I’m very pleased to announced that Damon Phillips, Vice President of WatchESPN & ESPN3 will kickoff the Streaming Media East conference (#smeast), as our keynote speaker on Tuesday, May 21st. Damon will join more than 100 speakers from media, broadcast, MSO and enterprise companies discussing the latest business, content and technology subjects around online video. Register online and get admission to the keynotes and exhibition hall for free.

And it’s not too late to get a full conference pass to the show and readers of my blog can register using my own personal discount code of DR13, which gets you a two-day ticket to the show for only $695. That’s $200 off the regular ticket price and it gets you access to 35 sessions and how-to presentations, 100+ speakers and all the networking events.

Thursday April 25th, at 2pm ET, I’ll be moderating another StreamingMedia.com webinar on the topic of, “Best Practices for Multiscreen Delivery.” The cost and complexity of incompatible video clients and formats have made delivering feature-rich multiscreen video very challenging. This webinar provides attendees with workflow strategies and considerations for delivering video to all types of screens. Learn the best practices for creating multiscreen profiles, device detection, multiformat delivery, and customization by device type and learn about the new economics of multiscreen delivery.

Join Telestream, Limelight, Cisco, and Qumu and learn:

• Transcoding and packaging adaptive bitrate video for multiscreen delivery
• Optimizing image quality: bit-rate, resolution and video processing
• How to keep your company’s story everywhere your customers are, on any device, with cloud-based tools
• How to showcase and share your story on the latest smartphone or tablet, on any desktop or mobile browser

We’ll have a full Q&A session in which your questions will be answered and as always, all StreamingMedia.com webinars are free. So register here and save the date for this instructional webinar.

[Updated: I have edited the title and post to reflect that KIT Digital Inc. will be filing for chapter 11, but hasn’t officially done so yet.]

There’s been a lot of speculation about what would eventually happen with KIT Digital and finally, we now know some details on what will take place with KIT’s assets, their employees and what KIT’s new management team plans to do moving forward. Late this afternoon, KIT filed an 8-K and I had the chance to speak to KIT’s management team earlier in the day to get more details on what they have just announced. It’s a complex deal, there are a lot of moving parts and additional pieces of information aren’t being released for a few weeks, details that we need to evaluate the true value of KIT’s business going forward. These additional details will come out over time, but for now, here’s what the company is disclosing.

KIT Digital Inc., the parent holding company of the assets, has filed will file for chapter 11 bankruptcy. While some might see this as bad news, it was a move KIT had to make. Doing this allows KIT not to have to go back and worry about trying to restate earnings for the past three years and allows them to start fresh. KIT has also announced that three of the five largest shareholders will be buying back the core assets from KIT Digital Inc. and investing new money into what will become a new company, named Piksel. This is being done as a “backstop” transaction, which means the three major shareholders agree to purchase all the remaining, unsubscribed securities from KIT Digital Inc. and guaranteeing that all of the newly issued shares will be purchased, allowing the company to fulfill its fundraising requirements, as well as provide enough cash to cover any liabilities. The core assets being acquired come from five companies inside KIT and consist of Ioko 365, Polymedia, Multicast Media, Megahertz Broadcast Systems and Kewego.

KIT is not saying how much the top three shareholders (Prescott Group Capital Management, JEC Capital Partners, and Ratio Capital Partners) are investing in the new entity, or what percentage of shares they own, but will do so during the bankruptcy process. Current shareholders will be able to buy warrants in the new entity and invest in Piksel, but any stock they have in KIT won’t be converted to the new company. So KIT stock is now officially worth zero. One of the key details KIT is not yet disclosing is revenue for the company. Management said they will soon announce new financial details for KIT for the past six months, which we’ll then be able to use to see what value KIT’s management placed on the business and the assets they acquired. Without that, it’s hard to know what value KIT currently has, since we don’t know revenue, bookings, customer count etc. but once those details come out, a fair market value of the company can be realized.

Once of the reasons KIT’s board of directors is taking this path is because they feel that certain assets at KIT Digital are worth more than what anyone was willing to pay. They didn’t disclose what offers they had received from others, but felt all of them were too low. It’s hard to know the real value since we don’t yet know what Piksel’s focus will be, what products and services they will offer and how big the markets are they are selling into, but one has to imagine KIT was only offered pennies on the dollar for certain assets. No one is going to pay fair market value for anything from KIT when the company, technology and financials were in such disarray, so this new approach makes a lot of sense.

