In an era where content is king and live experiences are a critical driver of viewer engagement, the infrastructure behind that content delivery must be just as dynamic as the programming itself.
For years, fibre was the bedrock of broadcast transport-reliable, dedicated, and engineered for quality. But in today’s agile, cloud-connected media world, rising costs, long deployment timelines, and inflexible scaling have many media organisations looking for alternatives. SPOTV, a subsidiary of South Korea’s leading sports network, recently transitioned from fibre to Zixi-enabled IP transport, offering a compelling case study and a forward-looking blueprint for how broadcasters can evolve their operations while improving operations and reducing costs.
Working closely with Zixi’s solution architecture team, SPOTV executed a full-scale fibre replacement project across its broadcast network. Costly leased fibre lines were replaced with Zixi’s software-defined video platform, leveraging the public internet and existing IP infrastructure for primary live video delivery. The results were immediate and significant.
“The switch to Zixi has been transformational,” says Prakash Maniam, head of engineering at SPOTV. “We’ve not only reduced our delivery costs but also gained a level of agility and control that simply wasn’t possible with fibre.”
That statement captures the broader significance of this shift. What SPOTV achieved wasn’t just a change in technology, it was a strategic modernisation of their operational model.
With Zixi, expanding coverage or standing up new services is as simple as configuring a new destination endpoint. SPOTV has been able to pivot quickly to support new channels, regions, or formats. SPOTV now operates a virtualised video transport backbone, taking full advantage of Zixi’s cloud compatibility and ZENMaster orchestration. This means full visibility across every live stream, centralised control of every node, and actionable insights from real-time analytics.
The streamer’s transition to Zixi resulted in notable operational gains, including cost reduction and faster deployment, but the long-term strategic shift it represents is arguably more significant for the evolving broadcast landscape.
First, the switch has future-proofed their business. As media consumption fragments and multiplatform delivery becomes the norm, being able to scale, adapt, and respond quickly is not a luxury, it’s a requirement.
Second, Zixi’s platform has empowered SPOTV with a more intelligent, automated, and resilient transport model. Issues can be identified and addressed before they impact the viewer experience, and new partners or affiliates can be brought on board without months of lead time or capital-intensive buildouts.
Finally, the move has unlocked new revenue opportunities. By enabling regionalisation, alternate feeds, and rapid channel expansion, Zixi gives content owners and distributors the tools they need to grow-without waiting for infrastructure to catch up.
As broadcasters assess how best to futureproof their distribution strategies, SPOTV’s experience provides a practical reference point. Its adoption of software-defined video transport demonstrates that alternatives to traditional fibre are not only viable, but increasingly capable of delivering superior performance in real-world conditions.
