The Switch partner with Spark Sport to deliver live feeds

The Switch has announced its partnership with digital service provider Spark Sport to deliver live sports feeds from Formula 1, English Premier League and New Zealand Cricket to Spark Sport subscribers.

The New Zeland OTT platform will leverage The Switch’s MIMiC cloud-based production service to edit, package and deliver clips to social media. MIMiC ensures flexible delivery of live streams and packaged content, allowing live coverage or near real-time highlights to reach viewers on any screen. The service can handle all aspects of delivery workflow in the cloud.

Spark Sport’s content operations lead, Andrew Martin, commented: “We’re committed to giving sports fans in New Zealand access to the best sport and the best viewing experience, getting them as close to the live-action as we can. We chose The Switch because it can act as a one-stop-shop for all our requirements, from content aggregation through to delivery to putting highlights on social media. We have the added benefit of The Switch’s experience in supporting live sports content and its deep understanding of premier live sports production.”

The New Zealand company has been building out its content aggregation based on The Switch’s fibre-based IP network, and the addition of integrated production services leveraging MIMiC represents the next phase of the project.

Nicholas Castaneda, senior vice president of sales at The Switch, added: “Live sports content continues to be a major driver for our customers around the globe, and The Switch is unique in being able to provide connectivity and leading-edge cloud production capability. We’re very proud that Spark Sport has chosen The Switch’s MIMiC cloud production service for content provision to multiple platforms.”

Spark holds a six-year broadcast deal with New Zealand Cricket for domestic and international home matches and has also secured exclusive rights to the Formula 1, 2 and 3 series and the English Premier League.