Case study Sky The Best in Entertainment Across All Channels Pay-TV Platform: Content Management Playout Broadcast Internet Whatever the distribution channel, whatever the technology, we ve been bringing viewers the premium content of one of Europe s largest pay-tv providers in the highest quality for years. SES Platform Services is the broadcasting partner of choice for Sky Deutschland.
The Best TV in the Best Hands Challenge To develop a comprehensive broadcasting architecture for the leading pay-tv provider in Germany and Austria. Implementation The set-up, operation and continuous development of a technical infrastructure encompassing all aspects of pay-tv services from playout and encryption to satellite uplink and signal delivery for cable TV to multiscreen encoding for mobile devices. Result A broadcasting architecture that not only grows with the constantly increasing demands of the customer, but also offers the highest possible degree of reliability and is flexible enough to allow the implementation of technical innovations without disrupting operations.
Satellite, Cable, Internet We ve Got It All Covered After a lengthy start-up phase, the German pay-tv broadcaster Sky is now on the road to success. No competitor in Europe has seen stronger growth over the past few years than Sky Deutschland. In one of the most highly competitive television markets in the world, where viewers have a wide range of free TV services to choose from, the pay-tv provider has to satisfy its customers in all respects. Alongside the breadth and exclusivity of its content, Sky also impresses with its pioneering achievements in television technology. SES Platform Services assisted Sky with its digitization process and the development of its HD service. Since mid-2013, the technology service provider has also taken care of multiscreen encoding for Sky Go, another technical innovation from Sky. This service complements the full range of solutions that SES Platform Services has already been providing to Sky from content manage - ment support and playout for Sky and partner channels, to satellite uplink, streaming and signal delivery for the most important cable network operators. own channels, as well as channels from broadcasting partners that are part of Sky s programming packages, but are also offered by other pay-tv providers via cable. SES Platform Services prepares the final programming from the almost 10,000 individual items that appear in the playlists of the broadcasters each day. Depending on the requirements of the individual channels, 2D and 3D graphic generators are used to customize the broadcasters content with dynamic commercials, special advertising formats, tickers, lower thirds and other graphic elements. Thanks to visual monitoring and state-of-the-art fully automated video and audio analysis systems, SES Platform Services is able to ensure the highest standard of quality. Providing playout for Germany s first live sport news channel, Sky Sport News HD, is particularly challeng ing and requires SES Platform Services operators to work in close cooperation with Sky s managing editors, schedulers and sequence editors (see also Live Is Live ). Another special case is the Sky Anytime service, for which SES Platform Services manages the technical processing: Month after month, over 100 hours of programming are pushed to a million Sky receivers, where they are offered to viewers as video-on-demand content. Playout for more than 30 Channels SES Platform Services gives comprehensive support to its pay-tv client Sky. A key component is the delivery and 24/7 operation of professional playout solutions for more than 30 television channels. This includes Sky s Case Study 3
99.99 Percent Reliability, Around-the-Clock Encryption A Key Part of the Pay-TV Process Transmission reliability and broadcaster availability are top priorities for pay-tv services. For this reason, SES Platform Services monitors all channels 24/7 using automatic error detection systems and operational staff. In addition, all systems have built-in redundancy to ensure that the failure of individual components does not disrupt broadcasting. With the support of an additional teleport in Nuremberg, which can take over transmission to the satellite in bad weather conditions at the push of a button, SES Platform Services is able to offer a transmission reliability of over 99.99 percent. The encryption and protection of content is a critical service required by pay-tv providers. SES Platform Services uses simulcrypt to protect the channels with up to five different encryption systems simultaneously. This method is used for all of Sky s products, from pay-per-channel packages to video-on-demand services protected by digital rights management (DRM). Alongside satellite and cable signals, SES Platform Services also encrypts live-streaming content for Sky Go. Broadcasting Connecting Millions of Screens to the World of Sky SES Platform Services broadcasts a total of almost 250 channels for Sky, just under half of which are transmitted directly to homes via 13 ASTRA satellites. The other channels are delivered to cable network operators such as Kabel Deutschland, Unitymedia and Kabel BW via fiber, or streamed live via the Internet in Apple HLS and Microsoft Smooth for Sky Go.
