RGB Networks and SeaChange International are getting traction with their recently announced partnership in the form of a deployment of the joint platform by Horry Telephone Cooperative.
Horry Telephone Cooperative (HTC), which is the nation’s largest telephone co-op, is using the two vendors’ offering to deliver more HD to its subscribers and insert ads from local advertisers into its programming to generate new revenue.
Since its founding in 1952, HTC has provided telephone service to the residents of Horry County, S.C., which includes the towns of Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach and Conway . In 1983, HTC expanded its services and began offering cable television delivered via a hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) network.
To offer its subscribers more HD, HTC is using RGB’s multi-function Broadcast Network Processor (BNP) to deliver three HD programs in each of the 6 MHz channels it has allocated to its HD service, rather than the usual two HD programs. RGB Networks said the BNP’s advanced transrating and statistical multiplexing capabilities allow up to 50 percent more HD programs to be carried without increasing bandwidth or impacting picture quality. In combination with its seamless ad insertion capabilities, the BNP provides HTC with a complete digital video-processing platform.
“We face stiff competition, but by continually adding more services and ensuring a superior customer experience, we’re winning the battle,” said Tom Vitt, HTC’s director of marketing. “RGB Networks’ and SeaChange’s products – in particular the Broadcast Network Processor and Spot system – play critical roles in this effort, enabling us to offer more HDTV and to carry ads from local advertisers, which adds to our bottom line.”
On the local advertising front, RGB’s BNP was combined with SeaChange’s Spot system to perform automated ad insertion, in addition to several other capabilities.
In addition to the BNP, HTC has also deployed RGB’s Simulcast Edge Processor (SEP) and Modular Media Converter (MMC) products in its cable network as part of its network upgrade.
“HTC’s deployment of a turnkey SeaChange and RGB solution to begin realizing new revenues through local ad insertion underscores precisely the opportunities we aimed to create under our reseller agreement,” said Yvette Kanouff, chief strategy officer for SeaChange.
RGB and SeaChange will demonstrate the turnkey advertising system next week in Orlando at TelcoTV.
