FA Cup goes IP with Pitch International plus Synamedia an...

Globecast, a worldwide leader in broadcast services, and leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that Pitch International (Pitch), the leading London-based sports marketing agency, has gone live with cloud-based distribution of the Emirates Football Association Challenge Cup (Emirates FA Cup) matches. Using Synamedia's Quortex Link cloud distribution platform, integrated with Globecast's managed services platform, broadcasters now have the choice to receive matches over either IP or satellite for the first time.

The FA Cup, a knockout competition for English teams, is the world's oldest football tournament attracting nearly 100 million viewers during the 2023/24 season. Pitch owns the broadcast rights across western Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and, through this new partnership, now offers broadcasters in these markets IP-based or satellite reception of matches, all managed seamlessly on the Globecast platform.

While the on-pitch drama of the third-round captivated audiences including Mansfield Town's giant-killing upset - behind the scenes Globecast ensured that every moment of this historic competition was delivered with consistency, quality, and absolute reliability.

Pitch selected Globecast's Connect Live SRT platform, powered by Synamedia's SaaS-based Quortex Link for high-quality, low-latency IP delivery to affiliates across multiple territories. Quortex Link provides Globecast with the scalability, robustness, and operational confidence required to support a dense schedule of matches while maintaining broadcast-grade performance. Quortex Link also allows Globecast to tailor each broadcaster's feed to the correct video format and frame rate.

By combining Quortex Link's pay-as-you-go cloud distribution with traditional satellite services, Globecast delivers a best-of-both-worlds approach providing rights-holders and broadcasters flexibility without compromise. The workflow ensures security, redundancy, reach, and predictable performance, even during the most logistically complex rounds of the competition.

Alex Mehrer, Head of Live Production & Distribution at Pitch International, said, at Pitch International said: The FA Cup has a magical quality, with incredible drama, such as non-league Macclesfield's victory last month. Our new partnership with Synamedia and Globecast gives broadcast rights holders more choice with the option to receive FA Cup match streams over AWS cloud using Quortex Link or to continue with satellite. Interest in switching to the cloud-based stream has already exceeded our expectations.

The FA Cup brings together football heritage and global scale, said Steve MacMurray, Head of Digital Media Development at Globecast. Synamedia's Quortex Link platform is a key enabler in allowing us to extend that heritage into a modern, IP-first distribution environment, without sacrificing reliability. The real success of this project is that the delivery was entirely predictable, despite the complexity.

Edward Allfrey, EVP and General Manager of Video Network, Synamedia, commented, The world's greatest domestic cup competition brings exceptional pressure on content distribution to perform at the highest levels and our collaboration with Pitch and Globecast shows how cloud-based services can meet those demands. Quortex Link brings the benefits of cloud-based distribution while working alongside traditional delivery methods, and the FA Cup joins a growing list of leagues and sports associations, including the organisers of a current winter sports event in Italy, who are realising the benefits of this approach.

Quortex Link is a pay-as-you-use, multi-tenant SaaS platform for secure, reliable video distribution. It removes the need for complex and costly static infrastructure and simplifies the distribution of content for events, news, sports, and pop-up channels in one click. By eliminating always-on infrastructure, Quortex Link dramatically reduces the time and investment required to establish video distribution links while cutting energy costs. By upending traditional business models, what previously took months and significant Capex can now be achieved in seconds with low risk, on an open platform.

LINK:	https://kitplus.com/news/fa-cup-goes-ip-with-pitch-international-plus-...
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