The Rapids Rise Again as Antix Digital Acquires Live Streaming and Compression Portfolio from Imagine Communications

The Rapids Rise Again as Antix Digital Acquires Live Streaming and Compression Portfolio from Imagine Communications posted: 01/02/2021

Newly formed startup will accelerate innovation within renowned product lines while bringing their benefits to broader markets and opportunities

The technology behind one of the most respected brands that helped ignite today's streaming media landscape is back as an independent, sharply-focused company again, as newly-formed Antix Digital Inc. has acquired the live streaming and compression solutions portfolio from Imagine Communications. Led by Tony Huang, the former head of product management for the same product family at Digital Rapids, the new company will accelerate future development of the solutions while taking over service and support for existing customers and systems.

The transaction encompasses software-based compression, processing and streaming solutions that enable leading media enterprises to efficiently and profitably engage audiences across delivery platforms ranging from mobile and OTT services to linear broadcast and cable channels. The foundation of the storied product line was developed by pioneering streaming solutions developer Digital Rapids, which Imagine Communications acquired in 2014. Imagine continued to evolve the portfolio with enhanced features and new products, but with streaming media delivery now deeply entrenched in today's society far beyond commercial media and entertainment applications, it became clear that there are broader opportunities.

Imagine Communications has been a great steward of the technology and solutions it acquired with Digital Rapids, but the ubiquity of multiscreen media consumption creates opportunities beyond Imagine's core focus, from social media streaming to immersive, interactive training, said Huang, President and CEO of Antix Digital. Transitioning the product family to Antix lets each company focus on their strengths, primary markets and best opportunities. We are excited to kick-start a new era for these solutions while bringing their powerful benefits to new customers and applications.

The transaction also marks the return of the portfolio's original StreamZ product branding. Solutions making the transition to Antix Digital ownership include:

The StreamZ Live family (previously re-branded by Imagine Communications as SelenioFlex Live) of multiscreen live/linear encoders for streaming and OTT applications

The StreamZ Ingest (previously SelenioFlex Ingest) multi-format ingest and encoding platform for live-to-VOD and archive applications

The StreamZ ONE (previously Selenio One ) unified compression platform for traditional linear and multiscreen distribution

Imagine will continue to sell the Antix-acquired products to their customers as a non-exclusive Antix reseller, while Antix will honor Imagine Communications' existing customer support contracts for these solutions.

Huang has extensive experience in managing the product portfolio, having served as Global Director, Product Line Management for Compression at Imagine Communications following his tenure at Digital Rapids. Prior to Digital Rapids, he worked in product management for DTV compression products at broadcast vendor Evertz.

This alliance with Antix is a win-win-win for Imagine Communications, Antix Digital and users of these solutions, said Steve Reynolds, President at Imagine Communications. For Imagine, it enables us to sharpen our focus on helping media enterprises make and monetize TV across platforms, while still offering these powerful solutions to our customers. Antix Digital will be able to bring the portfolio's rich benefits to broader markets, and the team's deep familiarity and passion for the products ensures support continuity and a forward-looking development roadmap for users.

About Antix Digital - Antix Digital (www.antixdigital.com) provides market-leading solutions, technology, and expertise that enable media organizations, video professionals, and content creators to bring their vision to wider audiences more efficiently, more effectively and more profitably. Our innovative solutions are trusted by many of the world's leading media enterprises and producers to help them maximize new revenue opportunities or new ways to reach consumers and collaborators.

About Imagine Communications - Imagine Communications empowers the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation. Broadcasters, networks, video service providers and enterprises around the world rely on our optimized, futureproof, multiscreen video and revenue enablement solutions every day to support their mission-critical operations. Today, nearly half of the world's video channels traverse our products, and our software solutions drive close to a third of global ad revenue. Through continuous innovation, we are delivering the most advanced IP, cloud-enabled, software-defined network and workflow solutions in the industry.

LINK:	https://www.live-production.tv/news/products/rapids-rise-again-antix-d...
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