T&I Award 2021: the story of SR's public service algorithm
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MEDIA TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION ISSUE 49 • SEPTEMBER 2021
T&I Award 2021:
the story of SR’s
public service
algorithm
Plus
• 5G-RECORDS – how PSM can benefit
• Rai’s Stefano Ciccotti on technology priorities
• Loudness for radio
and more...
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021 1
tech.ebu.ch/subscribe
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Issue 49 • September 2021
6 9
Cover story: The 2021 EBU Technology
& Innovation Award was won by
Sveriges Radio for its News Values
project. Pictured on the cover,
clockwise from top left, are Jörgen
Bang (product owner), Jessica
Axelsson (UX designer), Tobias
Sandblad (editorial project manager)
10 16
and Linnea Längberg (UX designer).
Photo: Mattias Ahlm/Sveriges Radio
Editor-in-Chief: Antonio Arcidiacono
Managing Editor: Patrick Wauthier
Editor: Eoghan O’Sullivan
tech@ebu.ch Contents
Design: Louise Tait
3 A recipe that works – let’s use it!
Printed on FSC certified paper by
Antonio Arcidiacono on the benefits of building together
Graphius (FSC CO14767)
4 Changing the way Europeans find the news
© European Broadcasting Union Visitors to EBU Member sites are offered A European Perspective
All rights reserved. The reproduction 5 Being loud about loudness, for the benefit of radio listeners
of articles in tech-i is authorized only The EBU has produced new guidelines on loudness and radio
with the written permission of the 6 EBU joins GAIA-X to ease cloud adoption for PSM in Europe
publishers. The responsibility for views
How media can benefit from a new European initiative
expressed in tech-i rests solely with
the authors. 7 5G-RECORDS: making 5G work for the storytellers
The 5G-RECORDS project is tackling production use cases for 5G
8 How EBU Members are doing more with metadata
A selection of projects from this year’s Metadata Developer
Network workshop
10 An algorithm to promote unique public service journalism
Sveriges Radio’s News Values project won the 2021 EBU T&I
Award
12 Adapt, invent, evolve – news tools for a pandemic
2021 EBU T&I Award runner-up project from BBC, UK
TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION 13 Rai Virtual LIS: an avatar for sign language applications
Get an edge 2021 EBU T&I Award runner-up project from Rai, Italy
14 BBC’s new home for radio, music and podcasts
• Our goal is to be an incubator to
advance media technology. 2021 EBU T&I Award runner-up project from BBC, UK
• We catalyse innovations so they 15 Towards a greater understanding of the carbon impacts of video
deliver for all players streaming
• We stimulate active collaboration so Important new research from the Carbon Trust and DIMPACT
that you get more than innovative
technology – you get a real 16 In my opinion: Why IP networks and data management are the
competitive advantage. top priorities
Chief Technology Officer at Rai, Stefano Ciccotti
Sign up to receive tech-i magazine,
17 Partner Profiles: 5G-MAG
EBU Technology & Innovation
newsletters or event alerts: An important player in the emerging 5G-based ecosystem for
tech.ebu.ch/subscribe media production and distribution
18 2020: a record year for digital media
EBU Members are encouraged to
The latest research from the EBU Media Intelligence Service
follow and contribute to the work
of our Strategic Programmes and 19 In the spotlight: Stephan Heimbecher
Communities of Practice. Directorate Technology and Production, Consultant, SWR
20 EBU Business Concepts Model
Visit: tech.ebu.ch/ourwork
Poster based on the work of the EBU Capability Map group
2 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021
EDITORIAL
A recipe that works – let’s use it!
Antonio Arcidiacono, Director of Technology & Innovation, EBU
In time, I believe, we will see that influence those companies and
2021 marked the beginning of a guarantee the interchangeability
new golden age for of suppliers.
collaboration among public A great example of this is
service media in Europe. The EuroVOX, the EBU-developed
launch, in January and July, of transcription and translation tool
two related products built by that sits at the heart of these
and for EBU Members has new digital news projects. It
shown us the sustainable path to doesn’t try to replace the
innovation and growth. translation engines but helps
In the March 2021 issue of broadcasters to integrate the
tech-i, we presented the best supplier for any given use
Eurovision News Monitoring tool case and switch between
that gives journalists across EBU suppliers efficiently as required.
newsrooms – 20 Members and This model can be extended to
counting – access to a wealth of other cloud services or indeed
valuable content. And in this any procurement or outsourcing,
issue (on page 4), you can read including operational. It is highly
about the public-facing phase of significant that the EBU is the
this project. Since 1 July, visitors first media organization to have
to the websites and news apps joined the GAIA-X project (see
of participating Members have page 6). This will be a key
been presented with a feed, enabler for our collaborative
titled A European Perspective, development model,
showing selected stories from guaranteeing the security and
across the EBU membership, the interchangeability of cloud-
translated into the user’s local based applications. EBU
language. Members and potentially all
These twin initiatives work to media players can benefit from
the advantage of both European healthy competition between
citizens and EBU Members. suppliers and a multi-cloud
In-depth reporting sourced from that collaboration can fruitfully approach.
trusted newsrooms helps keep go beyond producing content The other key ingredient in this
local audiences informed about together – we can also find recipe for success is
pan-European stories, with success by building together. collaboration, both within and
content that is selected by local across EBU Members. Our
editors to be both relevant and BUILDING TOGETHER colleagues at Sveriges Radio
compelling. This acts as a A first key lesson: we must identified this as a critical
counterbalance to disinformation control all of the core elements element of their News Values
campaigns that exploit fault of the products we develop project, the winner of this year’s
lines between communities. At while at the same time EBU Technology & Innovation
the same time, editors and controlling the costs. It is clear Award (see pages 10–11). It’s
journalists have access to a that EBU Members will need to about having technology teams
resource that saves them outsource services to external working in close collaboration
valuable time and enriches their companies, both the tech giants with the content creators and
own reporting. like Amazon, Google and editorial staff; and it means
This project has generated Microsoft and the traditional jointly having access to the
considerable excitement, not media technology vendors. But talent that can support new
just because of these direct by building together we can developments.
benefits, but also because it establish a common position As I wrote above, we are just
demonstrates in a concrete way that strengthens our ability to at the start. What we have done
for news must also be done for
sport, for education, for culture,
“A first key lesson: we must control all of the and more. Together we can build
the tools and products that will
core elements of the products we develop ensure our collective growth and
while at the same time controlling the costs.” success!
