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BroadcastHåvard MyklebustExecutive Vice President / VizrtHaving built experience from the world of newspapers and television over thelast 25 years, Vizrt’s Executive Vice President has taken part in a series of groundbreaking technological transformations - like the transition from paste up todigital desktop publishing within the newspaper industry, and the change fromtape-based workflows to digital, file-based workflows in the TV industry. He hasalso built channels and worked as product editor in Norway’s largest commercialTV station.It's all about those eyeballsIn order to protect and secure future income streams, HåvardMyklebust feels no innovative media house can afford not toinvest in multi-platform distribution.What’s the most important in the fiveyears to come?– Get your content out there! It’s allabout being where your users, viewers andreaders are. The segmentation and fragmentationof the market keeps doing it moreand more difficult to be where the users are.We’re one of the few companies in the worldoffering a workflow where video, graphics,text, and images are shown together andadjusted to fit each TV channel, weatherthey are planning on airing or publishingtheir content. The content has to be mobile,preferably with a local presence, and ideallyalso social.Exactly why is it so important topublish in numerous channels and onseveral platforms?– Take television as an example. The lastten years, the median age for TV viewershas increased by 10 years globally. Theyounger watch a lot less TV. Instead, theyhave moved to other platforms where theydemand high quality content on theirlaptops, smartphones, pads, etc. And weknow for certain that the media habits ofthe younger audience affects the habits ofother age groups as well. Just have a look atFacebook. It started as a youth phenomenonand is now used by grandmothers alike.But how do you make money on thenew platforms?– There is no universal recipe. Allmarkets are different. But there is no doubtthat the big advertising revenues are tobe found in the big markets. At my formeremployer, we enjoyed great success withusers paying to get access to content. Thiswill continue to be an important source ofrevenue in many markets. But all of this isaffected by local conditions. Our customersknow who their viewers and readers are,and Vizrt delivers the solutions each of ourcustomers needs.Is it possible to make as much moneyon the new IP based platform comparedto traditional platforms?– We have done a lot of research on this.The results suggest that it will be a combinationof cost savings and revenue from newplatforms and channels. I am no fortuneteller,so this I hard to predict. But there’s nodoubt that there are more eyeballs to catchout there, hence more revenue. It’s all aboutcombining traditional broadcasting withnew platforms.How can Vizrt contribute?– For most, this is all about editorialstrategy. How do you transform a newsroomaccustomed to focus only on broadcast,maybe only delivering to one channel, intoone that thinks and works with multipleplatforms and distribution channels? This isan organizational challenge, for sure. Vizrthas a strong marked advantage here in offeringthe tools needed to make this necessaryworkflow transition as easy, effective andsmooth as possible. We deliver the righttools for the modern newsroom. We areworking closely with our customers to continuedeveloping our newsroom workflowtools to address multi-platform publishing.But how is this possible with all theplatforms, operating systems anddevices out there?– We are lucky here in Vizrt, havingan R&D department that is committed todeveloping support for all major operatingsystems like iOS, Android, Windows Phoneetc, in addition to HTML5, the web, etc. Thisgives our customers the security they need,knowing that they have selected a supplierthat is future proof.What will be the most important components in the future of the media world?– This is hard to predict, but there are few doubts about this being all about video. Butthe video content needs to be branded and also include explanatory and informative graphics.Still, I strongly believe that all media houses, including publishers, need to work morewith video, metadata, and work more towards customized content. It’s all about personalizingcontent to get what you want; at the location you are at, and when you want it!What about live?– Live broadcast will always be special, but at the same time the broadcasters need tostart thinking about distributing more widely. Vizrt is known for our real-time systems andthis is amongst our greatest strengths today. Fast delivery of high quality content is ourbiggest competitive advantage and we will continue to do more research and developmentin this field. Vizrt runs some of the biggest live events in the world, and we are proud to saythat this is our area of expertise.Any thing to add to this?– Vizrt is a company about to reach 40 offices spread around the entire world. Prettysoon we’ll also be hiring our 600th employee. We welcome you to visit us to discuss yourfuture. Come see us at one of our offices, on a trade show or on the street. We’re here for ourcustomers and very happy to be involved in any type of challenge, be it a large and complextask, or a smaller one. Our goal is to work with both larger and smaller media houses, anywherein the world, at any time!The Vizrt Catalogue 2011 65