From post to playout: Advances in the cloud

Red Bee Media is building the first all software playout service with commercial launch as soon as Q2 2019.

First showcased at IBC2018, the solution is the first in the world to use uncompressed video over IP, without requiring any dedicated infrastructure.

It’s the result of two years R&D for the former BBC owned facility which still manages playout for all BBC channels. Now owned by Ericsson, headquartered in London and with eleven media international media hubs, Red Bee also plays out the linear services for ITV, Channel 4 and Canal+ as well as VOD services including All4 and My5.

“Just lifting what we do into private or public cloud would be an interesting engineering challenge but one that would not necessarily benefit customers,” explains Richard Cranefield Head of Portfolio, Playout.

What broadcasters want, he says, is the ability to launch new channels quickly – such as an extra children’s channel for Christmas - and to adapt services for existing ones to target different audiences or regions for a short period of time.

That type of business model isn’t possible with a traditional playout model reliant on single-purpose machines which need purchasing and installing many months in advance.

“For us the benefits of moving playout to the cloud would only be realised if …