handballTV.ch, for which we provide the entire streaming technology and work closely with the association and the clubs, recorded a clear growth spurt in the first half of the season. The number of spectators has tripled. Here is the press release of the Swiss Handball Association:

(29.12.2016) The Swiss Handball Association (SHV) is looking back on a successful first season in its livestream project. Over the past four months more than 150 games were seen live on the platform handballTV.ch  – the number of viewers has nearly tripled compared to the number in the previous year (48,000) to a total of nearly 140,000.

In the current 2016/17 season, all NLA and SPL1 clubs are obliged to stream their home games live for the first time. The minimum production standard provides for a one-camera variant. The graphics (game, playtime, penalties) are automatically inserted from the liveticker into the stream by  specially developed software. All games are available on handballTV.ch as on-demand videos directly after their transmission, thanks to Cloud-Recording.

The production standard is first-class. The home games of Wacker Thun and the intrnational matches played by the Swiss national teams have been produced and aired for several years in TV quality (with several cameras, replays and commentary). The fact that the high quality is well received by the community is shown by the statistics: the games of Wacker Thun show the highest clicks; The derby against BSV Bern Muri on September 2, with more than 2,300 spectators on the livestream, was the most watched game in the first half of the season. With an average retention time of over 15 minutes, the broadcasts for WebTV regularly achieve impressive ratings.

The clubs, which implement the livestreaming from their stadiums independently on behalf of the SHV and thereby build up valuable know-how, deserve a big thank you . The clubs are always dependent on volunteers – and they have interesting jobs to offer, especially in the area of ​​TV / livestreaming. Exciting experiences can be gathered.

The quality of the broadcasts will be further increased in the coming months. The clubs and the association work closely together. Several clubs have already made efforts to expand their productions – be it with comment, several cameras or replay. As a medium-term goal, SHV plans to produce a „game of the week“ in high quality and to accompany it in a communicative manner. Games, which are produced in higher quality are already shown on handballTV as „top games“.

The next big highlight will be the international matches in the Yellow Cup from 6 to 8 January live on handballTV.ch. The production of the pictures from the Eulachhalle is done by wackerTV’s team – the livestream pioneers from the Bernese Oberland have played a key role in the project with their valuable know-how.

Source: Marco Ellenberger

Yoveo won big at the Yahoo Sports Technology Awards in London, taking home the prize for Sports Technology Agency of the Year. Yoveo won the award based on its use of iRewind’s mass personalized video technology at the UBS Kids Cup. This award comes after the project garnered the bronze prize for Innovation at the Best of Swiss Web Awards.

Highlights from the UBS Kids Cup personalized video finisher clips

Every year throughout Switzerland, the UBS Kids cup brings together over 130,000 children to participate in more than 850 track and field events. Yoveo’s award-winning project included UBS volunteers filming thousands of minutes of film of the athletes who ran the 60-meter sprint. The film was then transformed into personalized videos through iRewind’s technology. Each personalized video features close-up shots of the child and her sprint in normal speed and slow motion.

Best of all, each child’s performance was presented by the Swiss athletics star, Mujinga Kambundji, as well as a popular sports announcer. Shortly after the run, the videos were uploaded to the cloud, allowing participants to watch their videos on-site on iPads and also at home.

The “finisher clips” were also published to UBS Athletics Fan Corner platform, giving participants a personalized memory of their accomplishment as well as a digital souvenir to share with friends and family. The entire production and delivery process is fully automated, enabling a near-to-live delivery of the race videos.

“We’re honored to win for Sports Technology Agency of the Year. Yoveo is proud to provide technology solutions for projects such as the UBS Kids Cup. We think it’s an excellent example of how personalized videos can deliver lasting, sharable memories for participants and event organizers alike. This award stands as a testament that Yoveo’s clients can accomplish great things with iRewind’s personalized video technology.” commented Marco Demont, the co-owner of Yoveo.

The Yahoo Sports Technology Awards reward innovation in all areas of the sports industry. Founded in 2014, the Awards were the first initiative to celebrate the hugely influential force of sports technology as well as the changes such technologies bring about.

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Since 2014, Viktor Röthlin, European Champion of the Marathon in Barcelona 2010, has been organizing the „Switzerland Marathon light“ in Sarnen, Switzerland. This year the competition „Beat Vik“ was launched.

The concept: Viktor Röthlin starts time-staggered to other participants and rolls-up the field from behind. Winners are those participants he doesn’t overtake.

