PlayBox celebrates scoring with leading sports channels

Jun 30, 2021 | CHANNEL IN A BOXPLAYOUT & TRANSMISSIONPRODUCTION |  |     

PlayBox Technology UK, the leading channel in a box provider for media companies worldwide, is celebrating eight years of providing services to sports broadcasting and streaming. PlayBox has helped leading sports streaming services and top teams serve their fans with television services.

Sports broadcasting and streaming is the most demanding application for playout technology. Events are live and unpredictable, and missing even a moment of the action would be unforgivable. Clubs running their own television channels know the expectations of their fans; the revenue plans of specialist streaming services depend upon immediate and reliable delivery of live sport.

“Eight years ago, when Premier League teams started exploring their own channels, as part of the digital revolution, then we were there for them,” said Philip Neighbour, COO at PlayBox Technology UK. “They wanted continual engagement with their fans, but of course they were football clubs not media companies, so they wanted a delivery platform that was simple, intuitive and largely automated.

Philip Neighbour, COO at PlayBox Technology UK

“Now we are seeing multi-national businesses springing up which provide live streaming across a range of sports,” Neighbour continued. “The same constraints apply: they want to give their subscribers the best possible streaming experience, with the minimum focus on technology and the maximum focus on the content. PlayBox is the right, the obvious solution, and we are pleased and proud to be the choice of so many top names in sport.”

With more than 15 years’ experience in developing comprehensive playout solutions, PlayBox has now developed a highly advanced playout engine, capable of serving multiple outputs and operating in an SDI, IP or hybrid environment, at resolutions up to 4k Ultra HD. It provides a fully redundant playout service, including the control of third party equipment such as routers and master control switchers.

The playout software includes scheduling as well as sophisticated automation for playout control. Graphics can be created within the Channel in a Box environment, via a simple, clean and engaging HTML5 user interface. Integrated SRT and FTP applications allow seamless automated content ingest, and playout is to SDI or to IP streams.