SVG Sit-Down: Zixi's Ken Haren on the Explosion of Remote Production, IP-Based Contribution in Live Sports The company aims to help customers manage all aspects of contribution, distribution By Jason Dachman
Friday, October 7, 2022 - 2:29 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
As more live sports productions transition to IP networks for backhaul and contribution in recent years, Zixi has seen its place in the industry continue to grow. At IBC 2022 in Amsterdam last month, the company unveiled enhancements and features for its modular Software-Defined Video Platform (SDVP), including a new Live Events Scheduler for ZEN Master targeting live-sports-production customers.
Zixi also played a major role in multiple IBC Accelerator projects at the show. Among them, 5G Remote Production in the Middle of Nowhere demonstrated delivery over bonded 5G/4G LTE and LEO Satellite Constellations to enable untethered low-latency live video productions.
SVG sat down with Zixi Marketing Director Ken Haren during IBC 2022 to discuss the new Live Events Scheduling tool, the continued explosion of live remote sports productions, and how Zixi offers a viable alternative for (or can augment) traditional backhaul technologies.
Zixi's Ken Haren: To be able to do a 4K HDR live stream without multiple hops across the internet or satellite uplinks and downlinks, that's a game-changer.
How does the new Live Events Scheduling tool make the ZEN Master platform more user-friendly for live sports productions?
A lot of our customers use us to deliver events, but the vast majority of what we carry is in linear transmission. Now more and more of our traditional linear customers and a rapidly growing number of event producers and sports leagues are using Zixi to manage IP distribution of their live sports content.
At IBC this year, we're announcing the new Live Events Manager in Zen Master, which is a big new feature for us. It helps our customers manage all aspects of both the contribution and distribution workflow within Zen Master with new dashboards specifically designed to schedule an event. Previously, you would have a channel, but you wouldn't really have a concept of a start and end.
Now, if you want to have a segment trafficked [differently] for the pre-event period and live-event period, you can do that. Maybe you need to have tools to extend the event or break into the event. After the event, you can either just shut the channel down or continue to run it with some alternative content. Building out a programmatic schedule allows you to define all of these stages, event times, and the metadata around the event. You can drive all that through Zen Master or programmatically through the API.
One of our major OTT streaming customers is using this for several thousands of live sports events that they've licensed. They are new to streaming live sports, and this has helped them ramp up their operation. They have always done linear or on-demand, but this allows them to get into the live game.
What role do you think Zixi has played in the drastic expansion of remote production for live sports coverage over the past few years?
Obviously, we've seen the number of remote productions grow, and a lot of these productions are being done over IP networks. Today, people don't want to necessarily roll a truck and ship an entire crew to every event. There is also a focus on sustainability and how remote production lowers their emissions footprint. But they want to enable these remote productions without sacrificing quality. So people are looking at delivery over IP networks and over 5G networks to do that.
Here at the IBC Accelerator program, we're part of the 5G Remote Production in the middle of nowhere project using a bonded 5G and Starlink low-latency backhaul for remote production, which is really exciting.
Now that remote production is nearly ubiquitous in the industry, how are you seeing these workflows evolve?
[Our customers'] focus so far has been on delivering the backhaul to their studio facilities, and that's great. But we recently had a customer that leveraged AWS Wavelength Zones to [produce an event] in mobile edge compute environment. They had 5G [signal] going into a production server in the Wavelength Zone and then back through the 5G network out to the audience. There is no faster way to remote-produce content with editors accessing resources that are localized to the event venue. In this case, it wasn't sports; it was financial news data. But it certainly could be relevant for sports. To be able to do a 4K HDR live stream out of the Wavelength Zone without ever egressing through multiple hops across the internet or multiple satellite uplinks and downlinks, that's a game-changer. We're excited to be part of those kinds of projects.
If you look at the evolution of remote production, you originally needed massive pipes into the venue because the bandwidth requirements were huge. That's just not the case anymore. And these types of [workflows] unlock the ability for leagues and [rightsholders] to more economically produce events that never would've been feasible in the past or to launch new alternative experiences that provide fans with more personalization and interactivity on their mobile and connected devices. Today, we can compress without losing a lot of quality, send it out to a global audience across all the different connected devices, transcode on the fly, and monitor performance at every point in the distribution. We're doing that today, which is very exciting.
Have you seen Zixi being used more often as a primary or backup contribution path for live sports productions (as opposed to fiber or satellite)?
One of our big use cases has been what we call Satellite Rationalization, which is how our pla
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
SVG Sit-Down: Zixi's Ken Haren on the Explosion of Remote Production, IP-Based Contribution in Live Sports The company aims to help customers manage all aspects of contribution, distribution By Jason Dachman 
