PlayBox provides core functionality for ground-breaking automation at William Hill
London, UK – PlayBox Technology UK, the leading channel in a box provider for media companies worldwide, has provided the foundation of a remarkable automated playout system for leading betting and gaming company William Hill. The PlayBox Cosmos cloud playout engine is a key part of a bespoke system developed by CJP Broadcast Service Solutions.
The concept of the app channel is for comprehensive race coverage, including dynamic high-quality graphics, but operated by a live presenter in the style of a radio DJ, from a self-op workstation. The presenter could be located anywhere, with feeds from multiple horse and greyhound race meetings to be switched live, so a cloud implementation was the obvious solution.
CJP and its software development partner Squared Paper developed a system which relied on the Cosmos playout automation to deliver the high-quality, seamless output including keying graphics, live switching and presenter interaction. To accommodate the changing timescales of the day’s racing, and the presenter’s engagement with the audience, the central management system effectively provided continual updates to the playlist in Cosmos, which handled all the outputs completely automatically.
“I have not heard of another system quite like this, but it was easily supported by Cosmos,” said Philip Neighbour, COO at PlayBox Technology. “Our virtualised software is completely open, so we could support CJP in developing the integration. The architecture of Cosmos readily accepts multiple updates to playlists, so we could give the client exactly what they needed: premium professional playout performance, which we distribute to the various platforms through the cloud.
“What this project shows is that integrated playout platforms like Cosmos need not be closed boxes,” Neighbour added. “Each user has different requirements for operation and interaction, and we can readily configure our technology to satisfy them.”
CJP Broadcast provides a wide range of services in the broadcast, corporate, education and sports sectors. These include systems integration, augmented-reality/virtual-reality studio design and construction, live video production and streaming. The Squared Paper team have many years of experience in the Broadcast industry creating control, automation and management systems for some of the worlds largest broadcasters.
PlayBox Technology is a media and entertainment technology company delivering over 20,000 master entertainment streams every day. Drawing on 20 years’ experience of innovation in channel in a box technology, it now offers a broad range of software solutions running on standard hardware or in the cloud.
Each media service will have its own unique requirements, so PlayBox provides workflow solutions in modular software, which includes tools for all aspects of planning and managing a group of broadcast or streaming channels. Capabilities include content servers, graphics tools and templates, and planning and scheduling systems as well as the mission-critical playout automation. Designed for minimal operator interaction with non-specialist staff, the intuitive user interfaces are implemented in HTML5. Interfaces are tailored for each user, and are accessible on any device.