Today, Concurrent announced its latest technology for time-shifted TV, which is called the Real Time Pitcher 2000.
According to Concurrent, the Real Time Pitcher 2000 (RTP2000) uses resilient real-time content distribution to ensure no loss of video captures due to network or component failures, enabling content ingest success rates of up to 99.999 percent.
Concurrent said this latest enhancement to its time-shifted television products has already generated interest with cable operators, particularly Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, both of which offer Start Over utilizing Concurrent equipment and software. Start Over allows customers to go back to the beginning of certain shows during a specific time frame.
“When we launched Start Over in our Tampa division in January, we partnered with Concurrent specifically because of its superiority in time-shifted television technology,” said Jeff Chen, SVP of advanced technology for Bright House. “From the very beginning, we have always planned to build Start Over as a fully resilient service. Now with the launch of the RTP2000, we can further enhance our customer experience by ensuring no loss of Start Over content when any component fails.”
The RTP2000’s primary function is to convert unicast FTP – information sent from a single source to a single point – to reliable multicast, where information is sent from one or more sources to one or more points. The RTP2000 takes the incoming video content and “pitches” it to several real-time catchers, from which the video servers then pull and stream selected content to the end-user.
Concurrent said what distinguishes this latest generation of content pitcher from its competitors is resilient real-time content distribution, which increases content ingest success rates.
Earlier this week, Time Warner Cable announced that it was debuting Start Over in Staten Island with plans of rolling out the service to the rest of its New York City footprint by year’s end.
More Broadband Direct:
• AT&T ends deal with Dish; still needs DBS partner
• Comcast Spotlight renews licensing agreement with Harris
• Concurrent launches next-gen time-shifted TV pitcher
• Willner, Rodgers to co-chair The Cable Show ’09
