The BBC has deployed ViewCast's Niagara Pro streaming encoders to power live streaming of premium sports and news content on its Web site. Fourteen Niagara Pros have been installed to provide a range of services including coverage of the Beijing Olympics and 24/7 streaming of news programming.

 

The investment in the Niagra Pro encoders comes a part of an upgrade of the corporation's existing services that was completed in time for the main summer sporting events, including the Euro 2008 soccer tournament and the Wimbledon tennis championships. Content is streamed in Flash format, in 16:9 ratio. The encoders were supplied and installed by UK-based Garland Partners.

 

The Niagara Pro rack-mountable streaming media encoder is designed to support high-resolution video capturing and streaming. The dual-channel encoder is ideal for a range of applications from Internet TV and Webcasting to streaming training videos. It can also be used for video capture to file for archiving, as well as repurposing video for Internet and intranet distribution.

 

"The BBC's award-winning Web site is a leader for delivering quality content over the Internet. We are proud to be the supplier of the encoders driving the site's live video streaming of important news services and sporting events of such worldwide significance," said Gary J Klembara, ViewCast senior vice president of sales.