JERSEY CITY, N.J.—Fox Television Stations, XR (Extreme Reach) and LTN completed a successful four-week live syndication initiative in May for game show “25 Words or Less LIVE,” using IP-based distribution to deliver the program to stations and let viewers play along.

“Live programming creates unique opportunities for stations to engage viewers in real time,” said Stephen Brown, EVP Programming and Development, Fox Television Stations, Fox First Run. “This initiative demonstrated how innovative distribution strategies can support new programming models while maintaining the reliability broadcasters require.”

Produced for Fox First Run and hosted by Meredith Vieira, “25 Words or Less LIVE” aired weekdays from May 4–28, originating from Parlay Studios in Jersey City, N.J. More than 38 live episodes were delivered twice a day to 18 stations, many of which were Fox-owned-and- operated stations in key U.S. markets.

The workflow was powered by Extreme Reach’s syndication services and LTN’s managed IP video transport network.

The milestone project proved the viability of live syndicated television workflows that let broadcasters create more immediate and interactive viewing experiences, the companies said. Live delivery created new opportunities for stations to engage with viewers through social media, local promotions and real-time audience participation, allowing fans to play along with contestants.

XR and LTN delivered a live syndication workflow that allowed Fox to distribute the programming to participating stations nationwide. XR managed the show’s distribution through its syndication platform, while LTN provided fully managed IP transport and master control services connecting Fox’s production facility to local stations.

Together, the companies leveraged XR’s content-delivery expertise and LTN’s proven broadcast infrastructure to bring the excitement of live television to viewers nationwide, allowing fans to watch, interact and play along with the show as it happened.

“Delivering live syndicated programming requires coordination, precision and dependable technology partners,” Matt Pagen, general manager of XR Media, said. “Together with Fox and LTN, we created a workflow that helps broadcasters and syndicators engage audiences in new ways while maximizing their content investments. This combined offering delivered the performance we needed, while providing a more cost-efficient alternative to traditional satellite distribution.”

The initiative received positive feedback from participating stations. It showed how cloud-based and IP-enabled distribution models can support live television workflows that typically depend on legacy infrastructure. It also highlighted the potential for significant cost savings compared to traditional satellite distribution, without sacrificing the reliability, scale or viewer experience required for live television.

“This project represents the kind of innovation content creators and broadcasters are actively exploring as they modernize their distribution strategies,” LTN Senior Vice President of Global Products Rick Young said. “By combining Extreme Reach’s syndication expertise with LTN’s managed IP network and operational services, we enabled a reliable live television experience to stations across the country.”

More information is available on the XR Extreme Reach and LTN websites.

COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN, a major provider of IP-based video transport and network services, has been selected by PBS as its IP video partner to modernize and future-proof content distribution and contribution across more than 330 public television stations.

Under the multi-year agreement, LTN will implement a fully managed IP network, providing end-to-end connectivity, ISP services, and two-way video transport across all station locations and service sites.

“PBS is modernizing and strengthening its Interconnection system to future-proof the platform and support the future of public media. Our IP network delivers the scale, reliability, and flexibility required to support that transformation,” said Malik Khan, co-founder and executive chairman, LTN. “LTN is proud to provide the network, reliability, and operational foundation required to support one of the largest and most important media networks in the U.S.”

The LTN Network will support distribution of public television content, including PBS East and PBS West feeds, PBS KIDS, Create, NHK World, and FNX with the ability to deliver up to nine linear feeds to PBS member stations.

The platform will also enable always-on content sharing among stations and support station contribution workflows for regional and national distribution of locally produced content. In addition, LTN will power contribution workflows for OTT distribution platforms, PBS Platforms like pbs.org and PBS Digital.

“Moving to a scalable, IP-based infrastructure will increase reliability, reduce costs, and enable new opportunities for content sharing, collaboration, and audience reach across the entire PBS system,” said Dana Golub, Vice President of Strategic Infrastructure Initiatives at PBS.

The deployment will begin immediately and continue through the end of 2026.

July 2027 marks the next Upper C-band auction and a further reduction of satellite spectrum that has been the backbone for television distribution for decades.

This time, the challenge looks different. The previous C-band repack compressed services into a smaller slice of spectrum through more efficient encoding and additional satellite capacity.

But the next phase is unlikely to offer that same flexibility. Even under more conservative scenarios, with the FCC required by statute to auction at least 100 MHz of Upper C-band, many broadcasters now assume current distribution models will not be sustainable within the remaining C-band allocation.

That challenge sits against a deeply embedded infrastructure. Satellite has set the standard for decades, delivering consistent, predictable performance across vast affiliate footprints. Today, there are still over a thousand registered earth stations supporting video broadcast distribution.

For those who are carrying premium channels and live events, replacing satellite is being assessed and scrutinized around reliability, and more specifically, how to maintain broadcast-grade delivery as the underlying infrastructure changes.

Approaching the Transition
Broadcasters are no longer evaluating distribution options in theory. They’re testing them in live environments, where performance failures are visible, measurable, and have commercial impact.

These considerations play out differently depending on the type of service in play. Occasional-use contribution feeds and lower-risk channels are often the first to move, where flexibility and cost carry more weight. Higher-value full time channels, where disruption has immediate commercial impact, tend to follow a more gradual path, introducing IP alongside existing satellite capacity before making larger moves.

A managed IP solution that offers service level guarantees is increasingly forming a core part of the delivery model, either as a primary or a back-up pathway. Deep monitoring of both the end-to-end network connectivity, as well as the video, audio, and metadata payload is critical transparency that allows programmers and networks to know the state of their content as received by their partner platforms.

Where Alternatives Break Down
Ku-band satellite is one of the most immediate options open to broadcasters. It has the advantage of providing additional capacity and can be integrated into existing workflows, but it comes with a known trade-off: greater sensitivity to weather than C-band. For some use cases, that trade-off is manageable, but for high-value live services, it often means that another layer of protection is required.

A second option is public internet delivery, which presents a different set of challenges. Although it’s widely available and easy to access, video cannot always be transported consistently, and unmanaged internet paths do not give broadcasters the same confidence around performance and protection that they would expect. This is why content owners preparing for migration are looking into the architecture that is powering these services, focusing on how a provider handles redundancy, what level of service assurance exists, how issues are identified, and who is responsible when a feed is degraded.

One further pressure lies in the compression of the remaining satellite services. As more channels are packed into less spectrum, managing that environment becomes a lot harder. Planning early gives broadcasters greater scope to sequence migrations sensibly, maintain continuity and avoid unnecessary disruption as timelines tighten.

The Growth of Managed IP Distribution
In response to these challenges, purpose-built IP distribution is gaining ground because it addresses the areas broadcasters are focused on most closely: reliability and control. That includes fully managed networks designed for live video, with built-in redundancy, clear service-level commitments, and continuous monitoring from origination to hand-off.

Broadcasters and MVPDs do not want a replacement model that makes things more complex at the receive site or turns every new channel into an engineering nightmare. They need manageability, support, simplicity, reliability, transparency, and scale, all of which makes IP migration more manageable for programmers and platforms.

Reliability as the New Benchmark
When it comes to high-value content, premium channels and live events place tolerance on delivery problems is effectively zero. This reality is shaping how broadcasters plan their transition. Hybrid models will persist in the near term, with satellite continuing to play a role in certain markets and for some content. But as C-band capacity continues to contract, the direction of travel is clear.

The next phase of distribution will be defined by which solutions can deliver broadcast-grade reliability in an increasingly complex environment. In the post-C-band era, broadcasters will need the deterministic certainty offered by proven managed IP solutions with performance Service Level Agreements and backed up by 24x7 human and automation support that responds swiftly to remediate any issues with the network or the content.

TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2026 NAB Show?

Malik Khan: At NAB Show, a key focus will be the impact of ongoing C-band spectrum repurposing on media distribution. With U.S. federal auctions set to reallocate up to 180 MHz of spectrum for 5G by 2027, pressure on networks, broadcasters and rightsholders is intensifying, prompting them to reassess how they deliver high-value content at scale. This is accelerating conversations around shifting to alternative infrastructure that can provide the highest certainty around reliability, performance, visibility, and cost.

Live production, in particular sports production, is being reshaped by the need to scale efficiently while supporting more-tailored event creation and distribution. As sports leagues and rightsholders revisit longstanding delivery models in light of regulatory and commercial pressures, there is growing momentum behind workflows that allow content to be adapted for different audiences and platforms without increasing complexity and cost. This shift is driving greater alignment between production, localization, and distribution, with IP and cloud technologies playing a central role in enabling more flexible operations.

TVT: What will be your most important product news?

MK: Industry dynamics are accelerating the need for change, particularly as upcoming spectrum auctions place additional pressure on satellite capacity. In response, LTN is strengthening network reliability and performance, increasing the depth and transparency of content and network visibility, faster deployment with full-market reach, and improved economics to support high-value content delivery across a growing number of channels and platforms.

LTN is introducing enhancements to its global IP video network designed to support event and full-time channel distribution with 99.9999% reliability. These updates build on LTN’s industry-leading experience supporting large-scale deployments for networks, station groups, programmers, and sports broadcasters. In addition to the industry’s highest reliability guarantee, LTN’s innovation focuses on increasing full-market reach to 100% of legacy and digital platforms, further reducing migration time from satellite to IP distribution to a few weeks, increasing the visibility of the content and network for customers with detailed real-time and historical data, and offering improved economics for up to 60% reduction in cost of distribution.

New developments include expanded resiliency and monitoring capabilities, along with a network gateway capable of receiving up to 500 channels. This enables more efficient management of large channel lineups, while supporting faster deployment and broader distribution across both established and emerging environments.

TVT: How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?

MK: The key difference lies in how the infrastructure is designed and operated for live video at scale. Many solutions rely on public cloud services or protocol-based transport, which can introduce variability in performance, limited visibility, and unpredictable costs as workflows grow. LTN’s approach is built around a purpose-designed and managed IP video network that integrates transport, monitoring, and control within a single environment. This allows broadcasters to maintain consistent performance with clear insight into signal health across the full distribution chain.

Recent enhancements further strengthen this by enhanced 99.9999% SLA-backed availability for improved resiliency, expanding monitoring capabilities, and simplifying large-scale deployment. Combined with centralized orchestration and broader interoperability, this enables broadcasters to manage complex distribution workflows more efficiently while maintaining control over performance and operations.

TVT: What is it about NAB Show that brings you back every year?

MK: NAB Show remains one of the most important gatherings for the media and broadcast industry, offering a unique view into how technology and business priorities are evolving. It provides an opportunity to see new developments in context and understand how they are being applied in real-world environments.

For LTN, the event is also an opportunity to reconnect with existing partners and build new relationships. It brings together a wide range of perspectives, from broadcasters to technology providers, all focused on navigating the same industry shifts and identifying practical ways to move forward. Engaging with customers, partners, and industry peers creates space to share experiences, address common challenges, and explore new approaches to content production and distribution. LTN will showcase partners like MediaKind, Ateme, Synamedia, Harmonic, NCTC, ACA, Amagi, Appear, Lumen and Sencore at the booth.

COLUMBIA, MD—LTN has announced the appointments of Mark Romano as Vice President, Multichannel Platforms, and Edward (Ed) Cox as Vice President, Sales & Business Development to support strategic communications and industry engagement.

Romano will lead initiatives focused on expanding multichannel platform capabilities and supporting MVPDs transitioning to IP. He brings extensive experience working with MVPDs with over two decades in technology and network affiliate relations with executive roles with SES and Outdoor Channel.

Cox will help media companies navigate a smooth transition from satellite. He brings over 20 year’s experience in media distribution, most recently as VP of SES, leading its Media business in the US.

Romano and Cox will join LTN executives and industry leaders at NAB Show 2026 for exclusive, in-depth discussions on real-world satellite-to-IP migration. LTN will be in booth W2100 in the West Hall of the LVCC during the show, April 18-22 in Las Vegas.

