The company aims to take live production to the cloud to feed demand for remote production of live TV, virtual events and social media engagement.
The Switch, a platform for the production and global delivery of live video, has launched MIMiC, an on-demand cloud-based production-as-a-service offering that gives broadcasters, streaming services, rights holders and enterprises access to remote production capabilities for live and virtual events of all sizes.
Content producers can now leverage The Switch’s combination of agile cloud production capability and global network reach to cost-effectively meet the increasing demand for efficient and flexible broadcast quality production and for social media engagement for any live event.
MIMiC is available as a flexible on-demand ‘as-a-Service’ offering that includes remote IP-video contribution, production and clipping tools, and distribution. As well as providing increased engagement across social media, this latest addition to The Switch’s portfolio opens up broadcast quality live production for smaller, niche sports events and ad-hoc or one-off live event production, removing the cost and complexity which can burden traditional production models.
All aspects of the production workflow, from editing and graphics creation to comms and talk-back, is handled in the cloud, while distribution via over-the-top (OTT) services or The Switch core network ensures live streams can reach viewers globally on their platform of choice. Key features include support for sports data feeds, contribution connectivity, contribution encoding equipment, program distribution and production staffing.
Commenting on the new service, Eric Cooney, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Switch, said: “Cloud Production-as-a-Service has a strong synergy with our existing traditional and REMI production services. The launch of MIMiC underscores The Switch ethos of ensuring unmatched levels of service and giving our customers the ability to produce and deliver high-quality content wherever they are in the world. This service is all the more timely in a world clamouring for the return of live sports and entertainment, but equally aware of our new obligations for limited travel and social distancing.”
Robert Szabo-Rowe, The Switch’s Senior Vice President of Product Management, added: “MIMiC empowers our TV and enterprise customers to capitalise on new revenue opportunities and reach audiences across more platforms. Sports leagues and other big event producers will benefit from the added flexibility to deliver live streams and packaged content to social media, while this type of ultra-agile, end-to-end offering also meets our enterprise and esports customers’ need for flexible, scalable production capability that can easily adapt to a range of event formats.”
