Foxtel Deploys TAG Solution For All IP Monitoring Requirements
Once logged in you can set content preferences to let us know what you are interested in and whether you want to receive email from us.
Already Registered? Login
In 2020 Foxtel started a project to exit the aging television centre facility at Macquarie Park. The plan involved migrating their entire technology platform across two sites in Sydney to an all-IP platform encompassing video routing, satellite, OTT and more.
After more than 12 months of market research, testing and trialling various vendor IP monitoring solutions, Foxtel chose a TAG solution for all their IP monitoring requirements. This TAG monitoring solution, supplied by Magna Systems & Engineering, is thought to be the largest solution of its kind in the southern hemisphere and in the top ten solutions of its kind globally.
Starting with an RFI in 2020, progressing to an extensive RFP in 2021 and followed by a POC, the TAG solution ticked all the boxes for Foxtel’s new multiviewing and monitoring for all of their IP sources across multiple sites.
The TAG solution is now monitoring over 2,000 sources across multiple sites with all types of IP signals including uncompressed HD and UHD, compressed HD and UHD, OTT - HLS, CMAF and DASH including DRM, NDI and any combination of these signals can be monitored on just one server. TAG is also a software solution running entirely on COTS hardware.
When the RFP was concluded Foxtel also opted for the latest DELL R650 server with dual ConnectX6 200GE cards. Each server is capable of monitoring up to 128 uncompressed SMPTE ST2110 HD inputs with -7 seamless switching protection.
The new TAG IP solution is used across the entire Foxtel platform, from the ingest of the signal from playout or third parties, pre-compression and post compression. It is also used across multiple departments including MCR, Presentation and Foxtel’s Service Assurance teams across two sites under one control environment. A great example is how Foxtel use the TAG solution comes in the form of the monitoring of their event-based OTT streams. Using the fully open API Foxtel have integrated this into their resource scheduling platform to provide operators with verification of customer delivery. Foxtel’s automation system, in turn, then supplies TAG with the necessary CDN details associated with an event to start decoding and probing. This now means that the once cumbersome workflows of checking a physical device for the event start are no longer required as there is now a continued monitoring of the stream from start to finish.
You might also like...
Next-Gen 5G Contribution: Part 1 - The Technology Of 5G
5G is a collection of standards that encompass a wide array of different use cases, across the entire spectrum of consumer and commercial users. Here we discuss the aspects of it that apply to live video contribution in broadcast production.
Why AI Won’t Roll Out In Broadcasting As Quickly As You’d Think
We’ve all witnessed its phenomenal growth recently. The question is: how do we manage the process of adopting and adjusting to AI in the broadcasting industry? This article is more about our approach than specific examples of AI integration;…
Designing IP Broadcast Systems: Integrating Cloud Infrastructure
Connecting on-prem broadcast infrastructures to the public cloud leads to a hybrid system which requires reliable secure high value media exchange and delivery.
Video Quality: Part 1 - Video Quality Faces New Challenges In Generative AI Era
In this first in a new series about Video Quality, we look at how the continuing proliferation of User Generated Content has brought new challenges for video quality assurance, with AI in turn helping address some of them. But new…
Minimizing OTT Churn Rates Through Viewer Engagement
A D2C streaming service requires an understanding of satisfaction with the service – the quality of it, the ease of use, the style of use – which requires the right technology and a focused information-gathering approach.