Case Study: WhiteBlox lays IPTV foundations - August 2006  

US-based broadcast-network solutions provider Continental Vista Broadcasting Group launched IPTV provider WhiteBlox at the NATPE trade show in Las Vegas in January 2006. Representatives from WhiteBlox were also in attendance at C4-Sports, also in Las Vegas, in July, so S&T caught up with them there to see how their first six months of business had gone.

WhiteBlox offers a system of dynamic, powerful simple building blocks to help companies launch their own private-label broadband (IPTV) networks or enhance existing channels. WhiteBlox provides an end-to-end solution, from video streaming to digital rights management to ad tracking, and is fully customisable to meet specific needs. In addition, WhiteBlox solutions have been designed to be easy, scalable and customer friendly.
The WhiteBlox system's integrated ToolBlox comprises technology components and management tools, including an Encoder, PlayBlox, AdBlox, ControlBlox and Distributor, that enable customers to start with any video, audio, text, graphics and other assets, and end up with a fully interactive broadband network.
WhiteBlox clients are able to broadcast live, live-from-tape and VOD content through a global distribution system on a pay-per-view basis if necessary, which includes five or more simultaneous streams, automatic encoding and storage, and digital rights management. By creating an integrated internet delivery solution, WhiteBlox aims to give its clients the ability to leverage video assets into dynamic, engaging and profitable networks.

The basic building blocks

Explaining the system, Janie Lenz, SVP of marketing at WhiteBlox, said: “The WhiteBlox system is comprised of a set of integrated components, which we like to call the ‘ToolBox’. WhiteBlox integrates its proprietary building Blox into a complete end-to-end broadband network production, management and delivery system. We give customers flexibility and control. The Blox are purposefully 'White', i.e., private label. They're transparent, taking on the colour and life of a brand. Our robust technology and application services allow customers to deliver interactive digital video across IP-enabled platforms.”
A strength of the product according to Lenz is that whilst WhiteBlox offers bundled solutions as packages, customers – which can be anyone from a high school student to an executive at NASCAR - are always encouraged to mix and match among a wide range of free elements and options, or upgrade to Premium Services as needed. “This really is a turn-key solution for people who want it, we train them to use the equipment and then they are free to get on with it.”
In addition to ToolBlox, the proprietary software and optimised hardware used to build an IPTV network by customers, the WhiteBlox system has a further three aggregated components:
1. Integrated set of Industry Suites
Packaged combinations of ToolBox, interactive features and services optimized for different industry segments such as: Media/Entertainment, Brands/Business, Corporate, Non-profit and Government.
2. Premium Solutions.
Custom-built extensions and enhancements to the core Box for clients with custom or complex needs.
3. Services.
WhiteBlox has created a host of service elements to support the tools and finished network, including reporting, research, maintenance, monitoring, training, commerce support and ad sales.

Flexibility is key

“We have been careful to make flexibility the heart of our product,” continued Lenz. “If you don’t have all the building blocks at your disposal, we will build it for you. For example, we are in the process of building an ‘auction’ function for a client at the moment.”
The Whiteblox philosophy is based on providing customers with the ability to choose what they want to watch. “With our system, you are your own director,” explained Lenz.
“No-one can offer all the technology that we have,” added Wade Schalles, executive vice president of iSEEnetworks, a sister company of Whiteblox. “Our USP has been to take broadcasting seriously. We’re basically a technology company that has moved into media. Being able to develop our own systems means that we can offer our solutions more cheaply to customers than if they tried to develop it themselves in-house.”
Schalles believes that the only thing holding broadband development back is bandwidth. “Once the pipes become thicker, broadband will offer CBS-type quality.”
Currently, Whiteblox has concentrated on a B2B client-base, including sports properties such as IndyCar, “but we are looking to develop a consumer-type system,” added Lenz, “and this could easily be used as part of the education process and/or in recruitment.”

This article was seen first by people who receive the monthly newsletter, join them.