“As the industry accelerates toward IP-based distribution, our focus is building on LTN’s leading position as the go-to IP network for cable headends,” said Romano. “LTN’s network and platform are built for scale and its multi-tenant gateways offer an easy transition for up to the full channel lineups for MVPDs.”

“LTN’s network and platform are built to deliver the reliability, flexibility, and operational efficiency broadcasters need as they transition mission-critical workflows from satellite to IP,” said Cox.

“This is a critical time of change in our industry and Mark and Ed are just the kind of experts our customers need to make a smooth transition onto LTN’s trusted IP video network," said Bryan McGuirk, CRO of LTN.

COLUMBIA, MD—LTN has announced major enhancements to its purpose-built global IP video network, introducing new capabilities for channel creators as they accelerate their transition from legacy satellite models. The latest innovations are based on the company’s experience completing large-scale migrations for national networks, station groups and sports networks to deliver even better reach, reliability, visibility and operational control.

LTN will showcase the new network enhancements at Booth W2100 in the West Hall of the LVCC during the NAB Show, April 18–22 in Las Vegas.

U.S. federal auctions to free up large portions of spectrum capacity for 5G services are approaching, with up to 180 MHz set to be reallocated in the next auction cycle, expected before the end of July 2027. As broadcasters face severe pressure on the remaining C-Band capacity for content distribution, LTN says it is enhancing the transition to reliable, IP-based alternatives with new capabilities that exceed the performance, visibility and reach of C-band or Ku satellite or protocol-only IP solutions.

LTN’s latest innovations prioritize resilience under real-world conditions, operational visibility, scalable management and flexible deployment—aligning with evolving customer needs as broadcasters expand IP distribution footprints and increase channel complexity, according to Malik Khan, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, LTN.

“We are continuing to invest in the areas that drive clear value for major networks and broadcasters—resilience, visibility, scale and cost control,” he said. “As the C-band spectrum auction approaches, broadcasters are looking for certainty and measurable performance. We’re seeing unprecedented momentum and are innovating to ensure we continue to deliver the market’s leading reliable and intelligent distribution platform. For our customers, this means they can unlock new growth opportunities while also driving meaningful cost efficiencies.”

Enhancements include:

• Reliability and performance: Enhancements include Adaptive Multicarrier Rapid Error Recovery (RER), hitless switching and last-mile improvements, delivering improved stability and consistent performance at scale.
• Visibility and monitoring: New capabilities include historical performance views, enhanced source monitoring and expanded API integrations for advanced reporting and analytics – providing greater transparency across feeds, faster issue identification and improved monitoring across complex distribution footprints.
• Reach and deployment enablement: LTN has introduced expanded network access options, including a gateway capable of receiving 500 channels targeted at headends with large channel lineups and small-footprint gateway targeted at affiliates needing to receive just a handful of full time channels. These enhancements deliver open interoperability, greater reach and faster deployment while integrating seamlessly into existing workflows and technical architectures.
• Edge device integration: LTN is working with the leading edge device manufacturers—encoding and IRDs systems—to integrate LTN Network access directly into those devices. The roster of partners—including MediaKind, Harmonic, Appear, and Ateme—will be demonstrated for the first time at the 2026 NAB Show.
• Control, orchestration and scale: Enhancements include more robust dynamic content routing, advanced distribution group management and centralized portal-based orchestration. Broadcasters can manage hundreds of affiliates, across a hybrid footprint, via a single interface, reducing manual workflows while improving visibility and control as scale increases.

LTN has delivered successful satellite-to-IP migrations for leading organizations, including Tennis Channel, TelevisaUnivision, Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, MSG and MovieSphereGold, while expanding innovation for cable, broadcast and streaming networks through new capabilities and partnerships.

The company says its IP distribution footprint surged 200% in 2025, enabling seamless access to every content delivery platform. Today, LTN powers over 80 million hours of live video content annually — including nearly 5 million hours of live news and over 1 million live sporting events.

COLUMBIA, Md.—Managed IP video transport specialist LTN and live production tech provider Appear are collaborating to enable scalable, IP-native live video contribution and distribution for premium live events with the combination of Appear’s X Platform and LTN’s fully managed global network.

“The satellite-to-IP transition is no longer theoretical. Broadcasters are operating IP at scale today. By combining Appear’s best-in-class encoding with LTN’s fully managed global network, we’re delivering the infrastructure and execution layer required to power that shift,” said LTN executive chairman and co-founder Malik Khan.

As the industry moves beyond evaluating IP and into operating it at scale, broadcasters require more than transport. They need reliability, density, orchestration and service assurance, LTN said.

LTN and Appear deliver a proven infrastructure model designed for mission-critical live sports and events. Customers gain real-time operational transparency, proactive network management and service assurance designed for mission-critical live sports and premium broadcasts.

Appear’s X Platform provides high-density encoding and decoding supporting JPEG XS, JPEG 2000, AVC, HEVC and ST 2110 workflows, widely deployed across Tier-1 broadcast and telco environments. Integrated directly into LTN’s purpose-built IP backbone, Appear-originated feeds are transported securely and redundantly to any destination worldwide.

Beyond contribution, LTN extends those feeds into global distribution, adding point-to-multipoint delivery, conditional access, rights management, multi-language versioning, graphics insertion and metadata enrichment to drive monetization across linear, OTT, and FAST platforms.

The collaboration supports onsite production, REMI workflows, centralized production models, and hybrid OTT distribution, reducing operational complexity while accelerating time-to-air.

The companies are jointly targeting broadcasters, sports leagues, OTT platforms and service providers that are seeking a scalable, IP-native alternative to legacy distribution models.

More information is available on the LTN and Appear websites.

COLUMBIA, MD—LTN and MediaKind today announced a strategic partnership to tightly integrate MediaKind’s MK.IO Beam on-premise devices with the LTN Network, combining advanced edge video processing with LTN’s global IP transport infrastructure.

The integration connects MediaKind’s MK.IO Beam devices directly to the LTN Network, enabling reliable, redundant transmission of compressed video transport streams — for both contribution and distribution. The companies said the end result will be the delivery of a seamless path from high-availability IP distribution to on-premise content processing at scale.

The partnership comes at a pivotal moment as satellite-based C-Band distribution options continue to decline. With the FCC scheduled to auction off the remaining C-Band spectrum by 2027, programmers and content distributors, particularly in mid- and small-size headend markets, are seeking solutions that match the reliability of traditional C-Band while delivering faster deployment and improved cost efficiency.

“As the industry accelerates its shift away from satellite distribution, programmers and content distributors need IP solutions that deliver the same reliability, with greater flexibility and speed,” said Malik Khan, executive dhairman and co-founder of LTN. “Our integration with MediaKind brings advanced content processing directly to the edge of the LTN Network, enabling customers to deploy faster, operate more efficiently, and confidently scale their IP distribution plans.”

Enabling Direct, Redundant Connectivity at the Edge
Through the integration, MK.IO Beam devices can connect directly into the LTN Network, extending LTN’s multicast and multipath IP delivery capabilities to the edge. This enables multipath delivery over dual redundant IP connections, automatic “steering” of last-mile traffic to the best available LTN Network access node, and reliable, managed transport for both sending and receiving compressed video streams.

At the same time, the LTN Network gains streamlined access to MediaKind’s edge processing capabilities, allowing customers to transcode, multiplex, and transform content directly on-prem — ideal for source- or destination-specific processing requirements.

“The industry is under growing pressure to modernize distribution workflows without sacrificing performance,” said Shahar Bar, senior vice president, Products & Marketing at MediaKind. “By integrating MK.IO Beam directly with the LTN Network, we combine advanced software-based video processing with a highly reliable IP transport backbone—enabling faster deployments, greater operational agility, flexible cloud economics including monthly or hourly pay-as-you-go models, and a seamless transition away from legacy satellite infrastructure.”

Faster Deployment and Simplified Edge Operations
The companies say the partnership significantly accelerates IP distribution and contribution rollout timelines. Any MK.IO Beam device can now be quickly provisioned onto the LTN Network, shortening deployment cycles for contribution and distribution workflows, particularly in environments where time, infrastructure constraints, or cost sensitivity are critical.

For existing LTN customers, the integration enables content transformation at the edge, by simplifying custom encoding for regional or affiliate requirements, multiplexing for cable headends, and destination-specific processing handled locally.

By combining managed IP transport with on-prem video processing, programmers and content distributors can reduce infrastructure complexity while maintaining high reliability, they said.

COLUMBIA, Md.—IP video transport provider LTN has named three experienced executives—Michal Miskin-Amir, Jonathan Stanton and Bobby Bond—to lead the company’s new technology organization.

The new group, led by Miskin-Amir, now LTN’s executive vice president and head of technology, coincides with a new growth phase for LTN, as broadcasters and content providers rapidly migrate live video transport from satellite to its purpose-built, global IP network, the company said.

“We’re entering a pivotal moment and delivering mission-critical services for customers at much higher scale and speed than ever before,” LTN Executive Chairman and Co-Founder Malik Khan said. “Our full-time channel distribution revenue has grown 28% per year for the last several years and is poised for even faster growth as C-band satellite spectrum auctions approach.

“Broadcasters are moving more and higher value channels to our SLA-backed IP managed service that delivers unmatched reach and flexibility,” he continued. “These appointments will drive LTN’s technical roadmap forward as we further expand our reach to 100% of all content delivery platforms, offer more advanced monitoring tools, and highly automated and AI-based service capabilities that support our customers’ needs.”

Miskin-Amir, formerly executive VP of development, is an 18-year veteran who has been with LTN since its inception. Her new group is tasked with creating and executing on a unified technical vision that combines infrastructure and development, LTN said, enabling it to accelerate advancements in software engineering and automated service delivery.

Stanton was named senior VP, head of infrastructure, expanding his leadership over LTN’s hardware, network, facility and data-center design, as well as corporate IT, vendor management and security. He will focus on advancing the reliability and scalability of LTN’s services platform and global IP network, the company said, delivering contractual SLAs of 99.9999% availability to support rapid business growth while collaborating with product and sales teams to engineer world-class customer solutions. Stanton holds several patents for real-time video delivery co-created at LTN, the company said, and has built its core services since its founding 18 years ago.

As senior VP, head of development, Bond will expand his leadership role overseeing all software engineering and development across the company, LTN said. He’ll continue to advance the company’s software development life cycle, enhancing software delivery and automation while driving innovation in internal operational tools and customer-facing tooling and monitoring, the company said. Bond, who joined LTN in 2022 after working as VP, ad technology at USA Today, brings 20 years of experience in media and technology to his new post.

“These highly skilled professionals have contributed significantly to LTN’s success and technology leadership to date,” Khan said. “Together, they will develop and implement new features that reinforce our network as the market-leading IP video transport solution—while powering greater scale and flexibility for broadcasters, sports networks and rights holders delivering high-value live video.”

LTN said its global multicast IP network delivers more than 8,000 channels and millions of live events per year to such media organizations as TelevisaUnivision, E.W. Scripps, Tennis Channel and MASN. Its IP distribution footprint surged 200% last year, the company said, enabling seamless access to all U.S. pay TV households.

COLUMBIA, Md.—Major League Volleyball (MLV) is partnering with LTN to power live video production and distribution for its most expansive broadcast schedule to date in 2026. With a record 50-match broadcast slate across major national networks, streaming services and local stations, the collaboration enables continued audience growth for MLV, providing fans with wider access to their favorite teams and high-quality live experiences on multiple viewing platforms.

After the unification of Major League Volleyball and Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) in 2025, MLV is continuing to elevate professional women’s volleyball in the United States. Now in its third season, the PVF saw broadcast coverage grow 350% after its most recent season.

LTN will again serve as MLV’s live production and distribution partner, powering the largest media rollout in league history through a suite of on-site and remote production, live event customization and intelligent video transport services.

