VIVE taps Zixi & Tata Communications to live stream pay-per-view boxing event

March 10, 2021

1 minute read

Shields (left) and DiCaire (right) pose together before their bout … Shields emerges the winner. Source: VIVE Network Facebook page.

On March 5, VIVE Network streamed the SUPERWOMEN: Claressa Shields vs. Marie Dicaire Super Welterweight Title Unification pay-per-view event on its platform.

When the World Boxing Council asked VIVE Network to participate, VIVE called in the professionals: Zixi and Tata Communications, a global digital ecosystem enabler. A lot of work went on behind the scenes for live broadcasts, and when viewers were paying to watch one of the most historically significant fights in professional boxing history, there was zero margin for error.

The Zixi Software Defined Video Platform (SDVP) was selected for content distribution, starting with acquisition of the fight signals via satellite to be downlinked and handed off to Zixi software hosted on the Tata Communications media cloud*.

The content was then sent to a local VIVE production studio where graphics and branding were applied before being pushed back to the Tata Communications media cloud via the congestion and network-aware Zixi protocol.

Multiple renditions were created and packaged as HLS and DASH for OTT consumption on iOS, Android, FireTV, AppleTV.

VIVE further leveraged Zixi’s ZEN Master control plane to orchestrate and manage the deployment. ZEN Master monitors complex streaming deployments at scale, and enables the configuration and orchestration of live broadcast channels across protocols and the Zixi Enabled Network with full telemetry visualisation of network streams.

“This is a great example of how easy it is to quickly and securely spin up complex workflows using the

SDVP, on any network, edge device, on-premises or diverse cloud infrastructure,” said Eunice Park, VP of Global Sales at Zixi.

“Our media ecosystem brings about the flexibility, agility and most importantly, single point ac-

countability which is key in live sports streaming,” said Dhaval Ponda, Global Head, Media and Entertainment Services, Tata Communications.

According to Ponda, Tata Communications has delivered a superior quality viewing experience at over 5,000 live global events across multiple sports disciplines. “Through our partnerships, we have reached over 2 billion sports fans with sports content delivered through 90% of all global sports broadcasters,” he said.

*Tata Communications’ global media network combines its expertise as a global tier-1 connectivity provider with its end-to-end media ecosystem to enable a comprehensive range of solutions for broadcasters, content owners, sports and video streaming companies.

The Tata Communications Video Connect + service is fully-managed and ensures reliable delivery of compressed video over the public internet, significantly optimising the reach and cost of a terrestrial broadcasting solution. This along with Tata Communications content delivery network (CDN) services, delivers high quality digital experiences to customers by rendering content at high speeds.