Now TV Deploys Harmonic OTT Solution

Hong Kong's largest pay TV operator is using the vendor's ProMedia software solutions

By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/19/2012 7:12:54 PM

PCCW's now TV, which is Hong Kong's largest pay TV operator, has deployed Harmonic's ProMedia software solutions for a new over-the-top multi-screen streaming offering that delivers both live and VOD content to smartphones, tablets, PCs, and other IP-connected devices.

Harmonic made the announcement at the BroadcastAsia 2012 convention currently being held in Singapore between June 19^th and 22^nd.

The launch of the operator's now Player application uses Harmonic's ProMedia Live real-time multiscreen video processing and encoding system, the vendor's ProMedia Package adaptive stream preparation system and its NMX Digital Service Manager.

"now TV wanted to augment its service to include a high-quality and reliable over-the-top viewing experience," noted Belinda Chan, senior VP of operations and technology at PCCW, in a statement. "Harmonic's ProMedia family allows us to support live streaming efficiently, while providing a superior quality of service. By accessing an over-the-top media portal in our broadcast operation center, now TV subscribers can connect to a variety of rich media content on any device anytime."

Harmonic's NMX Digital Service Manager controls both the ProMedia Live and ProMedia Package systems and allows now TV to monitor and manage its multiscreen video and audio services.

The ProMedia Live transcodes baseband MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 AVC H.264 content to multiple adaptive bitrate streams optimized for now TV's OTT services and is integrated with Harmonic's ProMedia Package to perform transcoding, encapsulation, and encryption processes.

The integrated functionality significantly reduces now TV's carbon footprint dramatically, which helps cut capital and operating expenditures, Harmonic noted in its announcement of the deployment.