Xinhua News Agency, China’s official news agency and its largest news and print media service provider, has chosen SkyStream’s IP video delivery solutions to upgrade its system for distributing news to 80 affiliates worldwide from its Beijing news center.

SkyStream’s Mediaplex-20 ^TM video headend platform and zBand content delivery software give Xinhua the ability to push IP video across multiple platforms through a single satellite connection. The new distribution system enables Xinhua to increase its data delivery from 500 MB to 5 GB per day to Xinhua’s 150 subsidiaries across China and around the world.

The Mediaplex’s IP encapsulation and MPEG-2 encoding capabilities allow Xinhua to deliver both IP data and MPEG video content through a DVB-S network. Xinhua previously used a closed, non-standard platform, which curbed its flexibility and ability to adopt emerging technologies. With SkyStream’s zBand software, Xinhua can stream on-demand video content across several media platforms including cable, satellite and broadband networks. Remote press shops and branch offices will be able to receive Xinhua news reports that provide information for their daily newspapers.

"It’s no longer just service providers that want to be able to push video-on-demand from a single source to multiple devices and locations. Large corporations are reaping the benefits of IP as a technological asset that lets them easily connect with dispersed locations throughout the world," said Andy Lovit, vice president of worldwide field operations at SkyStream. "SkyStream’s IP platforms let Xinhua deliver a wide variety of content at high speeds, ensuring print media outlets around the world have the most up-to-date news for their readers."