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021 3
DIGITAL NEWS
Changing the way Europeans find
the news
Ten EBU Members have launched a new project to overcome language barriers and share
diverse news content from across the continent, writes Luis Jimenez, EBU Digital News Lead.
On 1 July 2021, visitors to some of
Europe’s most popular news
websites were presented with A
European Perspective, a new feed
showing selected stories from
across the EBU membership,
translated into the local user’s
own language.
This ambitious project draws on
the combined strength of public
service media newsrooms: great
journalism, original reporting, and
ethical, trustworthy journalistic
processes from the EBU Members
that participate in the project. All
with one idea in mind: get Europe EBU and its Members are trying to been a challenging and rewarding
talking. To make this a reality, break the language barrier in experience: “After we started
editors at our participating European public service news. exploring the requirements in
Members manage to clear the With it we can help Europeans to detail, and the requests from the
rights for about 175 reports per understand the realities of other Members and editorial staff
week, thus making them available Europeans better.” started piling up, I realized just
for other project partners, and The steering group, drawn from how much there was to be done.
ultimately their audiences. Users participating EBU Members, There were a few challenging
will typically find between 5 and collaborates closely with the parts, like implementing a
17 stories per ‘recommendation Eurovision News team, led by versioning system for the articles
box’, and they can access them Justyna Kurczabinska, and the or ensuring that the system could
from the partners’ homepages or EBU Technology & Innovation withstand the load after the
inside selected news articles. At Department. Everyone involved in launch. Overall, the toughest part
the time of writing there are the project has gone the extra was implementing and connecting
around 2,000 stories available for mile to ensure that the service every element of the media
publication in the Digital News service would deliver on translation/editing pipeline. We
Hub that feeds the tool, which is expectations and meet all had to create many different
powered by the EBU-developed deadlines. The editorial team behaviours spanning the whole
EuroVOX and PEACH. meets twice per week and project to provide editors with full
exchanges ideas with Sébastien functionality. Next, we aim to
HIGHER PURPOSE Noir, who leads the T&I software expand the media workflow
A European Perspective is a engineering team, every Friday. further – support for audio editing,
window to Europe because the They also attend the developers’ more straightforward three-step
stories selected to appear are sprint reviews where priorities for translations, add more statistics so
rooted in diversity. This has been the next cycle are discussed. And that editors can quickly check
and still is core to the service. in between these, together they what is currently a hot topic for
From COVID-related issues to relay information and ask for their audiences, and polish the
environment reports, from lifestyle advice from the core working overall experience.”
to economy, the story range being group that convenes every three Now immersed in finding the
shown to audiences is vast. weeks. best workflow to editorially
Jukka Niva, the Head of Yle process video and audio files, we
News Lab, Yle News and Current FURTHER IMPROVEMENTS trust that the possibilities the
Affairs, says audience feedback For Pawel Glimos, a developer on Digital News Hub offers are
has been 100% positive. “People the EBU Digital News Hub, it has endless.
seem to well understand the
higher purpose of A European A European Perspective has been made possible through a grant from
Perspective and find it valuable. the European Commission’s Multimedia Actions programme. It is
The project also has tremendous co-funded by the EBU. If you’d like to join the project you can contact
the team via: erbhelp@eurovision.net
and endless possibilities as the
4 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021
LOUDNESS FOR RADIO
Being loud about loudness, for the
benefit of radio listeners
The EBU working group on audio loudness normalization, PLOUD, has produced new guidelines
that specifically target radio use cases, writes group chair Florian Camerer.
We are loud again! Well, we have
never been quiet, frankly. We
being the intrepid EBU loudness
gang PLOUD, which recently
celebrated its 13th anniversary. And
being loud and active has always
been our forte.
This time, the efforts of a core
team of loudness fanatics, under
the subgroup chairmanship of
Wolfgang Rein (SWR)
concentrated on loudness in radio.
There, the shift away from peak
normalization has had a slower
start than in television. One of the
reasons is the heterogeneous
distribution landscape, with The two-stage structure of a radio station workflow
analogue FM services still
omnipresent in most countries. Consequently, producing at −23 of individual movements in
Also, the ‘loudness war’, with its LUFS does not mean that the level different contexts; or using the
most severe manifestation in pop experienced by the audience is same philosophy for a complete
and rock music, affected radio necessarily lower than before. If pop/rock/jazz music album to
more than television. A few the alignment is adapted keep the artistically intended level
PLOUD members working in accordingly, the consumers get relationship between the tracks
public radio stations eventually the same average loudness level, (‘album normalization’); different
suggested a separate loudness but can enjoy a much-improved values for the permissible music
document to emphasize the balance of programmes, elements loudness level in relationship to the
intricacies of radio workflows and and dynamic quality. The latter is a voice, depending on the format of
programmes. major benefit, especially for the programme (for example,
stations with, for example, classical news, morning show, evening
SAME LEVEL music or popular music from concert, radio drama, etc.). These
One central mantra must be stated before the outbreak of the are aesthetic choices that should
clearly: in essence there is no loudness war (pre-1990s). not be universally cast into a rule
difference between television and Generally, the main message of or recommendation and are
radio (or any other sector, for that the radio loudness group is the covered in chapter 7 of Tech 3401
matter) when it comes to loudness clear distinction between (on use cases).
