We believe we revolutionized the industry with the introduction of the Zixi Protocol, known for its ultra-low latency, scalability, reliability and security - and the company has continuously innovated to meet the needs of an evolving market.

We see the introduction of the Zixi Protocol as a true industry quantum leap, addressing the unique challenges of live video streaming over IP. Compared to legacy and open-source protocols, the Zixi Protocol delivers incremental levels of security, scalability, efficiency and quality which are critical for media companies whose business is dependent on pristine broadcast of high value, revenue generating content such as live sports.

As customer requirements evolved, so have we, into a complete, modular platform, providing the Zixi Software Defined Video Platform (SDVP®). A seamlessly integrated suite of tools mandatory for the flawless delivery and orchestration of mission critical content, the SDVP includes capabilities for configuration, automation, monitoring and reporting, advanced AI and ML based analytics, and video switching and processing, all designed to meet the demands of modern complex workflows.

The SDVP is the next industry transformation that encompasses a comprehensive set of extensible products and capabilities that extend far beyond the protocol. But because it is the best in the industry, the perception exists that Zixi is still only a protocol, when it is much more, and much more valuable than that alone.

The Evolution Of Zixi: Building The SDVP

In an increasingly competitive digital landscape, the industry, along with the requirements for broadcasters to succeed has evolved. The innovative, modular elements of the SDVP provide an advanced video platform and infrastructure that is reshaping broadcasting, facilitating the shift from traditional satellite workflows to flexible, IP-based cloud workflows with the required media server, video processing, orchestration and robust telemetry monitoring necessary for complex, dynamic workflows.

At the heart of live video distribution capabilities, the Zixi Broadcaster offers a robust suite of advanced features including multiplexing, OTT packaging, PID normalization, bonding, hitless failover and support for over 18 protocols. These are essential for applications like a Universal Gateway, which digital MVPDs, OTT providers and other service providers rely on to aggregate content from multiple sources in varied formats. The Zixi Broadcaster enables them to use a single, versatile platform to ingest all signal types and normalize them for seamless onward distribution.

ZEN Master serves as the orchestration and management layer of the SDVP, enabling users to oversee large-scale video streams with end-to-end visibility, real-time insights and monitoring. Its Live Events Manager supports autonomous workflows, allowing users to build and visualize event schedules, validate infrastructure, manage multiple live events simultaneously and transition smoothly to post-event feeds. With ZEN Master, media companies can efficiently manage their entire video ecosystem and monitor quality across networks to ensure a seamless viewer experience.

An exciting component of the SDVP, the Intelligent Data Platform (IDP) leverages AI and ML based real-time monitoring and advanced analytics to continuously optimize network paths and identify and solve potential issues before they escalate. This allows content providers to detect and address issues before they affect the viewer experience, reducing the need for reactive troubleshooting. Proactive notification that automatically alerts before issues arise means broadcasters don’t require expensive human resources with eyes on glass and can reallocate that investment to other revenue generating activities in the business.

Zixi Edge Compute is installed on infrastructure at the network edge and facilitates a high-performance, managed connection to the Zixi Broadcaster unlocking the full benefits of the SDVP. ZEC can serve as both a feeder and receiver, simplifying connections in and out of the Broadcaster, mediating high-performance bandwidth-optimized connectivity. ARM-based processor support and multi-threaded compute optimization ensure ultra-high-density throughput.

Zixi Live transcoding consolidates transcoding and distribution workflows, delivering SPTS/MPTS and OTT-optimized formats with ultra-low latency. Leveraging GPU and VPU acceleration, it reduces processing costs and simplifies distribution without third-party software, enabling OTT providers to meet requirements for content customization, new ad opportunities and scalable flexibility.