"We’re kicking off a milestone season for MLV with new energy, closer fan connection and our widest broadcast coverage to date," said Rob Carolla, Vice President, Public & Media Relations at MLV. "LTN has been a vital part of our growth journey, advancing our production quality, working across any venue and enabling new graphics and viewing features to enhance the fan experience – all while simplifying customization and distribution for multiple rights partners."

MLV will harness a comprehensive range of LTN production and transport services, leveraging a multi-camera setup and remote transmission technologies while enabling fully centralized production from LTN’s Kansas City technical operations center (TOC). LTN manages all the complexities of live event production, from announcer integration to audio mixing, replay, custom graphics insertion and playout.

"We’re seeing huge growth in a new generation of dynamic, innovation-first sports leagues," said Bryan McGuirk, Chief Revenue Officer at LTN. "With rights models evolving and demand for live events surging, MLV is a standout example of how sports organizations can harness agile production models and purpose-built IP distribution to enhance reach and monetization."

Last year, LTN supported the league in delivering over 45 linear broadcast matches and 70 live digital events, including generating 4.7 million YouTube views, up 1 million year-over-year, and an All-Star Match with 455,000 viewers on CBS. As a start to the current season,

LTN also underpinned the annual MLV Draft of collegiate players, which was broadcast live on the Roku Sports Channel for the first time. The California-based studio production was managed remotely from LTN’s centralized production facility, seamlessly connecting distributed draft teams to participate with presenters in real-time from locations nationwide with ultra-low latency, IP-based video transmission.

MLV is leveraging innovative technologies, supported by LTN’s flexible video infrastructure and production expertise, to elevate fan engagement and enhance the depth of data for viewers. Its latest advances include:

• An enhanced tracking system that delivers real-time ball tracking, improving officiating accuracy and powering advanced performance analytics – enabling teams and fans to better understand attacking patterns and player dynamics.
• Displayed for the first time on opening weekend, viewers will see enhanced visuals including ball speed and jump height metrics on matches aired by CBS Sports, offering deeper insights into the athleticism of the game.
• In another league-first, teams like the Indy Ignite will now air both home and away games in their local market outside of the national broadcast schedule, offering fans unrivaled access to their teams via local stations.

Alongside CBS Sports and the Roku Sports Channel, which aired opening weekend games, Jan. 9-11, MLV's media partners include ION – the national network from The E.W. Scripps Company with exclusive rights for the championship finals – and VICE, both new for 2026. The second MLV All-Star Match will air live on CBS and Paramount+, with all other matches available via MLV’s YouTube channel and team-led local market agreements.

BALTIMORE—Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), the regional sports network owned by Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, broadcasts both teams’ games to fans across a seven-state region. On top of 24/7 access to all its core live baseball coverage, MASN covers a breadth of exclusive pre- and postgame shows, documentaries, and annual collegiate events spanning from basketball to poker and fight sports.

Lower Costs, More Control
Faced with high satellite costs and other issues, we turned to LTN to explore a full migration to IP delivery. Leveraging its experience supporting IP transitions for TelevisaUnivision, MSG Networks and Tennis Channel, we successfully migrated all our channels from satellite to IP ahead of the 2025 MLB season. The result was a nearly 60% reduction in distribution costs, with greater control, flexibility, and visibility over our transmission feeds.

We decided to move from satellite to IP because regional sports networks like ours face mounting pressures to control operating costs, maintain consistent signal quality and navigate the shrinking C-band spectrum capacity for video distribution. These factors are prompting many of us to look at alternatives to satellite to ensure reliability and low-latency delivery that meets today’s ever-increasing viewer expectations. MASN faced these same challenges.

We needed to modernize our network distribution model without disrupting existing partners or viewers. We set out to reduce delivery and maintenance costs, preserve satellite-grade reliability for consistent streaming experiences and gain deeper insight into how our networks perform. At the same time, we wanted to ensure continuous, high-quality coverage of our traditional multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) and newer virtual MVPD partners to keep our live sports delivery uninterrupted throughout the transition.

We needed a trusted partner that understood our key priorities and could deliver uninterrupted high-quality video throughout the transition. Our long-standing collaboration with LTN built the trust that allowed us to make the move, and we were delighted when LTN completed the transition from satellite to IP in just 60 days, including a dual-illumination phase where satellite and IP ran in parallel to ensure an effortless switchover.

The LTN team worked with our engineering teams to plan, test and implement the new delivery workflow. This process included hands-on project management as well as on-site configuration, logistics and testing. One of LTN’s key differentiators was its relationships and direct coordination with MVPD headends to ensure all end points were ready to receive IP feeds before the switch.

We now distribute four variants of our two full-time channels, including MASN1 and MASN2, via LTN’s purpose-built IP video network. This setup enables MASN to insert localized advertising and tailor content for our two core markets in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Event-Driven Transport
As many networks assess their next steps with the C-Band spectrum auction approaching, we moved quickly to secure a future-ready model.

With the added flexibility and control that comes with IP, we can monitor signal integrity in real time and collaborate far more efficiently with our partners. More broadly, our transition demonstrates how rapidly sports networks can embrace IP once they commit to the shift. Today, fully-managed, SLA-backed IP distribution stands out as the most dependable way to deliver multiple channels across a range of platforms while maximizing ad revenue. In addition, LTN’s 24/7 customer service makes this fully-managed service stand out.

Beyond delivering our core channels, we also rely on LTN for event-driven IP transport, including the MLB spring training series. LTN’s low-latency IP transmission lets us centralize production at our control facility while pulling live camera feeds from venues nationwide.

We’re now stronger and more focused than ever following our move to IP, and excited to bring fans an even better viewing experience.

More information is available at https://ltnglobal.com.

Last month, the FCC voted unanimously to move forward with proposed rules that would underpin the auction of at least 100 MHz, and potentially up to 180 MHz, of Upper C-band spectrum for 5G and 6G services. The direction of travel is clear: an ongoing push to maximize spectrum availability for mobile connectivity.

While regulators and stakeholders weigh up the implications, broadcasters must act faster than many others to protect their interests and secure reliable distribution pathways, free from the uncertainties of satellite.

The Broadcast Perspective
This latest move intensifies the urgency for broadcasters to secure viable alternatives to satellite as the remaining C-band spectrum is repurposed. Many networks and station groups have already decided to migrate all or part of their distribution to an alternative model using broadcast-grade IP video distribution technology—known as "Transport Stream over Internet Protocol" (IP-TS). IP-TS distribution matches the reliability of satellite with far more flexibility and much-needed cost- and availability-certainty, which will become harder for satellite-reliant broadcasters to achieve as auctions approach.

Some broadcasters, particularly those using multiple transponders, are still relying on long-term satellite operator partnerships or investigating Ku-band capacity – which often experiences unpredictable results due to rain fade issues. Others hesitate due to perceived complexity or assumptions that MVPDs are not IP-ready. Those assumptions are outdated. Nearly all major MVPDs today support IP distribution, with the necessary gateways and operational readiness in place.

The bottom line: broadcasters are asking critical questions. What happens if our transponder contract isn’t renewed? What if the cost of distribution becomes untenable? The answers increasingly point to hybrid or full IP strategies that offer greater control and cost predictability.

IP Distribution is Here, And It's Changing
Market confidence in IP-TS distribution is growing. Just this year, MovieSphereGold, Tennis Channel and Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) joined TelevisaUnivision and MSG Networks in moving to a managed IP distribution model. At LTN alone, we’ve seen a 45% annual growth in channel count over the past nine years, now delivering nearly 8,000 channels annually across every US TV market. This has been driven by satellite to IP migrations completed for nearly 2,000 broadcasters, MVPD/vMVPD head-ends, and content owner sites.

The overwhelming growth in satellite-grade IP distribution will come not from retrofitted public cloud or protocol-only IP solutions. It will be driven by managed, purpose-built networks with built-in redundancy, monitoring, and guaranteed SLAs. In live video distribution, reliability cannot be a theoretical metric.

The broadcasters we speak with that want to move from satellite need real confidence. That means contractual assurances that the new is even more reliable than the old. Too often, vendors refer to terms like ‘five nines’ with little to prove it. Many general-purpose IP transport solutions work well as a ‘best effort’ offering, but achieving always-on reliability in mission-critical live scenarios requires managed network technology.

Migration Isn’t 'All-or-Nothing'
Our experience shows us it’s becoming faster and easier to migrate from satellite to IP. The infrastructure is already in place. Broadcasters are increasingly starting with hybrid approaches—dual-illuminating IP and satellite feeds, or moving only a subset of channels initially. MVPDs are now onboarding IP feeds in hours via high-capacity gateways. This shortens the time-to-market dramatically and opens the door to phased adoption without disruption.

And for satellite operators, partnering with IP providers can offer effective ways to reduce transponder loads and provide more flexible, event-specific delivery models. In hybrid scenarios, satellite may carry some feeds while IP enables revenue-generating regionalization opportunities, HDR variants, or international versions.

What Broadcasters Are Asking For
The regulatory imperative is real, but so are the business incentives. Folks are kickstarting IP migrations already, not because they need to, but because it makes commercial sense. IP opens up greater opportunities to deliver customized feeds, support advanced formats like 1080p60 HDR, and simplify syndication across both legacy and digital endpoints.

Many broadcasters are now asking vendors to support in delivering localized versions of the same core feed, with dynamic graphics, custom ad insertion, and multiple languages. Meanwhile, they’re pushing for deeper visibility and monitoring as distribution chains become more complex, spanning traditional and digital platforms, B2B syndication and content sharing models. These are the types of tasks and modern requirements that a legacy satellite model simply fails to deliver.

Although the uncertainties of spectrum repackaging are causing initial anxieties for content providers, I notice a growing willingness to accept the new normal and move forward with transition plans. My message is clear: weigh up your alternatives early, talk to the right partners, ask them to move fast. Demand SLA guarantees. Demand more capabilities, flexibility, performance, and cost-effectiveness than what you already have.

COLUMBIA, Md.—Lionsgate and its TV syndicator subsidiary Debmar-Mercury have selected LTN to launch and deliver the new MovieSphereGold all-movie digital network via LTN’s multicast-enabled, purpose-built IP video distribution network.

MovieSphereGold is available in 38 million homes and continues to expand its reach across pay-TV, streaming platforms and local station groups reaching more than 86% of U.S. TV households.

The movie network is said to be the first contemporary all-movie digital network. It features premium films from Lionsgate’s 20,000-title library, including franchises like ”The Hunger Games,” “John Wick” and ”Rambo.”

LTN’s footprint and distribution expertise give MovieSphereGold seamless access to stations across all major broadcast groups, multichannel video programming distributors and virtual MVPDs including DirecTV, Dish TV, Frndly TV and Sling Freestream. LTN relies upon broadcast-grade, Transport Stream over Internet Protocol (IP-TS) video distribution technology to provide the network with a cost-efficient, reliable and flexible alternative to satellite, LTN said.

“Purpose-built LTN multicast IP-TS distribution is now the primary choice for established and new networks that want to reliably and cost-efficiently reach traditional and digital platforms,” LTN Executive Chairman and Co-Founder Malik Khan said. “Premium movie experiences hold viewer attention and drive strong ad value. MovieSphereGold is an innovative launch and a recognition of the readiness and footprint of our network, which is on course to reach 100% of U.S. pay-TV households in 2026.”

The network launch was completed in three months with LTN enabling instant activation across existing delivery points while rapidly onboarding dozens of new affiliates and hand-off sites as part of a fully managed service.

LTN enabled MovieSphereGold to deliver its high-quality HD feed while quickly providing downconverted standard-definition feeds to meet the varying needs of downstream takers. LTN’s always-on technical operations center is providing MovieSphereGold with full visibility and operational support that includes real-time feed visibility and insights into signal performance across its entire nationwide distribution footprint, the company said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN has announced several innovations aimed at helping U.S. local television broadcasters extend their reach, enhance efficiency and create new monetization opportunities via its purpose-built IP video network.

“Broadcast stations can massively grow the value of their local content if they move quickly and operate across every available platform,” said Rick Young, senior vice president and head of global products at LTN.

