LTN has entered into an agreement to acquire monitoring, control and metadata management software provider Crystal.
The acquisition is said to allow LTN and Crystal to offer mission-critical ad insertion, digital watermarking and other unique tools for platforms to monetise their content across a fully managed IP multicast network.
Over 100 linear networks have deployed Crystal’s AdConnect to provide customised digital markings to OTT platforms. The company’s technology enables TV ad inventory owners to sell advertising on an addressable basis on any platform.
LTN Global co-founder and executive chairman Malik Khan said: “The addition of Crystal to the LTN Global family gives content distributors a one-stop solution for transitioning from satellite to terrestrial IP. LTN is evolving into more than just bulletproof managed IP distribution, and Crystal is the perfect addition to our current suite of services.
“With this acquisition we’re extending our business to provide all of the critical components of a video transmission workflow in a model that reduces customers’ technology risk along with many of the costs associated with scalable video delivery and content monetisation.”
Crystal CEO Roger Franklin added: “Crystal’s goal is to be a ubiquitous element across a network’s distribution chain, providing the mission-critical ad signalling and marking associated with all of the current and emerging MVPDs and vMVPDs.
“By joining forces with LTN, Crystal now has the ability to transport these properly marked video feeds with fully managed reliability and latency and in any required format.”