normalization replacing the peak production and distribution. These This brings us to the published
paradigm. Programmes and often areas should be treated separately, documents. The set of
also parts of them (like individual with a ‘generic’ programme at −23 supplements to the core loudness
music tracks) are generally LUFS being tailored to diverse recommendation R 128 is
produced and/or normalized to distribution platforms (like FM, extended with a third on Loudness
the same loudness level of −23 DAB, web streaming, etc.). Tri- in Radio, characterized by the
LUFS. Period. Let that sink in for a media environments (television, same concise set of directives as
moment. radio, online) can now be served the mother document. The
Before anyone dismisses this with freely interchangeable aforementioned Tech 3401
level as way too low for the FM content as far as loudness levels Guidelines for Radio Production
world, consider the crucial link are concerned, considerably and Distribution in accordance
within this ecosystem: alignment, simplifying this exchange. with R 128 provides more in-depth
meaning the alignment of the Concerns specific to radio advice how to manoeuvre through
studio level to the nominal include: keeping the level the transition to a loudness-based
deviation of the FM carrier. relationship between, for example, radio world. The count of PLOUD
Without this information, any movements of a symphony when loudness documents is now at
statement about loudness levels broadcasting the whole nine, all available via
for FM is utterly useless! composition vs. adapting the level tech.ebu.ch/loudness.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021 5
EUROPEAN PROJECTS
EBU joins GAIA-X to ease cloud
adoption for PSM in Europe
As more and more EBU Members aim to take advantage of the cloud, the GAIA-X European
initiative, now with the EBU as a member, promises to remove some of the uncertainties and
challenges, writes Lucille Verbaere.
GAIA-X was born out of the Furthermore, the initiative could
realization, in 2019, that the generate many business
dominant cloud platforms were all opportunities for the media
owned by non-EU entities, that industry. For example, in France
moving data and services from the Alliance Culture Data, a
one to another was challenging, project led by BnF-Partenariats,
and that full control over the data has identified seven areas in
stored in these platforms was which the cultural and creative
impossible. sector could greatly benefit from
The vision was to foster a cloud trustworthy and secure data
ecosystem aligned with European spaces: operational excellence,
values and laws, such as GDPR, content providers with greatly commercial performance, product
enabling vertical and horizontal fluctuating workloads, such as improvement, segmented
chains where data can be easily animation and VFX companies, advertising, customer and market
exchanged but still controlled are more and more turning to knowledge, R&D, and open data.
within trusted data spaces. It decentralized cloud solutions that Many use cases can be developed
should be easy to connect allow them to trade unused in each of these areas:
different cloud platforms together resources and decrease their • improved audience insights
and switch from one provider to upfront costs. would allow better content
another. The 270+ members of Although hyperscalers – the big personalization by media
the GAIA-X Foundation – multinational cloud providers – companies;
including the EBU – are thus now can today offer simple integrated • the remuneration of rights
working together to develop a solutions, cloud migration is not holders could be automated
reference architecture, secured straightforward for media and secured;
open interfaces, federated companies. Most EBU Members • combatting piracy and fake
services, and policies that will worry about interoperability and news becomes easier with
ensure European companies can vendor lock-in; and they need to strong end-to-end
access cloud platforms that are shift to cloud-native applications authentication guaranteeing
secure, interoperable and energy to ensure cost-effectiveness. Data from where the content is
efficient, and that guarantee data sovereignty and compliance with coming and to whom it is
privacy and sovereignty. GDPR are also key concerns distributed;
slowing down adoption of cloud • AI algorithms can be accurately
MEDIA & THE CLOUD services from US providers. trained, thanks to qualified and
So, what is the relevance of all this secured databases, and used for
for media? EBU Members are BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES many applications such as
gradually moving to the cloud: With GAIA-X, media companies translations, people
France TV has already migrated will be able to adopt multi-cloud identification in video, etc.
the group’s financial management solutions that can easily be And there is no doubt that many
system and has started to migrate interconnected, configured and more use cases will emerge once
the HR system as well as remote decommissioned and are in line the GAIA-X data infrastructure is
production systems to a mix of with European values. in place.
private and public clouds. In
Switzerland, SRG’s online THE EBU, GAIA-X AND YOU
distribution is cloud-based, Now is the time to exchange views, define key use cases and
including live streaming. In consolidate media-specific requirements. As a new member and the
Germany, ZDF has started a big first media company in GAIA-X, the EBU can now promote the
cloudification project, creation of a European media data space and make sure the GAIA-X
encompassing generic IT tools data infrastructure meets media-specific challenges, starting with
along with broadcast-specific those related to real-time and big file transfers. We can also target
applications such as editing and participation in EU-funded projects to develop sector-specific
applications and data spaces within the GAIA-X framework.
online services, now fully cloud-
To join the EBU GAIA-X working group, please contact Lucille Verbaere
based.
(verbaere@ebu.ch).
Elsewhere in the media sector,
6 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021
EUROPEAN PROJECTS
5G-RECORDS: making 5G work for
the storytellers
By leading the technical work for the EU-funded 5G-RECORDS project, the EBU can ensure that
emerging production tools will be well matched to the needs of public service media, writes
Hans Hoffmann.
Between 2017 and 2019, the
5G-Xcast project did valuable
work on exploring how emerging
5G technologies could be used in
media contexts. The focus,
however, was primarily on
distribution use cases, so it was
inevitable that some of the
organizations involved started to
consider how 5G could potentially
support media production and
content creation. Thus, the
5G-RECORDS project was born,
funded, like 5G-Xcast, by the EU
Horizon 2020 programme.