SES Platform Services uses the latest generation of encoding technologies to compress content for satellite broadcast and cable delivery. The technical service pro - vider relies on statistical multiplexing to make dynamic use of transmission capacity, which is distributed in real time across the channels of a multiplex. This process is not just efficient and cost-effective; it also ensures the best possible picture quality. Live multiscreen encoding for the Internet-based service Sky Go is a special case compared to classic broadcasts: SES Platform Services encodes all of the 14 live channels into a variety of bitrates. This enables Sky Go to be received in a diverse range of environments, allowing Sky customers to follow all top live sports programming on their computers, Xbox 360s, and ipads and iphones via wireless and mobile (3G/4G) networks. Technical perfection is of the utmost importance for this service because, on the one hand, the live broadcasting of the Bundesliga is one of Sky s biggest selling points and, on the other hand, the male target audience is particularly tech-savvy. Plus, by operating Sky Go with the support of SES Platform Services, Sky asserts its position as an innovative market leader in new television technologies. Live Is Live Playout Solutions for Sky Sport News HD At the SES Platform Services playout center, we ve caught the news bug: Since the launch of Sky Sport News HD, it has been even busier here than usual. Working for Germany s first 24/7 sports news broadcaster is highly demanding. When broadcasting live, you have to concentrate even more and be able to react to situations the moment they arise, says playout operator Karl Schiller. This requires a great deal more communication with the client. During the day, SES Platform Services is in constant dialogue with the broadcaster s live production team. Our service runs trailers and commercial breaks for Sky Sport News HD, and deals with the gaps that repeatedly occur within the channel s often unpredictable live broadcast schedule. Our responsibilities also include editing and adapting schedule lists, and liaising with managing editors, schedulers and broadcasting engineers particularly when starting and ending the playout of live segments. A core team of eleven coworkers at SES Platform Services ensures that there are no interruptions to the broadcasting of Sky Sport News HD and that the viewer can sit back and enjoy live television without any glitches. Case Study 5
Our All-Round Service for Sky in Figures 10,000 items We handle the complete playout for more than 30 HD and SD channels for Sky and Sky broadcasting partners. This involves working with playlists of up to 10,000 items each day. 50,000 hours 50,000 hours of video content are stored in the SES Platform Services broadcast archive and the digital archives for the Sky platform. 250 channels SES Platform Services broadcasts almost 250 channels for Sky: transmitting over 120 channels via satellite, supplying 90 channels via cable to cable network operators and streaming around 15 live channels for Sky Go. 2,500 hours More than 2,500 hours of video content are broadcast and delivered to the Sky platform each month. 5 encryption systems Our service uses the simulcrypt method to run up to five different encryption systems simultaneously for Sky channels 100 hours For the Sky Anytime service (video-ondemand using a hard drive), SES Platform Services uses push VOD technology to push up to 100 hours of film to Sky subscribers receivers.
Sky at a Glance With over 3.5 million customers, Sky Deutschland AG is the leading subscription television company in Germany and Austria. Sky broadcasts live sport events, recent movie releases, award-winning series, children s programs, and documentaries. Sky subscribers can watch up to 71 channels including one 3D channel in exceptional HD quality. Thanks to the innovative services Sky Go and Sky Anytime, Sky content can also be accessed on the go and on demand. // Focused Solutions for Complex Demands. Stefan Kunz, Vice President Business & Distribution Services At Sky Deutschland The world of broadcasting is becoming ever more complex. The continually expanding range of distribution channels and reception devices is resulting in increased expenditure for broadcasters. The challenge is even greater for pay-tv providers such as Sky who have to contend with the additional demands of the conditional-access sector. We must therefore try to reduce complex ity, says Stefan Kunz, Vice President Business & Distribution Services at Sky Deutschland. Our partnership with SES Platform Services enables us to meet the wide-ranging demands of our audiences. We are now working very efficiently, from planning right through to monitoring, and providing a high level of broadcasting stability combined with effective protection of our valuable program contents. Case Study 7
Contact SES Platform Services GmbH Beta-Straße 1 10 85774 Unterföhring Germany www.ses-ps.com I-727-01.14 EN