DALLAS – Imagine Communications’ groundbreaking Versio microservices-based playout solution has become the platform of choice for global media companies at every stage of the transition to next-generation technology. In the last three months alone, Imagine has put more than 100 channels on air with the award-winning Versio playout solution.
“Imagine was a very early advocate for cloud-native and microservices-based innovation, and it took time for the industry to understand and accept this significant technology shift,” said Steve Reynolds, president of Playout and Networking at Imagine Communications. “We are proud that our Zenium microservices platform and our Versio playout solution have moved from ‘pioneering’ to ‘proven’, allowing customers around the world to deploy next-generation technology with confidence. Time and time again, we have shown that no other system provides the flexibility or the time to market advantage of Versio.”
Reynolds continued, “The evolution of Versio has never been about technology for technology’s sake. It’s about delivering practical innovation to address the real-world challenges our customers face as the industry continues to transition to new business models and new distribution opportunities. Versio is more than a next-gen architecture — it’s about providing a business advantage to every customer, no matter where they are in that transition.”
Over the past year, Versio has been deployed by media companies around the world in multiple applications including Atresmedia, a Spanish commercial broadcaster that complemented its existing Versio integrated playout installation with a Versio-based disaster recovery playout center; Jawapostv, an Indonesian news broadcaster that chose Versio for the upgrade of its master control room for HD playout operations; and Dubai’s Abu Dhabi Media, which used Versio as the foundation for a full upgrade of its central technical facility, which currently supports playout of 15 HD channels, but is future-proofed to incorporate IP connectivity.
France Télévision used Versio to undertake the first large-scale hybrid SDI/IP playout implementation in the country as part of an upgrade of its master control functionality for France Ô, which provides television services for the nation’s overseas territories. In addition, French operator Médias du Sud chose Versio to support a forward-looking initiative called VIA that formed the basis of the first national grouping of local TV stations in France. Médias du SUD/VIA plans to eventually extend to cover 30 stations, all driven from the same central playout data center.
“Imagine Communications demonstrated that it could marry broadcast quality and reliability with virtualized technology and IP networking, and, perhaps most importantly, could deliver it immediately,” said Philippe Van de Velde, Technical Director at Médias du Sud/VIA.
In one recent high-profile project, Versio enabled True Visions, a leading cable and satellite operator in Thailand to deliver this year’s worldwide football championships in 4K Ultra HD. The initiative represented the first Ultra HD channel in Southeast Asia, and it was designed, built, tested, proven and put on air in just four weeks. The unique microservices architecture of Versio enables this rapid time to market, leading the industry in innovation, flexibility, and customization to meet the needs of broadcasters around the world.
In North America, Sinclair Broadcast Group (SBG) was among the first — if not the first — major broadcaster to move a critical operation to a fully virtualized public environment when it launched KidsClick late last year, using Versio to distribute the new children’s programming block from the public cloud to affiliates across the country. In addition to near-limitless scalability and resource elasticity, SBG can take advantage of running an operating business model and Software as a Service (SaaS) pricing scheme, eliminating dependence on capital expenditures normally associated with traditional channel expansion or technology refreshes.
“The scalability and customization capabilities that the public cloud approach offers is unlike anything we could do using a traditional, on-premises model,” said Del Parks, CTO, SBG. “And since we’re only delivering this programming for a few hours a day, the flexibility of originating in the public cloud is a far superior alternative to purchasing traditional equipment that would sit idle for many hours at a time.”
At IBC2018, Imagine will demonstrate a complete Versio-based playout and media workflow platform spanning from ingest, prep and playout to automation, graphics, master control and branding. The company will also showcase various transition scenarios that allow customers to gradually layer in new features and capabilities that the Versio playout engine offers — and migrate from traditional to next-generation playout operations at a pace that works for their operation, whether in a traditional broadcast center, a data center, or private or public cloud.
Reynolds added, “Other companies at IBC will be showing microservices-based technology, but they are just starting the POC process. Imagine has been doing this for four years now, and our extensive, hands-on experience has helped us advance from technology leader to leader in market acceptance and real-world deployments.”
Visit Imagine Communications at IBC2018 at the Amtrium, Stand #4.A01.