Over the past six months, KIT’s management team has streamlined the company, closed 17 office locations and cut their headcount from over 1,400 down to 800. While KIT’s management would not guarantee any more layoffs, they did say they aren’t announcing any layoffs with today’s news and believe the workforce they currently have in place is the right size for what they want to focus on within Piksel.

Because KIT’s independent committee, which was hired to find the best value for KIT, has agreed upon this being the best deal for the company, it also means that KIT’s former CEO won’t be able to make a bid for the company and try to influence shareholders, which he had been doing in the past. So KIT should be able to move through the chapter 11 process quickly, relaunch the new company, get their new brand into the market and put KIT Digital behind them. The company isn’t yet ready to showcase their new branding or website, but will do so in the coming weeks. When I asked if KIT’s current CEO Peter Heiland would become the new CEO of Piksel, management told me they had not yet decided who the best fit would be for the CEO role of the new company. The impression I got from them is that they want the best CEO they can get for the company and have not yet decided on who that will be.

While most shareholders won’t be happy with today’s news, they are all good steps that needed to be taken for the company to distance itself from the mess that was KIT Digital. It’s good for the company, employees, their customers and the industry and in order for KIT to move forward, they needed to get rid of the tarnished brand that is KIT Digital. Many of KIT’s former management is responsible for running the company into the ground, mishandling money and treating employees like crap, so the faster KIT’s new management got away from that mess, the better.

This is a step in the right direction for the company and it will be interesting to learn how much money the top shareholders have invested in the new entity and what they have valued it at, once those details are released. Hopefully it is onward and upward from here for Piksel.

Updated 10:14pm: While I wrote that KIT’s shares no longer have any value, due to the chapter 11 announcement, that could change once KIT gets through the chapter 11 process. Only current KIT shareholders are going to be able to invest in the new company and those who don’t want to make that investment, are probably going to be able to sell their shares to those who want to invest in Piksel. So if the revenue numbers KIT gives out end up being good, there may be interest from the secondary market to buy KIT shares. Hard to know what the value of those shares will be, until we have more info, but current KIT investors might get something for the shares they currently own.

I’m very pleased to announced that Rob Gelick, SVP and GM of Digital Platforms for CBS Interactive Entertainment will be the keynote speaker on day two of the Streaming Media East conference (#smeast), which is only five weeks away. Taking place May 21-22 at the Hilton hotel in NYC, Rob will join more than 100 speakers from media, broadcast, MSO and enterprise companies discussing the latest business, content and technology subjects around online video. Register online and get admission to the keynotes and exhibition hall for free.

And it’s not too late to get a full conference pass to the show and readers of my blog can register using my own personal discount code of DR13, which gets you a two-day ticket to the show for only $695. That’s $200 off the regular ticket price and it gets you access to 35 sessions and how-to presentations, 100+ speakers and all the networking events.

Streaming producer and compression expert Jan Ozer has just released a new book titled Producing Streaming Video for Multiple Screen Delivery. The new book is the successor to Ozer’s highly-regarded Video Compression for Flash, Apple Devices and HTML5, which has been adopted as a textbook by several colleges and universities. Published two years later, Producing Streaming Video for Multiple Screen Delivery is nearly a complete rewrite, and at 433 pages, contains nearly 70% more content than the initial book. Amazon’s currently selling it for about $35.

Jan’s book will teach you:

• The fundamentals of video streaming and compression, including adaptive streaming and H.264 encoding, and new technologies like DASH, HTML5 and HEVC.
• How to configure a single group of files to distribute to computers, mobile and OTT devices, and when it’s better to customize files for different target platforms.
• How to most efficiently produce maximum quality video using tools like the Adobe Media Encoder, Apple Compressor, Sorenson Squeeze and Telestream Episode Pro.
• How to choose an enterprise class encoder, with extensive discussions of workflow tools like Telestream Vantage and the ProMedia Workflow System from Harmonic.
• How to choose between setting up your own streaming server or using an online video platform (OVP) and the most relevant questions to ask before choosing an OVP service provider.
• The best technology options for producing a live event, from choosing an encoding tool or 4G delivery platform,  to choosing a streaming media server or Live Streaming Service Provider (LSSP) like Livestream or Ustream.
• When to consider using a rich media presentation system like Sonic Foundry MediaSite or MediaPlatform WebCaster and how to choose between the available systems.
• Which producers need to add closed captions to their streaming videos and how to do so.

