MTV Italia, the Italian affiliate of international broadcaster MTV, has purchased a range of Digital Rapids DRC-Stream media encoding and streaming solutions. Supplied by Italian distributor B&B, the Digital Rapids hardware and software combinations were selected by MTV Italia for encoding and streaming live content on QOOB TV, the company’s interactive website, writes Fergal Ringrose.
QOOB TV explores new ways of producing and distributing content. Users are also allowed to upload and comment on content, which is monitored and edited by MTV.
MTV was looking for a reliable and flexible way to encode live feeds into the On2 VP6 format for live streaming to viewers using the Adobe Flash Player. MTV selected Digital Rapids’ solutions to meet these requirements, and is now running DRC-Stream cards and Digital Rapids Stream software on both HP and Intel servers.
MTV recently held a special event to celebrate 10 years of MTV Italia, including 10-hour long live broadcasts of simultaneous concerts in Milan and Rome. Incoming SDI signals provided by MTV’s transmission department carried feeds from terrestrial and satellite channels for encoding and output in conjunction with Limelight Networks. Using Intel servers with DRC-Stream-1500 encoding solutions, the content was encoded in the On2 VP6 format for Flash for webcasting through QOOB TV to both the international and domestic markets. Viewers were able to choose between three different streams: direct from Milan, direct from Rome or from the MTV programme broadcast on their digital TV channel.
The DRC-Stream solutions also power the encoding and streaming of QOOB TV’s 24/7 live online television channel. Giovanni Amato, multimedia technical manager at MTV Italia, said: “Digital Rapids systems have proved to be reliable and robust encoders. Not only is the equipment great, but Digital Rapids provides terrific support and pays great attention to their customers’ requirements.”
“The MTV brand has long been associated with innovation in media communications, and we’re pleased that MTV Italia has chosen Digital Rapids solutions to power their new initiatives on the internet,” said Clive Vickery, MD of Digital Rapids.
