Case Study: BT achieves unified UHD video delivery and operational efficiency with AWS Elemental

BT - Customer Case Study

BT, a global communications leader, launched BT Ultra HD Sport after winning exclusive UEFA broadcast rights and faced a nine-month deadline to build a glass-to-glass UHD workflow. The company needed to deliver 351 matches per season (with up to 12 concurrent games), enable interactive features and live-to-VOD, and provide a consistent experience across set-top boxes, apps and multiscreen devices — all on time and on budget.

Working with Elemental, BT consolidated disparate hardware systems into a software-based unified headend (Elemental Live, Delta and Conductor) that produces HEVC 4K for UHD, H.264 ABR for multiscreen, just-in-time packaging, DRM and live-to-VOD, with multi-CDN and IPTV delivery. The streamlined architecture reduced costs and operational complexity while delivering a seamless cross-platform experience; digital viewership peaked at more than 214,000 on key match nights, and BT has scaled from 90 channels at launch to hundreds without compromising quality.

BT

Greg McCall

Managing Director of TV Technology