One of the latest advancements in playout automation and master control automation, Channel-in-a-Box (CiaB) is a software application that integrates broadcasting hardware into a single IT-based platform. A typical CiaB enables automatic playout of pre-programmed clips, adds the channel logo, adjusts audio levels, and plays commercials. It is due to its immense scalability, low cost, ease of installation and operation that the global market for CiaB was valued at $70.8 million in 2015. According to analysts at Technavio, this market is poised to grow at a whopping CAGR of 22% by 2020.
In spite of being quite useful and popular, there are certain challenges that the CiaB market is facing at present. To begin with, CiaB solutions lack versatility and compatibility. This challenge becomes even more clear because different geographical regions follow different broadcasting standards, thus the file-format varies from one region to another. It is therefore difficult to integrate and play a file created on the traditional system with the CiaB solution. Thus robust integration is needed in order to overcome compatibility issues between traditional and CiaB solutions.
Another major challenge that many CiaB vendors face is the lack of awareness about the technology among the masses. As very few people are familiar with this emerging technology, vendors are forced to tap into a greater amount of revenue from a small customer base. High pricing also makes CiaB less appealing to broadcasters. The key to overcoming this challenge is propagating awareness and popularizing CiaB in order to bring more players into the market, eventually making it affordable to the masses.
Geographical Segmentation of the Global CiaB market in 2015
Source: Technavio
Regarding how the above mentioned challenges will impact the CiaB market at the global level, it is important to understand that these challenges are temporary in nature. Especially in the case of CiaB, the scope of technological development is quite large. Industry analysts believe that, with the evolution of server technology, the scalability of CiaB can be improved significantly. Also, with vendors like Playbox Technology providing features such as remote automated playout, which enables monitoring and the operation of broadcasting channels from a remote location – the versatility of CiaB is going to improve drastically. Thus, the current challenge of CiaB not fully supporting the automation of the existing playout process will be addressed in the near future.
As internet penetration has increased in recent years, one market that has grown tremendously is that of OTT (over the top) services. CiaB provides a sleek platform through which OTT services can be expanded across various regions. The major advantage of this is that the capital expenses involved will be drastically reduced, especially when compared with the traditional playout. Some prime examples of CiaB being used to provide OTT services include Hulu, Sling TV and Netflix. The popularity of cloud-based OTT services is sure to have a positive impact on the global CiaB market.
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