Driving 5G-RECORDS are some An overview of the 5G-RECORDS project
key questions: is live production in
multi-camera environments EBU itself, which is responsible for of templates for different kinds of
possible using 5G? Can we equip the technical management of the events, production could start
a sports stadium for live project, three Members are in the quickly.
production using 5G consortium: BBC (UK), Rai (Italy) Another deeply innovative
infrastructures? Can we develop and TV 2 (Denmark). element of the project relates to
higher efficiency in content It is important for the EBU to the need to bridge the worlds of
creation workflows? Can we make have a hands-on role in projects 5G networks and IP-enabled
it easier for creatives to generate like these, taking proactive steps broadcast facilities. To do this, a
content and tell stories? to ensure the needs of public media gateway is needed, and the
As the answers to these service media will be to the fore EBU Technology & Innovation
questions would be as the technology evolves. There team is leading the work on a
predominantly of a technical are fundamental requirements in prototype whose architecture is
nature, the project consortium terms of workflows, quality and based on microservices. The work
decided that the best approach business aspects, as well as a encompasses both hardware and
would be to define some need for standards, to ensure software.
fundamental use cases: interoperability between By doing this proof of concept,
• Use case 1: live audio production equipment from different the aim is to gather knowledge
• Use case 2: multiple camera manufacturers. Without the that can be fed into standards. For
wireless studio participation of the EBU and its example, with timing being such
• Use case 3: live immersive media Members, there is a risk that an important factor in live media
Detailed information about closed proprietary solutions will production, how well will PTP
these use cases (and the project dominate. Ultimately, it is about (precision time protocol) perform
as a whole) is available on the creating value for EBU Members. over 5G networks?
website: www.5g-records.eu With reduced technical
SELF-CONFIGURATION resources and R&D capacity at
PSM INVOLVEMENT There are several innovative most Members, EBU involvement
The 5G-RECORDS consortium aspects to this project, not least of in projects like this is more
came together in 2020. As with which is the work on important than ever. From the
the 5G-Xcast project, the orchestration, being led by BBC. technical project manager Paola
Polytechnic University of Valencia The goal here is that any piece of Sunna to several other staff
was instrumental in getting it off production equipment being members who are actively
the ground. The EBU played a key connected to a suitably contributing to 5G-RECORDS, the
role to ensure strong broadcaster provisioned 5G network would be T&I department is making sure
representation, especially in light automatically recognized and public broadcasters will benefit
of the liquidation of the IRT could self-configure thanks to the from innovative new ways to tell
research centre. Alongside the orchestration layer. With the use stories in the years ahead.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021 7
METADATA PROJECTS
How EBU Members are doing more
with metadata
The EBU Metadata Developer Network held its popular annual workshop in June, once again
providing an overview of new tools and approaches to metadata and AI for media, developed by
and in partnership with EBU Members.
Here we present a selection of the projects that were presented. These presentations and
many others are available to view on the website. Visit: tech.ebu.ch/mdn2021
MAPPING AND LINKING PRODUCTION DATA
Stuart Jennings, BBC
At the BBC we make a lot of content but have no
central means of tracking productions. A story is
planned in one system, with video and text
content made for it in separate systems. There is
no visibility on those links, and no overall view.
This means that, for example, we can’t track the
performance of the content that resulted from a
commissioned story or see general patterns in
production over time. Data in COG is centred around ‘events’
Content Origin Graph, or COG, gathers data
from production systems and uses a graph
database to draw new connections between them, frontend will let decision makers intuitively
allowing us to answer these types of questions. explore content production from a bird’s eye view.
Data scientists can directly query the database, This is an exciting new project that will help make
while an API allows systems to integrate, and a the BBC a truly data-driven organization.
DAM AND MICROSERVICES PROCESSING TO ENRICH CONTENT METADATA
Matthieu Parmentier (France TV)
France TV has invested in the development of many content categories (documentaries, news,
an open-source microservices platform TV gameshows, fiction, etc.).
(media-cloud.ai) to facilitate the industrialization The wise use of AI, where results with a
of AI workflows across several cloud providers. confidence level of 100% are difficult to
The microservices run in Docker containers and achieve, needs a bit of strategy to eliminate all
are orchestrated using Kubernetes. the false positives hidden among the real
The platform now runs thousands of jobs enrichments. This is the role of the DAM (data
every day to enrich the descriptive metadata for asset management) platform, where all the
existing metadata, collected during
production, are merged, checked and
used to initiate the AI jobs responsible
for filling the missing parts.
Once enriched, the content
metadata is made available to all
departments at France TV. Today, AI is
used to automatically segment
content, generate thumbnails, find
credits, and identify contexts for ad
breaks.
A screenshot of the France TV DAM
(from Perfect Memory) with some
metadata filled via AI
8 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021
Design principles were applied in the creation of the Face detection is one of the tools that help identify new
new BBC content passport chapters
DESIGNING METADATA INTO AN AUTOMATING PROGRAMME
ORGANIZATION’S DNA SEGMENTATION WITH AI
Alice Gregory, BBC (with Ting-I Wu and Blaise Jasper Degryse, VRT (with Marijn Daniels)
Galinier)
Having to scroll through an episode of a talk show
The future of metadata involves not just to find the exact moment your favourite guest or
machines but also humans and politics, and it subject appears can be frustrating, right? On VRT
can be designed! BBC faces some big metadata NU, the video-on-demand platform at VRT, we
challenges that are technical, editorial, provide shortcuts to the start of each chapter an
organizational and cultural. Having UX and episode is composed of; and until now, that was
service designers collaborate with engineers has achieved by making our editors do the dirty work
been crucial in making change happen. of scrolling through the episode.
