F.Y.I.

SBS partners with Akamai

Free-to-air broadcaster SBS has partnered with online video platform Akamai Technologies to stream live and on-demand.

The announcement:

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the leader in powering video, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, has announced its video streaming partnership with Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), Australia’s free to air, public multicultural and multilingual broadcaster. SBS began strategically deploying Akamai’s network in May 2010 to stream video live and ‘on demand’, and has already seen a marked increase in video deliveries peaking at 75 terabytes in July (3 million streams total), up from a previous base of approximately 100mbps.

Most recently, Akamai supported the live and ‘on demand’ streaming of video from two major sporting events, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the Tour de France to the SBS website, delivering over 489,000 videos (21 terabytes total) to sporting event spectators over June and July.

Ian Teague, Country Manager for Akamai Australia and New Zealand said, “More and more Australians are turning to digital media like SBS for their fix of daily news, sport and catch up TV. We’re also very multimedia-hungry as a nation, so online news articles are frequently accompanied by images or video. When faced with peak traffic during large sporting events for example, digital media sites are under pressure to deliver multimedia seamlessly. Akamai is in a unique position to support live and on-demand video streaming, thanks to our extensive network.”

SBS selected Akamai following an extensive review of local and international solutions, ultimately appointing the company for its superior media video service and the ability to support streaming of high-demand events such as FIFA World Cup and the Tour De France.

Matt Costain, Online Technical Director at SBS said, “We endeavoured to find a partner that we could rely on to provide our viewers across the country an optimal online experience, especially during peak streaming times like FIFA World Cup and the Tour de France. We are confident that Akamai is the right choice, given their high-speed streaming capabilities and mission critical support structure.”

Source:  SBS and Akamai press release

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