MONTREAL—Grass Valley has announced that SPL Media House (SPL MH) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia has deployed Grass Valley’s AMPP SaaS Platform in the region.
As the media arm of the Saudi Pro League, SPL MH is using Grass Valley’s AMPP to produce and distribute content.
SPL MH also uses Grass Valley’s Framelight-X cloud-native asset management solution to create various video packages featuring Saudi Pro League clubs, players and highlights that are streamed via various digital platforms.
When the Saudi Pro League first tasked SPL MH with distributing match content, there was no legacy broadcast hardware in place. Given that the first match was set to begin in just six weeks, SPL quickly decided that the solution needed to be a cloud-based infrastructure that could be deployed quickly without complicated third-party systems integration.
“Grass Valley’s AMPP proved to be the only end-to-end SaaS platform in the world that could be run in the cloud and ‘built-out’ in our very tight timeframe,” explained Peter Van Dam, COO for SPL Media House. “It is also the only ‘tried-and-tested’ solution that is reliable and robust enough for our demanding application.”
AMPP’s SaaS model also enabled an “OpEx” model versus the traditional hardware-based “CapEx” model. AMPP’s workflows can be easily integrated, modified, and scaled as needs change.
“With a global audience of roughly 140 million viewers, there is strong interest in watching our matches and following our teams and players,” Van Dam said. “We were free to deploy an all-native-cloud solution because we weren’t locked into any traditional hardware or infrastructure.”
To deploy AMPP, a small room in SPL MH’s production facility was turned into an international broadcast Network Operations Center (NOC).
Feeds from the nine matches produced weekly are sent to AMPP via Haivision & LiveU SRT or NDI from the outside broadcast (OB) trucks stationed at the stadiums. From AMPP, these game feeds are distributed from the NOC to several social media & service platforms used by SPL & rights holders and to create alternative content.
In addition, remote commentary & distribution for the WPL “Saudi Women’s Premier League” is fully controlled via AMPP.
“We are pleased that SPL MH is using AMPP to deliver live Saudi Pro League matches to their fans worldwide,” said Hany Bartella, sales director for Grass Valley, Middle East and Africa. “All eyes are on what SPL MH and the League are doing. It’s great to be at the core of their innovative operational success.”