“Our new capabilities are built into our global network, allowing us to give local broadcasters the speed, simplicity and shortest path to ROI [return on investment] when launching streaming experiences, expand their footprint to MVPD, vMVPD, and OTT partners and power digital revenue with localized, live news and sports.”

The new LTN capabilities make it easier for broadcasters to bring news programming and live sports quickly on air and elsewhere. They include:

• A complete digital playout stack supporting hosted linear and FAST Playout for creating versioned channels with minimal operational and engineering effort.
• Live sports master control offering a fully managed environment for acquiring, customizing and managing local and regional sports broadcasts across platforms.
• Integrated dynamic graphics, including L-bars, tickers and real-time visualizations tied to sports and news content.
• SCTE-driven automation.

For local sports, LTN enables stations to receive high-quality, low-latency game feeds from venues across the country, helping them expand their live sports programming with speed and reliability, LTN said.

The company is also helping broadcasters reinvent local news for the streaming era. It has expanded its offerings to enable local stations to extend live news into new formats and platforms. Six major broadcast groups with stations covering 80% of the top U.S. TV markets currently rely on LTN for these services, it said.

Additionally, it is powering MVPD and vMVPD reach and scale with its go-to aggregation hub for local station feeds. It provides MVPDs and vMVPDs with seamless high-quality access to live broadcast signals nationwide, it said.

LTN’s purpose-built IP network for real-time video delivers nearly 8,000 channels and millions of live events annually, making it the critical backbone for bringing live news and sports to every screen. LTN enables instant, reliable delivery to 98% of U.S. pay TV households, with a clear path to 100% by 2026, it said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

COLUMBIA, MD—LTN is partnering with XR Extreme Reach, a provider of ad management operations and syndicated programming distribution, to manage and deliver live syndicated programming over LTN’s purpose-built IP network. The joint offering enables studios to unify file-based workflows via XR’s platform and extend their reach into an existing, growing footprint at over 900 stations — serving every US TV market, LTN said.

XR helps studios and brands manage every aspect of advertising and syndicated programming delivery — from ad asset management and rights tracking to distribution across 50,000 media platforms worldwide. As a provider of ad and programming delivery across all major station groups, XR said its partnership with LTN expands its offering with enhanced live delivery capabilities, allowing studios to deliver shows to affiliates in real-time as they are produced — all from a single service provider.

“Live syndicated programming remains a powerful driver for local audience engagement for broadcasters nationwide,” said Sherman Li, SVP of Strategic Alliances at XR. “Through this partnership with LTN, XR is bringing an innovative solution to live syndicated video programming that allows our media clients to reach wider audiences, strengthen their distribution, and accelerate growth for the content they’ve invested in.”

The partnership delivers a smarter, unified solution for media companies seeking to simplify syndication across file-based and live programming and extend distribution reach, the companies said. XR’s creative operations, asset management and distribution platform integrates seamlessly with LTN’s real-time delivery and event and program-based master control services, streamlining operations without sacrificing reliability or visibility. The joint offering reduces the cost and complexity of legacy facilities, satellite-based workflows and removes the reliability risks associated with harnessing best-effort, IP protocol-only solutions.

While XR manages all the complexities of episodic program syndication, monetization and rights management, LTN delivers ultra-reliable live video delivery and can seamlessly extend studio production teams by providing additional services, it said.

“Live content drives audience engagement — studios are pushing to make live programming more a part of stations’ daily on-air schedules,” said Rick Young, SVP, Global Products at LTN. “This partnership with XR leverages the most widely deployed and the industry’s only managed IP network reaching broadcast stations throughout North America. As programmers look to move away from satellite for many use cases, the LTN Network provides unmatched US domestic reach along with deep access to facilities, pay TV providers and streaming platforms around the world.”

LTN’s purpose-built, multicast-enabled IP network delivers over 80 million hours of live content annually, including nearly 5 million hours of live news and millions of live sporting events. With 99.9999%, SLA-backed availability and <250 ms latency, LTN distributes almost 8,000 full-time channels and has completed nearly 2,000 successful satellite‑to‑IP migrations. In 2025 alone, LTN’s distribution footprint to MVPDs surged by 200% — providing instant access to over 98% of pay TV households across the U.S. and Canada, with a commitment to reach 100% next year.

COLUMBIA, Md.— Video infrastructure provider LTN has promoted Bryan McGuirk to chief revenue officer, tasked with driving the company’s global growth and strengthening its leadership in IP-based distribution as the industry shifts away from satellite.

A 30-year veteran of the telecom, satellite and media sectors, McGuirk has held executive roles at such companies as LTN, SES S.A., Globecom, NBCUniversal and Turner Broadcasting System. He is the former chief commercial officer at Stingray Advertising and had been president of media and enterprise services at SES.

“Bryan’s appointment comes at a critical inflection point for our industry,” LTN Executive Chairman and Co-Founder Malik Khan said. “As regulatory changes reshape the future of satellite capacity and content owners seek smarter, more scalable and agile ways to reach audiences, LTN’s purpose-built IP network has become the clear choice for future-focused broadcasters and sports organizations. Bryan’s expertise, strategic insight and deep industry relationships make him an ideal leader to drive our next phase of innovation and expansion.”

McGuirk’s new role comes as North American broadcasters are facing increased urgency to shift away from satellite delivery, LTN said. Federal auctions to repurpose at least 100 Megahertz of upper C-Band satellite spectrum, building on 2021 and 2023 auctions that reallocated 60% of available C-Band spectrum, will place new constraints on satellite-based video distribution, according to the company, which means media companies will need to act quickly to avoid disruptions to their ability to offer live content.

“The broadcasting industry is at a turning point,” McGuirk said. “Regulatory shifts are accelerating the reduction of satellite capacity, and industry players are looking for solutions. LTN has already built the infrastructure, interoperable technology and managed services to help the world’s leading broadcasters and sports leagues succeed in this new era. I’m excited to be fueling LTN’s next phase of growth in this fast-moving, IP-first future.”

McGuirk holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Union College and an MBA from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, LTN said. He has served on the boards of the Society of Satellite Professionals International, SES Americom and the T. Howard Foundation.

COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN has unveiled enhancements to its IP video network as the broadcast industry approaches an inflection point in its shift from satellite distribution.

The advancements enable broadcasters, station groups and networks to simplify their migration from satellite to IP. The LTN moves aim to deliver live content with satellite-grade reliability while reducing costs, expanding reach and accelerating deployment times, it said.

U.S. broadcasters face mounting pressure as momentum grows for satellite spectrum reallocation for 5G and wireless connectivity. To date 280MHz of the original 500MHz C-Band capacity has been repurposed and further auctions are mandated within two years, it said.

With a 45% annual growth rate channel count over the past nine years, LTN now delivers nearly 8,000 channels and millions of live events over its network. It has seen nearly 40% annual growth in gateway locations across 4,000 MVPDs, stations and digital destinations, it said.

LTN has now delivered successful satellite-to-IP migrations for nearly 2,000 Tier 1 broadcasters, MVPD/vMVPD head-ends and content owner sites.

In 2025 alone, LTN’s distribution footprint to MVPDs surged by 200%, demonstrating market-wide demand for a more agile, cost-efficient and future-ready distribution model. Fueled by deep MVPD integration, LTN gives channels instant access to over 98% of pay TV households across the U.S. and Canada and has committed to reaching 100% in 2026, it said.

LTN’s new capabilities on its IP network include:

• Advanced monitoring: Real-time monitoring of signal video quality, SCTE-35 ad markers and transport stream structure integrity through a simple browser-based interface built within the LTN client portal.
• Low-latency video multiviewer: Integrated multiviewer functionality simplifies the distribution process, delivering real-time visibility and greater control for content owners.
• Simplified group management: Streamlined tools eliminate the inefficiencies of legacy satellite, unlocking faster, large-scale channel launches with greater flexibility and providing predictable, cost-efficient workflows.
• Channel customization for maximum reach: Real-time channel versioning enables broadcasters to deliver tailored content to any destination, supporting any protocol or format.

Providing a Service Level Agreement (SLA) of 99.9999% reliability and less than 250mx global latency, LTN offers superior performance, fully managed support levels and flat-rate pricing for real-time mission-critical video workflows over its IP-first network built exclusively for live video, the company said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

The broadcast industry is undergoing rapid change and rising uncertainty. As regulatory debates continue, shifting audience expectations and growing demand are accelerating a long-standing move away from legacy satellite models toward smarter, IP-based distribution. With fast moving changes in both policy and business models, broadcasters must act now to prepare for a future that is IP-first.

The Decline of Satellite
Ongoing deregulatory initiatives including C-band reallocation, spectrum repacking, and the future of spectrum usage pose significant questions for satellite-reliant broadcasters. Once driven by cost and complexity concerns, many now doubt satellite’s long-term viability altogether.

With additional C-Band spectrum under review for new 5G and connectivity services, the pressure is mounting. Earlier C-band auctions squeezed spectrum capacity, and now as further reallocations loom, many broadcasters are preparing for an inevitable pivot.

As the industry moves toward the 2028 target for full ATSC 3.0 adoption, broadcasters face a critical juncture. NextGen TV promises new revenue streams and advanced capabilities, including UHD video, targeted advertising, and advanced emergency alerts.

However, deployment depends on regulatory clarity and infrastructure investment. At the same time, rising audience demand for on-demand, cross platform access is pushing legacy models to their limit. Forward-thinking broadcasters now see IP-based distribution and new delivery standards as urgent business imperatives.

Prepare for the IP Transition on Your Own Terms
With C-band capacity increasingly at risk, purpose-built IP distribution options are delivering the scalability, efficiency and satellite-grade reliability broadcasters need, along with the flexibility of IP. The majority of broadcasters are telling us they’re actively preparing for this shift to IP distribution, even if timelines vary. A successful transition doesn’t require abandoning satellite overnight.

It requires a flexible strategy that aligns with existing contracts, controls cost, and supports long-term goals. Fortunately, today’s migration paths are clearer than ever. Hybrid models and regional deployments allow broadcasters to adopt IP on their terms.

At the same time, expanding support for IP native and HLS-supported receivers enables major networks and channel owners to cost-effectively scale IP distribution, streamline group management, and unlock new markets.

As more companies prepare to embrace IP, many ask us how to make the transition easier. It starts with end-to-end project management and hands-on support. Business and operations leaders should hold prospective IP partners to the highest standard, demanding managed services that surpass what satellite and protocol only IP options provide.

This includes real-time monitoring, proactive issue resolution and responsive support. Reliability isn’t optional. Ask vendors the hard questions: How is their IP architecture built? What redundancy and failover measures are in place? Do they operate across Tier 1 data centers? Do they rely on networks and public clouds that are not built exclusively for real time video delivery and workflows? Future-ready distribution must be bulletproof, and your partner in this transition should be able prove all of this.

Growth Opportunities in FAST and NextGen TV
Shifting to IP channel distribution unlocks new audience engagement and revenue opportunities, especially in the booming FAST market, projected to hit $8B globally this year (Omdia).

Whether streaming live sports on Roku or syndicating local news digitally, single-source IP solutions make it easier and faster to deliver premium content. LTN's work with major U.S. networks powering multiple live FAST channels with real-time localized news has shown us just how effective live programming can be in driving both viewer engagement and ad revenue.

NextGen TV, now reaching 76% of US households, is redefining broadcast innovation. Early adopters are already seeing value through addressable ads, shoppable content, interactive overlays, and advanced emergency alerts.

Datacasting advancements from industry leaders like Scripps, Sinclair, Gray Media and Nexstar Media Group are unlocking new use cases, from drone navigation to loT to real-time asset tracking. As the demand for high-speed, precise data grows, broadcasters are well positioned to monetize it if their distribution tech is IP ready. These aren’t future concepts, they’re active opportunities, supported by infrastructure that exists today.

