Arqiva has signed a three-year contract with IMG Media to distribute the Barclays Premier League globally in HD. The company will provide encoding, encryption and satellite capacity to support global delivery of the most watched football league in the world.
The new distribution technology Arqiva has implemented will use advanced “roll off filtering” technology for the Premier League, enabling transmission of a higher bitrate without the need to increase satellite bandwidth, equivalent to a 15% improvement in efficiency.
Arqiva is enabling the distribution of all 380 Premier matches live in HD. The company will be the sole distributor of approximately 190 of the key live fixtures globally per season. This distribution includes the delivery of three channel multiplexes comprising of the match feed, a fixed Wide Shot (for studio backdrops) and an Interview/ISO.
Barrie Woolston, managing director of satellite at Arqiva, said “Working with IMG and the Premier League since 2007, we have provided valuable and trustworthy continuity, while persistently delivering new levels of technical innovation. Arqiva is proud to work with IMG to support the global distribution of the Barclays Premier League.”
Ollie Scott from IMG Media added, “Arqiva’s robust solution and service delivery via satellite enables the global licences to access all content. Arqiva’s technical innovation and robust service delivery means the service is of the highest standard and offers value.”
