MediaRoad project round-up

Dear partners, followers, and friends

The time has come for the MediaRoad project to bid goodbye, at least for now. To support the European Media Ecosystem for Innovation, we kicked off in September 2017, and on 31 October 2019, it completed its cycle. 

Below you can read the highlights of our project Hubs: Sandbox, Policy and Network.

Thank you for keeping up with our project developments and being part of MediaRoad community in the past 26 months. We will continue to work to advance European media innovation, and we wish to stay in touch with you. Feel free to contact us and join a conversation in our group.

With our best regards,

the MediaRoad Team

Continue reading

0

MEDIAROAD CLOSING CONFERENCE

ACCELERATING EUROPEAN MEDIA INNOVATION

MEDIAROAD CLOSING CONFERENCE & EBU MEDIA INNOVATION EVENT

 

Tuesday 8 October 2019, 09.00 – 17.00
Hotel Renaissance, Rue du Parnasse 19, 1050 Brussels

 

Innovation is essential to ensure the sustainability and development of Europe’s media and creative industries in an increasingly global and competitive market place.

Join us for the Accelerating European Media Innovation event and find out more about the latest media technology developments.

Come and discuss the future media research and innovation projects and policy priorities for 2021-2027.

Experience the exciting on-site demos and listen to experts’ and professionals’ analysis of trends influencing the media space.

Continue reading

0

Sandbox Prizes awarded @IBC2019

MediaRoad Sandbox Prize winners announced

The winners of the MediaRoad Sandbox Prizes were announced on Sunday 15 September, during an award ceremony taking place at IBC2019 in Amsterdam.

  • The 1st Prize was awarded to Newsbridge, a startup collaborating with France Televisions’ Sandbox, for its Newsbridge IdX project, an automatic cognitive indexing service
  • The 2nd Prize was awarded to On-Hertz, collaborating with the Vlaamse Radio Televisie (VRT) Sandbox, for their full radio studio on a tablet, providing a cost-effective and straightforward solution in mobility
  • France Télévisions Sandbox was also rewarded as the Sandbox creating the most Quality Label projects. This Sandbox was always among the most active in collaborating with startups and exploring innovative solutions, certifying 5 projects with the Quality Label as part of the MediaRoad project.

Continue reading

0

France Télévisions’ Sandbox “The Fiction Lab” Project obtains MediaRoad’s Quality Label

MediaRoad assigned the Quality Label to France Télévisions’ Sandbox “The Fiction Lab” Project, started in November 2018. The project was carried out by France Info TV, a subsidiary of France Télévisions. See https://www.mediaroad.eu/prize-development-and-quality-label for information about the MediaRoad’s Quality Label.

Based on researches in cognitive science, THE FICTION LAB develop the CFX technology to help content producers and broadcasters to better manage audience satisfaction. CFXs, standing for Special Cognitive Effects, are words, images, sounds, signs, objects… that can be inserted into any content. They are classified by the cognitive effect they generate: attention, memorization, emotion, identification, credibility or edification.

THE FICTION LAB develops a methodology, and software, dedicated to mapping all CFXs embedded within a given content. The outcome is a report presenting strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats regarding CFXs. A kind of “SWOT” analysis in the context of audience satisfaction, helping producers and broadcaster to make the best strategic decisions for their content.

They are naturally used by all influencers: corporate hierarchy, educators, media, beliefs, politicians, vendors. Popular television series send up to three CFXs per minute to the audience, mainly CFXs of identification, excitement and emotion. More than 500 CFXs are listed in behavioural economics.

The collaboration with the French news channel FRANCE INFO TV consisted of a CFXs analysis for a typical day of broadcasting. Focused on about 60 CFXs specific to news, we were able to suggest 20 improving leads, from reducing interference between text and audio, to gaze axis configuration during interviews.

CFXs technology is nurtured by the amazing interest of contemporary research on the human brain. New CFXs are yet to be discovered. Our mission is to bring them to the content industry.

