How Ukrainian OTT/VoD service MEGOGO worked with Cinegy to launch UHD channels as well as a fully automated multi-channel playout system
   

“Cinegy delivered a robust and innovative solution to help us to build our 24/7 sports channels. Our aim is to provide the most reliable and cost-effective technology solution to ensure the best possible video quality for our users, and we are glad to have Cinegy on board as a partner,” said Viacheslav Havrylov, head of broadcast MEGOGO.

What MEGOGO subscribers want:

• live sports
• exceptional quality
• 24/7 sport channels
• 4k
• Multi-channel audio

The company

MEGOGO is an international media service, founded in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2011. It is a leader among OTT platforms in Ukraine and one of the biggest in Eastern Europe. Further afield, the service is available in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. A significant part of its catalogue is also available worldwide.

The media library includes thousands of content items, such as TV channels with interactive features, movies, series and cartoons, as well as games, educational and blogging content, audiobooks, podcasts and radio.

A few years ago, the company decided to bring exclusive sports events, including UEFA, Serie A, La Liga, League 1, TopRank and others to the market, driving its strategy to become a top sports broadcaster, acquiring and delivering more content to the markets where it operates. To achieve this aim, MEGOGO needed the support of a strong technology partner. 

The company was very clear about its responsibilities and the importance of delivering live sport in the best possible quality, with uncompromising reliability. Any technology investment would have to make this a reality.

The initial goal was to provide four 24/7 channels, so MEGOGO needed a vendor and systems integrator to provide an end-to-end solution, including ingest system, monitoring, graphics and more. Following a month of research, speaking to vendors and receiving a series of proof of concepts, the decision was made to go with Cinegy and its partner Engineer Service.

The challenge

The most important requirement for MEGOGO was to preserve the original quality of the content received from its suppliers and deliver that to its subscribers, via its OTT platform and MBR transcoders, where the quality would be managed adaptively in accordance with HLS and DASH technology.

The idea of using an SDI-based content chain was considered and rejected due to complexity and cost in the very initial stage of the project. As Viacheslav Havrylov, head of broadcast at MEGOGO explains, “We asked ourselves what if we would use the original format and methods of delivering, and not introduce additional conversion, using TS via UDP/RTP and SRT protocols. The main challenge was commentating on live sports events, and we managed to find a solution and integrate it with our partners.”

The solution

After assessing all the options, MEGOGO realised all the benefits of selecting Cinegy and MPEG2TS (versus SDI) to build its system: the broadcaster would be able to add new features, content and delivery methods in a flexible way. Havrylov adds, “We found that Cinegy was designed intelligently, and each piece of the system fits seamlessly into the others. We have activated most of the products related to multichannel playout, and had a chance to get a feel for the flexibility of the system, which allowed us to work remotely and send our on-air editors directly to the venue.”

Delivery at scale was a massive part of the success of this project, supporting significant growth in the output. As of today, MEGOGO has ten redundant 24/7 UHD channels, and a fully automated multichannel system. The broadcaster has also built a monitoring system and is working on integrating Cinegy Playout with the MEGOGO CDN.

The result

MEGOGO now has a full-scale and complete multichannel solution, offering 4k support through an advanced and cost-effective architecture. “The sky is no longer the limit for us, and we continue to reach further, supporting by our partners Cinegy and Engineer Service,” Havrylov says.

Mike Efimov, international sales manager at Cinegy, added” “This is a great example of how a long-term partnership delivers real results for the end user. MEGOGO has proved a valuable customer for CInegy, and together we have delivered precisely the workflows and functionality they need to delight their audiences.”

The solution created to bring MEGOGO sports content to its viewers is the most advanced in the OTT market for live sports streaming, cementing the broadcaster’s position as a pioneer in UHD streaming in Ukraine.