If you’re not familiar with Jan, he’s been producing and encoding video since the CD-ROM days and has taught courses in video and streaming production since 1994. Jan has taught workshops and sessions at our Streaming Media conferences in NY, CA and London for more years than I can remember and has written or co-authored 16 books on digital video related topics. Jan shoots, edits and produces live webcasts, streaming media and DVDs for concerts, ballets and other events in southwest Virginia.

Jan is a true guru in this space, so if you want to learn more about producing and encoding video, get Jan’s book. You won’t be disappointed.

With all the smart TVs, game consoles, tablets and $99 streaming media devices in the market, the OTT world is crowded with options. Trying to figure out which box offers the best choice of content platforms, quality and cost can be confusing. That’s why for the third year in a row we’re bringing back the special “Streaming Devices Pavilion” at the Streaming Media East show (#smeast), May 21-22, letting attendees get hands-on with more 50 over-the-top (OTT) video devices and platforms, all in one room.

Want to see how Airplay works on devices? We have you covered. Interested to compare Netflix’s HD video quality on the Roku 3 vs. Apple TV? You can do that. Want to see how streaming works to 4G phones and tablets?  Come test it out. Have questions about which Over-The-Air antenna works best? Get those questions answered. Think of the Streaming Devices Pavilion as your own personal living room and put these devices to use!

The Streaming Devices Pavilion provides attendees with the opportunity to view the largest collection of over-the-top video devices and platforms that you can walk right up, experience them hands-on, and do it all for FREE. If you’ve ever wanted to compare OTT services and devices, side by side, in a real-world setting, this is the place to do it. The pavilion will be staffed by a team of device gurus who will be on hand to answer questions and we’ll also be giving away thousands of dollars in free gear.

Attendees who visit the pavilion will also receive an updated chart that gives the specs of each streaming device and lists which content platforms they support. Last year’s chart can be viewed at www.streamingmediadevices.com and this year’s chart will be updated to include all the new boxes in the market.

Devices and platforms available for testing will include the following:

• Content Platforms: Apple, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, HBO Go, Epix, Vudu, YouTube, Google TV, Google Play, ESPN, MLB.TV, Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network, NHL GameCenter, NBA League Pass, Redbox Instant by Verizon, and others.
• Streaming Devices: Apple TV, Roku 3 (all models), WD TV Live (all models), Boxee TV, D-Link MovieNite Plus, Netegar NeoTV Prime, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PS3, Nintendo Wii U/Wii, ASUS Qube, Hisense Pulse, Ouya, Vizio Co-Star, Seagate GoFlex TV, TiVo Premiere, Slingbox, and more.
• Tablets: Apple iPad 3, Apple iPad Mini, Kindle Fire HD, Nook HD, Nook HD+, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, Samsung Galaxy Note, Microsoft Surface, Sony Xperia, ASUS Transformer, Motorola Xoom, Acer Iconia, and others.
• Also: A variety of TVs and Blu-ray players from Vizio, Sony, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Sharp, Phillips, Toshiba, Magnavox, and Sylvania, as well as 4G phones from Verizon and Over-The-Air antennas from Mohu, Wineguard and others.

You can register to attend the device pavilion simply by going online and registering for a FREE exhibits pass. That’s it. It’s quick, easy, costs you nothing and you may even go home with some new gear!

And if you are a member of the media, register to attend the event and I will be happy to personally walk you through the devices and platforms, point out the strengths of each box and give you all the details to need to know to compare these devices and platforms in the market.

There is nothing like this any place else in the industry and no show allows you to get hands-on with so much hardware and content. If your company has a device you think I should add to the pavilion, reach out to me and let me know.

A big thanks to Dolby and Encoding.com for sponsoring the pavilion. We have a few sponsorship spots left, so if you want your brand on all the signs, email blasts, printed device chart and all the other places we promote the device pavilion, contact me for more details.

While the next-generation video compression technology, HEVC, is a hot topic, far too many people are getting caught up in non real-world use cases, like 4K, or think HEVC is going to be adopted in short order. In reality, the mainstream market is not yet ready for HEVC, it’s still a few years away, and there isn’t an ROI to be achieved from being an early adopter of HEVC. (See my post from January on this topic: HEVC (H.265) Adoption Is At Least Five Years Away For Consumer Content Services)

While HEVC probably will serve as the successor to MPEG-4, many myths surround the technology and the rate at which it will be deployed. Yesterday, my co-worker at Frost & Sullivan, digital media Industry Manager Avni Rambhia, lead a webinar discussing the current state of HEVC products and technology, and its strategic implications in the short, mid and long term for a variety of businesses. Here were some of the key takeaways:

Myth 3: Many HEVC Products Will Hit The Market in 2013