More info

Start-up website: http://thefictionlab.org/

Email: emmanuel.kuster[AT]thefictionlab.org

Project description on MediaRoad site: https://www.mediaroad.eu/archives/portfolio/thefictionlab-cognitive-sciences-and-news

Sandbox: France Télévisions’ Sandbox

0

France Télévisions’ Sandbox “Streamroot” Project obtains MediaRoad’s Quality Label

MediaRoad assigned the Quality Label to France Télévisions’ Sandbox “Streamroot” Project, started in July 2018. Find here more information about MediaRoad’s Quality Label.

As online audiences grow, traditional client-server architectures are less and less effective for delivering video content, both from a cost and from a quality standpoint. A secure and hybrid mesh network delivery system meanwhile helps broadcasters scale to increase viewership. By obtaining video segments from the source that can provide them most quickly – either a content delivery network (CDN) server or another device watching the same content – hybrid CDN / mesh network delivery allows broadcasters not only to reduce bandwidth costs but also to ensure higher quality video for viewers.

Today France Télévision delivers over 50% of its online desktop traffic via Streamroot’s mesh network delivery. They use the service for all live and catch-up TV channels as well as their most important broadcasts, including Rolland Garros, Tour de France and other international sporting competitions and cultural events.

Together the companies are working to promote more reliable ways of delivering video content over the internet to meet the exponential growth in online viewing today and in the future. This initiative will help ensure the viability of the france.tv platform in the long term.

More info

Start-up website: https://streamroot.io

Email: erica[AT]streamroot.io

Project description on MediaRoad site: https://www.mediaroad.eu/archives/portfolio/streamroot-distributed-network-architecture-on-france-tv

Sandbox: France Télévisions’ Sandbox

0

France Télévisions’ “Compositeur Digital” Sandbox project with Excense obtains MediaRoad’s Quality Label

MediaRoad assigned the Quality Label to France Télévisions’ Sandbox “Compositeur Digital” Project, created by the Excense start-up, started in September 2018. See https://www.mediaroad.eu/prize-development-and-quality-label for information about the MediaRoad’s Quality Label.

In September 2018, France Télévisions introduced a new concept for live presentations of news on its channels. Journalists are now able to manipulate on a large touch screen their presentation contents such as pictures, videos or even 3D models while delivering their explanations and being filmed in close up. With natural gestures, the presenter can move, zoom in or hide content to improve clarity for viewers.

This approach emphasizes the journalist’s expertise and creates a powerful engagement with our audience.  The solution is now used on a daily basis on France Info TV but also on the evening news on France 2 (main channel).

The Compositeur Digital software is developed by Excense, an awarded startup with activities with industry leaders of the French Stock Market and US companies.

Their product has been rapidly adopted by our community of journalists for its ease of use and visual impact, helping us create a new standard in broadcast journalism in France.

More info

Start-up website: http://www.excense.fr/en/index.html

Email: contact[AT]excense.fr

Project description on MediaRoad site 

Sandbox: France Télévisions Lab

0

First evaluation meeting of International network of broadcast sandboxes held in Bergen

The first evaluation meeting of Sandbox Hub was held on the 28th and 29th March at Media City Bergen. The purpose was to strengthen the cooperation between sandboxes and sharing of organisations and practices.

Fifteen managers from VRT and RTBF (Belgium), NPO (Netherlands), Sveriges Radio, France TV, Radio France, ERT (Greece), YLE (Finland), BBC (UK), RTP (Portugal) and Media City Bergen participated in the Sandbox Hub gathering. These are media organizations from all over Europe which cooperate to promote innovation in the media industry

Continue reading

0

Intrapreneurship at France Télévisions : the learnings from the first season

In 2018, France Télévisions launched « Hacktion ! », an intrapreneurial program for a first experimental season.

This program aims at making each employee of France Télévisions a player for transforming the company by allowing them to transform their ideas into concrete actions independently, as long as they are in line with the company’s strategic orientations.

