NBC Olympics selects Amagi to provide UHD cloud playout for Tokyo Olympics coverage on Olympic channel

NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, has selected Amagi to provide UHD playout with cloud automation for its production of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, which take place in Tokyo, Japan, from July 23 – August 8, specifically on Olympic Channel. The announcement was made today by Anil Abraham, Director, Systems Architecture, NBC Olympics, and Srinivasan KA, co-founder, Amagi.

As part of the agreement, Amagi will deploy its award-winning cloud playout platform, Amagi CLOUDPORT, and live sports/news automation solution, Amagi LIVE, to create Olympic Channel’s live coverage in UHD. With HEVC playout and mezzanine quality UHD encoding, Amagi CLOUDPORT architecture creates a new benchmark for video transmission over IP, especially for a global and premium live sporting event such as the Olympic Games.

Key features of Amagi’s playout and automation solution include:

• Compute-efficient architecture with entire UHD playout on CPUs and no GPUs
• Containerized and componentized architecture leveraging Kubernetes
• Micro-services for scaling video processing on demand
• Browser-based UI for real-time controls with end-to-end low latency operations
• Rich graphics with DVE effects including HTML graphics, live closed captioning support, and live-to-VOD recording capability
• End-to-end software solution including multi-view monitoring, hitless switching and 24/7 tech support

Amagi provided deep integration with NBCUniversal’s existing workflows to ensure seamless operational capability to the network’s various teams.

“NBC Olympics, along with NBC Sports Group, are together setting a shining example of how sports broadcasters can put the power of cloud technologies to create unparalleled experience for the viewers as well as those involved in managing broadcast operations,” said Srinivasan KA. “Amagi is delighted to be their cloud technology partner and create new milestones in live sports broadcast on a global scale through innovation, superior quality and reliability.”

“Amagi’s support for JPEG-XS, SMPTE 2110, and AMWA NMOS along with a cloud native software architecture combines to give NBC Olympics a powerful solution for UHD playout,” said Abraham. “It is a game changing combination that allows for the flexibility of cloud based remote control with the low video latencies expected for sports.”

About NBC Olympics

A division of NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming and promoting NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Olympic Games. NBC Olympics is renowned for its unsurpassed Olympic heritage, award-winning production, and ability to aggregate the largest audiences in U.S. television history. NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights on all platforms to all Olympic Games through 2032. NBC Olympics also produces thousands of hours of Olympic sports programming throughout the year, which is presented on NBC, NBCSN, Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA, Peacock and NBC Sports digital platforms.

About Amagi

Amagi is a next-gen media tech company that provides cloud broadcast and streaming TV solutions to TV networks, content owners and streaming TV platforms. Amagi enables content owners to launch, distribute and monetize live linear channels on Free-Ad-Supported TV and SVOD platforms. Amagi also offers 24x7 cloud managed services bringing simplicity, advanced automation and transparency to the entire broadcast operations for traditional TV networks. Amagi delivers 500+ channels with deployments in over 40 countries. Amagi has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Singapore, New Delhi and Bangalore. For more information on Amagi, please visit amagi.com.

Amagi Contact:

Sanjay Kirimanjeshwar
Head of Global Marketing
Email: sanjay@amagi.com