TeliaSonera International Carrier has announced that its Media Distribution Service (MDS) has been chosen by Irish broadcaster, TG4 to power its new live streaming and catch up services, TG4 LIVE and TG4 Archive, launching with live coverage of the 10th Annual TG4 Traditional Irish Music Awards, Gradam Ceoil TG4 2010.
Using the new TG4 LIVE service (http://live.tg4.ie/), fans around the world will be able to watch the concert and award ceremony live online at the same time as it is broadcast on television featuring some of Ireland’s most talented traditional musicians. To coincide with this, the Irish-language broadcaster will launch its TG4 Archive catch up service, making it possible for viewers internationally to watch recently broadcast TG4 content from the previous month. Both services will be powered by TeliaSonera International Carrier’s Media Distribution Service that manages distribution of content from upload right through to TV or online broadcast.
Gradam Ceoil 2010 takes place on 27th March at the Wexford Opera House and will be broadcast on Easter Sunday at 9.30pm GMT. Joining the winners will be a host of special guests including traditional music legends Martin Hayes, Liam O’Flynn and The Boys of the Lough.
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, commented: “The annual TG4 Gradam Ceoil concert is one of the channel’s schedule highlights. It is the perfect showcase for the new upgraded Website and Player for the channel’s world-wide audience. As someone who often utilises the Player to keep in touch with TG4 from Europe, I am delighted to note that it has been developed in partnership between a small but innovative television channel on the western tip of the EU and a technology company from Scandinavia. This is a great example of the social and cultural benefits that flow from cooperation in innovative digital technologies.”
Peadar Ó Flatharta, TG4 Webmaster commented: “TeliaSonera’s MDS service fits well with our needs, they speak the language of broadcasters and offered us a quality, reliable solution that would allow us to communicate with audiences around the world. As such, we are expanding our public service broadcasting mandate, making the Irish language more accessible and relevant to a global audience, as well as allowing those in Ireland to catch up on television at whatever time is convenient for them.”
Further anticipated developments include adaptive streaming, interactive subtitling and a social interaction platform to allow viewers to converse while watching TG4 programmes.
Anna Mossberg, Vice President and Head of Product & Business Management, TeliaSonera International Carrier added: “It is a testament to the power and versatility of the MDS platform that the service has been selected by TG4 to power its web TV and online video services. Our teams and TG4 came together in Ireland, Sweden and the UK to create a compelling proposition that allows TG4 to continue to develop its online portfolio serving the global Irish audience.”
More than 800,000 people in Ireland already tune in daily to TG4, Ireland’s public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers that broadcasts primarily in Irish (with English subtitles).
TeliaSonera International Carrier is the owner and operator of the largest fibre optic network in Europe, the third largest in the world, serving more than 85% of all European Internet Service Providers. Its Media Distribution Service gives broadcasters and content-holders the ability to distribute and publish their content online, all via TeliaSonera International Carrier’s global fibre optic network.
TG4’s Web TV software platform was previously provided by Level 3.
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