Customer:
Mediaset
Country:
Italy
The Customer
Mediaset S.p.A, Italy's largest commercial broadcaster, has undertaken a major modernization of its playout and channel origination infrastructure. With a portfolio of 20 channels and a prime-time audience share exceeding 35%, Mediaset needed a scalable, future-proof solution that would streamline operations, enhance resilience, and support live sports, news and thematic content. To achieve this, Mediaset selected Evertz's industry-leading Mediator automation platform alongside the Overture RT Live playout engine, MAGNUM-OS orchestration, and VUE control interfaces.
Mediaset wanted to consolidate multiple legacy playout systems into a single, scalable, and efficient platform, ensuring operational continuity across multiple geographically separate locations. While Mediaset had already transitioned to SMPTE ST 2110, they sought to expand asset management capabilities and enable greater flexibility for future growth. The goal was to modernize their playout facility while maintaining a more traditional model that leveraged existing infrastructure.
Solution at a Glance:
- Mediaset upgraded its playout system to support 20 channels and improve efficiency, and ensure support for live and thematic content.
- Outdated SDI systems were replaced with a unified, IP-based platform.
- Mediaset implemented Evertz's Mediator automation platform, Overture RT Live, MAGNUM-OS, and VUE interfaces, integrated with WHATS'ON by Mediagenix, to streamline workflows and enhance automation.
- The transition included phased IP infrastructure deployment (starting in 2018), SMPTE ST 2110 routing, and extensive failover and site failure simulations, ensuring high system resilience and minimal downtime.
- Post-deployment benefits include reduced rack space (from 60 to 12), lower energy and maintenance costs, improved reliability, and readiness for future technologies like cloud-based disaster recovery and AI-driven automation.
The Challenge
Mediaset's previous playout infrastructure relied on a dual playout system installed over a decade ago, incorporating two different technologies across separate sites in Cologno-Monzese and Segrate. This setup hindered technical and operational synergy. The transition was necessary to modernize the technology, unify the sites, and reimagine the content supply chain workflow.
The legacy infrastructure was based on SDI and heavily reliant on GPI systems, making it difficult to adopt new technologies and meet business demands aimed at enhancing the user experience. The reliance on outdated components required frequent compromises, limiting innovation and scalability.
Key challenges included:
- Migrating from a fragmented and custom-built ecosystem to a unified, standards-based solution.
- Ensuring system resilience across multiple locations, including a disaster recovery (DR) site.
- Integrating with new scheduling systems and third-party media management tools while maintaining metadata synchronization.
- Supporting live and file-based ingest workflows with dynamic, real-time content processing.
- Finding ways to increase efficiency using the existing infrastructure while introducing new tools and software.
- Providing reassurance in relation to software stability and performance.
The deployment of Mediator and Overture at Mediaset represents a significant step forward in broadcast automation and workflow efficiency. By integrating Mediator's powerful automation and media asset management capabilities, alongside Evertz's MAGNUM orchestration and VUE control interfaces, we've delivered a fully unified, IP-based solution. This transformation has streamlined operations, enhanced system resilience, and ensured seamless management of both live and file-based workflows - optimizing Mediaset's playout infrastructure today while preparing them for the future of broadcasting.
– Scott Robinson | Technical Product Manager, Mediator | Evertz
The Solution
To validate the resilience of the new infrastructure, Mediaset and Evertz conducted rigorous testing through simulated site failures. These tests included controlled site shutdowns and stress testing of failover mechanisms. The results demonstrated that the system maintained synchronization and redundancy as designed, providing Mediaset with the confidence that, in the event of a real failure, their playout operations would continue seamlessly without disruption. The simulations also allowed the engineering team to fine-tune recovery protocols and further optimize system stability.
The transition to an IP-based workflow was a phased process:
- Infrastructure modernization: Deployment of SMPTE ST 2110 with two IP-based Vans in 2018, followed by a large scale IP core with EXE routers for intra- and inter-campus routing in 2021.
- System integration: The Mediator platform was integrated with Mediaset's scheduling system, WHATS'ON by Mediagenix, ensuring streamlined operations.
- Workflow enhancements: Automation capabilities reduced manual interventions, optimizing operational efficiency.
Mediaset also invested considerable time and resources in training its engineering and operations teams to ensure they were prepared for the transition. A strong belief in IP standards has positioned Mediaset for future technological advancements while maintaining complete control over audio and video flows.
We are extremely pleased with the flexibility, agility, and scalability of the Evertz solution. Over the past 18 months, we have completely transitioned to IP and streamlined both operations and facilities while delivering a better control plane for operations at the same time.
– Maurizio Raffaeli | Director of Broadcast TV Technology | Mediaset
The Conclusion
Since deployment, the new infrastructure has delivered substantial improvements:
- Operational efficiency: A unified, intuitive interface streamlines workflow management, reducing complexity and manual intervention.
- Reliability & resilience: Improved system stability with fewer outages, faster recovery times, and seamless failover across multiple sites.
- Scalability & future-proofing: Supports the expansion of channels, with capacity for additional growth and interoperability within an IP-based content supply chain.
- Environmental & cost benefits: Consolidation from 60 racks to 12 significantly reduced energy consumption, HV AC requirements, maintenance and operational costs.
- Ongoing innovation: Exploring cloud-based disaster recovery and AI-driven automation to further optimize performance and ensure long-term adaptability.
- Content quality & compliance: Advanced signal processing and error detection mechanisms ensured high-quality playout.
This modernization marks a significant milestone in Mediaset's journey towards a more agile and future-ready broadcast infrastructure. The integration of Evertz's cutting-edge technology has not only enhanced our operational efficiency but also provided us with the flexibility to adapt to the rapidly evolving media landscape. Our teams can now deliver content with greater precision and reliability, ensuring that our viewers continue to enjoy the highest quality experience across all platforms.
– Mario Ailano | Head of Broadcast Operations | Mediaset