Televisa deploys Synamedia’s Media Edge Gateway and PowerVu, not only saving costs but also achieving modern services and processing needed to keep operations running into the future.
Mexican telecommunications and broadcasting company Televisa has undertaken a complete overhaul of its broadcast distribution throughout its nationwide network, spanning 180 stations across the country, to increase video distribution, processing and delivery agility. To complete the project, Televisa intended to work with a technology partner, and to choose an organisation that had the expertise and processes in place to support its efforts to update and change its methods and approaches.
Televisa deployed Synamedia’s Media Edge Gateway (MEG) and Quortex PowerVu. Through this combination, Televisa is able to operate on only half of its usual hardware requirement, not only saving on costs, but also achieving the modern services and processing needed to keep operations running into the future.
During the evaluation phase before investing in MEG, Televisa used dozens of MEG software-defined receivers as a part of its broadcast infrastructure and workflow for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Synamedia performed the critical function of managing backup channels and frame rate conversion. The success of this project eventually led Televisa to decide on Synamedia as its software partner.
Customised Delivery
“Not only did Synamedia build us a one-of-a-kind system – one that doesn’t exist anywhere else – but it also demonstrated exactly what we had looked for in a partner – commitment to both innovation and our long-term success,” said William Aguirre, GM, Satellite Operations, Televisa. “Our internal team sourced our hardware provider Siselectron to supply a SR1 device (2nd Gen AMD EPYC processor) and work on the customisation for our specific needs.”
Synamedia’s MEG is a software-defined receiver with edge processing functions such as transcoding, regionalisation, time delay and blackout, across satellite, CDN and IP networks. It also establishes cloud-to-ground and ground-to-cloud connectivity, and adjusts content handoff – transferring active data sessions between networks or channels – to suit the requirements of affiliates and MVPDs.
The gateway adapts to many types of deployment including Synamedia appliances and COTS servers, containers or full virtual environments. In this way, users gain options to increase your business’ agility, but still control costs and simplify management by working in the preferred environment – on-premises, public cloud, or hybrid cloud.
MEG includes two satellite RF ports per satellite input card, supporting up to four satellite demodulators, and can also be used to create application-specific gateways, such as satellite/ATSC 3.0 receivers and ST 2110 or 2022-6/3G-SDI output decoders, for use in developing new monetisation opportunities.
Cloud-Native Distribution
As a cloud-native media distribution system, Quortex PowerVu securely distributes content to affiliates and virtual MVPDs over satellite, IP and CDN, or any combination. Users have full control and monitoring of their content flows and customer endpoints, either cloud- or appliance-based, end-to-end. PowerVu can also be used to evolve to IP distribution without upfront costs and to scale an organisation, paying as it grows.
The Siselectronic SR1 handles delivery across digital and linear platforms ranging across live, time-shifted, on-demand and OTT. It can contribute to these new and existing workflows through its ability to connect to many different devices in diverse private or public cloud environments and like Synemedia’s systems, its IP standards support allows eventual migration to all-IP workflows.
“From there, we knew we wanted software and hardware partners agile enough to meet our present and future needs. Synamedia was quick to sign up and deliver, and has been an instrumental part of the team,” William said.
Taken all together, the combination of Synamedia’s PowerVu distribution platform and MEG means Televisa can operate with centralised control and the edge processing needed to hand off content to meet affiliates’ and MVPDs’ specific demands. MEG also helps ensure Televisa’s content is securely distributed, owing to Synamedia’s PowerVu conditional access.
Prepared for the Future
“Televisa was seeking a partner who could deliver agility and innovation, and I’m proud we rose to the occasion. Our team is built on commitment and passion to solve problems for customers such as Televisa,” said Julien Signes, EVP, Video Network, Synamedia. “Televisa selected 400 MEG software endpoints to support the transformation of its broadcast ecosystem across a country with nearly 130 million residents. It’s a massive undertaking and we’re prepared to continue our successful collaboration for years to come.”
In April 2024, one of Televisa’s largest stations went live with Synamedia MEG and PowerVu across the city of Guadalajara. The project will continue to roll out through Summer 2024 and in stages for the next two years, to cover all stations in Mexico. www.synamedia.com
