ITV has selected Unified Streaming’s solutions to power its ITVX FAST channels.
The UK broadcaster has integrated Unified Streaming’s Unified Virtual Channel solution to drive 11 of its FAST channels. Seeking to improve cost efficiencies over the legacy infrastructure behind its ITVX channels, the company made the biggest change to its video streams for what it said was “a very long time.” The Unified Streaming team has also provided knowledge and insights to support the transition.
Coding and testing allowed the playout solution to work across ITV’s ad insertion, digital rights management (DRM) and accessibility, also ensuring integration with the largest possible range of digital devices. ITV has reported that viewers have not noticed any changes and that the transformation was accomplished without any internal “crises or emergencies.” Channel schedulers have seen their workload decrease since the integration, said the companies.
The project was delivered in collaboration with Eyevinn Technology, who supplied engineers for the plan, and Unified’s partner JWP Connatix, who provided advice and DRM technology.
Mark Ison, director of engineering at ITV, said, “For us, making such a big switch, from the previous setup, to Unified Virtual Channel, meant taking on risk. Integrating a whole new product is always like that, but ultimately, the effort is worth the gain.
“Thanks to Unified’s team, who collaborated with our team every step of the way, the transformation was smooth. Unified Virtual Channel not only works seamlessly on playout, it also integrates flawlessly with our DRM and our SSAI (server-side ad insertion) systems. We continue to target a huge range of devices and unlock the ability to further scale our VoD catalogue.”
