Broadcast operations today face growing complexity as live production requirements expand across sports, news, entertainment, and remote workflows—often under tighter resource and network constraints. To keep pace, many are re-evaluating the workflows and video transport technologies at the heart of their operations.
Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) is emerging as a practical solution in this context. Originally developed for reliable, low-latency video delivery over unmanaged IP networks, SRT has evolved into a powerful tool for primary contribution, as well as cloud integration, playout, and multi-site connectivity.
By enabling real-time transport over the public internet, SRT helps broadcasters simplify their architecture, reduce reliance on dedicated links, and extend IP-based operations across distributed and hybrid environments.
Breaking the Satellite and Fiber Dependency
Traditional video transport methods, namely satellite and dedicated fiber, continue to provide reliability, but at a cost. These systems are hardware-heavy, difficult to scale dynamically, and increasingly misaligned with cloud-based, decentralized production environments.
SRT offers a lower-cost, more agile alternative. Its ability to move encrypted, broadcast-quality video over standard internet links makes it an effective replacement for traditional contribution infrastructure, especially when physical connectivity or fixed networks are not feasible. Previously the preserve of larger sports, SRT solutions now enable almost any sport federation, however small, to profitably take production in-house through reducing complexity and cost.
In particular, SRT is proving to be a reliable solution for primary contribution, transporting live linear feeds from production hubs or sporting venues to centralized broadcast or cloud facilities. Where satellite or fiber was once essential for these links, broadcasters are now turning to SRT to deliver the same real-time performance over public IP, with built-in redundancy, error correction, and encryption that meet broadcast-grade standards.
As highlighted with the Project of the Year award win at NAB Show 2025, NBCUniversal recently re-engineered its satellite downlink model to centralize and virtualize operations. By consolidating site-specific antenna systems and replacing physical routing hardware with shared high-density demodulation and IP-based decoding, the broadcaster significantly reduced rack space and energy requirements, achieving a two-fold increase in system density at its edge sites.
From Multi-Site to Central Hub: A Real-World Case Study
For Grupo RBS, the ability to consolidate infrastructure is just as important as scaling it. In one large-scale regional deployment, SRT has been used to replace 12 individual playout and MCR facilities with a single super-playout hub. By linking 11 affiliate sites over the public internet via SRT, the broadcaster eliminated the need for dedicated circuits and reduced operational risk by collapsing the control architecture into a centralized, IP-native workflow.
This transformation relied on a hardware-accelerated SRT gateway capable of handling over 1,500 concurrent connections and 72 Gbps of throughput, with support for SMPTE ST 2110, NMOS, and PTP ensuring seamless handoff into existing baseband and IP systems.
This type of deployment showcases the clear infrastructure advantages that SRT brings to broadcast engineering: simplification, standardization, and operational efficiency, without the cost or lead time associated with dedicated transport networks.
Remote Feeds, Real-Time Resilience
SRT’s ability to maintain quality over volatile networks makes it a valuable option for field-based contribution, especially in mobile or short-notice productions. Unlike traditional bonded cellular systems, which often require proprietary platforms or added complexity, SRT is infrastructure-agnostic, equally capable of traversing public IP, 5G, or even LEO satellite uplinks.
These workflows are increasingly being adopted for remote commentary feeds, off-site switching, and on-location encoding without the need for full truck deployments or fiber provisioning. In venues without guaranteed IP service, broadcasters have layered SRT on top of private 5G networks to guarantee consistent contribution paths, without bandwidth contention.
Integrating with IP and Cloud Workflows
As IP transport and virtualized infrastructure become more embedded in production environments, SRT is proving its value as a bridge between ground operations and cloud-based services. Whether contributing to cloud ingest points, linking affiliate facilities to a centralized MAM, or enabling remote access to live production chains, SRT supports a wide variety of workflows without locking broadcasters into proprietary standards or platforms.
It also provides a pathway for phased IP migration. Broadcasters integrating ST 2110, NMOS, or SDI over IP routing can use SRT to move feeds flexibly between cloud, core, and edge, enabling them to modernize infrastructure without overhauling the entire chain.
Its footprint also aligns with sustainability goals: fewer racks, lower power draw, and the ability to consolidate or virtualize formerly discrete systems, all of which support more efficient engineering operations.
SRT has transitioned from a flexible workaround to a strategic infrastructure layer, providing reliable video transport across public and hybrid networks. For broadcast engineers, that means a protocol that fits with operational goals, integrates with evolving standards, and scales from a few feeds to a full contribution network.
As IP-native architectures, cloud tools, and wireless connectivity continue to reshape broadcast operations, the flexibility and efficiency of SRT will remain central to how broadcasters build, manage, and modernize their workflows.
