MediaKind Unveils Public Cloud OTT Streaming

Citing increased demand for a broadcast quality viewing experience on channels offered over the top, MediaKind has teamed with Google Cloud to launch a software-as-a-service version of its Aquila end-to-end streaming solution.

The new service enables MediaKind customers to launch OTT services rapidly without compromising on quality of viewing experience, company executives said, and it provides them with wider access to the Google Cloud Platform ecosystem, with the ability to manage and operate live convergent OTT and broadcast headends more easily.

Richard Mansfield

“We’re seeing a lot of additional uptake in internet-based OTT delivery and streaming services,” explained Richard Mansfield, MediaKind product management director, during a press briefing Wednesday.

In addition, Mansfield said, the company is seeing a shift as consumers move to watch OTT services on their “main screen” devices. “Operators need to deliver a high quality, consistent experience across devices. When it comes to streaming, just good enough doesn’t cut it anymore.”

MediaKind’s cloud-native Aquila Streaming solution can be deployed on bare metal, private cloud or in any cloud service provider.

The company maintains it can achieve a 30% savings on bandwidth costs, a 70% improvement on latency and a 50% savings on storage. “Those benefits are available on all options of Aquila,” Mansfield said. By offering Aquila on an SaaS basis, MediaKind can offer receive, transcode, package, encrypt and managed video services.

The global corona virus pandemic has spurred an increase in demand for event-based channels, Mansfield said, predicting the trend will continue once live sporting events can resume. “There will be catch-up required to broadcast additional events and catch-up on leagues.

“This is a natural place for temporary use scenarios,” Mansfield said. “There’s temporary demand but no need for permanent facilities.”

Stuart Boorn

The pandemic is also speeding media companies’ migration to IP and the cloud, said Stuart Boorn, VP product management at MediaKind. “The change that was slowly and gradually happening — the evolving to the cloud and SaaS and leveraging IP to get content to the consumer … that is accelerating now,” he said.

“All of our products are evolving more quickly,” Boorn added. “Customers who were talking about building an appliance infrastructure or private cloud are now thinking about the public cloud, because we know we can do that.”

Through the integration into the Google Cloud ecosystem, MediaKind now also provides access to a broader range of media applications and workloads through the cloud, in areas such as containerization, AI, machine learning and the growing network of Android TV and Google Ad Insertion solutions, while offering a fully managed solution. MediaKind customers will now be able to scale quicker, rapidly spin channels up with ease and respond to multi-format requirements without compromise on delay.

MediaKind’s disaster recovery in Google Cloud also removes the need for a second headend system; the combination of Aquila Streaming and Google Cloud allows local headend services and applications to be backed up and can be restarted rapidly when required.

MediaKind plans to further extend its Aquila Streaming solution capabilities later this summer, offering self-provisioning availability by leveraging the Google Cloud Platform Marketplace.

“As consumer demand for live streamed content reaches an all-time high, service providers must find ever more creative methods to deliver quicker and more affordable OTT services at scale,” said Angel Ruiz, CEO, MediaKind, in a news release.

“By launching Aquila Streaming on Google Cloud Platform, our customers will benefit from a highly flexible service that adapts seamlessly to their existing infrastructure or digital transformation program, whether purpose built as an on-premise or cloud native solution, hybrid cloud or part of an end-to-end as-a-service offering. Through deeper integration of our product portfolio on Google Cloud Platform, we can offer the necessary tools to create and deliver the best immersive media experiences on any device, with faster time to market, greater cost-efficiency and more flexible cost structures.”

Aquila Streaming is a convergent, cloud-based OTT headend solution that enables content to be received, transcoded, packaged, encrypted and delivered. The flexibility of Aquila Streaming provides operators with a one-stop-shop solution to quickly launch OTT services without compromising on the end quality to the consumer.

Based on MediaKind’s cloud-native architecture, Aquila Streaming allows content aggregators, content providers and operators to deploy, manage and operate OTT and converged broadcast headends.

Last year MediaKind announced  Google Cloud as an inaugural partner in its Universe Alliance, a  technology partnership program offering content providers, service providers and operators access to complete solutions that combine technologies and services from MediaKind with leading partners in cloud and other offerings.

The MediaKind–Google Cloud partnership allows MediaKind customers to access Google Cloud’s portfolio of solutions and services and tap into a highly advanced combination of end-to-end TV analytics and machine learning capabilities.