Broadcasters and sports networks like Scripps, MSG Networks, TelevisaUnivision, and the Tennis Channel are already leading the shift to IP-first distribution. As more organizations follow, it’s critical to recognize that not all IP networks are equal.

Broadcasters should prioritize purpose-built video networks designed for live premium content — not retrofitted enterprise tech, protocol-only solutions or costly public cloud options. That means, find a network that is exclusively designed for live video with a host of enrichment options in real-time. Now is the time to assess your infrastructure, accelerate transition plans and choose partners built for this moment. The leaders embracing IP today are already securing audience loyalty and long-term revenue.

The sports rights landscape has changed enormously in recent years in part due to the events surrounding Diamond Sports Group. A formerly constricted market was set loose, opening sports rights deals to local broadcast, where they generally hadn’t been for ages. For the last few years, a fairly steady parade of deals have been announced between broadcasters and local professional teams, college leagues or even broader professional leagues like the WNBA.

“(Re) Building a Sports Business on Local Broadcast,” part of the Programming Everywhere Conference, provided a status report on the still-developing market, one that is potentially critical to local broadcast in general.

Glen Dickson, contributing editor of TVNewsCheck and the panel’s moderator, started by asking what stage the brave new world of sports broadcast rights was in.

“It’s the second inning,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports, picking up on a baseball metaphor. He said some of the first deals brought back to over-the-air broadcast are only a few years old. “It feels like it’s still very early; a lot of the teams that had been with regional sports networks (RSNs) for decades are sort of looking at the landscape, trying to figure out if over-the-air is a good platform for them.”

The panelists agreed that we’re still in the early innings — bottom of the second, top of the third. They generally agreed that sports need to cultivate new fans as they had done in the past, by being broadly available in mass media and broadcast. And teams have to adopt again to an ad-based model versus a distribution model.

Scott Shapiro, executive vice president of corporate development at Sinclair, said, “[With] the eyeballs definitely ahead of the monetization, it feels early with lots of opportunity and lots of risk.”

Ratings are generally very good, Lawlor said. “One of the reasons why we got into sports was because it drives some of the largest viewing of any genre. We’ve all seen the numbers from two years ago when 96 of the top 100 shows on TV were live sports. That plays itself out in local sports, too.”

Pat LaPlatney, president and co-CEO, Gray Television, concurred, noting an Atlanta Braves game that had 10 times the ratings of the comparable period in the past. “In terms of time period, there is no comparison, the numbers are huge compared to what we had in there.”

Shapiro said he had been generally impressed with the younger skew of broadcast viewers and mentioned cross-promotional tie-ins with local news. He described the future of streaming as “TBD for now,” though that opinion was not universal. Some of the panelists felt strongly about the complementary nature of streaming and linear.

Frank Cicha, executive vice president, programming, Fox Television Stations, said it was a pleasure to not be competing with teams as with the RSN model. “We say, ‘How do you want your brand?’ We’re letting the teams play a heavy role.”

Rick Young, senior vice president, head of global products, LTN, couldn’t say which inning this new world of local sports is in, but he said LTN has been working with many broadcasters since the start of metaphorical spring training. Live MC services can connect a main market with additional markets. “Sports is really valuable and fits customization.”

Copyright 2025 NAB

TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?

Rick Young: Time’s up. Broadcasters need to break free from satellite restraints and expand their channel distribution with managed control, high visibility and global reach — particularly given recent U.S. regulations and the potential acceleration of spectrum shifts. For major networks, replicating this type of large-scale channel distribution and rights management systems in an IP-based environment has never been more critical. Customers want advanced, cost-effective IP network solutions that automate complex tasks, streamline content management, ensure compliance, and enable new monetization opportunities for linear channels on digital platforms.

The ability to customize and version content in real-time is an exciting breakthrough for sports organizations and rights holders. Today, fast-growing sports leagues and organizations can access the same advanced content versioning, language customization, graphics and multiplatform distribution tools as the largest leagues. With new private-equity activity driving increased technology investment and global growth ambition, we’ll hear a lot more about multi-partner international rights deals, multi-version distribution, and multi-language live sports experiences, powered by technology that is becoming much more accessible for leagues and federations of all sizes.

TV Tech: What will be your most important product news?

RY: It’s a big one for us — we’re coming to NAB Show with a reinvigorated focus on revenue enablement for sports and media businesses. We’re launching new dynamic features of real-time content versioning technologies for major broadcasters, sports leagues and streaming platforms. Simplified, scalable, reliable solutions that are designed to drive media profitability and increase global reach, all within the world’s only IP network built exclusively for video.

TVT: What can booth visitors expect?

RY: Channel Distribution — New ways to simplify and expand channel distribution across traditional and digital platforms with greater control and efficiency.

Live Sports — Seamless access to technologies tailored for sports leagues and organizations, maximizing rights value by delivering customized feeds to new digital platforms and partners.

FAST Channels — Automated solutions elevating the FAST channel value proposition by delivering more compelling live sports and news experiences. That’s the type of content that keeps viewers coming back and boosts ad value.

TVT: How is your new product different from what’s available on the market?

RY: Let’s start at the network — it’s at the core of all our solutions. We own, manage and operate technology on our global multicast IP network that delivers premier live video with 99.9999% reliability and < 25 ms latency. LTN’s is the world’s only network built exclusively for video to acquire, customize, monetize and distribute content at scale. It’s strategically deployed in top global data centers with Tier 1 ISP infrastructure to avoid transit bottlenecks and packet loss that cause latency. This unique blend of flexibility, reliability, and cost-efficiency outperforms less refined, protocol-only IP solutions. Our tailored IP workflows enable customers to minimize cloud processing costs and reduce ingress/egress charges while effortlessly integrating modular services and third-party solutions as required.

We leverage our optimized network infrastructure and intelligent automation to power more efficient and scalable distribution solutions than most vendors. LTN will showcase cost-efficient live event versioning technology that seamlessly integrates advanced language customization, dynamic graphics, master control, and localized ad enablement. Our new custom solutions reflect a reinvigorated focus on revenue enablement for sports and media companies of all sizes. Content providers require fast, efficient ways to launch FAST channels, cutting time to market and boosting revenue. Sports leagues need cost-effective solutions to produce content once and reach unlimited rights buyers and digital audiences. LTN can be the single source, delivering this suite of unique technologies.

TVT: What is it about NAB Show that brings you back every year?

RY: Experiencing the latest technology innovation, customer meetings, partner conversations, panel discussions — and plenty of ‘aha’ moments. You can’t replicate that level of exposure and knowledge-sharing anywhere else. As a regular panel speaker, I enjoy reconnecting with peers and customers, discussing shared challenges, and exploring new ways to improve media technology for broadcasters, sports leagues, and their audiences. At events like NAB Show, we cultivate lasting relationships, and we’re excited to meet many new faces this year.

COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN will unveil live sports, channel distribution, and real-time content versioning technologies designed to drive revenue for sports leagues, content owners, and streaming platforms at the 2025 NAB Show in Las Vegas, April 6-9.

LTN will present its uniquely integrated solutions to maximize media rights value, expand channel distribution capabilities, and boost FAST channel revenue with live sports and news. Trusted by major broadcasters and sports organizations like TelevisaUnivision, DAZN, World Surf League, and Pro Volleyball Federation, LTN’s purpose-built global video IP network delivers scalable, reliable, and seamless content distribution.

“Our new custom solutions reflect a reinvigorated focus on revenue enablement for sports and media companies of all sizes,” said Chris Myers, LTN EVP, CRO. “Content providers need ways to quickly create FAST channels and drive additional revenue from live sports and news. Sports leagues want to grow globally with affordable ways to produce content once and engage limitless rights buyers and digital audiences. We’re excited to share unique technologies that deliver unparalleled value and power trusted partnerships at NAB Show 2025.”

Demo stations will highlight game-changing features of the LTN platform:

Live Sports
LTN’s single-source platform empowers sports organizations, rights holders, and industry leaders to minimize complexity and third-party risk, while maximizing flexibility. LTN will demonstrate comprehensive capabilities like:

• Flexible signal acquisition using the LTN Network, fiber, satellite, SRT, and other protocols
• Real-time signal monitoring of multiple feeds in the built-in Watch Portal
• Real-time customization of video and audio for different audiences and platforms
• Easy ad insertion workflows that account for unpredictable commercial breaks
• Dynamic support from fully managed workflows to stand-alone tech

Channel Distribution
LTN’s purpose-built global video network provides efficient, scalable content distribution with the reliability of satellite and the unmatched control, flexibility, and reach of IP. At NAB, LTN will showcase:

• Group management that makes it easy to deploy 10 channels to 100 locations or scale 1 channel to 1,000 locations
• Tools that provide maximum visibility throughout the signal chain
• Seamlessly enrich and customize content, including blackout management, during transport
• Built-in diversity, redundancy, and streamlined implementation of the LTN ecosystem

FAST Channels
The FAST demo will showcase how LTN’s advanced solutions drive viewership, monetization, and growth through:

• Ability to build new FAST channels in hours, not days
• Full transparency from content acquisition to destination—even for 25 channels or more
• Tailored workflows that automate the creation and deployment of enriched FAST channels
• Flexible APIs that integrate into customer ecosystems and seamlessly connect all services

LTN says its IP network is built exclusively to create, customize, deliver, and monetize live video at scale. LTN has powered over 150,000 hours of produced live events and distributes 78.5 million hours of live content annually.

LTN will be in Booth W2601 in the West Hall of the LVCC.

COLUMBIA, Md.—The World Surf League (WSL) is expanding its relationship with LTN to include content versioning for worldwide distribution this year, bringing a wider range of tailored live events to international audiences.

The expanded relationship builds on the WSL’s use of LTN services, including remote production, monetization and distribution technologies. LTN enables the surfing group to deliver year-round coverage from coastal locations in multiple languages and across global broadcast, digital and free, ad-supported TV (FAST) platforms, the video vendor said.

The multiyear deal with LTN will enable the WSL to deliver more than 1,000 hours of live content per year to millions of global viewers across the surfing circuit’s digital platforms, social media and broadcast and streaming partners, including expanded coverage on ESPN+ in the U.S. and Disney+ in Latin America and the Caribbean, it said.

“We want to bring as many live surfing events as possible to our fast-growing global fan community—on every continent and any platform,” Rob Hammer, WSL senior vice president of broadcast and studio operations, said. “LTN enables us to reliably deliver live feeds at low latency from remote venues and customize content at scale for downstream partners, all within one connected IP video distribution ecosystem. Our partnership gives us the flexibility to produce more high-quality live events and engage new audiences worldwide.”

The WSL relies on a full suite of LTN intelligent IP video-distribution technologies, including live video acquisition, routing, ad signaling, master control and playout, to enable reliable connectivity in challenging coastal locations while delivering live events across all platforms.

To engage global audiences with language-tailored live experiences at scale, WSL uses LTN’s live event versioning solution, LTN Arc, to seamlessly create multiple versions of live-event feeds for domestic and international distribution, including remote local-language commentary in Spanish and Portuguese, tailored graphics, closed captioning, subtitling and custom ad-trigger insertion for localized advertising, it said.

The WSL 2025 Championship Tour began Jan. 27 at surfing’s spiritual home of Banzai Pipeline, Hawaii. The tournament schedule includes 11 regular-season events, including the debut of Surf Abu Dhabi and the return of iconic venues Snapper Rocks, Australia; Lower Trestles in San Diego; and Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. For the first time, Fiji's legendary Cloudbreak will host the WSL Finals to determine the 2025 world champions in late August and early September, the WSL said.

Alongside immersive live coverage of the Championship Tour, LTN enables the WSL to offer global audiences a diverse range of live surfing events across its full-season calendar, including the Longboard Tour, Big Wave surfing in Nazaré, Portugal, and Championship Tour qualification via the Challenger Series and Qualifying Series.

More information is available on LTN’s website.

COLUMBIA, Md.—The Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) has turned to LTN to deliver live video production enhancements and expanded distribution of linear broadcast and streaming television this year.

