Family Entertainment Television selects Zixi for live IP video broadcasting

Zixi announced that Family Entertainment Television, Inc., a leading family entertainment company reaching over 75 million households through Family Entertainment Television (FETV) and Family Movie Classics (FMC), has deployed Zixi, replacing satellite distribution, to deliver content to 50 branches throughout the country. United States.

Family Entertainment Television, a provider of family entertainment content with a Nielsen top 50 audience, has seen significant growth in popularity in recent years, driven by the demand for high-quality, timeless programming. By leveraging Zixi-as-a-Service (ZaaS) in FETV’s operations, content distribution is streamlined by eliminating the need for satellite infrastructure and seamlessly transitioning to cost-optimized cloud infrastructure while maintaining the reliability associated with legacy delivery . Central to this transformation is the Zixi Broadcaster, which acts as a conduit for content from on-premise sources to the cloud, where SDVP efficiently processes and distributes content to affiliates, all controlled by the ZEN Master, the control plane ensuring operational efficiency and end-to-end visibility .

FETV’s previous distribution workflow relied on a satellite uplink, which required 24×7 support, while partners outside the satellite coverage area had to receive streams through alternative methods. As more satellite spectrum is allocated for 5G and capacity becomes scarce and expensive, FETV has had to redesign its distribution workflow. Company growth requires a dynamic content delivery system with significantly reduced total cost of ownership and the ability to scale and adapt to changing business requirements. The transition to IP-based distribution facilitated by Zixi’s SDVP not only accelerates the addition of new affiliates, but also improves operational flexibility while optimizing costs. By replacing satellite with streamlined on-premise cloud content delivery servers and tapping into the vast Zixi-enabled network of over 1,000 media companies and 400 technology partners, FETV has significantly reduced time-to-market from weeks to mere hours.

Zixi’s renowned reliability and scalability, supported by patented features such as Hitless Failover and protocol efficiency, ensure seamless content transport. A ZaaS platform provides all the benefits of SDVP while providing a cost-optimized cloud infrastructure, reducing the time and resources required for system architecture and enabling more core focus and investment in business and revenue generation. Zixi’s protocol optimization minimizes output costs and computational costs, resulting in a lower total cost of ownership for FETV. ZEN Master’s intuitive interface empowers engineers and operators with the tools they need to orchestrate, control and monitor signals in the distribution network. The advantages of the Zixi protocol, enhanced with a patented fail-safe, ensure reliable signal transmission. The patented zero-compression technology further enabled the reduction of output costs, unlocking additional opportunities to develop new business models and generate revenue.

“The broadcast landscape is constantly evolving and the flexibility of satellite delivery no longer meets our needs,” said Adam Sumrall, executive vice president of FETV and FMC. “After evaluating the economics and superior total cost of ownership offered by Zixi’s platform, moving to IP became a strategic imperative.”

“Zixi’s vast experience in delivering large-scale workflows is extremely valuable to our customers,” said Tim Wilson, Senior Director of Sales at Zixi, adding, “From inception to implementation, our team of experts has been with FETV throughout the journey, making the transition to IP an effortless process.”