Various design disciplines have helped the BBC In the chaptering project, we use artificial
improve how it generates and works with intelligence to extract metadata from our videos:
metadata: from the design of a pan-BBC tagging shot transitions are detected, faces are detected
tool, to mapping out more user-centric and clustered, subtitles are embedded resulting in
workflows. extracted topics, etc. Changes in these metadata
The aim is to think creatively to get people to features throughout the episode are valuable
care and collaborate along the way. indicators for the start of a new chapter. Once
The process started with research, to extracted, these features are then fed to the
understand the pain points for the editorial in-house-developed chaptering algorithm,
users. This led to the creation of a vision that resulting in predictions of when a chapter start
people could rally around, the building of a occurs. Finally, these predictions are presented as
conceptual prototype, and the formation of a suggestions to the editing team, who in turn verify
network of metadata users and enthusiasts. the results and correct if necessary.
A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO NEWSROOM METADATA
Kurt Mathiasen, TV 2 Denmark
Multiplatform newsrooms (spread across Production systems provide simple fields and APIs
multiple locations) offer the ultimate use case for entering metadata, but internal resources to
for leveraging metadata: collaboration – who is implement user-friendly tools for standardized
working on what – and reusing parts of what a metadata are a challenge.
colleague has already researched. Most systems ‘Copy/paste’ is still widely used – it is simple and
have good search capabilities, so the main users feel comfortable with it. Many metadata
issue is how to enter the metadata into the services provide impressive UIs (user interfaces) to
production flow. demonstrate their capabilities, but often a simple
In a small commercial broadcast organization, ‘copy’ (metadata) button is missing. Our message
the focus is on revenue, especially from the ‘new’ for manufacturers and service providers is: don’t
platforms (VOD), and producing more content. forget the simple functionalities that can be easily
We receive much news-oriented media from implemented in a modern (HTML5-based) UI.
agencies, social media and freelancers and we Copy/paste and drag/drop from iframes (and
want to reuse the metadata already associated other pages) are still tools that are much
with that content. Metadata standards are thus appreciated by the users.
key, for example the IPTC Media Topics vocabulary.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021 9
An algorithm to promote EBU
Technology
& Innovation
unique public service journalism
Award
H WINNER H
2021
Jörgen Bang, product owner for SR News Values, reaching out to EBU T&I Director Antonio Arcidiacono during
the credits, Also pictured are UX designers Jessica Axelsson and Linnea Längberg and editorial project manager
Tobias Sandblad.
Sveriges Radio won the 2021 EBU Technology & Innovation Award for “News Values, the Public
Service Algorithm”. Olle Zachrison, Head of Digital News Strategy at SR, explains how the
system both promotes particularly strong SR journalism and streamlines newsroom workflows.
SR is Sweden’s national public and on the website. The diversity new way. In our digital publishing
broadcaster and leading audio is considerable, with news from tool, each item is rated in three
company, with over 2,200 staff 26 local channels from north to dimensions:
stationed in 50 locations around south, a large national newsroom, 1) How high is its general news
the country. Representing the sports, science, culture and value? Is it an extraordinary news
whole population and covering language services. For traditional event like a devastating forest
under-reported areas and issues radio, the various newsrooms fire or suspected terrorist act? Is
are central strategic ambitions make their editorial assessments it a standard news piece, which
as expressed in our vision: “More for their own broadcasts, is certainly important but not
voices and more powerful stories independently of each other. of such obvious impact that it
for greater understanding.” However, digitally the most affects everyone?
Giving prominence to relevant news items from all 2) How long is the life span? Is
journalism of great public service newsrooms are gathered in it a news item that is relevant for
value is at the heart of a cross- the same news feed. A good a long time, such as a revealing
functional project to create a example is Top News, our main investigation? Or is the life span
news algorithm from scratch. news playlist in the app Sveriges short, like a traffic accident or a
The algorithm is powered by Radio Play, which constantly sports result?
News Values – a system by which updates the audience with the 3) Does the news contain
editors rate all audio news stories most important national, local significant SR values? Here we
produced by SR each day. The and international news. To have identified a set of distinctive
pre-publication rating feeds the provide this service we need public service qualities: are we
algorithm that in turn helps us a common standard for news out reporting on location? Are
automate and personalize the evaluation: which of all the news unique voices from affected
news experience for a wide and items are most important at any people included in the story? Are
diverse audience. given moment? we providing our own analysis of
News Values is the system a difficult topic?
EVALUATING NEWS where SR editors now evaluate
Every day, SR newsrooms publish news items as they have always VALUES & TECHNOLOGY
around 350 news clips in apps done, albeit expressing it in a The third dimension is what really
10 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021distinguishes SR’s system from important source of inspiration. each side, led the effort shoulder
similar solutions in other media to shoulder, which created an
houses, and the reason we call MORE TIME FOR CONTENT exceptionally strong backing
it our “public service algorithm”. So how can setting news values for the system in the whole
Employees from all over the save time for stressed digital company.
company have put great effort editors? When rated, each item “Technically, what we have
into identifying and formulating gets a numeric score that then done is relatively straightforward
the core values that characterize decides its place in the running really,” says Jörgen Bang,
strong SR publications. The link order in news playlists and on Product Owner. “Half jokingly,
to the company’s mission is clear. sverigesradio.se. This editorial we say that the algorithm itself is
The fact that SR has integrated algorithm is now automating understandable if you’ve studied
journalistic values of this type the total output from all of SR’s basic maths in high school.
into a technical system is 33 newsrooms. This means that, But the central thing is that it
something that has attracted instead of having to manually changes how we work with news
a great deal of attention in the edit the news mix every time digitally and the jury seems to
international media industry. something new has occurred, have understood that.”
