Alibaba Cloud and Olympic Broadcasting Services said they’re launching the OBS Cloud to support the content production and delivery workflows involved with broadcasting the Olympic Games.
OBS Cloud is being offered to rights-holding broadcasters as a totally cloud-based solution and should be in place for Tokyo 2020. To date, migration of broadcasting to the cloud for content-creation and distribution has been gradual, keeping usage at a relatively low level
That’s set to change with OBS Cloud, which its partners say offers the flexibility and scalability rights-holding broadcasters need to set up their live sports broadcasting from the Olympic Games.
“We are very pleased that Alibaba Cloud has come up with this innovative and powerful approach to Olympic broadcasting. As the host broadcaster of the Olympic Games, we at OBS see ourselves as a leader in transforming the media industry,” said Yiannis Exarchos, CEO of OBS. “Tokyo 2020 will be an opportunity for the International Olympic Committee to champion digital transformation in the media industry, as well as empowering broadcasters around the world with a cloud platform that delivers new possibilities for how the Games are enjoyed by fans around the world.”
Time’s often a factor for broadcasters to set up, test and commission their on-premises systems at the Olympic Games. Typically, they’ve only been able to test their equipment after arriving at the International Broadcast Centre in the host city, and space has traditionally been in high demand.
OBS will offer most of the Olympic Games’ visual and audio assets to rights-holding broadcasters through the new cloud platform in an efficient and secure way. Broadcasters can also set up their own content-creation, management and distribution systems on the OBS Cloud, which will be optimized to address the particular needs of the most-demanding live multi-sport workflows.
The OBS Cloud’s live media service will allow broadcasters to experiment with new program concepts in a secure “sandbox” environment or conduct interactive event broadcasts. After the close of the Games, broadcasters can keep the asset on the OBS Cloud for future events or bring them with them.
The proprietary cloud system leverages Alibaba Cloud’s services. It will run on the most-advanced Intel Xeon scalable processors, offering a suite of solutions, including super-computing capabilities, high-speed connectivity directly from the IBC, cloud storage, real-time monitoring, live video and audio broadcasting services and media processing.
“The future of the Olympic Games is in cloud technology, and Alibaba Cloud is fully committed to contributing to the digital transformation of the Olympic Games through innovation,” said Joey Tan, general manager of Global Strategic Accounts and Sports Business Unit at Alibaba Cloud. “This partnership with OBS is an exciting initiative to expand the reach and accessibility of the Olympic Games content and ultimately stimulate a rethink on how the media operates in a digital era.”
Alibaba Cloud also said it will collaborate with OBS and Intel – also an Olympic TOP Partner – to explore a more-efficient and reliable delivery pipeline of immersive content to rights-holding broadcasters that will improve the fan experience and bring them closer to the action via Intel’s volumetric and virtual-reality technologies.
