“The digital era has brought about huge changes and new pressures for producers and content owners,” explained Kevin Shaw, lead technologist at BBC S&PP Digital Media Services. “Low-cost digital acquisition makes it easier to have many more cameras on a show, leading to very high shooting ratios and a lot of content to be managed. They need a powerful asset management system to work efficiently, but it may not be practical or cost-effective to acquire and set up their own technology.

“Because the Mediaflex system is effectively infinitely expandable, we can offer production asset management as a service,” Shaw explained. “We also have the core metadata schema established and the expertise to help clients get the best out of it. They rent capacity as they need it, either just for the duration of the programme or as a means of managing and preserving their archives, long term.”

Tony Taylor, CEO of TMD, added; “BBC S&PP Digital Media Services is pioneering here, but I am sure that we will see more of this sort of service around the world. Virtually no productions today can keep track of their content with an Excel spreadsheet and crossed fingers. They need a proper extensible, accessible and powerful asset management system.”

TMD at NAB Booth N4425