Case Study: Rural Media Group achieves ultra-low-latency, reliable remote production and backhaul with Haivision

Reconnecting City with Country Remote Production from the Rodeo

Rural Media Group, the leading multimedia provider of rural American news and western lifestyle programming (RFD‑TV, The Cowboy Channel), needed a cost‑effective way to control and transport remote cameras from Nashville to its new Fort Worth studios without relying on expensive fiber. After evaluating options, Rural Media Group chose Haivision’s Makito X encoders and decoders—drawn by their frame‑accurate, genlockable sources and low‑latency performance demonstrated at NAB 2018.

Haivision implemented a Makito X‑based workflow using SRT for secure, low‑latency double‑hop streams (Cheyenne → Fort Worth → Atlanta) for The Cowboy Channel’s 10‑day Cheyenne Frontier Days coverage. The deployment delivered under‑one‑second latency per leg, Stream Sync frame alignment for flawless A/V lip‑sync, rock‑solid reliability across continuous live hours, and significant cost savings by replacing fiber backhaul and allowing outright equipment purchase. Haivision’s solution enabled immediate remote production and is being phased enterprise‑wide for further remote studio integrations.

Rural Media Group

David Mitchell

Chief Technology Officer