Sports streaming service DAZN is complementing the delivery of its content to Italian homes with DTH satellite distribution on Eutelsat’s Hotbird position at 13° East.
Based on a multi-year contract with Italian video service provider EI Towers, DAZN will broadcast two HD channels, one full-time channel and one events-based channel, via Italian satellite TV platform Tivùsat.
Tivùsat currently transmits over 180 TV and radio channels to around six million viewers. From September 2023, homes equipped to receive Tivùsat can subscribe to ZONA DAZN and watch seven exclusive Serie A football matches, LaLiga sports as well as a wide range of live and on-demand content from DAZN.
Hotbird is the reference video neighbourhood for DTH satellite broadcasting in Italy, reaching millions of TV homes. EI Towers is a major Italian infrastructure operator managing most of the country’s national and regional digital terrestrial (DTT) networks. They are also the infrastructure partner of all private FM/DAB radio networks and the Italian Soccer Lega Serie A’s international broadcasting centre, IBC Lissone.
The agreement with DAZN covers the transportation of the channel feeds from DAZN’s playout to EI Towers’ main head-end and broadcast centre, encoding, encryption, multiplexing, and uplink on the Hotbird satellites.
“Thanks to the new partnership with Tivùsat, we are expanding the methods of accessing our service to make the premium content we broadcast increasingly accessible. Our product is now usable in live streaming, on digital terrestrial and even more widely on satellite. As we continue to innovate our app to offer customers more engaging and interactive digital experiences, strengthening our presence on the satellite platform will allow us to reach fans even in areas with less internet access,” said Stefano Azzi, CEO of DAZN Italia.
Laurence Delpy, General Manager of Eutelsat’s Video Business Unit, added: “This new deal highlights the continued relevance of satellite distribution, for content producers to reach the widest possible audience, no matter how remote they are located. It is essential when delivering highly popular sports content where every second counts. Satellite delivery is truly universal, and the perfect complement to streaming. It reaches all locations, no matter how remote, with a high-quality, reliable signal, and is the most efficient and sustainable means of distributing content, reaching all users with one single signal.”