In the motivation for the EBU editors can devote more time The system of news values
Technology & Innovation Award, to enhancing the journalistic stimulates a discussion about
Judy Parnall, Chair of the EBU content. how we do our journalism.
Technical Committee, called The general news values and It inspires positive change.
the system “a perfect example the freshness of the item carry Our evaluation of the project
of technical ingenuity being the most weight in the algorithm. has shown something we are
combined with public service But a news clip that contains the particularly proud of: that
values, helping Sveriges Radio to special SR values – for example the new system encourages
better fulfil its mission.” a unique testimony – is given a reporters to get out of the office
SR is far from being the more prominent position and so more often, which makes for
only European public service is displayed to more listeners. more vivid audio storytelling on
company that aims to offer its It also helps our editors in the the reality of people’s lives. It
digital users a more personalized national newsroom to quickly also offers future opportunities
news feed. At the same time, discover the most important for more sophisticated
every PSM organization news from all of SR’s local personalization, such as
wants to ensure that its news stations. individually customized news
output is credible, factual and playlists and newsletters.
comprehensive, in line with the COLLABORATION
journalistic mission. For example, The long internal project has HUMANS FIRST
BBC News Labs has created been marked by the closest For some, both outside and
Cupid, a prototype for editorial collaboration between tech and inside media companies, the
curation of a personalized news editorial in the history of SR. word “algorithm” carries negative
feed, where SR is cited as an Two project managers, one from connotations, especially in
relation to free speech and
independent journalism. The term
is associated with commercially
driven tech products that run
without human intervention to
maximize clicks and profit.
That is why we stress that even
though algorithms and advanced
programming are important tools
in digital journalism, the basis
is always the human editor’s
journalistic judgment.
We will never hand over
our news presentation to a
completely autonomous system
nor personalize to such a
degree that our listeners get
completely different views of
current affairs. SR has a mission
to convey the most important
news to everyone, and we are
Olle Zachrison, Head of firm believers that smart tech can
Digital News Strategy at SR help us do our job better.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021 11Adapt, invent, evolve – news tools EBU
Technology
& Innovation
for a pandemic
Award
H RUNNER-UP H
2021
Morwen Williams, Director of UK Operations at BBC News, describes how three
groundbreaking tools were developed quickly as the first lockdown began, a project that was a
runner-up for the 2021 EBU T&I Award.
When COVID-19 hit and the piece in perfect quality
lockdown followed, it was afterwards. It makes radio
incredibly difficult for BBC News discussion programmes as
to continue newsgathering and good as if guests were in the
broadcasting as normal. So, studio together. The unique
our News Operations teams feature of PreRec is that, at
set about developing systems exactly the same time as the
to help us carry on for our live conversation is happening,
audiences. The three virtual tools it constantly saves and uploads
we developed transformed our a quality recording to a secure
newsgathering for our teams, server for each contributor. The
making workflows easier – and producer simply needs to send
delivered better programming for a link to each contributor; they
our audiences. click the link on any platform
or device and everyone is
TOUCAN PREREC connected together in a secure,
While the world turned to Zoom, Similarly, discussion online session.
it didn’t deliver the right frame programmes and remote PreRec has been used
rate for television news interviews television edits meant audio nationally and internationally
and had to be converted. This was over the internet and often and it will be used for remote
slowed down the entire process, substandard with glitching or production long after the
making deadlines even more dropout. Our Programme OB pandemic has passed.
stressful. In just three weeks, team was no longer on the
some of our engineers invented road and developed PreRec, to VIRTUAL AUDIENCE
a new system to avoid all this bring discussions back together Finally, it’s all about the
and deliver a better picture: in quality and for tracking audiences – but they couldn’t
Toucan was born. Our news packages remotely. It’s used come to any of our buildings.
crews navigate to the platform in television and radio across So we enabled them to join us
browser, book a session and click the BBC – and was heralded by from their kitchens, lounges and
to generate a link. They send that one reporter as “possibly the sofas, to bring reactions back
link to the contributor who only most important bit of software into our productions. Originally
needs to open it in a Chrome web BBC News has developed” for developed for a discussion
browser. The crew clicks record, television audio track. programme, Virtual Audience
and each camera is recorded in PreRec allows a reporter to was quickly adapted by many
a separate file on a BBC server, file their audio track remotely television and radio programmes
already in a BBC News standard while watching the edit over looking to restore that vital
format, which saves time. Zoom and have it dropped into ingredient. It harnesses Zoom
but feeds audience reaction into
the ears of the presenters, so
they’re not broadcasting into
a vacuum as in the early days
of the lockdown. The solution
has featured in the media for its
creativity and simple ingenuity.
At BBC News UK Ops we
are proud of our incredible
engineers who deliver the news
24/7 on the road and in the
studios. But when they can’t
do that, they adapt, invent and
evolve – and with these three
products they kept BBC News
and the wider BBC in business
and on air during the pandemic.
12 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021Rai Virtual LIS: an avatar for sign EBU
Technology
& Innovation
language applications
Award
H RUNNER-UP H
2021
A runner-up in 2021 EBU T&I Award, the Rai Virtual LIS platform is an excellent example
of PSM using technology to help fulfil the public service remit. Mauro Rossini, Carmen Marino
and Andrea del Principe explain how the platform works.
The Rai Virtual LIS platform
A dictionary module allows users to view
enables the production of signs for all words in the database
content in Italian sign language
(LIS) using avatars to create
new opportunities and services
for deaf people in contexts
where human LIS interpreters
are not provided.
The platform is based on a
real-time graphics engine while
avatars and animations are
developed by using the latest 3D
computer graphics technologies.
