AI-Media, Middleman announce ad insertion partnership
August 31, 2023
AI-Media, and Middleman Software, a provider of SCTE 104 and 35 messaging solutions, have joined forces to offer broadcasters a powerful, unified SCTE 104/35 messaging solution for live production workflows.
AdIT: Middleman Software’s AdIT Live revolutionizes the generation of SCTE 104 and 35 messages in real-time, enabling monetisation of direct-to-stream live events where a playout automation system is not required.
Alta: AI-Media’s Alta Caption Encoder Software integrates live closed captioning, subtitling, and SCTE 104/35 message injection into live IP video production environments, making it a natural choice for broadcasters.
Simplified Architecture
Through the seamless integration of AdIT Live and Alta, broadcasters can automatically generate and inject any SCTE 104 and 35 messages directly into ST 2110 and MPEG transport streams, alongside closed captioning and subtitling data. No additional components in the signal chain are required.
Multiple Profiles in a Single Stream
AdIT Live and Alta Software support the entire SCTE 104/35 standard, offering advanced capabilities that empower broadcasters. One notable feature is the ability to route multiple ‘streams’ of distinct SCTE 104/35 messages to individual recipients via the same video stream by leveraging DPI PID index values to identify unique services, ensuring efficient and parallel distribution without wasted bandwidth.
This joint solution simplifies and enhances live production workflows to provide broadcasters control and flexibility to maximise advertising revenue at scale.
Middleman’s CEO, James Heliker, stated: “We are thrilled to partner with AI-Media to deliver a comprehensive and modern solution for SCTE 104/35 messaging for live production. Our collaboration sets a new benchmark for the industry, empowering broadcasters with advanced control, flexibility, and monetisation capabilities in their live productions.”
Bill McLaughlin, Chief Product Officer, AI-Media, added: “Our Alta systems have gained significant popularity among traditional large broadcast networks and world-leading OTT sports channels due to their unique flexibility in injecting real-time SCTE triggers into compressed or SMPTE-2110 workflows. However, many of our customers struggle to fill these trigger messages with detailed live data from other sources of business intelligence. To address this challenge, we have partnered with Middleman to incorporate their AdIT system to offer an integration layer that optimises the automation and content monetisation advantages of a complete end-to-end SCTE-35 solution. By combining AdIT with Alta, the triggering system can transcend traditional on/off signalling, unlocking a multitude of possibilities. We look forward to working with Middleman on this and future collaborations.”