Haivision powering interviews in Rio

With the Olympic Games underway, there’s no shortage of news and sports coverage to keep up to date on all the events, ceremonies, and more. None of the coverage comes free. It costs national and local broadcasters a small fortune for the comprehensive coverage we’ve come to take for granted. Since operating expenses (OPEX) are always a concern to broadcasters, we thought we would share how a few broadcasters are reducing their OPEX with Haivision video streaming technology.

For the 2016 games, Haivision’s Makito X H.264 and HEVC video encoders with SRT are being used extensively in Rio by major sports broadcasters to help reduce OPEX, and get more content to viewers. To help reduce costs our Makito X with SRT allows broadcasters to use public internet connections (such as LTE or hardwired broadband) for remote and on-field interviews.

Often times events like the Olympics force broadcasters to look outside of traditional video transport methods (satellite trucks, dedicated/managed networks) because of both cost and availability. This is where having a video encoder which can make use of public internet is a huge win. Broadcasters can have the flexibility to interview athletes on the field after an olympic event, or hold interviews with sports analysts from hotels or conference rooms.

Now, why can’t any generic video encoder just make use of public or inexpensive connections for video transmission?

Without getting into all of the details, public internet connections are simply unreliable. Bandwidth can fluctuate, the connection is being used by other users (so a lot of different packets are being sent) and there’s always a certain amount of information which is lost (i.e. packet loss). In addition to quality, when using public internet connections, broadcasters need to make use of encryption to keep their content away from prying eyes. Since no one would tune in for a choppy/blocky video feed, broadcasters need an encoder which can overcome the public internet’s shortcomings for live video streaming.

This is where Haivision’s SRT technology paired with our Makito X video encoder wins the gold. SRT has end-to-end AES 128/256 bit encryption, packet loss recovery, ultra low latency, and it can detect and be tuned for optimal network conditions, all in a portable form factor. These advantages make the Makito X with SRT ideal for remote interviews (see our Globelynx Case Study).

The Makito X video encoders and SRT are helping sports broadcasters and news broadcasters get more coverage and interviews from the 2016 Rio Olympic Games while keeping their costs down. We’re excited to watch all the amazing coverage of this year’s games and proud to know that when you see an interview after an event, or a remote correspondent based in Rio, that video stream is powered by Haivision’s technology. Contact us today for a demo of our Makito X and SRT to see how we can help you create flexible and reliable live video streaming workflows.