This year, iRewind provided two video innovations. On the one hand, iRewind produced 2’170 finisher videos with its own video cloud product iRewind. Since publishing the finisher videos on the organizer’s website more than 5’000 videos have been watched within a short time; around 40% of these were distributed on mobile devices.

The latest feature: iRewind can also be shared via WhatsApp, which overtook Facebook and Twitter as sharing option.

iRewind also provided a world first: a complete semi-marathon was produced as a Virtual Reality (VR) video. Why is this exciting? The VR-Cam („Isostar-Cam“) accompanied Viktor Röthlin during his entire race. This allowed the participants to review the race and analyze the moment when they were overtaken by Viktor Röthlin. The VR video was published on YouTube and embedded on the organizer’s website, including the finisher clips.

 

Videos are becoming increasingly popular in HR and specifically in employer branding. This trend also includes activities related to the apprentices of a company. On the one hand, the aim is to fill apprenticeships with candidates who are as highly talented as possible, but also to position the company in a positive way towards potential future employees. JOWA (a wholly owned subsidiary of Migros and part of the M-industry) has developed a very exciting approach with the help of videos, to involve its apprentices actively in the video creation process, but also to use the final videos effectively for its own purposes.

In the light of an internal food waste campaign consisting of various information events and also a traveling exhibition around the eleven JOWA locations, the apprentices developed storyboards that explained the challenges of „food waste“ with videos. A YOVEO coaching team introduced the apprentices to the topics of storytelling and video production, furnished the individual workgroups with the appropriate equipment and accompanied them during the production of the individual videos. YOVEO supported the groups in postproduction and with advice related to storyboard development.

The final video products were then shown during the touring exhibition. The technology of interactive videos was used. The exhibitors interested were able to view the individual videos on a single notebook.

The entire campaign was a success on all sides and received positive feedback from visitors to the touring exhibition. What were the three reasons for success?

Authenticity

The videos produced were not high-end products. But this was not the goal in any way. It was clear from the beginning that the videos were created by the apprentices. They live on the basis of authenticity, of the real, and also of the funny and the unexpected. This also made the videos very entertaining, even if an occasional recording was not perfect.

Involvement

From the very beginning, the apprentices were involved in a comprehensive video project: from the theory, to the creation of a storyboard and to the production, they were heavily involved and were responsible accordingly. This early onboarding to the project was rewarded on the part of the apprentices, who showed great dedication and enthusiasm.

Visibility

An important point is the visibility of the work. The individual videos did not disappear onto a cloud server, but were a central part of the touring exhibition, which in turn was great recognition for the apprentices of JOWA.

 

YOVEO was involved in the conception, training, production and realization of the interactive video for the touring exhibition.

Touring exhibition with video screen

 

Acquisition establishes global leader in personalized mass video production technology

yoveo AG, the leading Swiss specialist in video strategies and technologies, today announced the acquisition of Lausanne Startup iRewind. Active in 23 countries, iRewind is a software solution that automatically captures, edits and delivers instantly personalized videos to participants in sport events. To date, it has provided the solution to more than 300 events across the globe with over 1 million videos delivered.

The acquisition of iRewind by YOVEO will allow the company to consolidate and further develop a wide range of services in the rapidly growing field of video micro moments, particularly for sport events. These goals will be achieved by combining iRewind’s advanced video automation software with YOVEO’s pool of technologies and competences. According to Marco Demont, co-Founder of YOVEO, a new global leader for smart personalized mass video production technology has been established: “iRewind is a pioneer in the market for video micro moments and has succeeded in building up an impressive reach within a short time.” Andreas Herren, co-Founder of YOVEO and responsible for product development adds: “Because of the experience of iRewind in the area of video automation, we can add innovative features for our partners and accelerate the process of offering customized and smart video solutions to our customers, such as sponsors and timers, for use at events.”

The iRewind tech department lead by Mihai Nicolescu (CTO and Co-Founder) will continue to operate out of Bucharest and, together with the Zurich based tech center, will further develop the iRewind product in many areas, such as highly scalable video bulk processing, automation and computer vision.
“We are incredibly grateful for the passion and dedication of the entire iRewind team”, says iRewind Co-Founder and CEO Bogdan Manoiu. “We founded iRewind with the core belief that the video memories we deliver mean future happiness to share. YOVEO has a portfolio of great video products and innovative technologies under development and by combining these with iRewind’s capabilities, we will provide sports participants as well as sponsors, organizers and timing companies with exceptional value.”