Wowza partner Uvault’s application enables broadcasters to deliver closed captions to any device

Wowza Media Systems, LLC, the "Any Screen Done Right™" media server software company, has announced that Uvault®, a Wowza® Streaming Partner, and CPC, a leading closed captioning solution provider, have joined forces to create the first multiscreen real-time closed caption capture-and-delivery solution.

The custom application was built specifically for Wowza technology, and Uvault will distribute the service through its cloud-based content delivery network (CDN), which is powered by Wowza Media Server® software. The technology will give broadcasters a simple, affordable, out-of-the-box solution for complying with the FCC closed captioning mandate well ahead of the January 2013 deadline.

Uvault's closed captioning service is the industry's first solution that can tap into a broadcaster's live video system, extract closed caption data from line 21, and deliver it in sync to video players on computers, Apple® and Android™ tablets, and smartphones. The service includes everything broadcasters need to stream closed captions to RTMP/HLS devices, including a closed caption data retrieval device, CPC software, and Uvault CDN services for fast expansion over the Amazon EC2® cloud network. The service integrates easily with most existing broadcast workflows, enabling broadcasters to output data to a Web media encoder and integrate seamlessly with Uvault CDN, delivering closed captions to end users on any device.

Wowza Media Server® 3 is the industrial-strength, high-performance software that simultaneously streams live and on-demand media to any screen — Adobe® Flash® and Microsoft® Silverlight®-enabled computers and devices; iPhone®/iPad®, Android and other smartphones and tablets; smart TVs; as well as IPTV/OTT set-top endpoints. The software provides a single extensible platform for a variety of high-value features, including live transcoding for adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming, any-screen, time-shifted playback, and premium content delivery with multiplatform digital rights management (DRM).

Uvault began testing the new solution in April 2012 and plans to release the Flash-supported service in mid-May. Support for Apple devices will follow in June, and Android and Blackberry support will be available by August.