Broadcasters, Production and Postproduction service organizations and content creation companies are faced with stringent requirements for control and monitoring of the movement of media elements. Recent consolidation in the media industry has created large conglomerates with diverse holdings. Large media companies are vertically integrated and operate multiple locations across the US and the Globe. The need for reliable, and orderly movement of media elements from location to location is vital to their success and profitability. A heightened level of awareness is ever present, as the industry struggles with the ongoing battle against piracy. Assets for Media Transport include leased fiber, ATM, IP, DTM, satellite networks and new broadband technologies just around the corner. There are varying levels of sophistication in the management tools available for each of these technologies. Many vendors offer systems for scheduling and tracking of content when utilizing their own brand of production or postproduction or distribution equipment. The systems that include scheduling tools tend to operate as individual islands. Very few media companies are equipped to manage the wide diversity of media transport tools they own. As Media Asset Management systems are deployed at these organizations the need for well-managed transport networks will be critical to successful workflow. The author will review approaches and techniques in use today. An open architecture based software management design will be described. Examples of Media Transport Asset Management (MTAM) systems will be discussed.
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