Family Entertainment Television Chooses Zixi for Live IP Video Broadcasting

Zixi announced that Family Entertainment Television, Inc., a leading family entertainment company reaching over 75 million households through Family Entertainment Television (FETV) and Family Movie Classics (FMC), has deployed Zixi, replacing satellite distribution, to deliver content to 50 Subsidiaries throughout the United States deliver.

Family Entertainment Television, a provider of family entertainment content with a top 50 Nielsen-rated audience, has experienced significant growth in popularity in recent years, driven by demand for high-quality, timeless programming. Using Zixi-as-a-Service (ZaaS) in FETV's operations has streamlined content distribution by eliminating the need for satellite infrastructure and providing a seamless transition to cost-optimized cloud infrastructure, while maintaining the reliability associated with traditional delivery preserved. At the forefront of this transformation is the Zixi Broadcaster, which acts as a conduit for content from local sources to the cloud, where the SDVP efficiently processes and distributes content to affiliates, all under the supervision of ZEN Master, the control plane that drives operational efficiency and final processes are ensured. Visibility until the end.

FETV's previous distribution workflow was based on a satellite uplink, which required 24/7 maintenance, while partners outside the satellite coverage zone had to receive streams via alternative methods. As more satellite spectrum is allocated to 5G and capacity becomes scarce and costly, FETV has had to overhaul its sales workflow. The company's growth required a dynamic content delivery system with significantly reduced total cost of ownership and the ability to scale and adapt to changing business needs. The transition to IP-based distribution facilitated by Zixis SDVP not only accelerates the onboarding of new subsidiaries, but also increases operational flexibility while optimizing costs. By replacing satellites with optimized on-premise servers for onboarding content to the cloud and leveraging the extensive Zixi Enabled Network of over 1,000 media companies and 400 technology partners, FETV significantly reduces time to market from weeks to just a few Hours.

Zixi's renowned reliability and scalability, supported by patented features such as hitless failover and protocol efficiency, ensure seamless content transport. The ZaaS platform offers all the benefits of SDVP while providing a cost-optimized cloud infrastructure, reducing time and resources spent on system architecture and enabling greater focus and investment in business and revenue generation. Zixi's protocol optimization minimizes initial cost and computational overhead, resulting in a lower total cost of ownership for FETV. ZEN Master's intuitive interface provides engineers and operators with the tools necessary to orchestrate, control and monitor signals across the distribution network. The advantages of the Zixi protocol, reinforced by patented hitless failover, ensure reliable signal transmission. The proprietary zero compression technology has further enabled the reduction of egress costs and opened additional opportunities to develop new business models and generate revenue.

“The broadcast landscape is constantly evolving and the inflexibility of satellite broadcasting no longer meets our needs,” said Adam Sumrall, executive vice president of FETV and FMC. “After evaluating the economics and superior total cost of ownership of the Zixi platform, the transition to IP became a strategic imperative.”

“Zixi’s extensive experience in delivering large-scale workflows is extremely valuable to our customers,” said Tim Wilson, Senior Director of Sales at Zixi, adding: “From ideation to execution, our team of experts have been at our side throughout the journey FETV. This makes the transition to IP an effortless process.”