CANAL+ Group Selects IBM for Digital Media Transformation Initiative

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Jun 17, 2010, 08:00 ET

PARIS, June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today that CANAL+ Group, the leading pay-TV service provider in France, has signed a contract with IBM to transform the way it processes and delivers its programming and services to distribution channels.

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Working with IBM, CANAL+ will transform its entire digital supply chain for CANAL+ Group premium and thematic channels from point of origin (content provider) to the delivery for distribution platforms (satellite, DTT, cable, DSL and mobile). This strategic initiative will help CANAL+ to lower costs, speed up the time it takes to bring on air new programming and content, and provide it with the flexibility to better serve existing distribution channels as well as key emerging growth areas, such as on-demand, web-TV and mobile TV.

"We chose IBM because of its experience and long term commitment to the media industry," said Jo Guegan, executive vice president, Technology and Information Systems, Canal+ Group. "This new end-to-end digital supply chain will accelerate our content workflow processes and will enable CANAL+ Group to better serve multiple distribution channels and formats."

Just as physical goods must go through a supply chain process in order to become consumable products, digital media must also pass through various processing stages in order to get to the point in which the consumer can enjoy it via a TV, the Web or on their mobile phones. As part of the CANAL+ digital media supply chain transformation, IBM, working with Dalet Digital Media Systems and other business partners, will develop, integrate and deliver an enterprise-wide system built on a more horizontal architecture.

This system will allow content to flow back and forth in near realtime across business units such as programming, advertising, editorial and technical validation, archives, production, post-production and playout. The new system will also be integrated with the other CANAL+ systems (IT, back office, external play-outs, broadcast center) and will enable the use of richer business rules to automate the workflows.

"CANAL+ is well known in the industry as a leader in transforming their operations with advanced technology," said Steven Abraham, global media & entertainment leader, IBM Global Business Services. "This new digital supply chain positions CANAL+ well for the future by enabling them to optimize inventory on new channels like the Web and mobile."

The digital supply chain transformation project will be led by IBM Global Business Services, which will have full responsibility for the systems integration and will also provide program management, process and system design. The project will use software capabilities of the IBM Media Enterprise Framework architecture, including IBM's Business Process Management for media solution Media Hub. It will also incorporate IBM LT04 Storage Systems, Media Asset Management software from Dalet Digital Media Systems, and numerous IBM xSeries servers including Bladecenter H.

About CANAL+ Group

CANAL+ Group is France's number 1 pay-TV operator and a leader in channel production and distribution with more than 10.8 million subscriptions. Worldwide CANAL+ Group totals 12.5 million subscriptions. CANAL+ is also a pioneer in developing new TV watching habits and the leading French TV operator outside of France. In addition to pay-TV activities, CANAL+ Group is a major player in motion picture production, acquisition and distribution and is also involved in sport events organization.

About Dalet Digital Media Systems

Dalet solutions enable broadcasters and content professionals to create, manage and distribute media for traditional and new media channels including interactive web and mobile networks. Dalet Enterprise Edition combines a MAM platform and workflow engine to manage News, Sports, Programs, Entertainment and Archives. Purpose-built media production tools are natively integrated, optimizing access to media, collaboration and streamlining production workflows. Dalet systems are used around the world by thousands of content producers including major television and radio public broadcasters, commercial networks and operators and government organizations. Dalet is traded on the NYSE-EURONEXT stock exchange (Eurolist C): ISIN: FR0000076176, Bloomberg DLT:FP, Reuters: DALE.PA. For more information visit www.dalet.com

About IBM

For more information on IBM, visit www.ibm.com/media.