Case Study: Studio Hamburg achieves scalable, high-quality TIERWELT smart TV streaming with Microsoft Azure

German production studio runs new smart TV app on Azure

Studio Hamburg, through its Doclights GmbH production unit, is a leading German creator of wildlife, documentary, and reality programming that wanted more creative control and a way to open its archives to viewers. The company faced high costs and technical complexity for building native apps across platforms while preserving the high-definition picture quality and handling large, highly variable traffic volumes required by its wildlife content.

Doclights partnered with MEKmedia to build TIERWELT live on Microsoft Azure using Azure PaaS, Azure Media Services and an Akamai-backed CDN; MEKmedia handles app development, back-end infrastructure and video delivery. Launched on Samsung smart TVs in October 2015, the solution delivers HD streaming at scale, reduced operational overhead (MEKmedia runs 11 streaming units and 25 servers), strengthened Doclights’ brand, opened previously unseen archival content, and enabled fast experimentation and new revenue opportunities.

Studio Hamburg

Nina Peters

Head of New Media