Live streaming was becoming a popular trend prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. For many in-person and live-event venues, it changed from an added luxury to an absolute necessity to survive when lockdowns hit. As the way people consumed “live” events changed, so did the way companies provided coverage across a wide array of verticals.
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One such company was William Hill, a British betting and gaming company that covers a vast number of racetracks across the United Kingdom and Australia. Thanks to UK-based CJP Broadcast Service Solutions, greyhound racing lovers don’t need to leave the comfort of their own couches for the day’s action. Fans of gambling and racing can stream the action from 30 UK and Irish greyhound tracks from the William Hill app or website, with additional coverage from Australian racetracks now available as well.
“We wanted to create something special in our racing coverage to provide our customers with a better, richer racing experience,” said Mark Chesworth, head of broadcast at William Hill. “CJP Broadcast showed us that by using bespoke software, they could build a system that would bring our dedicated live greyhound racing channel to life. Showing more live greyhound races than any other channel, viewers are served real-time data, prices, and information graphics for each runner. Led by a team of presenters, each bringing their personalities and styles to the screen, the fully automated system CJP developed gives us the output we want, and one our presenters love to drive.”
And They’re Off
William Hill did have a platform in place, but when the pandemic hit and more people turned to online and app streaming services, it went looking for a more cost-efficient and scalable solution for its users. “It was previously a resource-heavy channel that had a variety of content delivered,” explained Chesworth. “It’s now committed to giving the greyhound customer a dedicated channel but at a lower running cost to William Hill.”
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The CJP Broadcast team went to work to install a Ross Video Ultrix router and the PlayBox Technology Cosmos playout automation and streaming platform. According to Chesworth, the William Hill production team—based in the St. Johns site in the Leeds district of West Yorkshire, England—can then use a combination of video, audio, and data feeds to create a semi-automated, playlist-driven outlet that is fully focused on providing its viewers with the dedicated greyhound channel.
“Led by a team of presenters, each bringing their personalities and styles to the screen, the fully automated system CJP developed gives us the output we want, and one our presenters love to drive.”
Mark Chesworth, William Hill
Because William Hill sought to provide the users with an intuitive, as-close-to-being-there experience as possible, detailed graphics and data processing for real-time results and statistics from 30 different locations were pivotal. For that, CJP turned to media software specialist Squared Paper and its Busby software developing kit. The software, which can be logged into remotely, takes the data from the wide scope of racetracks and generates HTML5 graphics templates, among a slew of other benefits.
Naturally, being able to control more than 30 racetrack feeds remotely was ideal. However, due to restrictions placed on everyone as a result of the pandemic, developing that remote system brought quite the challenge. “The system was specified for remote operation, but the COVID-19 lockdown meant we had to develop it remotely, too,” said Chris Phillips, managing director of CJP Broadcast. “We assembled the hardware rack and operations desk in our demo area; Squared Paper accessed it to develop the software functionality, and William Hill could also log in to monitor progress. At CJP Broadcast, our approach is always to select the best technology partners to meet the user specification and to work closely with them to pool all our knowledge and experience to exceed expectations on time and within budget.”
Simplified Streaming
The updated William Hill streaming capabilities went live on Oct. 24. Though not available via OTT systems for television, William Hill users get plenty of greyhound racing options on both the William Hill app and website. The channel covers 11 hours of racing a day, 364 days a year. There are roughly 140 races covered each day, a number that has increased as some Australian greyhound tracks joined the app.
Currently, all races are streamed live, as no on-demand programming is yet available. That means the quality and presentation of the stream is important to the viewer experience—and that begins with the streaming workflow.
Getting live greyhound races and data from 30 different tracks may seem like a daunting task, and while getting the stream from Point A to Point B is a team effort, it typically goes off without a hitch. The streaming workflow itself begins in the St. Johns studio, and William Hill works with a couple of resources and providers to give racing fans the best user experience possible.
“Each greyhound stadium sends their feed to NEP Connect in Media City,” explained Chesworth. “We then take those feeds into the Broadcast department in Leeds. [William Hill] hands off the feed in St Johns to our streaming provider, StreamAMG. They then deliver the stream to our customers via their platform which is then available on our website and app.”
In an age of streaming options and platforms for the end user, the video player within the app is designed to support Apple or Android devices. And while the channel isn’t accessible everywhere (no U.S. availability, for example), it doesn’t mean growth isn’t welcomed, nor would it be too complex with the system CJP installed. “We would convert the stream to that specific region’s requirements if needed,” Chesworth offered.
Customer Satisfaction
Now a few months into the updated app and website experience, both William Hill and CJP Broadcast are happy with the results. Racing fans have access to numerous greyhound races from local racetracks and more remote locations.
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“This project for William Hill was particularly satisfying,” Phillips explained. “They started with an operational requirement rather than a technical description. They went out to potential suppliers with what they wanted to achieve. We were able to show them just how engaging, dynamic, and scalable the channel could be. The solution we developed, which we now call Smart Streams, applies to any broadcaster or streaming service provider dealing in data-rich live content in sports or other genres.”
“CJP was an ideal partner for this solution, knowledgeable and committed at each stage of the project. They understood our requirements and created a solution bespoke to us,” concluded Chesworth. “We will continue to work with them for future development of our current channels and for any further projects we embark on.”
