Regional French Elections Streamed Live with Wirecast Pro
Telestream Case Study
Paris, France With the goal of providing live and more relevant regional news coverage nationwide, France Télévisions (FTV)—the French national public broadcasting network based in Paris—purchased 43 Wirecast Pro for Windows software systems in December 2013. This live streaming production software from Telestream has now been installed at 24 FTV regional centers and will soon be expanded to 19 more sites. “FTV was looking to offer its audience a new regional programming service on the web, and recognized that its recent municipal elections posed an excellent opportunity to launch this streaming media initiative. To accomplish this, FTV purchased 43 Wirecast streaming platforms in time to provide live elections coverage accessible from 24 region-specific websites,” said Walid Abi-Chahla, general manager of Visualdis, a distributor specializing in digital video solutions, for companies (corporate video) and professional of broadcast, through a dedicated network of resellers and integrators. “This highly successful initiative will eventually expand to 24/7/365 streaming of regional news and programming accessible from 24 regional websites,” Abi-Chahla added. Visualdis facilitated FTV’s Wirecast order and now serves in an advisory capacity as the Wirecast systems are deployed to the 19 additional regional sites. “This premium streaming media service is exclusively dedicated to the needs and interests of each region across France.” FTV operates five national TV channels, including France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô, an overseas program service. Across its channels, the network’s programming presents French culture and the arts, entertainment and cinema, among other premium fare.
In recent years, FTV stepped forward to make its pubic service programming available via multiple platforms, including digital terrestrial (DTT), broadband, Internet websites and 4G cellular. This ensures that viewers are free to enjoy the programming on their preferred medium, including TV screens, PCs, smartphones and tablets. This latest streaming media effort complements all that FTV is doing in the way of multi-platform content distribution. “We chose Wirecast for its reliability and robustness,” said Sokol Vreto, project manager for FTV. “Prior to making our final decision, we conducted extensive testing of Wirecast as well as several encode-only software products on the market. Wirecast’s video production capabilities as well as its exceptional performance in demanding real-world conditions led us to choose it as our exclusive live streaming production platform.” FTV’s evaluation of Wirecast was based on many factors, including quality, ease of implementation, price and performance. Telestream’s Wirecast integrates many video production tools, such as multi-camera switching, live graphics, text, video effects, keying, video roll-ins and more, all of which are accessible from a single user friendly interface. The use of streaming media makes it easier for French citizens to follow regional news in real-time as events unfold. Online access is especially convenient when viewers are on their mobile devices, traveling outside DTT coverage areas, or unable to watch regularly scheduled TV shows. Each FTV regional center employs a video production crew that typically consists of a director, cameraman, sound engineer and journalists. The actual size and make-up of the crew depends on the nature and scope of the news events or assignments to be produced.
The camera crew captures live video and audio right at the news scene or other remote locations, often using a mobile video production unit equipped with a Wirecast system. Since each FTV regional center is equipped with studio production capabilities, the programs are fully produced before they’re streamed. Once ready for distribution, the video signals are fed to a Blackmagic Design DeckLink video capture card, which in turn feeds the computer running Wirecast live production streaming software. The live signals are then output to a content delivery network for real-time delivery to the web. This Wirecast output is actually comprised of three separate streams, each with varying bitrates and codecs to facilitate the unique requirements of today’s smart phones, tablets, PCs and other mobile devices. “FTV’s regional webcasting is already very popular with online viewers,” said Abi-Chahla, “and this audience is growing all the time.”
Telestream specializes in products that make it possible to get video content to any audience regardless of how it is created, distributed or viewed. Throughout the entire digital media lifecycle, from capture to viewing, for consumers through high-end professionals, Telestream products range from desktop components and cross-platform applications to fully-automated, enterprise-class digital media transcoding and workflow systems. Telestream enables users in a broad range of business environments to leverage the value of their video content.
