ARRIS Brings Advertising Expertise to TelcoTV 2012

SUWANEE, Ga., Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ARRIS Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRS), the leading global provider of advertising management solutions, is introducing a bundled multicast IPTV advertising solution for the delivery of national, regional, zoned and targeted ads at TelcoTV 2012. The end-to-end solution integrates ad storage, streaming, insertion and splicing in only one device, the ARRIS Media Services Platform (MSP), which offers a unique capability to insert ads into live, encrypted video content. In addition, the company is showcasing an ad insertion solution that helps advertisers and operators maximize value from multiscreen services to IP-connected devices while protecting their traditional linear TV advertising revenue stream.

ARRIS Advertising Solutions Deliver over 6 Million Ad Transactions Daily

ARRIS has over 50 years of experience helping broadband service providers deliver reliable triple play services, and is helping lead the transition of these services from legacy architectures to IP. And with over 15 years of specific advertising experience, ARRIS ConvergeMedia™ Skyvision advertising management solutions have captured 60% of the North American market. The company has helped operators transition their business from analog to digital ad insertion and expand their digital services to support both SD and HD ad insertion. Through its acquisition of BigBand Networks in 2011, ARRIS gained a history of innovation in targeted zoned advertising and industry leading products for linear ad insertion in cable networks and multicast IPTV.

New Solution Bundle Simplifies Operations, Helps Service Providers Support Advertisers More Effectively

The ARRIS IPTV bundled advertising solution consists of several interconnected products and can help provide operators with high-margin advertising revenues by inserting zoned and targeted advertising into the live video lineup. The MSP supports both traditional SCTE 30 protocol, as well as the new SCTE 130 protocol to integrate splicing with insertion.

The control of linear ad delivery, ad coordination and management is provided by the ARRIS AdEdge™ ad decision manager (ADM) which, with the MSP, forms the delivery system. On a separate server, the AdEdge Asset Preparation System ingests, prepares and manages ad content from the advertisers. It includes transcoding and transrating of ad content to the formats, bitrates, and codecs needed by IPTV broadband delivery networks, and it passes through closed captioning and metadata needed to comply with the CALM act.

The optional patented virtual zoning feature assigns subscribers to zones based on their profiles and offers flexible ad targeting. Zones can be targeted to zip+4 geographies as well as by subscriber characteristics. With the ARRIS virtual zoning feature operators can offer advertisers options for national, regional, zoned or targeted ads. For example, subscribers of a specific premium channel could be targeted with one ad and non-subscribers with another.

"Advertising represents a significant immediate revenue opportunity for IPTV operators. Our new bundle lowers the barriers to entry by simplifying the solution and shortening the time to pay back the investment," said John Reister, VP of Project Strategy, Edge Media Processing at ARRIS. "Local advertising insertion is not just for large operators any more. Operators can develop new advertising revenue streams with enhanced services such as addressability, virtual zoning and targeting customizable subscriber characteristics."

Innovative Technology Demonstration Delivers Multiscreen Linear Advertising

Many service providers are introducing multiscreen services, where the channel lineup is delivered to tablets, smartphones, or PCs. Advertising therefore needs to be coordinated across these different devices. Advertisers need to ensure that their ad buys are effective – regardless of delivery medium. In response, ARRIS is showcasing new delivery and control technology in the MSP and AdEdge ADM, to package, cache, and insert ads in adaptive bit rate streams to tablets. 

The ARRIS advertising solutions portfolio manages and inserts traditional zoned, interactive and targeted ads into the cable and IP networks of North American pay-TV service providers. The portfolio powers both linear and dynamic ad insertion that also enables new, expanded revenue opportunities for the delivery of ad content on connected screens and devices throughout the home. ARRIS advertising solutions are used directly or indirectly by 9 of the top 10 service providers in North America.

Notes for technical editors:

ARRIS MSP is ideal for inserting linear advertising for IPTV service providers using a Microsoft® Mediaroom® environment. The MSP has passed Microsoft's Conformance Test for HD, SD, and PIP ad insertion for both NTSC and PAL video content. Visit http://www.arrisi.com/get/msp to learn more about the MSP.

About ARRIS
ARRIS is a global communications technology company specializing in the design, engineering and supply of communications and IP technologies that support broadband services for residential and business customers around the world. The company supplies broadband operators with the tools and platforms they need to deliver and monitor advanced video, data and voice subscriber services, including whole home video across multiple screens, ultra high-speed data, personalized advertising and carrier-grade telephony. Headquartered near Atlanta, in Suwanee, Georgia, USA, ARRIS has R&D centers in Beaverton, OR; Chicago, IL; Cork, Ireland; Kirkland, WA; Redwood City, CA; Shenzhen, China; State College, PA; Tel Aviv, Israel; Wallingford, CT and Westborough, MA, and operates support and sales offices throughout the world. Information about ARRIS products and services can be found at www.arrisi.com.

About Microsoft Mediaroom
Microsoft Mediaroom is the world's most deployed IPTV platform. Mediaroom-powered TV services are being offered by more than 40 of the world's leading operators, delivering services to more than eight million consumer households equaling more than 16 million set top boxes deployed throughout the Americas, EMEA and APAC.

Product and company names used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE ARRIS Group, Inc.