The demand for content has never been higher. However, due to the economic headwinds of 2023, the budgets, and the workforce necessary to execute those budgets aren’t on par with the support needed to meet the demand. How do production teams meet this moment and keep up with the pace? Automation.
Xytech’s 2023 State of Media Operations report found that 76% of respondents understood the importance of automating critical workflows. Yet, the majority (65%) reported that less than 25% of their workflows were automated. Here are some key areas of Media Operations that can support the demand for content generation when resources are less than optimal.
Key Areas to Automate in Media Operations
Scheduling: Utilizing Xytech’s Media Operations Platform allows you to batch schedule programming, resources, personnel, and transmissions days, weeks, or even years into the future. With 34% of those in Media and Broadcast reporting that they spend 1-5 hours backfilling personnel a week*, automating personnel scheduling by setting union rules, European Working Time Directive, and overtime rules automatically select the right person for the job every time.
Asset Management: As companies scale their asset libraries, asset management has become increasingly time-consuming. Whether digital or physical, asset management is a key phase of the Media Operations cycle, with 38% of those that work in Media and Broadcast reporting they spend a quarter of their day managing assets. 17% added that they needed help locating assets, with the average time spent locating a single asset greater than 10 minutes per asset.* Xytech’s Media Operations Platform allows asset managers to locate an asset within seconds, dramatically reducing the manual hours spent managing assets. The Platform allows assets to be sorted by metadata, barcode, and even language, which is critical since 45% of respondents manage assets in multiple languages.
Transmissions: Utilizing a solution like DataMiner allows Media Operations professionals to monitor satellite, fiber, or IP transmission paths. Integrated with Xytech, transmissions can become automated, adjusting for availability, schedule, and cost. Additionally, if a path goes down, the Platform automatically alerts you and suggests an alternative path for minimum disruption and manual intervention. By optimizing your transmission requirements through automation, customers can further reduce the cost of being “on-air.”
The Future
On a micro level, automation benefits every phase of Media Operations. On a macro level, it increases productivity, improves programming quality, reduces operational costs and transmission downtime, and increases overall operational flexibility. Automation also allows an organization to be more agile, a key indicator of business health in this economy.
As automation continues to develop, particularly with the introduction of ChatGPT we will continue to see even more ways automation will benefit Media and Broadcast improving our businesses and, ultimately, our professional lives.
For more insights on Media Operations, download Xytech’s 2023 State of Media Operations report.