London, April 23^rd, 2015 – TV Connect, the world’s leading connected entertainment event, today announced a series of enhanced services and brand new innovations on the show floor at the ExCeL conference centre, London, April 28-30. Highlights at this year’s event include solutions introduced in Europe for the first time that enable operators to launch new services extending linear TV and leveraging connected devices and multiscreen.

TV Connect brings over 200 companies that are creating the future of TV and video in one place. The show floor will demonstrate how innovation often requires re-engineering in traditional broadcast or Over-The-Top (OTT) systems, such as playout, as well as showcase software-based video processing up to 4K, support for exciting new trends in OTT and Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) TV, and end-to-end IPTV.

 “TV Connect is the ideal forum for Thomson Video Networks because its key themes — innovative technologies for connected TV, and the ability to monetize new opportunities as they emerge — are very much in line with our own,” said Eric Gallier, Vice President Marketing, Thomson Video Networks. “At this year’s TV Connect, we’re looking forward to presenting our ‘Behind Every Screen®’ approach in more detail and showing attendees how our product family can provide an all-encompassing video delivery infrastructure to support broadcast and OTT streaming of SD, HD, and UHDTV content on every screen. One example is our all-new FUZE-1 playout system, which integrates the traditional playout functions of a channel in a box (CiaB) with premium-quality encoding and transcoding for broadcast and OTT delivery.”

Crucial video functions such as video processing and delivery have been enhanced to accommodate next- generation displays able to support 4K and HEVC. Keith Wymbs, Chief Marketing Officer at Elemental, explained how the company continues its efforts as a pioneer in software-based video processing to distribute video over IP networks: “At TV Connect, Elemental will demonstrate software-defined video solutions that enable telco and other operators to implement scalable, unified infrastructure that supports both linear channel and multiscreen content delivery. We will also showcase cloud-based live and on-demand delivery of 4K HEVC video, just-in-time video packaging and content-aware ad insertion.” Additionally, Wymbs will participate in an interactive panel discussion on Tuesday, April 28 at 12:10, where he will discuss how to reach and engage the growing OTT footprint.

According to Len Fertig, CEO at Motive Television, TV Connect 2015 is also the best stage for the leading provider of hybrid content distribution solutions to introduce brand new innovations: “This year, at TV Connect 2015, Motive Television will present the latest innovations in terms of cost effective content distribution: TabletTV and BYODTV. Launched in December 2014 in the US and UK, TabletTV allows for the reception of broadcast live television to tablets and mobile devices in general. BYODTV has been developed for the global maritime and passenger transportation market, and has already been adopted by two major ferry operators.“

Recent research by the Connected100 Forum states that OTT will remain a hot topic in 2015 with real-life applications being showcased at TV Connect. Ron Yekutiel, Co-founder, Chairman and CEO at video technology platform Kaltura explained how the company and its customers have harnessed the power of OTT to offer TV services on connected devices: “We will be showcasing our award-winning OTT TV platform at TV Connect. Kaltura’s OTT TV platform, which can be deployed in just three months, helps operators who are racing to broaden their services, take advantage of new digital opportunities and fend off the threat of cord cutting. It has recently been deployed by Kabel Deutschland (KDG) and Turner Latin America. KDG’s TV App is a free service that allows consumers who subscribe to both KDG’s TV and Internet services to watch TV on their tablets and smartphones, while Turner LatAm’s mobile app is an authenticated on-demand service that is offered through Turner’s MSO partners in Latin America and Brazil and lets TNT subscribers stream live TV and VOD content in Spanish and Portuguese to their iOS and Android devices. We are seeing great traction for the platform, and are proud to be working with leading operators and media companies around the world to shape engaging next-generation TV experiences.”

Joanna Jones, Events Director at Informa Telecoms and Media, concluded: “Every year, TV Connect sees more innovation that helps power the industry’s continual requirement for the next breakthrough in content and delivery. New devices have become an integral part of the video experience, and this year’s demonstrations from complementary industry experts Elemental, Kaltura, Motive Television and Thomson Video Networks remind us once more that we can still be wowed by TV as demonstrated by the wide variety of cutting-edge live demos on the show floor.”

TV Connect, the world’s leading event on connected entertainment, is organised by Informa Telecoms & Media. The event takes place on April 28-30 at the ExCeL in London.