Vendor Spotlight: Imagine Communications

Imagine supports media companies’ bottom line with “converged” technology platform.

Based in Plano, Texas, Imagine Communications draws on more than 50 years of media technology innovation that incorporates the heritages of market leaders like Louth, Optimal Solutions Inc. (OSi) and Leitch.

Today Imagine’s goal is to help media companies make and monetize television, through three broad pillars: Playout, Networking and Advertising technology. The company’s latest systems power 80 percent of the world’s top media companies, with its ad tech systems serving five trillion ad impressions a year (representing $46 billion in ad sales). It's said that a quarter of all ad sales dollars globally runs through an Imagine solution.

“We meet our customers wherever they are on the technological curve,” said Glodina Lostanlen, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Imagine Communications. “Our technology enables customers to use SDI and on-prem solutions when they need to, benefit from IP connectivity and hybrid models where it makes sense and migrate to the cloud when it’s right for their business.”

Current customers include some of the most influential innovators and idea-makers who inform, entertain and shape the way we experience the world. Whether broadcasters, OTT providers, MVPDs or digital-first companies, Imagine provides the technological support that empowers them to see their businesses thrive.

Glodina Lostanlen, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Imagine Communications.

Glodina Lostanlen, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, Imagine Communications.

“Imagine is able to draw on our unique, industry-leading knowledge of both playout and ad monetization to develop open systems that allow our customers to quickly achieve their revenue and operational targets,” said Lostanlen. “We were one of the first media companies to recognize that the future lay in software-based technology communicating in file streams. Today that is accepted wisdom, but because Imagine led the way, we now offer products and solutions that are proven to meet the real needs of the industry — whether that is a niche content provider or a global multiplatform enterprise.”

Among its industry-leading products is the Selenio Network Processor, Imagine Aviator cloud-native origination and monetization platform, and SureFire video ad server.

Selenio Network Processor is widely deployed in both IP and SDI workflows around the world. A software-based architecture allows it to deliver all the functionality of a traditional modular processor, but in an infinitely flexible, instantly reconfigurable form.

Imagine Aviator is a cloud-native platform that enables broadcasters, cable and satellite and digital-first providers to plan, make and monetize premium-quality linear and CTV content from a single, unified system. The ground-breaking platform is designed to help media companies extract the maximum revenue potential from their assets.

SureFire is a broadcast-quality video ad server that provides linear-like control and brand protection for OTT and CTV platforms. This enables media companies to sell and fulfill converged campaigns across their entire audience and deliver a consistent, quality experience for both viewers and advertisers.

Lostanlen said that the differences between traditional linear broadcasters and digital-first services are narrowing. Audiences want the premium values of linear channels, with the ability to view them when and where they like.

“To serve this new world of converged television needs the underpinning of a completely refreshed technology platform,” she said. 

“Imagine is drawing on its history of excellence to support media operators worldwide with solutions that deliver on every aspect of converged television.”

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