PlayBox Adds To OHTV
PlayBox Technology has supplied two AirBox playout and automation servers to London-based broadcaster OHTV. These add to OHTV’s existing channels, also supported with PlayBox Technology severs, as the broadcaster continues to expand its operations.
The new AirBox servers are to provide playout and automation for two new OHTV channels. These servers are the new compact versions that occupy one rack unit, rather than the alternative 3RU model. CEO Akin Salami has selected these as the best fit for OHTV’s requirements. “We have been relying on PlayBox Technology for the three years since we started hosting our own broadcast operations. Our first servers were the 3RU type but now we are tight on rack space and the 1RU versions are now perfect for us. These have a bit less storage capacity but our existing shared NAS more than makes up the difference. Now we can expand.”
Ben Gunkel, UK Sales Director, PlayBox Technology, comments, “When OHTV was starting out with its own playout it chose to put its faith in PlayBox Technology. Akin is a very hands-on CEO and really spent time to understand PlayBox Technology as a company before buying into the technology. Today we continue to help OHTV to grow its channels and are looking forward to supporting them for many years to come.”
The first OHTV channel is on UK Sky channel 199. The second is beamed to Africa via Eutelsat. After two years a third was started on OHTV’s own IPTV platform for the OH BoX service. This plays out globally to Africa, USA, Australia, Canada and other regions. These three channels each have an AirBox and share a TitleBox live interactive multi-layer graphics server and ListBox offline schedule editor.
OHTV has a backup server that has assumed an extra role. Salami explains, “You can build all sorts of configurations around the PlayBox Technology solution. We run one AirBox as a shadow/backup player so, if a main channel fails, it can kick in and be switched to air via the router. But so far nothing has failed! Today its main use is to take over playout while we are updating the main equipment.”