EXPANSIVE COVERAGE Zixi has been supporting Sinclair in transforming its network management
Sinclair Broadcast Group’s Mike Kralec shares key insights on his tool of choice when it comes to redefining broadcast architecture
B efore partnering with “We’re in the midst of a transformation programme that involves moving all of our broadcast automation and playout to the cloud using AWS,” begins Mike Kralec, SVP and chief technology officer for Sinclair Broadcast Group. “Initially, when we started that Zixi, Sinclair faced certain challenges when it came to ensuring a steadfast delivery of content. process, Zixi wasn’t a partner of ours and we were using other methods for transporting the streams between
our television stations and the cloud,” continues Kralec. “When we began to take all those feeds to and from the television stations, we started to see some instability in the network. We have stations across the United States, in almost every market, and in each of those we might have a different network circuit and a different internet service provider that introduces some inconsistencies. “It wasn’t as stable as we’d have liked it to be and wasn’t an optimal design in terms of network architecture. So, we started looking
into reconfiguring the network using Zixi to develop a much more flexible infrastructure with consistent performance. One of the biggest operational challenges is operating our diverse IP network across a national footprint.” Implementing Zixi has transformed Sinclair’s broadcasting capabilities, particularly in terms of efficiency and cost savings. “We’re spending a lot less time on troubleshooting,” Kralec adds. “It’s also more cost-effective for us than how we were set up previously. Although there’s a licence fee, there’s also a reduction in cost for transport to the cloud endpoint and we simply don’t spend as much time worrying about drops in our video streams or disconnections in the cloud. That greater stability gives us the opportunity to spend time on things that are more important. A trusted platform One of the main pros of using Zixi is that it’s trusted on the network side, and it’s the most complete platform for managing live broadcast-quality
TEAM PLAYER Zixi works well with many different protocols from other vendors
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