The league is leveraging a modular suite of intelligent IP video transport, live video production and live-event versioning technologies from LTN to reach audiences on broadcast networks and digital platforms like CBS, Fox Sports and Roku, LTN said.

After launching in 2024 with record-setting attendance numbers, broadcast coverage with CBS Sports Network and YouTube viewing figures surpassing 3.9 million, PVF’s expanded and extended 2025 season opened on Jan. 9, bringing live coverage from San Diego Mojo’s clash with the Orlando Valkyries to FS2 audiences.

PVF has expanded its broadcast coverage by 350% this season from a year ago, deploying a new portfolio of LTN’s live video production, real-time customization and intelligent IP distribution services to deliver all 45 linear broadcast matches and 70 live digital events, it said.

“PVF is innovation-first and committed to growing the game through world-class experiences and best-in-class technology choices,” said PVF CEO Jen Spicher. “LTN provides us with unique technologies, top infrastructure and trusted live video production expertise to help our fast-growing sport scale and reach new audiences. We’ve elevated our production quality, revenue potential and efficiency with LTN while achieving the flexibility we need as a nimble organization—this partnership supports our blueprint for growth.”

LTN provides PVF with a comprehensive suite of on-site and remote live video production services backed by ultra-reliable IP video transmission, enabling a nine-camera centralized production from LTN’s production facility and technical operations center (TOC) in Kansas City, Mo.

LTN provides intelligent signal ingest, custom graphics, audio mixing, video switching, replay and on-site announcer integration. It prepares and delivers all televised events for major national broadcast and global streaming partners via the LTN network.

“A new breed of sports leagues are unlocking unprecedented audience and business growth through smart technology partnerships,” LTN Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer Chris Myers said.

“We work with the biggest federations and fastest-growing leagues in the world,” Myers continued. “Partnerships like this are all about fueling growth and pushing innovation through gold-standard technologies and intelligent automation. Organizations like PVF make forward-thinking live video production choices to scale their operations, widen their audience, and deliver immersive viewing experiences on any platform.”

PVF is also using LTN Arc, the company’s live-event versioning solution, to create tailored versions of live event feeds to meet diverse formatting, audio and monetization requirements for digital platforms, it said.

A combination of managed video infrastructure and automated, modular technology enables audio mixing with natural sound, remote announcer integration, scorebug graphics, watermarks and video slating during key moments to power platform-tailored distribution and limitless audience reach via YouTube, the company said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

MUNICH—DAZN is one of the largest, fastest-growing sports streaming services globally, serving over 300 million viewers across 200 markets and delivering 86,000 live events last year. We provide audiences across multiple continents, including North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania, with a wide variety of international live sports coverage—including soccer, boxing, motorsports, martial arts, golf, unmissable action from the NFL, UEFA Champions League and Europa League, and a range of premier women’s sports. Our mission is to deliver as much live sports as possible to global viewers, including one particularly fast-growing audience group: the sports betting community.

We’ve worked with LTN for several years, harnessing the LTN Lift solution to flexibly spin up and manage unique versions of our core linear channels to support days with many concurrent matches, delivered at low latency to third-party betting platforms via LTN’s managed, multicast global IP network.

Betting on Streaming
Today, we use LTN to bring a broader range of live coverage of Europe’s most popular soccer competition to wagering audiences and partner platforms across Germany. With a suite of LTN’s automated linear channel creation and playout technologies, we create and deliver a flexible portfolio of 11 low-latency, livestreaming channel variants to over 1,000 betting locations.

Starting last fall, we began delivering an additional pop-up offering with up to eight concurrent European elite soccer competitions to distribution partners—along with a range of matches from top European soccer leagues. One of our core requirements was latency—the processing and channel-creation latency from when we acquire content until it hits our clients’ platforms needs to be as low as possible. This is especially important when channel-creation playlists include live elements, because in-play wagering involves incredibly demanding streaming requirements.

Fans enjoying the game from their local betting shops need to know their stream is as close to real time as possible. LTN satisfied that requirement by offering very low latency from ingest to playout processing and distribution. LTN Lift is a user-friendly, easy-to-use solution that helps us spin up new linear feeds on the fly and integrate both live and file-based content into a linear channel experience when required.

We also didn’t want to have to build an additional facility to manage these pop-up channels. We can operate these channels from the production suites in our facility, at home or anywhere from our laptops. As a hosted cloud solution, it’s super flexible and that means we don’t have to worry about additional hardware or maintenance requirements. Having a light-touch solution where we can spin up and operate channels only when required is key for us.

While we enjoy the agile software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, we also know that our workflows are backed by LTN’s ultra-reliable IP network, which is a big plus. The monitoring, transparency and support levels are really strong. We trust the underlying technology foundations and we know LTN’s team is there whenever we need them.

Low-Latency Bets
After creating our new playout instances and managing our game day live-channel portfolio, we deliver them at low latency to distribution platform provider iGameMedia, which acquires and delivers streams at ultralow latency to betting outlets across the region.

Meanwhile, LTN helps us manage complex residential and commercial rights agreements and blackout requirements while delivering a number of concurrent live feeds to subscribers on one of the world’s leading streaming platforms.

Plugging into an intelligent IP ecosystem like LTN means we can scale and bring together complex signal acquisition, routing and distribution capabilities, helping us receive produced feeds from partner broadcasters and tailor distribution for multiple downstream partner platforms. We’re big believers in scalable, IP-first technology foundations—and we’re looking forward to driving future growth across new markets and specialized audience groups.

For more information, visit ltnglobal.com.

In advance of the 2024 IBC Show, Sept. 13-16 at the RAI Amsterdam, TV Tech spoke with
Rick Young, senior vice president and head of global products for LTN, who will be exhibiting in Stand 5.A76 in the show's "Content Everywhere" Zone.

TV Tech: Why did you choose to exhibit in the Content Everywhere Zone this year?
Rick Young: LTN sees the Content Everywhere Zone as the heartbeat of the show. The Content Everywhere Zone aligns with our vision to give media companies more control over their content distribution. LTN is empowering media companies to transition to an IP-based distribution model. The zone spotlights the very latest emerging technologies for multi-platform delivery, OTT, and the monetization of content. We are looking forward to showcasing how LTN technology is powering high-quality live events and customized streaming experiences at scale.

There are also several engaging panels and seminars that take place in this zone, encompassing a range of key themes and topics. LTN is looking forward to being involved in some of these panels at the show. This includes our panel with IMAX, where we will discuss our live event versioning solution LTN Arc and its role in bringing the biggest live events — including the Paris Olympics opening ceremony — to select theaters across the US and around the world.

TVT: What will you be highlighting at your exhibit?
RY: In addition to the panels LTN will be involved in, visitors to our stand (#5.A76) will discover a range of innovative solutions that drive cost-efficient linear channel creation and live event customization at scale through IP distribution. This will include hands-on demos to spotlight how LTN workflows give media companies greater control over their content.

LTN Lift is empowering customers to automate the creation of new digital linear channels for tailored audience experiences across FAST and other digital platforms.

LTN will also highlight how LTN Wave is providing a more flexible, cost-efficient, and reliable IP-based alternative to legacy fiber and satellite distribution for tier-one media companies. LTN is delivering greater flexibility and scale in multi-platform content distribution.

Finally, our LTN Arc solution empowers sports organizations and streaming companies to acquire, version, customize, and deliver premium live sports events for global audiences.

TVT: Which trends do you expect will be most important at the show this year?
RY: Navigating the complex world of content distribution has evolved significantly in recent years, and we expect this trend to continue. Media companies are asking how they can overcome these distribution challenges without spending a lot of money and resources. The need for better content distribution means media companies need to adopt IP-first initiatives that give them the tools to reach more audiences at scale. IP distribution technology empowers more creativity that resonates with today’s content-hungry viewer. There has been a lot of experimentation in this space, and LTN has been at the forefront of innovation.

As media companies strive to deliver more tailored content experiences to global, multi-platform audiences, we are excited to explore advancements in live linear channel creation and content versioning for full-time channels and live events. A key talking point will be the accelerated adoption of intelligent IP-based distribution solutions, which are rapidly replacing outdated satellite and fiber methodologies. Additionally, the fast-evolving live sports landscape will be an important focus.

TVT: What brings you back to IBC every year?
RY: IBC brings together the industry’s most innovative thinkers and media organizations to share ideas and drive key discussions about how to future-proof live content distribution workflows. It is the perfect platform to see how we have all evolved in the past 12 months and what opportunities and challenges we are navigating.

LTN also sees IBC as an opportunity to meet with key global customers, partners, and industry peers. IBC provides a platform for LTN to engage in many face-to-face conversations with customers and industry leaders to learn about their current pain points and how we can all progress across the innovation roadmap together.

The connections you can make at IBC are invaluable, as are all the opportunities that future-ready technology can bring.

For more information, visit https://show.ibc.org/content-everywhere

COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN said today that its LTN Lift playout solution is being used to deliver live and pre-recorded coverage to fan zones across 10 locations in Germany during the UEFA European Football Championship. LTN Lift is a hosted playout solution that allows channel creators to rapidly scale and uniquely reach cross-platform audiences more efficiently, the company said.

During the tournament, LTN Lift has provided a robust platform for delivering high-quality video and audio feeds to fan zones across the German cities of Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Leipzig, Dortmund, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Gelsenkirchen.

“We are delighted and proud to have played a part in delivering a world-class viewing experience for the fans of the European Championship across Germany,” said Sergio Getzel, LTN SVP of Global Business Development. “LTN Lift can be spun up quickly, can be leveraged to create channels integrating LIVE matches and compelling pre-recorded programming to reach cross platform audiences. In this case, LTN Lift’s capabilities were leveraged to create an unforgettable atmosphere for fans to enjoy and celebrate this major sports event.”

The broadcast industry’s accelerating transition to cloud-based production of sports, news and other live programming is proving far more disruptive to the evolution of video services than seemed likely not so long ago.

The impact came into dramatic focus at the NAB Show, where the paradigm shift was revealed as the inevitable result of industry-wide adoption of SMPTE 2110 in support of the SDI-IP transition. “The whole explosion around cloud production wouldn’t have happened without 2110,” noted Steve Reynolds, president of Imagine Communications.

Widespread adoption has driven costs down to where “2110 has become cheaper than SDI on a per port basis,” leading to experiences with on-premises IP-based news, sports and other live productions that have made workflows “a lot better,” he said. As a result, producers are now comfortable with exploiting the cost savings and collaborative flexibility that comes with moving production to the cloud.

Remote Production
NAB Show exhibit halls teamed with cloud production-related solutions aimed at enabling a streamlined, cost-saving approach to launching linear TV channels combining any mix of live and file-based content for any distribution model, whether it be free-to-air broadcast, pay TV, SVOD, AVOD, or FAST. Now, as Reynolds put it, “FAST is just TV.”

An unavoidable testament to the significance of the cloud-to-live broadcast production was the expanded show floor presence of AWS. The superscalar has been benefiting from broadcast industry demand for cloud support for many years, including in the live production arena, but the pace and scale of developments now are unprecedented, said Chris Blandy, director of strategic business development for M&E, games, and sports at AWS.

“There are now more than 4,000 linear channels originated over AWS around the world,” Blandy noted. Much of this activity revolves around collaborations in linear channel development involving combinations of live and file-based content. These AWS customers’ workflows “are bringing in editors, graphic artists, colorists wherever they happen to be while relying on us to maintain tight security in their operating environments,” he said.

AWS demonstrated live news production from the show floor as a way to call attention to what’s happening in the rapidly evolving broadcast news arena. “We’ve seen a lot of innovation in this space, and now we’re seeing it mature into stable production workflows,” Blandy said.

Indeed, as Imagine’s Reynolds noted, cloud production is a big boon to TV stations looking to leverage their unique opportunities to build audiences by streaming local news and other live content. “Station owners can take advantage of remote production using their subchannels to deliver local live content,” Reynolds said. “It gives them new capabilities to differentiate their programming.”

