Dish Upgrades Ad-Insertion System to HD

Satellite-TV Provider Deploys Gear From SeaChange

by George Winslow -- Multichannel News, 2/1/2010 5:48:03 PM

As part of an ongoing effort to boost its ad-sales revenue, Dish Network is investing in upgraded ad-insertion equipment and software from SeaChange International to insert advertisements in native high-definition.


"[HD ad insertion] is another piece in the evolution of our ad-sales efforts," said Finn. "It allows us to deliver everything that the blue-chip advertisers expect."

The upgrade will also strengthen Dish's ability to insert ads across a wide array of programming networks. The SeaChange upgrade will allow them to insert large volumes of SD and HD ads in as many as 600 channels.

"We insert in more channels than some of the MSOs do, which tend to insert only in the larger channels, and we have broader base that we sell to the ad community," Finn said. "We also deliver ads to 19 Hispanic channels and we have built up a team to insert on international channels."

Dish has been using SeaChange's ad-insertion technology since it launched direct-broadcast satellite service in 1996. As part of the upgrade, Dish will deploy SeaChange's Spot 5.0 ad-insertion systems, upgrade the vendor's DigitalX ad automation transcoding system and acquire additional servers from SeaChange to handle the increased load, said senior director, advanced advertising and VOD sales Sanjiv More.

Both Finn and More noted there was increased interest from advertisers in platforms that would allow their ads to be displayed in HD.

"You have the NBC Universals of the world who only create their promos in HD," said Finn. "If you are not running them in native HD, you are obviously not doing right by the creative folks that have spent time creating those spots."

Operators are also adding the capability to handle HD ads.

"In the last years, there was a real push in the industry to add more HD," said More. "Consumers are viewing more HD streams and cable and satellite were adding more HD programming. It was natural that they would want to insert HD commercials to capture those eyeballs.

"Those customers with HD are usually the high end of the market and it is particularly important to reach them," he added.

Still much work remains to be done. "There is a slow migration to better technology for delivering ads and we are still getting some tapes in boxes," said Finn. "This is a legacy business that can be slow to change."

During that transition, the SeaChange system is designed to handle a wide variety of formats.

"From an end-user standpoint, what is compelling about the technology is that we make it as easy as possible for them," More said. "They can handle multiple formats and play those out without having to touch the content so that it is basically seamless to the end user."