Customer:
RECORD
Country:
Brazil
The Customer
RECORD is a leading free-to-air television network in Brazil, recognized as the country's second-largest commercial TV station. With a presence in 97% of Brazilian households and a daily audience of over 54 million people, RECORD operates multiple channels and the PlayPlus video-on-demand (VOD) platform.
To strengthen its position in the rapidly growing Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) streaming market, RECORD has partnered with Evertz to use evertz.io software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to enhance its PlayPlus streaming service, aiming to deliver unparalleled video quality and seamless streaming. This project focuses on transforming how RECORD manages and monetizes its digital content and the efficient management of 12 regionalized channels, with an ambitious plan to expand to over 21 channels in early 2025.
Solution at a Glance:
- To strengthen its position in the rapidly growing Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) streaming market, RECORD has partnered with Evertz to use evertz.io software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to enhance its PlayPlus streaming service, aiming to deliver unparalleled video quality and seamless streaming.
- Primary challenges faced by RECORD include: content regionalization, flexible interface for multi-channel management, live event automation, rapid deployment & customization, scalability & flexibility, and cost effectiveness
- evertz.io was chosen as the primary automation and playout solution for RECORD. The Stream service within evertz.io provided RECORD with a robust and scalable infrastructure to manage its current (and future) channels while ensuring cost efficiency and operational flexibility for their PlayPlus VOD platform.
evertz.io allowed us to rapidly prototype and deploy a next-generation broadcast solution for RECORD. By leveraging cloud-native automation and scalable infrastructure, we achieved unprecedented efficiency in managing multiple channels while reducing operational overhead.
– JJ Van Dijk | Senior Director of Enterprise Support and evertz.io - Stream | Evertz
The Challenge
The primary challenges faced by RECORD were:
- Content regionalization: As a national broadcaster, RECORD needed to ensure live content was appropriately localized for different regions across Brazil within its PlayPlus DTC platform, which was critical for expanding audience engagement.
- Flexible interface for multi-channel management: RECORD required a unified system to manage multiple live channels, ensuring seamless operation of live events, regional news, and on-demand content. The ability to ingest, schedule, and distribute content efficiently across channels was crucial.
- Live event automation: The platform needed the capability to automate taking live sources in and out, using SCTE triggers to support regional and local news broadcasts. This automation reduces the reliance on operators to manually manage live sequences, ensuring smooth transitions and minimizing the risk of human error during ad breaks.
- Rapid deployment & customization: RECORD aimed to launch its enhanced platform within a tight timeline of under one month. While much of the infrastructure was in place, they required a solution that could be quickly personalized to fit their specific operational needs. For future channels and services, RECORD would need to launch them in similar (or shorter) time lines.
- Scalability & flexibility: RECORD needed a system that could scale easily with their evolving broadcast demands. The ability to add tailored features from evertz.io, such as AI-powered live captions, multi-viewer capabilities, and additional OTT distribution options, was key.
- Cost-effectiveness: RECORD sought a cloud-based SaaS model to minimize the costs of dedicated hardware (including related import duties), facility, and maintenance. A single user interface for multiple channels also provides operational efficiencies.
The Solution
Evertz offers a cutting-edge multi-tenant Software-as-a-Service(SaaS) solution called evertz.io, which is fully managed and designed to cater to a wide range of applications, including broadcast, disaster recovery (DR), Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST), and Over-The-Top (OTT) services. This cloud-native platform provides multiple tiers and price points to accommodate various application requirements, ensuring flexibility for different business needs.
The evertz.io platform boasts advanced features that support complex channels and live events based on Emmy Award-winning technology. The next-generation playout and distribution platform is fully managed by a dedicated team of Site Reliability Engineers (SREs) at evertz.io. This ensures high availability, optimal performance, and continuous monitoring for every broadcast workflow. With automated scaling, proactive issue resolution, and real-time system health monitoring, our SRE team ensures that the evertz.io service, including Stream, operates seamlessly, allowing broadcasters to focus on content while we handle infrastructure, redundancy and uptime.
Users can easily scale channel services as required, adding new functionalities such as AI Captions, Recording, and Multi-Viewer on demand. The platform also allows for the seamless integration of live services, including Global Live Sources and Live Event Management, to enhance playout capabilities.
One of the key advantages of evertz.io is its ability to adapt to changing business requirements. Customers have full control over channel configuration, channel launches, source/destination routing, and user management through an intuitive web-based user interface. The scalability and agility of evertz.io enables businesses to grow or adjust their services quickly based on success or market demands.
evertz.io was chosen as the primary automation and playout solution for RECORD. The Stream service within evertz.io provided RECORD with a robust and scalable infrastructure to manage its current (and future) channels while ensuring cost efficiency and operational flexibility for their PlayPlus VOD platform.
As a key partner in this transformation, CIS Group is excited to be involved in RECORD's transition to cloud-based playout technology. evertz.io's scalable and efficient solution, combined with our industry expertise, ensures RECORD's success in expanding its digital reach while maintaining top-tier operational control.
– Felipe Andrade | VP of Sales | CIS Group
evertz.io addressed RECORD's need for operational efficiency through several innovative features:
- Rapid channel deployment & scalability: RECORD benefited from how quickly new channels could be spun up with minimal configuration, allowing for rapid expansion while maintaining cost efficiency through its cloud-native infrastructure.
- Custom Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) Streaming: Ensuring high-quality playback across varying network conditions via HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) while maintaining low-cost ABR encoding feeding the CDN.
- Multichannel dashboard: A user-friendly and intuitive interface enabled control of multiple channels, allowing RECORD to operate six channels simultaneously from a single web-based interface and reducing the need for large operational teams.
- SCTE marker integration & ad management: The embedded SCTE taker service automated feed regionalization and streamlined ad insertions, eliminating manual intervention. The Bin Lists feature allowed RECORD to create and manage ad breaks efficiently.
- Collaborative approach: The partnership between Evertz, CIS Group and RECORD ensured a tailored solution that precisely met operational requirements.
The Conclusion
RECORD's implementation of evertz.io marks a significant leap in its digital strategy. By utilizing advanced cloud-based solutions, RECORD is positioned to lead in the rapidly evolving DTC streaming landscape. The initiative not only enhances current operations but also provides a scalable framework for future growth.
evertz.io's solution delivers significant operational advantages. The multichannel dashboard enables efficient monitoring and management, while SCTE Taker Service enhances viewer experience with automated transitions. Rapid development and deployment, meeting tight deadlines, further underscore evertz.io's capability to meet high standards.
– Antônio Carlos Sobrinho | Technical Project Manager | RECORD