Content services firm JCA has seen a 20% increase in requests for file-based delivery following the halt in production of HDCam SR tape.
Managing director Simon Kay said the shift away from the Sony-manufactured tape had accelerated the trend to tapeless delivery.
He claimed the business had been “inundated” with requests from clients who say they are having problems with some London-based facilities failing to deliver their content.
“We have noticed an upturn since the problems with HDCam SR. More people are trying to fulfil both options of delivering on tape and file.
“There were already more deliveries to platforms like iTunes and Hulu and more content being produced, but with the current situation with [Sony HDCam SR] tape, the problems have been increasing. We have noticed that more broadcasters are accepting file delivery, although they are not taking it up as rapidly as one would hope.”
The multiplicity of content platforms around the world and the range of delivery formats they require has compounded the problem, he added.
Some facilities send a standard spec file to all platforms, despite some of them insisting content must be delivered in a certain format, such as 8Mb or 4Mb.
Kay said that a common delivery standard could ease the problem, but would not eradicate it.
“It will still be about producing files to specifications and getting successful delivery. Sometimes that can be down to the fact that bandwidth, either from the post facility or to the platform, is just not big enough.”
Kay said that JCA has set up a “panic line” for producers experiencing delivery problems. The 24-hour dedicated telephone line has been launched in a bid to speed up what is often a time-critical process.
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