CROSSPOINT: an unstoppable evolution at the crossroads between the Broadcast and the OTT platforms

Two years after the European specialist EN Broadcast decided to trust in the potential and experience of Crosspoint, the distributor, service provider and integrator addresses a present marked by the convergence of technologies, a renewed role in the Spanish industry and the commitment to accompany each customer in the achievement of their objectives during planning, execution and after-sales support.

Founded in 1993, Crosspoint It has surpassed its three decades of life fully aware of the new challenges facing the sector stocking. With an initial role focused on providing the broadcast industry with those technologies that redefined television in Spain, in The last five years The company has undergone a profound transformation. This has been marked, as it could not be otherwise, by the evolution of the market and technology, but also by Profound structural changes.

The most important has been the Acquisition of the company by ES Broadcast, a group with a global reach that has provided its expertise, synergies and resources at the right time: a subtle but crucial transition in the operational focus and strategic of the company. Crosspoint's role as a value-added distributor – backed by major brands such as Grass Valley, Riedel Communications or Ross Video-, is joined by a renewed ambition to Accompany the customer in overcoming each of its technological and operational challenges. The same happens with Crossmedia, Crosspoint's digital division focused on the OTT universe. In it, solutions prepared for present and future challenges developed by partners as relevant as Fastly, Conviva or Brightcove among others.

In the words of Víctor García, CEO of Crosspoint: "Beyond having all the knowledge and mastery of the solutions of the brands we distribute, and accompanying the customer in the pre-sales phase, we are committed to their deployment and its after-sales support. To achieve this, we invest in equipment to give the best support service; We certifying us and sending our staff to brand headquarters to be at the forefront of knowledge, and We expand our portfolio to improve the offer we offer to each of our customers".

A renovated office for a new stage

Moving forward in this new phase of transformation, the Crosspoint team made the decision to give a 180º turn to its headquarters and betting on a new location and layout of the space. The goal? To create a space that is more open and closer to the company's current operations, promoting Reflection, analysis and collaboration.

The office, Bright and large dimensions, is structured around a room central in which Crosspoint professionals can work together on their many projects. Likewise, as satellites of this axis, auxiliary and equally multidisciplinary spaces are distributed in which it is possible to maintain meetings One-to-one or perform group training sessions.

From its new headquarters, located in the Legazpi area of Madrid, Crosspoint's new office looks to the future without losing sight of a legacy marked by great projects and professionals who left an indelible mark on the audiovisual industry. One of them is Ricardo Cuenca, former head of technology, who died last April and who had the admiration and respect of the entire profession, as well as the affection of everyone who knew him.

In this sense, García comments: "It occurred to us that the best way to honor him was to baptize the Meeting room, the brightest and most prominent point of the new office, with his name. In addition, as a great Conversationalist and Argumentator which was, we understand that a meeting room, where ideas, arguments and reflections confront each other, is the most appropriate space to pay tribute to his figure. He was a true pillar of the company and is still very present for all of us."

The search for the avant-garde at Crosspoint

The evolution of Crosspoint is inescapably linked to that of the broadcast world itself. The needs of the Broadcasters are modified, and the New technical developments allow us to imagine convergent, offshoring futures with scalable business models which need to be addressed transversally to take advantage of all their advantages. In this regard, Crosspoint is making great strides on multiple fronts, but without losing perspective: the needs of the customer and their support for the customer. short, medium and long term continue to guide the day-to-day of its operations.

In this way, the company is prepared to address the different opportunities in the broadcast universe, as he explains Ricardo Casanova, sales manager. The implementation of projects in the cloud, software-as-a-service business models (SaaS), the transition to infrastructure models IP or the consolidation of environments UHD are starting to occupy a large part of the agendas of project teams, and Crosspoint is ready to put its knowledge and knowledge to the table. Engineering Teams at the service of each challenge.

"Under our vocation as a distributor of High added value, based on long-term relationships of trust, we offer our clients a presale focused on their needs and, if they allow us, the Co-creation of your projects", says Casanova, head of a team of professionals who put at the service of the industry a "Deep knowledge of the solutions we distribute", as well as its "ability to carry out Internally Developments that offer new specifications, completing the integration of new products with those that the customer may already have inside their home". "This is what we difference and brings great value to the products'out of the box'", stresses the sales manager.

When it comes to cutting-edge platforms, Crosspoint stands as a certified partner of GV-AMPPof Grass Valley, the "most advanced and complete broadcast ecosystem on the market" based on software applications that, as Casanova remarks, "we have already implemented and are managing in first-class clients". Likewise, the firm has incorporated the "intuitive and innovative" live production and media ingestion solutions of SimplyLiveof Riedel, thus responding to the production demands demanded by its customers.

