Harmonic has announced that New England Sports Network (NESN), owned by Fenway Sports Group and Delaware North, has selected Harmonic as its enterprise technology partner in collaboration with Astound Business Solutions to transform live sports delivery. Harmonic’s primary distribution solution, including the XOS Advanced Media Processor and DMS X Distribution Management System, empower NESN to deliver pristine-quality video to 4 million homes while unlocking new avenues for efficient monetisation of live sports content.

“Harmonic’s XOS media processor provides us with a rock-solid, reliable foundation for distributing sports content to our affiliates,” said Kenny Elcock, vice president of technology at NESN. “The software-based primary distribution solution has set us up for immediate success, while providing the flexibility to add new, advanced features in the future. Even better, the XOS solution features game-changing ad insertion capabilities at the edge, paving the way for exciting new revenue opportunities.”

Harmonic’s primary distribution solution enables NESN to securely distribute live sports content to a wide range of affiliates — including cable, telco and video streaming providers — over managed IP and open internet delivery networks. As part of the solution, Harmonic’s XOS media processor ensures exceptional video quality for NESN. The XOS media processor offers up to 50 per cent bitrate savings through AI-powered EyeQ content-aware encoding for cost-effective video quality optimisation while extending support for formats up to 4K HDR. In addition, Harmonic’s ProStream X stream processor distributes the live sports content to all affiliates using SRT, ensuring reliable delivery.

NESN is using Harmonic’s XOS Edge IRDs to insert localized ads at the edge by leveraging the solution’s playout-to-delivery capabilities. By processing ads closer to the viewer, NESN can enhance ad delivery efficiency and increase ad revenue.

Furthermore, Harmonic’s DMS X solution for the XOS media processor provides efficient centralized management for ad insertion, program localisation and remote playout; enables HTML graphics, clips and playlist insertion; and supports edge device monitoring, elevating primary distribution for NESN.

Harmonic’s partner Astound Business Solutions ensured a smooth deployment, allowing NESN to launch its new primary distribution platform in just two months. Astound also provides NESN with its distribution network, end-to-end management of video services and continuous network monitoring to ensure operational success.

“NESN is one of the nation’s top-rated regional sports networks, and we’re proud of our partnership with them,” said Gil Rudge, senior vice president, solutions and Americas sales, video business at Harmonic. “Successfully deploying our primary distribution solution in just two months is a milestone achievement and a testament to the powerful collaboration between NESN, Astound Business Solutions and Harmonic. The innovative capabilities of our solution will ensure exceptional-quality experiences for sports fans and boost revenue for NESN.”

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Categories: Press Releases

Tags: Harmonic, NESN