Hunan TV Chooses Haivision to Deliver the First Ever SRT Powered Live Remote Production of the Singer 2020 Final

MONTREAL, June 4, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Haivision, a leader in video streaming solutions, today announced that it partnered with Chinese provincial broadcaster Hunan TV to help deliver its first ever live remote production on TV using SRT over the public internet across three locations: Changsha, Taipei, and Tokyo. On April 24, 2020, despite a number of obstacles due to the coronavirus pandemic, thanks to the powerful combination of Haivision's video technology and the Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) protocol, the show really did go on for the live grand finale of Hunan TV's flagship variety show, Singer 2020.

Having just wrapped up its eighth season, Singer is the most popular variety show in China, airing on Friday nights and garnering the country's highest viewer ratings. Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the resulting travel restrictions and safety concerns, the show's producers had to make alternative plans for producing the show while still creating an engaging experience for the audience. This was especially true for the finale, which, unlike the qualifying episodes that are pre-recorded, is always broadcast live.

With tight deadlines, logistical constraints, and no margin for error, Hunan TV turned to Haivision for its expertise in harnessing the public internet for robust and reliable low latency live broadcast contribution and bi-directional interviews. Instead of the traditional format where all the finalists appear on the live stage in Changsha, two of the seven finalists performed remotely in Taipei and one in Tokyo. Fundamental to the success of the solution was the ability to deliver low latency streams with rock solid reliability over the public internet without compromising on quality.

The Haivision solution comprised of Makito X video encoders and decoders, Haivision SRT Gateways, and the SRT protocol to overcome network congestion and prevent packet loss. In total, nine video feeds were sent as SRT streams to Hunan TV's Changsha studio from Tokyo and Taipei over the internet and SRT Gateway in the cloud. Five of the individual camera feeds were focused on the live reaction of the singer teams (three in Taipei and two in Tokyo) and were kept in sync with the Stream Sync feature supported by the Makito X video decoders located in Hunan TV's Changsha production studio. Live return feeds were sent back to Tokyo and Taipei to enable bi-directional interviews.

The main program feeds from the Tokyo and Taipei stages were also sent to Changsha using the Haivision solution which was able to reliably deliver the live streams at such low latency that the pre-allocated satellite link was repurposed as a backup.

"During the pandemic, although we experienced some difficulties in the production of media content, we were able to innovate by fully exploring new technologies and applications," said Lihong Zhou, Director of Technical Dispatching Center of Golden Eagle Broadcasting Systems (Hunan Broadcasting Systems). "With the help of remote production workflows supported by Haivision and SRT technology, the interactive live broadcast of the finals of Singer 2020 was broadcast from three different locations, (Changsha, Tokyo, and Taipei) with great results achieved. For this, I want to express my gratitude to Haivision!"

"We are honored to have played a part in helping bring fans of Singer a high-quality viewing experience," said Marcus Schioler, VP of Product Marketing, Haivision. "As an organization, Haivision stands firmly at the forefront of innovation and ingenuity. Despite significant resource constraints and serious network congestion issues Hunan TV was able to leverage our cutting-edge remote production solution to deliver the flawless video that the show's viewers have come to expect."

About Haivision

Haivision is the leader in live video streaming technologies, providing more than 25,000 organizations globally with video solutions that help them stream broadcast-quality, low-latency video from anywhere. Founded in 2004, Haivision is a privately held company with headquarters in Montreal and Chicago, and regional offices located throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. To help solve the world's most difficult video streaming challenges, Haivision open sourced its award winning SRT low latency video streaming protocol in 2017 and founded the SRT Alliance, which now has over 350 industry leading companies supporting this new standard. Awarded an Emmy® for Technology and Engineering from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Haivision is also recognized as one of the most influential companies in video by Streaming Media and one of the fastest growing companies by Deloitte's Technology Fast 500. Learn more at haivision.com.

SOURCE Haivision