Fincons to present Smart Digital Platform compatible with both HbbTV and ATSC 3.0

Wednesday, November 13th, 2019
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Fincons Group have been shortlisted for the 8th HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2019

MILAN — Fincons Group, a leading IT business consultancy, is delighted to announce it will be showcasing its latest endeavor, the Smart Digital Platform for media and broadcast businesses, at this year’s HbbTV Symposium and Awards taking place 21-22 November 2019 in Athens. The solution is the first to be entirely compatible with both European HbbTV and new USA ATSC 3.0 standards.

Fincons Smart Digital Platform (SDP) is a flexible and fully customisable modular framework designed to provide Hybrid TV and OTT solutions and to act as an accelerator for new services scenarios. As such it is built to integrate with the latest standards, but it is also ready to be expanded and personalised as new technology becomes available. The SDP tool stems from Fincons’ pioneering experiences with HbbTV applications, such as the well-known Mediaset Play service, as well as ATSC applications. As the two standards continue to evolve and provide each other with new learnings and inspiration, Fincons has leveraged its unique role in the development of both standards to design the first platform that is truly compatible with both: a unique opportunity for international entertainment businesses and broadcasters especially in a market environment that is seeing more and more international players join forces -and content- to leverage their assets and reach broader sections of the market well beyond national boundaries.

The SDP framework distributes functionalities in logical “SMART” modules intended to be the “building blocks” for any Hybrid TV solution. With the help of a template engine, the SDP makes it possible to design each page of an application (including navigation) to show features such as an Electronic Program Guide (EPG), channel details, video on demand sections and catch-up content. Display and interactive video advertising formats can be synchronized through application programming interfaces (APIs).

The prototype submitted for this award demonstrates how the SDP can be used to “smart watch” videos. In this example, cloud machine-learning services are used to analyse video assets, looking specifically for celebrity appearances through face recognition techniques; this subsequently allows ends users to skip directly to where celebrities appear. Using this tool, viewers could navigate directly to clips featuring their favourite actors. Starting from configurable templates, the application is automatically generated in either HbbTV2 or Atsc3.0 compliant code. The feature opens the door to many new possibilities and because of its modular and integrated structure enables businesses to realize return on investment every step of the process.

Fincons Group will be demoing its SDP platform with Artificial Intelligence powered facial recognition at HbbTV Symposium event.

Moreover, during the event, Francesco Moretti, Deputy CEO Fincons Group and CEO Fincons.US, will be taking part in a highly topical round table session moderated by Dr. Jörn Krieger entitled: “Does HbbTV provide the right tools for broadcasters and operators?” on November 21st at 17:10. He will also be contributing to the Opening Ceremony and the Awards Reception.

Fincons’ Oliver Botti, Head of International Business Development and Innovation, will be moderating a panel on HbbTV and other Interactive Standards on 22 November at 12:10, while he will be joining a panel debate, moderated by Mediaset’s Angelo Pettazzi, on Targeted Advertising: the Business State of the Art on 21 November at 14:40 to discuss ’Obsessive’ (and successful) HbbTV market trials, including Mediaset Play’s two-year continuous “live market trial” on Interactive Content and Advertising, with special reference to the latest release of RT Dynamic Advertising Replacement.

Francesco Moretti, Deputy CEO Fincons Group and CEO Fincons.US, comments: “Having worked extensively on both the HbbTV and ATSC 3.0 standards, we’re very proud of the Smart Digital Platform tool, which leads the way with its flexibility and scalability as a solution. I’m pleased to be able to share the tool with experts across the HbbTV community and I am very much looking forward to exchanging ideas with fellow industry leaders at the symposium.”

The prizes will be awarded at a prestigious ceremony on 21 November 2019.