Wirecast Chosen by France Télévisions to Stream Live Regional Elections Coverage
“Wirecast’s video production capabilities as well as its exceptional performance in demanding real-world conditions led us to choose it as our exclusive live streaming production platform.” –Sokol Vreto, project manager for FTV
Paris, France With the goal of providing live and more relevant regional news coverage nationwide, France Télévisions (FTV)—the French national public broadcasting network based in Paris—purchased 43 Wirecast Pro for Windows software systems in December 2013. This live streaming production software from Telestream has now been installed at 24 FTV regional centers and will soon be expanded to 19 more sites. “FTV was looking to offer its audience a new regional programming service on the web, and recognized that its recent municipal elections posed an excellent opportunity to launch this streaming media initiative. To accomplish this, FTV purchased 43 Wirecast streaming platforms in time to provide live elections coverage accessible from 24 region-specific websites,” said Walid Abi-Chahla, general manager of Visualdis, a distributor specializing in digital video solutions, for companies (corporate video) and professional of broadcast, through a dedicated network of resellers and integrators. “This highly successful initiative will eventually expand to 24/7/365 streaming of regional news and programming accessible from 24 regional websites,” Abi-Chahla added. Visualdis facilitated FTV’s Wirecast order and now serves in an advisory capacity as the Wirecast systems are deployed to the 19 additional regional sites. “This premium streaming media service is exclusively dedicated to the needs and interests of each region across France.” FTV operates five national TV channels, including France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô, an overseas program service. Across its channels, the network’s programming presents French culture and the arts, entertainment and cinema, among other premium fare.
In recent years, FTV stepped forward to make its pubic service programming available via multiple platforms, including digital terrestrial (DTT), broadband, Internet websites and 4G cellular. This ensures that viewers are free to enjoy the programming on their preferred medium, including TV screens, PCs, smartphones and tablets. This latest streaming media effort complements all that FTV is doing in the way of multi-platform content distribution. “We chose Wirecast for its reliability and robustness,” said Sokol Vreto, project manager for FTV. “Prior to making our final decision, we conducted extensive testing of Wirecast as well as several encode-only software products on the market. Wirecast’s video production capabilities as well as its exceptional performance in demanding real-world conditions led us to choose it as our exclusive live streaming production platform.” FTV’s evaluation of Wirecast was based on many factors, including quality, ease of implementation, price and performance. Telestream’s Wirecast integrates many video production tools, such as multi-camera switching, live graphics, text, video effects, keying, video roll-ins and more, all of which are accessible from a single user friendly interface. The use of streaming media makes it easier for French citizens to follow regional news in real-time as events unfold. Online access is especially convenient when viewers are on their mobile devices, traveling outside DTT coverage areas, or unable to watch regularly scheduled TV shows. Each FTV regional center employs a video production crew that typically consists of a director, cameraman, sound engineer and journalists. The actual size and make-up of the crew depends on the nature and scope of the news events or assignments to be produced.
The camera crew captures live video and audio right at the news scene or other remote locations, often using a mobile video production unit equipped with a Wirecast system. Since each FTV regional center is equipped with studio production capabilities, the programs are fully produced before they’re streamed. Once ready for distribution, the video signals are fed to a Blackmagic Design DeckLink video capture card, which in turn feeds the computer running Wirecast live production streaming software. The live signals are then output to a content delivery network for real-time delivery to the web. This Wirecast output is actually comprised of three separate streams, each with varying bitrates and codecs to facilitate the unique requirements of today’s smart phones, tablets, PCs and other mobile devices. “FTV’s regional webcasting is already very popular with online viewers,” said Abi-Chahla, “and this audience is growing all the time.”
About Telestream
Telestream specializes in products that make it possible to get video content to any audience regardless of how it is created, distributed or viewed. Throughout the entire digital media lifecycle, from capture to viewing, for consumers through high-end professionals, Telestream products range from desktop components and cross-platform applications to fully-automated, enterprise-class digital media transcoding and workflow systems. Telestream enables users in a broad range of business environments to leverage the value of their video content.
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