Without renouncing its recognized impulse in cameras, first-class mixers and other production equipment and infrastructure, Crosspoint is also focused on the promotion of graphics and robotics solutions, especially with Ross Video. "Both lines complement our portfolio perfectly," says Casanova, who also highlights the company's role as a distributor of optics and PTZ cameras with the help of Canon. "We can also offer native IP/UHD processing solutions that are software-based and run on FPGA accelerator boards of Arkona-Manifold. And, to all this, we can add the options of repurchasing and supplying used equipment and Exdemo with access to a Large stock of material, often practically new," he explains.

Crossmedia, Crosspoint's ambitious digital side

Born to respond to the challenges of the Digital convergence Crossmedia, Crosspoint's digital division focused on the OTT world, has established itself in the market by accompanying companies in their digital transformation processes. Deeply aware of the transformation of the Viewers' consumption habits, in which applications coexist with more traditional channels, the Crossmedia team has accumulated a deep background that allows it to position itself as one of the most experienced companies in the Spanish ecosystem.

Content distribution, application development, implementation of AI tools or CDN management they require in-depth knowledge to accompany the user throughout their journey. That particular journey, including monitoring your activity or Personalizing Your Experience, drives much of the purpose of a Crossmedia that observes how this know-how It also benefits multiple content owners far from the media sector: from sports clubs to cultural organizations.

"Launch a service OTT For a television it is not only a technological challenge, but also a Internal challenge to adapt the available means and be able to mount a New puzzle. And, in Crossmedia, we are specialists in each of the pieces that make up this particular puzzle."

All these agents need a detailed service that allows them to exploit their full potential, and the Crossmedia division, led by Jorge Frías, continues to move forward with the firm intention of translating Challenges in Opportunities in this effervescent field, as it is full of opportunities: "It is a reality that televisions have become applications, and this fact has a great impact on the way in which content is distributed, consumed and interacted with. Launching an OTT service for a television is not only a technological challenge, but also a Internal challenge to adapt the available means and be able to mount a New puzzle. And, at Crossmedia, we are specialists in each of the pieces that make up this particular puzzle".

For Frías, Crossmedia's main value lies in being specialists in the integration of OTT platforms for broadcasters and other content owners with a "Agnostic spirit”. This approach makes it possible to overcome the main challenge of this OTT world: to address a Highly fragmented ecosystem in terms of the number and type of devices on which these applications are deployed, while work continues on the Personalization of the user experience.

"To this end, many of the solutions we are implementing in our customers are based on the use of AI, which is emerging as the real global disruptive factor for the coming years. For this reason, it is essential to reflect on the transformative power of artificial intelligence, its application in our sector and the Regulatory challenges that it entails for the entire industry," says Frías.

A promising future and two great universes

The dual aspect of Crosspoint, from the transformation of the most traditional broadcast to the good number of opportunities that have appeared in the digital field with the emergence of OTT channelled with Crossmedia, represents a source of Shared knowledge own Two universes in convergence. In today's broadcast environments, both sides feed off each other, sharing from business models to Technological developments.

"This knowledge of both worlds allows us to face projects in a very Holistic. We support each other across departments to choose the The most suitable path for the customer. In a very humble way, we dare to say that it is a Highly differential value proposition in the market," says Víctor García, who also underlines the company's efforts in the field of Cybersecurity: "In this sense, we have also dedicated great efforts to obtaining certifications such as the National Security Scheme, which allows us to face current projects with all the required solvency".

As well as Transform the audiovisual industry, the evolution of Crosspoint does not stop. Technology structures the progress of the medium, but it is the Thorough knowledgethe Personalized attentionthe accompaniment and the experience what can transform an idea into a Fully transformative reality.

With this philosophy as the backbone of its business, Crosspoint is aware that it is on the right path to continue accompanying each client in each project. As an example, the great challenges it has undertaken in recent times: from the development of the system of recommendations to RTVE Play, to the updating of the news set of Mediaset Spain, including the supply of video scoreboard graphics equipment in the renovation of the stadium of a Great Football Club, as well as the delivery of the routing, intercom and video mixing systems of the latest mobile units of RTVE.

To continue helping the industry achieve each and every one of its goals, Crosspoint has recently incorporated great professionals such as David Medina, with extensive and recognized experience in the commercial area of different manufacturers and broadcast integrators, who joins as commercial manager of large accounts, or Jordi Mangas, with high knowledge of the industry and medium technology, and that, together with Jorge Polvorinos, también de dilatada trayectoria profesional desarrollada en UK, lideran el departamento preventa & tecnología del área broadcast. Asimismo, la entrada de Raquel Serrano, with considerable background in the audiovisual and streaming field, leads the ambitious digital projects undertaken by Crossmedia.

Todos ellos se suman a un equipo joven pero altamente capaz y experimentado, compuesto por otros pilares de la compañía como César Rojas, Daniel Villar o Marga Maristegui; que lideran, respectivamente, las áreas de ingeniería y soporte, de dirección técnica digital y de administración.

As well as Transform the audiovisual industry, the evolution of Crosspoint does not stop. Technology structures the progress of the medium, but it is the Thorough knowledgethe Personalized attentionthe accompaniment and the experience what can transform an idea into a Fully transformative reality.