BroadcastPro Middle East, a monthly publication covering television and radio broadcasting technology as well as filmmaking trends in the Arab world, features Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks in an article that explores the key drivers behind IP adoption in the Middle East market.
The Road to IP
from Gordon Brooks, Executive Chairman and CEO, Zixi
Over the past few years, we’ve seen the broadcast industry shift from expensive, inflexible hardware defined contribution and distribution solutions to more flexible and dynamic software-defined solutions that rely on IP distribution for live and live linear video.
This migration towards IP and specifically hybrid IP networks is due to a number of factors: the rise of consumer cord cutting, affecting how and when content is consumed, the need to provide a faster time to market, the shift towards cloud virtualisation, the increased desire to move from a CapEx to OpEx business model, relentless pressure to cut costs, and the impending localisation of 5G and its impact on how much C-band will be available for broadcast in the future. Covid-19 has been a catalyst for even more change to build out remote capabilities.
As the industry shifts towards transport over IP, we have witnessed the need for a software-defined video platform to provide a comprehensive range of interoperable solutions needed to manage and enable distribution of broadcast-quality content at scale.
Despite the prevalence of this “IP adoption” trend, we still see an opportunity to convince some industry hold outs that unmanaged IP networks can be as, or even more reliable than satellite and fibre when architected correctly, and that a software-defined video platform provides the essential tools needed to future proof their virtualisation strategies. The current climate has spurred a movement towards virtualisation and remote monitoring and operations. Zixi’s software-defined video platform can help media companies navigate that transition expertly without sacrificing continuity of broadcast operations.
Our customers in the Middle East include leading broadcasters, content owners and service providers who use Zixi for contribution, monitoring and distribution of live linear video to studios, satellites, OTT platforms and more. I made a trip to Turkey in early March this year to visit our customers and was delighted to see that the major broadcasters, TV stations, OTT providers and satellite companies there are customers of Zixi.
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