The results achieved by the
platform in terms of fluidity and
intelligibility have been positively
evaluated by many experts and
deaf signers.
The use of avatars in this way The provision of tourist
information is a potential
makes it possible to foresee a
application of the Rai Virtual
whole range of new services for LIS platform
deaf people: sign language
descriptions of monuments,
artworks, architectural contexts,
cultural and tourist information;
the translation into sign
language, through a virtual
actor, of educational content,
lectures, training courses and section is dedicated to the to extend the use of Italian sign
books; the provision of generation of new content in language for better social
information for travellers in sign language by displaying the inclusion of deaf people in
railway stations and airports; Italian text and the cultural and didactic contexts, to
and on-demand translation corresponding sequence of LIS provide free tools for
services for content that, owing signs. Currently about 1,000 experimenting with new forms
to the specificity of the topics signs have been digitized, and of communication, and to
and lexical complexity, may be the corpus of signs can be facilitate relationships among
difficult to understand. expanded incrementally. children, including those with
The Weather Forecast communication difficulties.
NEW MODULES application downloads weather The platform is currently based
In the past year the Rai Virtual forecasts from the Rai national on Italian sign language but it
LIS platform has been enriched Teletext service every day and can be extended to include
with two software modules: performs an automatic other sign languages in order to
Teaching and Weather Forecast. translation into sign language. create an international sign
Teaching is a web application The output of the system is a language platform.
that allows students to learn video in Italian sign language. Consistent with its public
sign language and generate new The translation is based on a service mandate, Rai is
content in sign language deterministic algorithm invented considering making the Virtual
through the virtual actors. The and patented by the Rai Centre LIS platform available free of
application is divided into two for Research, Technological charge to deaf communities,
sections: the “Dictionary” Innovation and Experimentation associations, museums, schools,
section makes it possible to view (CRITS). universities, public and private
all the LIS signs available in the institutions wishing to provide
database, animated by the SOCIAL BENEFITS non-profit content and services
avatar, while the “Translation” The Rai Virtual LIS platform aims in sign language for deaf people.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021 13BBC’s new home for radio, EBU
Technology
& Innovation
music and podcasts
Award
H RUNNER-UP H
2021
BBC’s integrated audio platform was another of the finalists in 2021 EBU Technology
& Innovation Award. Lloyd Shepherd provides the background to the project.
BBC Sounds was launched content backend and presents
in late 2018 as the new home it back to the Sounds clients in Working on frictionless
for radio, music and podcasts the form of feeds; discovery has been a second key
at the BBC, giving listeners a • a single user ID, run by BBC area. The BBC produces more
personal, relevant experience Account. than 50 hours of new audio every
and offering them more control What this means, in effect, is hour of the day, and almost all of
and flexibility. Available on web that the Sounds experience is this is available on Sounds. This
and mobile (iOS and Android), it unified across all clients, and presents a massive discovery
was conceptualized as the audio users can shift their listening challenge for the user. BBC’s
equivalent of iPlayer – a single from one platform to another approach has been to focus on
home for all BBC’s audio content. seamlessly. They can, for instance, ‘personalized curation’ – mixing
It replaced an older product, start listening to a BBC radio together our in-house data
iPlayer Radio, which had grown show on their Alexa device, and capabilities in recommendations
organically over a number of then continue listening to the and audience segmentation
years. iPlayer Radio was turned same show on their phone when with a world-class curation team
off in late 2019. they leave the house. At the same steeped in BBC’s traditions of
From the start, Sounds was time, because key business logic public service and delightful
envisaged as an integrated is contained within RMS, much discovery. We put this work under
platform for listening to and of the product is built ‘in the the heading ‘relevance’ – and
discovering BBC audio content. API’, meaning that changes can it is an ongoing and detailed
Since the initial launch on web be rolled out across clients in a programme of work.
and mobile platforms, we have coordinated fashion. Finally, we’ve been focused
also launched a TV app as well on making Sounds available
as an Alexa skill (for devices that CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT everywhere a user might want
use Amazon’s voice-controlled Since launch, the Sounds product to consume it. The experience of
assistant). Further integrations teams have focused on three iPlayer has shown how important
are in the pipeline. main areas. First, easing user ‘pain carriage deals are to the success
points’ such that the core product of public service media platforms.
UNIFIED EXPERIENCE is more competitive in the market, We have teams in both product
Two things tie all these platforms and user satisfaction increases. and business development
together: In the past year our App Store pursuing a range of deals to
• a single backend system, called reviews have climbed steadily, bring the Sounds experience
Radio and Music Services and in market research Sounds to new platforms – while at all
(RMS), which pulls in content is now second only to Spotify for times preserving the unity of
from BBC’s scheduling and user satisfaction in audio apps. experience for the individual user.
14 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS
Towards a greater understanding of
the carbon impacts of streaming
Following a year in which video streaming received a lot of media attention owing to concerns
that it was a significant driver of climate change, new research from the Carbon Trust is helping
to measure the impact, writes William Pickett (Carnstone Partners).
In June, the Carbon Trust energy between the different
released a white paper entitled services using the internet.
The Carbon Impacts of Video However, this may be overly
Streaming. There have been simplistic in modelling the
widely varying estimates of the dynamics of internet networks.
carbon emissions associated with Increasing the video quality from
video streaming. The Carbon standard definition to high
Trust worked closely with the definition may double the data
DIMPACT* team and participants volume, but is unlikely to have an
to produce the paper. They used immediate commensurate impact
primary data from participants, on the energy consumption of
reviewed the DIMPACT approach, the networks. This was observed
and incorporated the latest in the pandemic, where many
academic research to provide the telecom operators noticed a
most up-to-date estimate of the significant increase in data
impact per hour of viewing consumption without any
on-demand streaming. increase in energy consumption.
