Tata Communications to host NDTV video streaming service

NDTV Convergence has chosen the `LiveBroadcast' service of Tata Communications for its high-quality, flash-based streaming service to broadcast three national channels in India - two news and one business - over the internet to a global audience.

Tata Communications' `LiveBroadcast' service suite of content delivery network (CDN) services uses the BitGravity's technology to deliver resources and scalability to support NDTV's growing audience and their need for constant and dynamic flow of content, especially during peak times of news traffic, a Tata Tele release said.

By leveraging the LiveBroadcast service, NDTV can avoid cut capitsl costs of scaling up infrastructure to deliver live video over the internet. It also eliminates the need to install equipment on NDTV's premises, saving on infrastructure costs and allowing for maximum uptime and scalability when channels are added, the release noted.

Tata Communications would receive live feeds from the satellite and stream the contents on NDTV's website using the CDN platform, Kawaljit Singh Bedi, CTO of NDTV Convergence said, adding that Tata Communications' LiveBroadcast service offered a more cost-effective way to improve the quality and provide consistency of NDTV's internet live broadcasts.

"We found a specialised video delivery provider in Tata Communications. We receive superior quality, scale, and multiple delivery options that create new monetising opportunities for our content," he added.

"On May 16, 2009, India's general election results day, NDTV.com served over 1.5 million live video streams. Tata Communications' LiveBroadcast service handled the increased video requests without a hitch. The service is scalable and robust, and is what we need for handling breaking news stories and the corresponding spikes in traffic that occur several times throughout the year," added Kawaljit.