In the first major deployment of digital watermarking for video-on-demand services, TVN Entertainment will use the Widevine Mensor system to provide forensic tracking for its entire line-up of programming.
TVN provides video-on-demand programming for multiple service operators in the United States and has signed up more than 30 telecommunications affiliates. TVN currently offers more than 2,500 hours of VOD programming from over 100 content providers.
Widevine Mensor enables content owners, VOD service providers and operators to place digital watermarks into content at each stage of the video distribution chain. Mensor watermarks are robust and remain traceable when distributed beyond the set top box to personal video recorders, computers and mobile devices.
Mensor will be used to embed TVN and operator specific watermarks into VOD content. TVN can track the distribution of each asset to the respective local site of the video distribution operator. Content owners may also work with TVN to track the distribution of content to ensure the usage is in line with their licensing agreements.
“It represents the first large scale watermarking deployment in the industry,” said Brian Baker, chief executive of Widevine Technologies, which is based in Seattle.