Audio Streaming

Choosing a playout provider is one of the most important decisions a media business can make. The right partner can accelerate growth, increase operational flexibility and help you scale efficiently. The wrong choice can create complexity, lock-in and unnecessary cost. This guide provides a structured framework to evaluate providers across five critical areas.

Streaming Smarter Content delivery networks are nearing a breaking point. But there are smarter, more scalable ways to move forward. Our latest report reveals how media leaders are solving the biggest challenges in streaming. Get the whitepaper Get the whitepaper Create Streaming Profitability Scale audiences and viewing hours without delivery costs rising at the same rate. New Revenue Opportunities Support personalised advertising and premium viewer experiences without compromising performance. Deliver Reliable Viewing at Scale Reduce outages, improve QoE, and confidently handle peak live audiences. “The challenges of content delivery will not be solved by a single technology. Instead, they will be best addressed with a layered approach: one that blends cutting-edge innovations like AI-powered optimisation, P2P networking, and edge computing with strategic improvements in encoding, supply chain management, and infrastructure design." ‍ Get the whitepaper ​ Get the whitepaper

Playout at the speed of business Broadcasters and content owners are under pressure to launch services faster and respond while audience demand still exists. This paper explores why playout is becoming central to commercial performance and why delivery models built for a slower market are becoming harder to sustain. Get the whitepaper Get the whitepaper Accelerate Time-to-Market Bring new channels and services to audiences faster. Scale with Demand Adapt services quickly without repeated rebuilds. Drive Profitable Growth Align costs to demand while capturing new revenue opportunities. Playout is no longer just about reliability. It is about how quickly you can turn decisions into live services. As FAST channels, digital first models and changing audience behaviours reshape the media landscape, broadcasters and content owners need the agility to launch, adapt and scale services in real time. This whitepaper explores why traditional playout models are struggling to keep pace, and how a cloud native managed approach can simplify delivery, reduce operational overhead and align cost with demand without compromising broadcast grade performance. Discover how leading organisations are rethinking playout to stay competitive, unlock new revenue opportunities and move at the speed the market now demands. Get the whitepaper ​ Get the whitepaper

Irdeto, MultiChoice and SuperSport rise above with Arqiva’s multi-platform media distribution services Find out how Irdeto and MultiChoice are setting the regional standard in pay-TV. Get the whitepaper Get the whitepaper ‍ 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. ​ Industry-Leading Service Delivery Continued to set the gold standard for pay-TV services across Southern Africa. ​ Greater Subscriber Value Ongoing migration to Arqplex enables enhanced services and experiences for subscribers. ​ Future-Ready for IP Positioned MultiChoice for long-term success in the transition to IP-based delivery. ​ Platform for Growth Created opportunities to adopt new products and services as business needs evolve.

Unlocking new affiliate partnerships with our cloud-based content interchange Discover how a world-leading media and entertainment company used our Arqade product to onboard new affiliate customers at speed. Get the whitepaper Get the whitepaper ‍ About our customer The broadcaster is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment organisations. It is renowned worldwide for its production and distribution of content across a diverse range of broadcast and streaming services, as well as for its ownership and management of major entertainment and news brands. The challenge: overcoming traditional distribution limitations Our customer offered its collection of premium linear channels to various European affiliates. However, dealing with traditional distribution methods sometimes meant a lack of flexibility, limiting the company’s reach. As time went on, the broadcaster wanted to switch to a more adaptable distribution method. The introduction of our Arqade service broadened our portfolio of distribution solutions, giving our customer a new way to deliver content to end affiliates The solution: a cloud-based international media distribution service Our innovative cloud-based media distribution service, Arqade, offers lower costs, ample flexibility and quicker setup times than traditional methods. Our solution aligned perfectly with the shared vision between Arqiva and the broadcaster to create a ‘global storefront’ for its channels, offering effortless and immediate access to international affiliates. Recognising the benefits, the broadcaster shifted its channels to cloud-based playout, selecting Arqade as its preferred platform to manage its international distribution. Our customer discovered that they could simply contribute their channels and authorise access to their affiliates, onboarding new partners easily. Arqade is used to set the source and delivery destination of channels. It then processes the content in the required formats, ready for customers. In a matter of minutes, the channels are available for distribution to the new affiliate. This streamlined process allows channel owners to onboard new affiliates easily and quickly – wherever they are in the world, making life easier for affiliate sales teams. ​ New Affiliate Partnerships Expanded distribution through new affiliates across Australia and New Zealand. ​ Lower Distribution Costs Replaced costly traditional delivery methods with a more efficient IP-based platform. ​ Increased Revenue Opportunities Enabled commercially viable deals with smaller affiliates previously out of reach. ​ Improved Resilience Leveraged global cloud connectivity to ensure highly reliable content distribution. ​ Faster Disaster Recovery Reduced service outage recovery times from several hours to just minutes.