since all Cablecast 6.1 functionality is now built on open-source APIs, web developers can incorporate Cablecast web display features and custom applications into their own websites.
Cablecast 6.1 also features an overhauled reporting engine, including an updated user interface and new functionality. A new First Run report lists all content that ran for the first time during a specified period for one or more channels to help stations comply with franchise authority reporting requirements.