BURBANK, Calif.—Estrella Media operates under the umbrella of MediaCo and centers itself around content that connects with Hispanic communities, serving as a cultural and information bridge and reaching audiences across various broadcast and digital platforms. We are known for our diverse programming of news, entertainment, sports, reality shows and music content designed for our predominantly Hispanic audience and take pride in being one of the largest producers of Spanish-language original video and audio content in the United States, a lot of which is produced in our studios here in Burbank.
Our content is available nationwide, whether it’s through our O&O stations or our affiliate stations and partnerships with other broadcasters, and cable and satellite providers.
As part of our overall strategy for delivering high-quality broadcasting, we needed to enhance cost efficiency and operational flexibility. I was tasked with spearheading the search for transitioning our satellite broadcast delivery to an IP-based workflow. That’s when I discovered Zixi, and after finding out that it could leverage our existing hardware infrastructure and that of our affiliates and broadcast partners, it was immediately clear that they were the right choice for our operations.
Simplified Delivery
Within 60 days, we migrated from satellite to IP for our programming distribution, and within 90 days, we had fully transitioned across all our affiliates and owned-and-operated stations.
Our affiliates experienced minimal disruption as Zixi integrated with their existing operations so they could maintain continuity while benefiting from IP-based advantages. The integration of Zixi with Harmonic IRDs (Integrated Receiver Decoders—8130/8140 models) is ideal because it simplifies the workflow with minimal reconfiguration and no additional middleware.
The transition was simple as we could leverage existing IRDs around the country, and with a straightforward software update and internet connection, IRDs could receive our signals through Zixi, allowing us to deliver to over 100 locations.
Uninterrupted signal delivery is critical for maintaining the high quality of broadcasts. We operate a network connecting our Los Angeles and Dallas broadcast operating centers, and Zixi’s inter-cluster capabilities and failover capabilities automatically switch to backup streams or alternative paths to ensure broadcasts stay online even in the case of network disruptions, dual server or circuit failures.
In addition to our two broadcast centers, we’re using Zixi’s ZaaS (Zixi as a Service) to deliver live and linear content to certain target affiliates, including MVPDs and MSOs, without requiring extensive on-premises infrastructure.
The shift away from relying on satellite delivery and distribution has provided significant savings. For example, live soccer games originating in Mexico now incur negligible additional costs, with our IP delivery infrastructure paying for itself within just a few games.
We’ve been using the Zixi platform for about two years now, and the ease of maintenance means we experience minimal operational disruptions—in fact, simple code updates are completed in seconds. In addition, satellite distribution includes significant recurring expenses for leases and maintenance and transitioning to IP has eliminated these costs, fully covering our investment in the new system.
Zen Master
One of my favorite tools is Zixi’s Zen Master, which gives us centralized access to all enabled devices across our locations. It’s comprehensive, giving us deep visibility into performance metrics for every stream and every endpoint on the network. I like to think of it as a holistic health view of our operations, one that helps us proactively manage our delivery network and quickly analyze and address any issues. It’s the glue that holds everything together.
Zixi’s expertise and guidance throughout have been nothing but professional and responsive. Our cost, operational, and technical benefits have been transformative and have modernized our content distribution. Zixi’s technology and team has really set the standard for what IP video transport can achieve. ●
Chris Buchanan is vice president of engineering at Estrella Media, where he leads the technical operations behind the company’s broadcast activities. He can be reached at chrisb@estrellamedia.com.