Hybrid Transition for Sports
In the sports world, the shift to cloud production has been slower than in other M&E segments, but now producers are increasingly implementing hybrid transitions that are pushing ever more processes to the cloud while retaining a significant on-prem production presence, noted Deon LeCointe, director of networked solutions at Sony Electronics. With a focus on SE’s Networked Live product portfolio, LeConte has a bird’s eye view of how the company’s preparations for this phase in live sports production is paying off.

SE’s Networked Live solutions come into play with transitions to cloud production anchored by the Nevion VideoIPath media orchestration platform, which Sony acquired in 2020 and has since enhanced to work with SE’s broadcast control solutions. The result, LeCointe said, is a highly scalable, ultra low-latency platform that uniquely combines broadcast operations, orchestration, and monitoring capabilities in hybrid workflows across SDI and IP LAN, WAN. cloud, and 5G networks.

At the NAB Show, SE demonstrated seamless hybrid production through a control panel managing the firm’s software-based M2L-X switcher for cloud operations and the modular MLS-X1 switching appliance for premises-based operations. “We think this is the best approach for sports operations that are pushing the envelope toward the cloud,” LeCointe said.

The National Hockey League made news at the NAB Show as the first big pro league to take the plunge into full cloud production mode. This is enabling the league to deliver personalized experiences to connected devices in and beyond game arenas along with traditional TV broadcasts while substantially reducing costs, said Grant Nodine, senior vice president of technology for the NHL. “With the ability to spin up and rent resources as needed, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to be putting big production trucks in venue,” Nodine said.

The transformation in user experiences across all locations is enabled by a partnership with Verizon as provider of 5G connectivity to in-venue audiences and between the game arenas and the AWS cloud, where productions for in-venue audiences are returned for viewing in sync with live action and productions for external distribution are sent out over the usual channels. “We’re using the cloud as the router of the future,” Nodine said.

FAST Goes Live
The implications of cloud production as the center of gravity for streamlining the supply of linear content across all business models and distribution outlets were top of mind across the playout ecosystem in Las Vegas. “FAST and broadcast used to be separate,” said Dan Marshall, executive vice president for worldwide sales at Amagi. “Now we’re seeing the integration of live content into FAST channels.”

Amagi, like many suppliers, is reconstituting itself to take advantage of the transformation. Traditionally positioned as a provider of playout services, Amagi for some time has been responding to the FAST phenomenon by helping customers with insertions of ads, graphics, QR codes and other elements in live production, according to Marshall. Now the company has gone all the way into support for live production with acquisition of the Polish cloud production supplier Tellyo.

Amagi, in response to the emergence of high-value live programming in the FAST channel mix, has teamed with digital rights management platform supplier Intertrust to enable implementation of license-mandated security in its playout workflows. 

With the success of FAST, which now accounts for 25% of TV ad views in the U.S., according to Comcast’s Freewheel unit, Marshall and others said it’s just a matter of time before major sports become part of the FAST lineup, and, sure enough, just before press time, Roku announced that, in a new deal with Major League Baseball, it was becoming the first FAST channel producer to be carrying games from a major pro sports league.

Disrupting Norms
The move of live production to the cloud has realigned the interplay between production and playout in new workflow configurations that rely on ultralow latency connectivity for synchronized execution of tasks wherever they occur. The disruption to past norms is pushing some vendors in new directions and playing right into where others have been from the start. 

As a leading player in the latter category, LTN benefitted at the NAB Show from its ability to tout a multi-pronged set of turnkey FAST, addressable advertising, production, and playout solutions, all of which are closely linked to the global B2B LTN Network serving as a multicast playout alternative to satellite distribution. 

“We’ve been hearing about the shift to IP and cloud production for well over a decade, and even two years ago we were saying it’s no longer a matter of if, but when,” said LTN CTO Brad Wall. “Now it’s here with a focus on what tools and workflows are out there ready to use with low latency and high reliability.”

The company offers LTN ARC as a fully managed production/versioning system, which Wall said sports producers are leveraging to “manage and customize premier sports at global scale.” He cited a tier one producer delivering soccer games in multiple versions matched to licensing and language requirements as an example of how sports producers are overcoming the market-specific production limitations of the past. 

Whether they use ARC or the self-managed LTN Lift playout technology, producers can leverage the new IP production paradigm whether on premises or in the cloud to “empower these types of workflows with all kinds of new branding and marketing opportunities,” he said.

Another company capitalizing on a solution set built from the ground up for this moment is Mediagenix, which offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform enabling broadcast networks and streamers to manage monetization and scheduling of live and stored content across broadcast and OTT footprints. “True transformation is finally happening,” said Mediagenix Chief Product and Marketing Officer Ivan Verbesselt. 

“FAST is an example of the business growing up,” he added. “We shouldn’t be building platforms to accommodate business models. We should build business models first using platforms that enable business agility.”

Toward that end Mediagenix has developed tools that allow media companies to manage the complete content life cycle with seamless organization-wide collaboration, Verbesselt said. Platform intelligence, often with AI assistance, enables highly efficient approaches to formulating and budgeting value management strategies, leveraging audience data in the use of metadata, orchestrating dubbing, subtitling, and graphics, scheduling placement in FAST and other channels based on AI predictive ratings, and much else, he explained. 

One of the more arresting innovations supporting cloud production comes from Matrox Video, a company best known as a leading decades-old supplier of line cards, encoders, extenders, switches, and other production hardware to OEMs. But in Las Vegas, its focus was on tools that add efficiencies to SDI-to-IP points of conversion and that support connectivity enabling synchronized collaboration across cloud production workflows.

Matrox describes its ORIGIN ultralow latency framework as a “groundbreaking approach” to linking workstations. According to Francesco Scartozzi, vice president of sales and business development for the Matrox Broadcast and Media Group, ORIGIN tailors high-end IT operations to broadcast TV requirements so that each set of tasks in the production process is executed with frame-accurate synchronization across all relevant points of collaboration on the workflow, whether hardware related to the task at hand is positioned on premises on in the cloud.

“ORIGIN is built on a media-aware content transfer fabric,” Scartozzi explained. It treats production applications as completely independent stateless media services sharing a common storage infrastructure with reliance on a mode of low-latency transport that he described without elaboration as “our secret sauce.”

By all appearances, there’s nothing left standing in the way of the transition to live programming production in the cloud other than the remaining life spans of premises-based equipment. 

And once those who haven’t yet moved to the cloud start feeling the impact of service innovations introduced by those who have, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a good bit of cost/benefit analysis justifying reductions in those life spans. 

Video transport solution provider LTN has announced that it is working with TelevisaUnivision to help the Spanish-language media giant migrate to IP-based video distribution. 

The two companies said that the long-term agreement to deploy LTN’s fully managed, IP-based transmission solution, LTN Wave will provide TelevisaUnivision with greater flexibility, scale, and intelligence in live video distribution. 

As part of the deal, TelevisaUnivision will utilize LTN Wave to deliver its full portfolio of 17 broadcast networks and cable channels via IP-based distribution, bringing a broad array of high quality live news, sports, and entertainment content to millions of viewers across the US, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. TelevisaUnivision serves approximately 60% of Spanish language linear viewership across US and Mexican markets and provides the largest dedicated Spanish language streaming service in the world, ViX. 

Using LTN Wave, TelevisaUnivision will be able to ensure the seamless delivery of high value channels with over 260 drops to local affiliate stations and MVPDs, while supporting distribution across OTT, FAST, and other digital platforms, the companies said. 

“TelevisaUnivision has always pioneered emerging technologies to fuel long-term business objectives and better serve our growing audience,” said Ralf Jacob, executive vice president, global broadcast engineering at TelevisaUnivison. “We’ve driven a number of IP-first initiatives across our organization to power more creativity and unlock more intelligent media distribution capabilities. LTN is a trusted leader and innovator in the shift to more flexible IP-based options, and we’re excited to embark on our next phase of growth with a future-ready IP technology roadmap.”

LTN said that its proprietary, multicast-enabled network, LTN Wave provides unique possibilities to manage business policy based workflows like content replacement and blackout management all while realizing cost efficiencies as an alternative to satellite distribution. Through the transition from satellite to IP-based transmission, LTN provides TelevisaUnivision with SLA-backed ultra low latency delivery supported by end-to-end management to de-risk migration while streamlining operational and support workflows. As part of the transition, TelevisaUnivision can explore a range of advanced capabilities including content replacement, ad enablement, blackout and rights management directly within the LTN network, fueling a host of new revenue opportunities and greater business agility, the companies reported. 

The deal builds on the two companies’ existing partnership to customize and deliver thousands of live sports events via LTN Arc for the fast-growing ViX streaming service and will allow TelevisaUnivision to embrace IP-first workflows to drive greater flexibility and scale in live video distribution. 

“Major global media companies are realizing that fully managed, IP-based transmission has arrived — and the time to shift is now,” said Chris Myers, executive vice president, chief revenue officer, LTN. “With the right partner, moving onto IP is a flexible, seamless transition that provides the necessary foundations to boost revenues and reach new audiences in a constantly evolving market. TelevisaUnivision is one of the most well-renowned media leaders in the world, and we’re excited to continue helping it embrace an IP-centric future that fuels business success.”

LTN will be at the 2023 IBC Show, Sept. 15-18, to showcase its IP-based video transport solutions that offer a more reliable, scalable, and cost-efficient approach to managing and distributing high-quality content.   

The company will spotlight LTN Wave, its award-winning, fully managed, multicast-enabled IP-based transmission solution that provides customers with an intelligent and reliable alternative to traditional satellite or fiber-based models. 

Underpinned by the ultra reliable LTN Network with extremely-low latency, LTN Wave delivers next-generation business intelligence and seamless interoperability to enable media companies to deliver multiple tailored versions of content across any region, device, or platform. German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle and US sports network MSG Networks, have both deployed LTN Wave to future-proof their transmission strategies while driving operational efficiencies. 

 “Shifting to IP-based video transport is going to be top of the agenda for many business leaders at IBC2023. Media companies are increasingly moving to an IP-first roadmap to drive greater flexibility and business intelligence while securing profitability,” said Chris Myers, EVP, Chief Revenue Officer, LTN. “LTN Wave gives media companies a best-in-class, fully managed solution that enables a stress-free migration to IP, while laying the foundations for greater customization and monetization across all digital platforms.”

LTN will also demo LTN Arc, the company's fully managed, cloud-enabled production solution that handles every aspect of live event versioning at scale for rights holders and sports platforms. Through automated workflows and supported by the highly redundant video transport backbone of the LTN Network, Arc delivers the versioning, customization, and decoration capabilities that rights holders need to tailor and deliver their content for diverse worldwide audiences while enabling downstream monetization.

LTN will be in Stand 5.A76 at the RAI Amsterdam. To register for the show, visit https://show.ibc.org

Media leaders have put IP-based media distribution at the top of their agenda to tap into new audiences and provide rich content experiences. In doing so, embracing cutting-edge technologies like IP enables them to future-proof their business amid various challenges and complexities, such as financial uncertainty, rising costs, and increased competition. 

Moving to an IP-first model makes sense from both a business and a technology standpoint. Decision-makers must take action now to reap the rewards of being able to drive scale and ROI to optimize their balance sheets. 

Why IP is the answer
The ride of internet-based delivery of high-value content has arrived loud and clear. Content owners have experimented with open internet protocols for years to bring to television audiences mid to lower-tier live events. This has now changed. Today, they can unleash the potential of a fully managed, monitored, and proprietary IP network approach. IP is now the primary path for distributing high-value live events and full-time channels.

By embracing an IP-first approach, media companies are mitigating the ‘risk factor’ that normally comes with new and emerging technologies. The biggest media companies worldwide benefit from an ultra-reliable, broadcast-grade alternative to traditional models that offers greater business intelligence and new levels of productivity, flexibility, and scale.

