France Télévisions catches up with OpenHeadend platform

France Télévisions has adopted the OpenHeadend platform to offer viewers the possibility to catch-up on programmes from France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5 and from the 9 channels of its overseas Première network. In order to meet France Télévisions needs in terms of flexibility, video quality and automation, the OpenHeadend solution records 24/7 the full programmes of 14 live channels. Each specific programme is then automatically extracted for publishing.

The system also creates thumbnail previews, bundles them in a single Jpeg file before synchronising and associating them to the relevant video. Media and associated metadata are finally made available on a NAS, from which they are sent to France Télévisions multiplatform transcoding and delivery systems.

«The OpenHeadend platform is controlled by our video information system, which sends a request to extract programmes based on time codes. It is a flexible and robust solution, which easily integrates into an industrial ‘video factory’ workflow,» declared Arnaud Drillon, On Demand TV and video production Project and Technical Manager at France Télévisions Digital Editions. «To top it all, OpenHeadend Teams are reactive and always willing to adapt their solution to our specific needs.»