Zixi Market Switching with ESNI, ESAM and POIS, empowers broadcasters and content owners to replicate traditional satellite workflows over IP. Instead of delivering all feeds to the receiver for destination-side switching, the SDVP leverages ESNI schedules and policies to switch streams, sending only the required feeds to the destination. This enables content providers to enforce content rights and optimize content monetization. Using the SDVP with ESNI and POIS, broadcasters can leverage cloud-based infrastructure to execute precise, policy-based stream switching and/or customized SCTE messaging for advertising insertion over IP.

Flexible Deployment: The SDVP can be deployed standalone on-premises, or across any private or public cloud provider, including AWS, GCP and Azure. Additionally, Zixi-as-a-Service (ZaaS) provides full SDVP functionality combined with Zixi-managed infrastructure in a flexible, pay-as-you-go model. ZaaS delivers a highly scalable solution for video distribution and orchestration, allowing rapid channel deployment, resource adjustment during peak times and cost minimization.

Total Cost of Ownership: Zixi has developed advanced, video-aware algorithms that compress null packets during transmission, reducing unnecessary bandwidth resulting in dramatic efficiency gains and resulting 30-60% reduction in egress costs. The company has also invested heavily to develop technologies that lower compute requirements, including DPDK high-throughput capabilities that allows for direct access to network ports, bypassing the operating system resulting in throughput rates 40 times higher than open-source protocols. With support for ARM-based processors such as Graviton, and by leveraging these innovative advancements, Zixi enables companies to maximize their cloud resources and minimize compute costs by up to 90%, significantly reducing the TCO.

The SDVP forms the backbone of the Zixi Enabled Network, a global ecosystem of 1400+ customers and 400+ technology partners that support the seamless exchange of video content globally. These natively integrated partners and platforms that have standardized Zixi including cameras, encoders/decoders, playout systems, and public and private cloud providers allow mutual customers to seamlessly consume complementary services across the video delivery chain.

Trusted By The World’s Leading Brands

As one of north Americas largest broadcast and affiliate networks, FOX deployed Zixi to distribute all 190 regional and affiliate feeds to digital MVPDs, leveraging the cloud and public IP networks. FOX affiliates use Zixi to transmit the streams to Zixi Broadcasters hosted in AWS to transcode each stream into the appropriate format before egress to the MVPDs. FOX utilizes the single control plane in ZEN Master to streamline their workflow, enable end to end visibility, and provide a complete turnkey solution that was up and running in a matter of months, only possible with IP and the cloud.

One of the earliest flagship customers, Bloomberg deploys the SDVP and ZEN Master to orchestrate its global video distribution network, ensuring reliable, high-quality broadcasts to its millions of viewers. The companies partnered to launch Bloomberg TV+, a premium video experience and first 4K UHD channel, that combines the power of Bloomberg data and trusted business and finance programming. Additionally, with Verizon 5G Edge with AWS Wavelength, Bloomberg is able to package and deliver live 4K UHD content without the need for satellites, allowing for fast and efficient content delivery over 5G.

The Complete Software Defined Video Platform

Zixi’s evolution from a protocol to a complete video platform reflects a commitment to meeting the rapidly changing needs of the media industry. The modular offerings of the SDVP are purpose built and provide market leading performance with universal interoperability, and the ZEN Master operational control plane delivering simplified management and orchestration at scale.

The SDVP includes everything needed to enable high performance live video routes between sources and target destinations over any IP network, with advanced in-flight processing, dedicated monitoring and mission critical reliability. Based on advanced analytics, the IDP enables proactive monitoring, minimizing downtime and improving operational efficiency, with human and infrastructure savings that can reallocated into other parts of the business.

Zixi has developed into much more than a protocol. In the modern media environment defined by increasingly rapid change and high expectation, the SDVP offers a flexibly deployed, future-proofed solution for reliable, broadcast quality video distribution. With its modular suite of products and features, the SDVP provides significant value in diverse use cases such as universal ingest and normalization for OTT providers, FAST, satellite replacement and more. The versatility allows clients to deploy complex, dynamic workflows by managing multiple applications on a single platform with the lowest TCO in the industry.