Eutelsat has officially launched a hybrid satellite-OTT delivery solution named Eutelsat Cirrus at a press event in London.
Speaking at the event, Gerry O’Sullivan, executive VP, global TV and video, Eutelsat, said that satellite has an edge over OTT/IP in terms of cost efficiency and universal reach. It can also deliver a huge amount of bandwidth simultaneously.
Eutelsat has been talking to its customers and concluded that even broadcasters that have launched advanced services are finding it a burden to maintain them. Their focus should be on content, which is where their real strengths lie.
Eutelsat Cirrus is an inclusive end-to-end platform and today sees the launch of two unique services, namely a turnkey distribution service and multiscreen via OTT. The former, which provides satellite TV broadcasters with end-to-end video distribution combined with cloud-based service management, is modular and fully scalable, and skinned applications enable quick-to-market time. Furthermore, all iOS and Android devices are supported with continuous innovation. With Turnkey TV, all features are multilanguage in English, French and Arabic.
Multiscreen meanwhile complements traditional DTH broadcast with simultaneous OTT streaming through a native hybrid platform. It allows end-users to watch video content on devices such as mobile phones and tablets, access multiple programmes, record and rewind and view a rich array of programme information.
Meanwhile, Bruno Cattan, director of terminals and solutions, said that Cirrus is a three-layer platform, composed of the core, open APIs and ecosystem. He also revealed that it has been produced in partnership with Nagra, Irdeto and CenturyLink.
O’Sullivan added that Cirrus includes many features, including seven-day backwards EPG.
The launch on September 6 is for in Europe, MENA and sub-Saharan Africa, and other regions will follow. Eutelsat will in due course announce its first customers for the new solution.
Eutelsat Cirrus will be demoed by Eutelsat at IBC 2018, Hall 1 Stand D.59.