More work is needed to gain
CARBON EMISSIONS more certainty in how changes to
The paper estimated that streaming service offerings will
average carbon emissions across ultimately have a real-world
Europe for streaming to be 55g carbon impacts.
of CO2e (carbon dioxide The findings are aligned with
equivalent) per hour. This the results of models run by
includes all components involved video streaming are heavily other DIMPACT participants. One
in the delivery and viewing of impacted by the locations where of DIMPACT’s founding
video content, right down to the the content is viewed. Some participants, the BBC, posted a
end-user device, but excludes the countries depend far more on blog article (tinyurl.com/bbc-
production of content. While this fossil fuels for electricity co2) that outlines how their own
amount of greenhouse gas generation than others and thus modelling shows good alignment
cannot be neglected when the the same electricity consumption with the findings. They also
total viewing hours of streaming will ultimately emit more carbon. explain some differences in their
are aggregated across an entire The second is that each company results, based on using different
viewer base, the unit carbon will have a different data sources and assumptions.
emissions of streaming one hour understanding of their audience’s This shows that there are still
of on-demand content are viewing behaviours, such as the some live questions and variation
relatively modest. One hour of breakdown of device types and of modelling between
streaming is comparable to basic peripherals being used to view organizations. DIMPACT acts as a
everyday activities such as content. More viewing on smaller platform to discuss these
boiling a kettle three times, or devices such as laptops and questions and variations.
driving a car 250 metres. smartphones will reduce energy
The results also suggest that consumption, when compared to *DIMPACT is a UK-based
the in-home devices and large television sets. collaborative initiative that has
peripherals are where a majority developed a tool to assess the
of the energy consumption DATA VS. ENERGY carbon impacts of digital media
occurs. DIMPACT participants are A key area for further and entertainment products. A
now seeking to understand how development is to examine more growing number of media
they can work with device closely how we estimate organizations participate in
manufacturers to address this streaming’s share of the energy DIMPACT, and the consortium
hotspot. consumption of the internet’s has an ambition to gain a robust
There are of course come with infrastructure. The established understanding of, and ultimately
some caveats with the results. method currently uses data reduce, the carbon impacts of
The first is that the emissions of volume as a way to allocate their digital products.
tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021 15IN MY OPINION
Why IP networks and data
management are the top priorities
Trends in both content and the technology used to deliver and consume it point to some key
focus areas for public broadcasters in the coming years, writes Rai’s Chief Technology Officer
Stefano Ciccotti.
To shape a strategic view of media technology environments, such as connected cars and
innovation, we must consider our likely future augmented, virtual and mixed reality (AR/VR/MR)
challenges in content production and distribution. ecosystems. Connected cars, that will average a
All the trends that had been emerging in recent daily internet traffic of 25 GB (as against 25 GB/
years have, in fact, strengthened because of the month for mobiles), already provide the
COVID-19 crisis. opportunity to offer mobility-tailored content
First, it’s now clear that moving audiovisual (traffic info, weather forecasts, podcasts).
content to OTT is not merely about making linear However, in the future – when autonomous driving
channels available over IP. In fact, the share of becomes a reality – the driver will be able to enjoy
linear consumption has been continuously audiovisual shows as if in the living room.
shrinking, whereas the VOD share has increased Alongside this, VR/AR/MR, that proved to be
(24% linear vs 76% VOD, according to the latest powerful tools for staying in touch during the
State of Streaming Report from Conviva). lockdown, will enable the evolution of new
formats, especially educational and entertainment
CONTENT TRENDS ones.
Furthermore, it’s important to note the correlation
and mutual influence between the development of TWO CHALLENGES
content and the evolution of platforms. Especially This proliferation of platforms and content leads to
with regard to long-form content, we have two main challenges: the need for future-proof IP
recently seen outstanding growth of consumption delivery networks and the centrality of data
on big screens (via smart TVs and games management.
consoles), globally reaching 73% of overall viewing The overall growth of long-form and high
time on a multitude of platforms and ecosystems, audiovisual quality content over smart TVs,
both horizontal and vertical. If big screens are fit combined with the increasing pressure on mobile
for the so-called ‘long forms’, on the other side traffic for short-form content, have been already
smartphones have proved themselves to be suited putting an almost unaffordable burden on existing
to the delivery of extremely short content. For IP networks, especially in terms of performance.
example, China has seen the emergence of The rise of services and platforms that may either
a new genre known as ‘vertical cooperate (e.g., connected cars) or compete (e.g.,
dramas’, television series gaming) with audiovisual content providers, will
designed for mobile only. demand not just higher throughput for end-user
They are shot vertically, devices, but also extremely low latency and
and episodes range from smarter management of peak-hour traffic. This can
one to four minutes. Their be achieved by moving the computing functions
success is set to drive the as near as possible to the end user: the edge
roll-out of 5G networks. cloud-computing approach. This strategy requires
I also believe that tight interaction between all players along the
traditional content providers value chain, with special regard to ISPs and
should push forward technology providers.
the edge of Last but not least, in such a fragmented scenario,
innovation by data management will play a central role in guiding
distributing their users to the best experience. The demise of third-
services in still party cookies (with modern browsers severely
unexplored, limiting data-gathering possibilities) and the
emerging conflictual relationships between Chinese and
American big tech companies and the European
institutions are driving traditional content
providers to look for alliances aimed at developing
AI tools for business intelligence purposes and for
fairer recommendation systems. As public
broadcasters, we feel the responsibility to prevent
Stefano Ciccotti, CTO, Rai - ‘echo chamber’ or ‘filter bubble’ effects, especially
Radiotelevisione Italiana when it comes to information services.
16 tech-i | tech.ebu.ch | September 2021You can also read