The goals :

  • encouraging innovation and internal problem solving ;
  • making the company more agile, encouraging cross-functionality between teams ;
  • unleashing the energy and the creativity of the employees ;
  • fostering and facilitating initiatives, autonomy, « trial and error » logic ;
  • contributing to the employer brand in order to attract and retain talented people.

In 2018, the « Hacktion ! » program therefore proposed a 6-month course to help develop and accelerate projects on 3 issues :

  • media education ;
  • resolution of everyday problems or quality of life at France Télévisions ;
  • any project that is more generally in line with the company’s strategic orientations.

This first experiment validated the relevance of the program and demonstrated that the company could rely on it to foster the transformation :

  • 20 participants, 5 selected projects, 2 of them are accelerating thanks to the determination of the teams ;
  • an overall satisfaction of the stakeholders, with its goals as well as with its implementation, the support provided and the skills acquired by the intrapreneurs ;
  • successful achivements : cross-functionality, decompartmentalised organization, creativity, initiatives, right to make mistakes…
  • creation of a first internal community sensitive to the issue of intrapreneurship and a program recognized externally.

However, difficulties were noted during this first experimental season :

  • the lack of time dedicated to carrying out projects, a real difficulty despite the commitment and the determination of intrapreneurs ;
  • the role of managers needs to be refined, as this new form of management can generate an exit from their traditional comfort zone ;
  • the limited visibility given to « Hacktion ! » prevented us from federating around the program but could also slow down intrapreneurial projects ;
  • the support of the program and the intrapreneurial projects requires time and tools from the organising team.

The keys to the success of intrapreneurial projects, which are currently in the prototyping phase :

  • the ability of project leaders to federate, to build a team to help them ;
  • the integration into an internal and external community of intrapreneurs ;
  • the human qualities of intrapreneurs ;
  • multiple and varied supports, especially internally ;
  • an internal recognition of the intrapreneur allowing him/her to act in all legitimacy and confidence ;
  • an internal and external coaching ;
  • an iterative approach that makes it possible to achieve projects.

The success of this first experimental season clearly encourages the continuation of the experiment. Some proposals and recommendations are made to develop the program and adapt it to a larger scale :

  • during season 2 launched in the 2nd quarter of 2019, open the program to more people, with a maximum of 10 projects supported ;
  • strengthen and consolidate the organizational team ;
  • mobilize more financial resources to ensure more supports but also to contribute to the financing of the projects in their prototyping phase ;
  • earn the sponsorship of the top management, thanks to the support of the Transformation Department, so that « Hacktion ! » becomes a project for the whole company ;
  • amplify communication about the program to increase awareness and to facilitate the action of intrapreneurs ;
  • establish a tripartite Charter (intrapreneur, manager, HR) to precise the role of each stakeholder ;
  • allow each intrapreneur to benefit, over his working time, 9 days dedicated to his project during the 6 months of acceleration ;
  • redesign the intrapreneurial path for more support, more commitment from the managers and better anticipation of the post-acceleration phase ;
  • foster the community spirit between intrapreneurs from France Télévisions ;
  • enhance sponsorship of each intrapreneurial project by a member of the Executive Committee or a high-level manager.

More about “Hacktion !” (in french) on france tv lab : https://www.francetelevisions.fr/lab/transformation

0

VRT’s Sandbox “On-Hertz” project obtains MediaRoad’s Quality Label

MediaRoad assigned the Quality Label to VRT’s Sandbox On-Hertz project, started in May 2018.

In a very quickly evolving media landscape, traditional media must reinvent themselves in order to maintain brand engagement and generate new revenue streams.

Radio holds a very special place in people’s lives, reaching very large audiences daily and achieving the highest scores in terms of trustworthiness. Radio is the media of proximity by excellence: global reach, large & deep offer, responsive, strong communities, and deeply human.

Continue reading

0