On the air in the Balkans: How Arena Sport built a new network for secure live sport transmission

Arena Sport in Serbia recently selected Net Insight to provide a new contribution network based on the Nimbra platform throughout the Balkans. Arena Sport is a pay TV sports network that recently won the broadcasting rights for NBA and Euronews Serbia in the Balkans.

Arena Sport COO Darko Petrovic told SVG Europe, “we produce up to now five channels in Serbia and 15 more channels for the rest of the region in all former Yugoslavia countries. Besides that, as part of a multimedia platform — Arena Channels Group — we have ten more channels in our portfolio covering entertainment and education.

“Moreover, as a part of the biggest telecommunication company in the region, Telekom Serbia, we base our transmission process toward users and partners on Telkom’s optical infrastructure. Satellite communication is used only for getting the signals from sports arenas to our HQ in Belgrade.”

Supported by a local Net Insight partner, Tera Adria, and Net Insight’s Professional Services team,

Photo: Tanjug/AP Photo/Mark J Terrill

Arena Sport has built a new network for secure and reliable transmission of live sports content. The network connects the satellite reception location in Belgrade in Serbia with the main centre in Belgrade, and a remote studio in Ljubljana in Slovenia, where the sports content is being localised and then transmitted over the Balkans region.

“We had to have a solution which allows us to have centralised management and easy expansion,” said Petrovic. “We are covering several countries and run many sports channels in each of them. Deploying a separate playout centre in each country would be highly expensive and not profitable for us.

“So we needed a solution to run this complex operation from a single location with minimum staff and on the other hand stay reliable and keep the quality level that sport content requires.

“We receive sports content over the satellite farm in Belgrade (Serbia) with a redundant location in Zagreb (Croatia). Mostly this content requires a local commentator to be added.

“For Slovenia, commentator seats are in Ljubljana so we have to deliver a signal there. For this we are using Net Insight and leased optical lines between locations. Net Insight provides excellent quality and reliability, so securing our operations. Once we get programme with commentator, we can enter a programme playout system and distribution network in the corresponding country.

“Working with local Net Insight partner Tera Adria and Net Insight is really an example of how partners in the market should do business,” continued Petrovic. “From the moment of our sending the inquiry, through the presentation and adoption of the solution to the full implementation, we had fast and clear communication.

“Despite the global pandemic, both companies managed to carry out the projected works and our system for transmission and distribution of the signal in a very short time.

“From the moment the operation started, we have not had any interruptions or system failures. What provides additional security and increases reliability is the local partner Tera Adria, which provides full technical support 24/7. It has been a nice experience that opened the space for us to continue cooperation on new projects.

“Above all we are now in a position to launch new channels and to deliver more content over the whole region much easier, faster and with much less cost. We have a platform which enables us to react to market need with incredible speed and with much less effort,” said Petrovic.