Rapid Adoption of ID System Speeds Multiscreen Rollouts

A simple but essential new pan-industry method for keeping track of entertainment content and the metadata that’s essential to monitoring usage and enabling navigation and other applications is already paying off in activities across the digital landscape. Known as EIDR (Entertainment ID Registry), the platform employs numerical IDs to provide a solution for identifying digital movie and TV content in commercial distribution, regardless of platform or distribution channel.

“The film and TV industry hasn’t been very good at tracking compared to what we see in retail stores,” says Jud Cary, vice president and deputy general counsel at CableLabs, one of the founding entities in the EIDR initiative. “What we’re doing is very similar to UPC (the Universal Product Code barcode system) in dry goods.”

People and applications alike can search the registry via Web user interfaces or Web service APIs using the numerical ID that’s been assigned to a given piece of content submitted by a content owner or other registrant to immediately access all the metadata descriptions associated with that content. The numerical tags create a uniform basis for tracking content usage and developers can use the APIs to integrate the registry features with their applications and automated workflows.

“When you’re trying to deliver content in multiple formats to multiple devices, it gets exponentially complex to keep track of each movie or TV program and to make the back office work efficiently,” Cary says. “You can have hundreds of permutations of a given piece of content once you start talking about clips, different cuts, different encoding and distribution formats.”

EIDR, which began over two years ago as a development project spearheaded by MovieLabs, CableLabs, Comcast and Rovi Corporation with backing from many individual studios and other entities, launched in early 2011 and now is anchoring content initiatives across the ecosystem.

“Complete, accurate and consistent metadata is key to our products and features such as browse, search, filter and recommendations,” notes Steve Heeb, vice president of business development at Comcast. “The use of EIDR will enable us to develop a robust and accurate database of program metadata from multiple sources that can be used across multiple platforms, including VOD, linear and online.”

A big advantage for content producers is the impact EIDR is likely to have on monetization, leading to more aggressive use of online distribution. “EIDR makes it easier for content producers to track and get paid for ad impressions and the use of their assets,” Cary says.

For example, Warner Bros. has invested in several technology initiatives to streamline and automate online interactions with retailers, vendors and consumers, says Darcy Antonellis, president of Warner Bros. technical operations. “EIDR is a key component of these initiatives, providing a global, unique identifier for content assets as they move from creation to consumption,” Antonellis explains.

“Just as our advertising colleagues have seen a need to use a unique ID system for ads, the need for a unique ID to track media and entertainment flowing online also has become obvious,” she continues. “We are actively integrating EIDR into our content workflow and are working with retailers like Microsoft to incorporate the standard over the coming months.”

Similarly, Disney has made EIDR part of its infrastructure supporting multiple digital initiatives, says Arnaud Robert, Disney’s senior vice president of distribution technology. “We have implemented EIDR into our metadata and internal digital workflows, and, working with our distribution partners, we intend to extend its usage to our various distribution channels,” Robert says.

Rovi, a major holder of metadata from movies and programming going back to the dawn of broadcast TV, played a major role in contributing records to “prime the pump,” Cary says. Comcast and others with significant data bases contributed as well.

The non-profit EIDR operation is designed to draw as much content into the database as possible, he adds. “The idea is the fees to join are so ridiculously low anyone can participate,” he says, noting that costs are tiered for contributors to where the highest level is only $5,000, which “gives you unlimited access and registrations.” At the promoter level, where the fee is in the $35,000 range, entities are entitled to be on the EIDR board.

An important new factor in driving participation is the support of two influential industry organizations – The Digital Entertainment Group (DEG), a Hollywood marketing engine, and the Hollywood IT Society (HITS). The two are working together to help drive adoption among studios, post-production houses and service providers.

Source: ScreenPlays

Unique Identifier Scheme Provides Missing Link

A universal unique identifier scheme is being developed for audiovisual media to streamline digital distribution. The Entertainment Identifier Registry, EIDR, is being led by MovieLabs, CableLabs, Comcast and Rovi, backed by a number of American studios, although it is also inviting international participation. Operating on a non-profit, cost-recovery basis, it aims to provide the equivalent of an ISBN reference for individual audiovisual assets.

EIDR has been developed to address the need for a universal identification system for all types of audiovisual assets in the entertainment industry, making it easier for businesses to search, track rights and report revenue based on the unique identifier of an asset. The expected results are increased accuracy of information for consumers and more efficient back office processes.

“Most companies today are either using proprietary or disparate organic systems to catalogue their entertainment assets, making the process of tracking content across multiple systems very difficult,” said Steve Weinstein, the president and chief executive of MovieLabs. “EIDR can provide the missing communication link between businesses.” The initiative is currently dominated by American media interests, but he said “We look forward to expanding EIDR membership to companies throughout the global content ecosystem, which we think is critical to the success of the effort”.

“A standard, low-cost approach for content ID is needed as the industry continues to move towards providing consumers with access to content anywhere, anytime and on any device,” said Dr Paul Liao, the president and chief executive of CableLabs. “EIDR will help our members deliver content to their subscribers through their video initiatives, including TV Everywhere.”

Initial members of EIDR include movie studios and distributors Deluxe, Neustar, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Walt Disney and Warner Bros, as well as the Motion Picture Association of America.

Members of EIDR will have open access to the registry and be able to supply media to the registry for identification. For distributors, access to unique identifiers will help eliminate confusion between assets with same name or different cuts of the same video, helping to ensure that the right products are distributed to the consumer.

The identifiers used within EIDR will function similarly to universal product codes that are used to identify physical packaged goods and the ISBN code for books. The registry will catalogue and assign a single, unique unit of identification to movies and television assets, from entire films down to clips and compilations, both for physical and digital video media, including different audio and video encodings.

EIDR will interoperate with other identifier systems, such AD-ID, which is used to identify adverts. It aims to provide a core service to vendors who wish to develop extended offerings such as rights management and extended metadata services. The EIDR data model can be readily extended to cover new and emerging objects and relationships as the industry evolves over time.

At the most basic level, an EIDR is registered for a ‘work’. EIDRs for new objects can be derived from it or associated with a previously registered object. The reference is purely functional, without any implication of ownership. Each EIDR will be an opaque identifier string, consisting of a standard prefix, a unique suffice for each asset and a check digit, for instance: 10.123/1234-5678-9ABC-DEF0-K.

The registry will be a single centralised database, organised into a hierarchical reference system that links relevant pieces of media to one another. It is being developed as an open, standards-based effort built on the established Digital Object Identifier system, created by the International DOI Foundation. Some 50 million DOIs have been assigned and the system is used by around 10,000 organisations worldwide.

EIDR will also use the open-source registry software from the Corporation for National Research Initiatives. “Our technology was specifically developed for the management of very large numbers of digital objects on the internet and its use in EIDR can be of great benefit to the entertainment industry,” said Dr Robert Kahn, the president and chief executive of CNRI. “The use of DOIs and the underlying Handle System technology, coupled with CNRI’s recently released Digital Object Registry software, will significantly advance the management of audiovisual objects and their complex relationships on the internet.”

Web service application programming interfaces will provide support for developers of third-party applications and services, such as workflow integration, reporting, and enhanced metadata.

Partners will also be permitted to take a snapshot of the registry and mirror it internally to meet their own business and technical needs.

The EIDR coalition is organised as an industry non-profit governed by a Board of Directors representing industry stakeholders, supported by a Technical Advisory Board consisting of representatives from members of the coalition. The registry is inviting participation from other representatives of the international movie and television digital distribution ecosystem.

Source: Informitv