Digital Rapids Completes Installation Of StreamZ Encoding Solution To Flextech

Digital Rapids, through London-based distributor ERA, has completed the sale and installation of their StreamZ encoding solution into Flextech Television Ltd, the content division of digital television and broadband provider ntl:Telewest.
Operated by the NewMedia/Interactive department at Flextech’s London facility, StreamZ has been integrated into their network with its media storage accessible to their edit platforms, primarily encoding full programmes to WMV for their VOD service and MPEG-1 and MPEG-4 deliverables for their mobile carriers.
Flextech Television provides innovative programming and cutting-edge broadband ventures together with interactive content which is uniquely creative, commercial and collaborative. Their branded content, coupled with Virgin.net (ntl:Telewest's broadband network) and their use of the latest technology, makes them a leader in their field — creating shows for an expanding market utilising mobile, video and interactive services across multiple platforms. In collaboration with Disney, Flextech has selected a number of commissioned and acquired series such as 'Alias', 'Most Haunted' and 'Ghost Towns' for encoding to their new broadband video on demand service.
Each week they also produce, encode and deliver content loops for their Bravo and LIVINGtv branded mobile channels on Orange TV and Vodaphone Live. These channels are made up of ‘mini-shows’ (mobisodes) approximately five minutes in duration and edited together with stings, idents, promos and the like to make a one hour loop. Using StreamZ’s integrated and automated FTP distribution, Flextech then delivers this content to MobiTV and BSkyB, who manage content distribution for Orange TV and Vodaphone Live, respectively.
According to Flextech’s Ben Blomfield: “For our Interactive department to remain ahead of the game for Mobile and VOD content delivery we had to invest in our own heavyweight encoding platform: key criteria being good integration with third party products, cost effectiveness and a platform that offered complete flexibility around codec configuration. It didn’t take long to pinpoint Digital Rapids’ StreamZ platform as the solution we were looking for.”
“StreamZ is the ideal encoding solution for customers taking advantage of new content distribution opportunities and platforms,” said Clive Vickery, Managing Director of Digital Rapids. “High quality media encoding is a critical element in delivering a compelling experience to content consumers, and we’re pleased that Flextech Television has chosen us for this core function of their workflow.”
StreamZ encoding solutions combine powerful hardware for video and audio capture and pre-processing with the feature-rich StreamEnterprise software, delivering exceptional encoding quality and throughput.
(DS/SP)