Irdeto, MultiChoice and SuperSport rise above with Arqiva’s multi-platform media distribution services

About Irdeto

Irdeto is the world leader in digital platform security, protecting platforms and applications for video entertainment, video games, connected transport, connected health and IoT connected industries. Irdeto’s solutions and services enable customers to protect their revenue, create new offerings and fight cybercrime effectively. With more than 50 years of expertise in security, Irdeto’s software security technology and cyber services protect more than six billion devices and applications for some of the world’s best-known and loved brands.

About MultiChoice

MultiChoice is a prominent player in the global pay-TV arena, boasting an audience of over 23.5 million households spanning 50 markets in South and Sub-Saharan Africa. SuperSport, a member of the MultiChoice Group, is among the world’s largest sports rights holders and is the host broadcaster for many of South Africa’s largest sporting events.

Irdeto is part of the MultiChoice group and provides MultiChoice with a Broadcast Managed Service whereby it manages the Compression and Encoding of the MultiChoice broadcast infrastructure services in South Africa, Spain and the United Kingdom. Irdeto has contracted with Arqiva for their multi-platform media distribution services for the contribution of the MultiChoice and SuperSport services from the UK.

The challenge: growing demand and a growing problem

As the MultiChoice channel offerings expanded and evolved – and as more and more sports events were acquired for broadcast – Irdeto faced the challenge of optimising their media distribution as part of the Broadcast Managed Service they provide to MultiChoice. This challenge was compounded by a desire to deliver new efficiencies in their distribution process.

Arqiva had been providing multi-platform media distribution services to Irdeto/MultiChoice for over two decades. Given their proven track record, Irdeto looked to Arqiva for an innovative solution to their growing needs.

The solution: a multi-pronged approach

Arqiva capitalised on next-generation technologies to revolutionise Irdeto/MultiChoice’s media processing and distribution. Our innovative solutions empowered SuperSport to distribute hours of live sports video content every month, featuring coverage of prestigious events like La Liga, Formula 1, and Major League Baseball. Utilising SRT feeds alongside traditional fibre and satellite feeds not only slashed acquisition costs but also broadened content accessibility.

In addition, Arqiva provided linear programming aggregation for over 100 channels from multiple broadcasters – including Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount, NBCU and the BBC – in multiple transmission formats. We established IS-20 satellite uplink services for linear programming from the UK to South Africa, which facilitated Direct to Home (DTH) delivery of media to MultiChoice’s 9 million South African subscribers.

We also took on the role of hosting and integrating media processing services, which allowed for content and advertising replacement for distribution to different African countries. Furthermore, downlink services were provided for live events to in-country broadcast platforms, supporting DTH delivery of media to MultiChoice’s South African service subscribers.

In 2023, Arqiva began transitioning Irdeto/MultiChoice from legacy hardware-based broadcast technology to Arqiva’s latest software-defined hybrid broadcast solution, Arqplex. This led to regular feature upgrades, an increase in encoding efficiencies, and a substantial 40% energy consumption savings.

Irdeto and SuperSport has also completed the onboarding and testing phase for our cloud-based content exchange platform, Arqade. This achievement sets Irdeto and SuperSport up for success as the market transitions towards an IP future.