Imagine Unveils Cloud-Based Ad Management

At CABSAT 2016 in Dubai, Imagine Communications has introduced xG Schedule, a cloud-based ad insertion scheduling and planning system for linear, on-demand and digital platforms. The product is intended to provide broadcasters with a unified solution for leveraging content assets - from planning through delivery - across all distribution platforms and available usage windows.

xG Schedule is designed to enable programming teams to plan schedules across multiple linear, nonlinear, web and mobile platforms with validation against content and usage rights, as well as organizational business rules. Features include the ability to:

• Manage single or multichannel visual scheduling and nonlinear multiplatform content in a single application
• Manage packages and individual items across year, month, week and day for on-demand, mobile and streaming environments
• Use a single system to provide better visibility across all platforms and content usage
• Integrate rights information and view it within the xG Schedule windows to help ensure content licenses are valid across the multiplatform environment
• Customize KPI dashboards to spotlight program planners' interests and draw focus to critical information
• Operate with all desktop browsers, top 5 Android devices and all Apple devices

xG Schedule will make its North American debut at NAB 2016 in Las Vegas next month.

In other Imagine news, the company recently completed its 2016 Focus Forward Technology Trends Report. Among the findings:

• More than 40% of broadcast professionals have transitioned 25-100% of their operations to IP
• The use of standards-based, non-proprietary products is viewed as the most important requirement of SDI-to-IP hybrid environment
• The ability to introduce new sources of revenue is considered the top objective of an SDI-to-IP transition
• Nearly 90% of media companies have initiated the process of moving hardware-dependent operations into virtualized ones
• Nearly 50% of survey respondents estimate it will be more than two years before market demand is strong enough to justify significant investment in UltraHD