Staying relevant in today’s fast-paced landscape
We are in the midst of the most dynamic period in media storytelling. To be successful, media brands (no matter how big or small) need to make bold decisions about their technology and lay the foundations for stable growth in a fragmented market. 

The fast-paced environment is a result of rapid-evolving technologies and consumer demands. Consumers now have a greater choice about how they consume content and on which platform. This means media brands must move faster than before to gain and retain viewers while maximizing monetization. 

Migrating to IP solves the challenge of ever-evolving consumer demands. Media businesses can efficiently capture multiple revenue streams and build new service offerings across over-the-top (OTT), digital, and free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) platforms. 

Scaling up your business like never before
Enabling regionalization and customization at scale is pivotal to capturing new audiences while, at the same time, deepening engagement with hyper-localized programming. An IP-powered, multicast-enabled transport model provides the infrastructure for media companies to tailor their content while minimizing costs and complexity.

Rights holders and broadcasters embrace IP distribution and cloud-enabled versioning to scale their content across multiple platforms easily. In doing so, they can successfully squeeze maximum value from content investments while providing language-specific, curated live event experiences to serve global streaming audiences.

Defining the future today
IP-based production and video transport technologies are unleashing innovation and media business leaders are acting fast to ensure they get ahead of the curve. The transition to IP heralds new opportunities for media companies to capture new audiences like never before. IP delivers more innovation, increases ROI, and generates new revenue driving new business models.

We have only just scratched the surface of IP’s  potential, smashing through ceilings that we never thought possible before. The transition to IP is well underway and the media companies that choose to act on it now will have the lever to reap its rewards and transform their future.       

COLUMBIA, Md.—Integrated media technology solutions provider LTN today announced several executive personnel moves, including those affecting the chief marketing and strategy officer and executive vice president and general manager positions, as the company pursues a business strategy focused on growth and customer success.

The company, which has entered a period of growth and is expanding internationally, made the appointments to four newly created positions to enhance its connection with content owners, broadcasters and streaming platforms. The moves will streamline organizational processes and promote closer cross-company integration, collaboration and accountability, it said.

The promotions include:

• Nadia Khan, who becomes chief marketing officer. Khan will focus on the shift to a more data-driven and tailored, partner-led approach, creating greater value for LTN customers.
• Michal Miskin-Amir, who becomes the new executive vice president of development. Miskin-Amir will lead the development organization that enables LTN to innovate and create technologies and solutions for customers.
• Sara Khan, who becomes general counsel and general manager EMEA. Khan will oversee the company’s legal functions and lead LTN’s EMEA growth strategy from Germany.  
• Roger Franklin, who becomes chief strategy officer. Franklin will work closely with customers to design technology strategies that support business growth. He will conduct extensive research to enhance workflows across the entire video chain. 

“Today’s media landscape is fragmented across thousands of global platforms and devices, and our customers require highly innovative and efficient services from us to help them navigate complexities and reap the rewards of the monetization opportunities that follow,” said LTN co-founder and executive chairman Malik Khan.

COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN has appointed Brad Wall as the company’s new chief technology officer. His more than 25 years of experience in various leadership positions includes work across media and entertainment technology, production, post production, digital media and broadcast.

According to the company, Wall specializes in large-scale broadcast operations and has a demonstrated track record of leading OTT and digital media projects while embracing diversity, inclusion and teamwork-based collaboration. He will be focused on sharing LTN’s capabilities and solutions for the media companies, helping customers redefine their workflows and underlying technology foundations.

In a company statement, LTN Co-Founder and Executive Chairman Malik Khan said Wall’s insight and experience in live TV production, broadcasting, media engineering and digital media distribution will help LTN remain at the forefront of a rapidly changing landscape.

“[Wall’s] experience and work with some of the world’s leading media companies made his appointment as our new CTO a no-brainer,” Khan said.

Wall said he looks forward to joining LTN and the journey ahead. “I have long held a passion for digital transformation, streaming technologies and supporting the content engines that drive viewership in our industry. My career has been dedicated to many of these, equipping me with essential skills and insight into our industry. LTN is a company I have held in high regard for a long time.”

COLUMBIA, Md.—LTN Global has launched LTN Cue Managed Service, a new service that expands access to the company’s automated channel management, advanced advertising and content replacement workflow. Built on the same technology behind the LTN Connect managed service, which is deployed on the user premises, LTN Cue takes SCTE 35 decoration onto the LTN Network and performs SCTE marker insertion en route to video distribution partners and affiliates. With a straightforward workflow for sending properly decorated feeds to cable, satellite and virtual MVPDs including YouTube TV, Sling TV and Hulu + Live TV, channel originators can scale up their distribution, viewership and ad revenue.

"Our LTN Cue and LTN Connect managed services help channel providers to realize the new opportunities that come with accurately marking ad breaks and other content for downstream cable, satellite and digital platforms," said Rick Young, senior vice president and head of global products at LTN Global. "LTN Cue and LTN Connect automate the complex tasks of decorating feeds to suit various distributors' profiles and guarantee the precision essential to proper downstream handling of markers. These services empower broadcasters, cable channels, diginets and digital-first streaming networks to converge and scale their inventory and video distribution workflows—and in turn drive revenue growth."

LTN Cue and LTN Connect are part of LTN's universal media technology ecosystem, which unites technologies secured with the company's 2019 acquisition of Niles Media Group, Make.TV and Crystal Corporation to address workflows from production and publishing to transformation and transport. Built on Crystal's AdConnect solution, these two fully managed, linear metadata services make it easier for channel originators to leverage and scale decoration and distribution in a seamless and straightforward workflow.

While LTN Cue is designed for simpler playout operations and LTN Connect for more complex operations incorporating multiple sources, both services read, interpret, transform and apply the right message at precisely the right time to signal programs, national ad breaks, local ad breaks and specific ads/promos in a live linear channel feed delivered on any platform. The services connect playout, compression, transport and cross-platform SCTE 35 distribution workflows according to the needs of channels and distributors. They are compatible and expandable with other industry-standard workflows (i.e., SCTE 104 and 130) and interoperable with workflows involving SMPTE ST 2022, ST 2110 and ST 2038. The services are backed by a 24/7 network operations center to ensure reliable, flexible and profitable channel distribution.

"LTN Cue and LTN Connect are built on a decade of leadership in SCTE 104/35 channel decoration and supported by industry-leading technical resources and engineering staff," added Roger Franklin, general manager of channel management at LTN Global. "Helping channel providers address the vagaries of ad signaling across platforms, these easy-to-implement services open the door to broader channel distribution and even more effective ad monetization."

For more information, visit www.ltnglobal.com.

LAS VEGAS—Poker Central is the ultimate source for fans of poker and the poker lifestyle. We deliver “everything poker” to audiences worldwide, giving them anywhere, anytime access into the VIP lifestyle and lavish, jet-setting world of high roller poker players.

Fans access this content through our subscription-based PokerGO digital video service, which gives them exclusive access to some of the world’s biggest events, including the Super High Roller Bowl, World Poker Tour, World Series of Poker, U.S. Poker Open, Poker Masters and more.

Shot on location in Las Vegas and in exotic locales around the globe, our live event coverage and programming offer fans a unique glimpse into the quirky, funny and exciting world of poker. In addition to live event coverage and behind-the-scenes footage, PokerGO also features event replays, original programs and classics from the Poker Central vault. Through PokerGO, we give fans 24/7 access to exclusive content, with more than 100 days of live poker a year.

In providing a subscription-based video service for avid poker fans, PokerGO must meet high standards in terms of quality and reliability. The 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP), held May 28 to July 16 in Las Vegas, is perhaps the best example of the challenges we face in ensuring exceptional video quality and unparalleled quality of experience.

This year the Poker Central team produced live video from 89 different WSOP events over 50 days, with exclusive coverage of the WSOP Main Event. (Hossein Ensan won the event, earning $10,000,000 and poker’s most prestigious prize: the WSOP Main Event bracelet.) We needed a partner to help us deliver live coverage to PokerGO in multiple formats, and we decided to work once again with LTN Global, a leader in broadcast-quality IP video transport solutions.

We have a successful track record with LTN, so we had reason to be confident. The company provides backhaul services for Poker Central throughout the year as we cover high-profile events. We turned to the company for our WSOP coverage in 2019 because we knew LTN could deliver the service level we require, as well as simplicity and flexibility in addressing technical requirements.

Because we need to deliver consistent, high-quality signals from a remote location over a lengthy period of time, the WSOP truly is the most demanding of our live event productions. LTN has the experience and resources to make even highly challenging projects like this a success. The company’s industry-leading, IP-based live video delivery service and integrated production-to-transmission workflows ensure peerless IP-based live video delivery.

For the 2019 WSOP, LTN provided two flypacks dedicated to the event. We also relied on LTN’s fully managed network for live video delivery. With these resources and support from the LTN team, we were able to provide flawless live coverage. Signals from the event were delivered over the LTN network in multiple formats to support both linear broadcasts and PokerGO subscription-based services, available to fans via connected TVs, computers and mobile devices.

We’ve come to rely on LTN as a partner in delivering exceptional coverage of live poker events. We produced a tremendous amount of unique content at the 2019 WSOP, and LTN was key to our success. Knowing that LTN has both the expertise and technical resources to provide both IP transport service and support for complex live sporting events, we were able to focus on creating the exciting live content that PokerGO subscribers demand.

Cheryl Wood is the senior vice president of operations and engineering at Poker Central LLC.

SAVAGE, Md.—IP video transport technology provider LTN has announced that it is promoting Rick Young to the role of senior vice president of global products. Young had previously served as the vice president of global business development since he joined LTN in 2018.

In the role of SVP, Young will be responsible for the LTN Global product portfolio across all divisions. He will work with divisional product management teams to set the company’s strategic direction and cultivate partnerships that will enable unique services within the media ecosystem, per LTN.

“Rick has a lengthy record of leadership in organizations dedicated to content production and delivery technology,” said Malik Khan, co-founder and executive chairman at LTN Global. “We value his deep industry knowledge as well as his thoughtful and creative approach to strategy and building unique, growth-oriented solutions. His dedication and leadership will be vital as LTN continues to extend its technology portfolio and end-to-end service offerings for content creation, distribution and monetization.”

Prior to joining LTN in 2018, Young had served in senior executive roles at Encompass Digital Media, was vice president and general manager at Bitcentral, vice president of products and services at Clearlap, vice president of product management at Pathfire and manager of production services at Virage.

NEW YORK—LTN will make the most of its time at NAB Show New York, showcasing different technologies and sharing their expertise during presentations.

LTN’s Crystal Division will be on hand to demonstrate its AdConnect system designed to enable TV ad inventory owners to sell addressable advertising on any platform and improve content monetization. Make.TV, which is owned by LTN, will also have its cloud-based service for accessing, curating and publishing live video streams to affiliates, social media and OTT platforms.

In addition, Alan Young, LTN’s CTO, will be a part of the Streaming Summit session “Challenges of Delivering TV-Scale Reach in an Addressable World” on Oct. 16.

The 2019 NAB Show New York takes place from Oct. 16-17 at the Javits Convention Center. LTN will be located at booth N237.

HACKENSACK, N.J.—In an effort to enable global customers to wirelessly deliver live video, LiveU and LTN Global Communications have announced a new partnership. Courtesy of this new pairing, LiveU customers can utilize the LTN Global IP Network and extend the reach of IP video distribution to access LTN-connected third-party sites.

LiveU products now offer a wireless connection to the LTN Network, which includes major broadcasters, television stations, cable headends, production studios, colleges, sports networks, switching hubs and teleports. Users can link their broadcasts to LTN through the LiveU Central management platform without requiring additional hardware. Point-to-point or point-to-multipoint transmission to LTN destinations can be accomplished through the LTN Booking Portal.

In LiveU’s press release announcing the partnership, Avi Cohen, LiveU co-founder and COO, says that LiveU is LTN’s first wireless partner.