Case Study: Red Bee Media

Subito live subtitling platform

In 2010 Red Bee Media decided that they needed to replace the system used to produce live subtitling for the BBC, Channel 4, and other broadcasters. Subsequently, Polar Moment, with excellent experience in high-performance transaction processing and database systems, was chosen to develop the new system from the ground up. The new system, Subito, brought with it a number of benefits to the business; collaborative working, rapid re-­use, and extending the system to include metadata. Furthermore, it also incorporates a more modern voice recognition system (Dragon Naturally Speaking) as well as input from standard and stenography keyboards.

High-performance live subtitling

Since then, Red Bee Media has become Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services (EBMS). The Subito live subtitling system developed by Polar Moment has delivered high performance, excellent quality, and superb reliability. Since its first release in 2013, Subito has rolled out around the world, with services in Canada and Australia recently being added to those already in place in the UK, France, Spain, and the Netherlands.

Simon Brand, Head of Programme Delivery and Operational Excellence, EBMS, commented:

 

“Throughout our relationship with Polar Moment, I’ve always been pleased and impressed with the support we’ve received. There’s an enthusiasm, attention to detail, and level of engagement that sets them apart. Earlier this year we suffered two P0 situations in two different countries within days of each other, both around high-profile launch events, including one in the middle of a weekend. What I saw from Polar Moment was a standard of response well beyond anything I had experienced from other suppliers throughout my time here. Both issues were quickly resolved, and both launches were successful. Dealing as we do, in broadcast critical systems around the world, we’re inherently in a highly demanding and highly visible position. The fact that Polar Moment deliver very much at the upper end of our expectations, even in that context, is testament to the quality of the team there”.

Quality support service

Polar Moment provides a 24×7 support service for Subito. This support was called upon in the run-up to the live launches in Canada and Australia. Polar Moment staff were able to respond to, and resolve, business critical issues quickly allowing EBMS to meet their contractual deadlines with two new customers.

EBMS continues to invest in the system, which is being continually developed on their behalf by Polar Moment. Ericsson creates over 200,000 hours of captioning globally each year, 80,000 of which are live, consistently meeting the required minimum 99.8% uptime and 98% accuracy requirements.