SAN JOSE, Calif. and COLOGNE, Germany—German broadcaster RTL Deutschland has added eight new free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels to its video streaming service RTL+. 

The new FAST channels are powered by Harmonic's VOS®360 Media SaaS, which simplifies all stages of media processing, including advanced playout, powerful graphics insertion, premium OTT encoding and distribution.

Integrating additional FAST channels into RTL Deutschland's existing ecosystem was successfully handled by netorium, an application integrator from Wiesbaden. 

Andre Prahl, chief distribution officer at RTL Deutschland, explained that "what particularly impressed us was the ability to easily launch eight channels. We had no high investment costs, as we operate the channels entirely on a software as a service model. This allows us to adapt the offering very flexibly to viewer preferences."

RTL Deutschland uses the new channels as themed offerings for some of its most successful content formats, enabling the broadcaster to effectively target specific customer groups.

"For video streaming services to thrive, they must be precisely targeted to relevant viewers," said Gil Rudge, senior vice president, products and Americas sales, video business at Harmonic. "With our VOS360 Media SaaS, RTL Deutschland can rapidly create and deliver FAST channels to retain existing customers and attract new ones."

Running on the public cloud, Harmonic's end-to-end video platform provides agility, resiliency, security and scalability. Leveraging the VOS360 Media platform, RTL can easily create and deploy additional FAST channels at scale. The VOS360 Media platform is based on a flexible business model that allows RTL Deutschland to only pay for what they use, the company said. 

Harmonic will showcase the latest innovations in video streaming and broadcast delivery at IBC2024, Sept. 13-16 in Amsterdam. To schedule a meeting with Harmonic at stand 1.B20, visit www.harmonicinc.com/video-streaming/events/ibc/. 

Further information about Harmonic and the company's solutions is available at www.harmonicinc.com. Additional information about netorium is available at www.netorium.de. 

COLOGNE, Germany—RTL Deutschland, a private broadcaster here, kicked off free-TV coverage of the National Football League (NFL) Aug. 12 with preseason coverage on its special-interest NITRO channel from a new live studio designed specifically for league coverage that features LED screens from Leyard Europe.

The broadcaster previously inked a deal with the league to begin offering action during the 2023-24 season on free television.

The 870-square-foot (265-square-meter) studio, which was designed by a team from Veech x Veech under the direction of RTL project manager Oliver Reich, is an open, 360-degree accessible area with four central LED walls. 

On-air talent includes commentators, experts, community hosts and presenters. The centerpiece of the studio is a 38-by-9-foot (11.5-by-2.7-meter) curved video wall. It consists of 38 x 5 Leyard AT 1.5mm LED panels and is used while commentators update game information and analyze action with experts.

The broadcaster, working with Leyard, has installed similar LED configurations at its RTL Aktuell and Punkt 12 studios.  

The new studio also has a desk with an accompanying vertical LED wall dedicated to social media content presented by the community host. The format mimics what viewers are accustomed to seeing on their smartphones. The moderator for each broadcast works from another desk with two additional LED walls. 

Besides the curved wall, the studio incorporates a 6 x 4 panel Leyard AT 1.5mm, a 5 x 5 TVF 1.2mm and a 5 x 5 TVF 1.2mm LED screen, alongside a 12 x 4 CLI-Flex 1.3mm used as a LED table surface, the company said. 

Work on the studio began in April, and installation was completed in July, a quick setup that required coordination between the designer and the other workers involved, said Laurin Schmid, Leyard sales manager for the DACH region, which includes the German-speaking areas of Europe.

“A key challenge was ensuring seamless collaboration within the broader team, which included set builders, electricians, and various other crew members, all of whom were working to a tight timeframe,” said Schmid, 

“Typically, planning and constructing a high-end studio like this would take around one and a half to two years. But with full collaboration across the various teams and by taking advantage of Leyard’s Slovakian manufacturing facility, we successfully completed the project on time.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

NEWBURY, ENGLAND—Broadcasting Center Europe, as the systems integrator for the RTL Group, has decided to go with SAM’s end-to-end IP infrastructure at RTL City, RTL Group’s new Luxembourg headquarters. The infrastructure is designed to consolidate all of the broadcaster’s operations in one location.

The SAM system supports 24/7 broadcasting for a range of channels, including RTL Télé Lëtzeburg, Chamber TV, RTL TVI, Club RTL, Plug TV, RTL 4, RTL 5, RTL 7, RTL 8, RTL Z, RTL 9 and AB Groupe movie channels.

SAM’s IP infrastructure demonstrates full SMPTE ST 2022-7 redundant hitless operation, with recovery from interruption to one IP link. It provides a clear on-air upgrade path from ST 2022-6 and VSF TR-04 to TR-03/ST 2110 with AES67 support. The infrastructure can also deliver 40GbE network technology and SDI-level performance and clean (COTS IP) switching, and was able to support x960 2022-6 video flows, x1103 AES67 audio flows using more than 1104 ports.

In addition, the SAM infrastructure provides user intuitive router control in SDI, IP or hybrid operation on both traditional software and hardware router panels. There is also interoperability with third-party control systems.

The SAM IP routing system is made up of SAM’s Kahuna IP production switchers, IQ-Edge IP processing systems, IP routing control systems and IP Multiviewers. The initial deployment is based around VSF TR-04 using SMPTE 2022-6/7 and AES67 redundant IP streams, with migration to VSF TR-03.