THEMASigns Broadcast Services Contract With AlterPoP.
Paris, February 25th, 2016
AlterPoP, a leading service provider of managed content preparation, playout and multi-platform delivery services, has been selected by – a Canal+ Group company – to provide a comprehensive suite of playout and distribution services for its channels around the world.
In addition to its distribution activities, THEMAoperates severalextremely successful thematic channels. First distributed in Africa, Nollywood TV, Novelas TV and Gospel Music TV are, for some of them, now available in France, in Europe and in the Caribbean.
AlterPoP providesTHEMA with 2 types of services: the end-to-end production and distribution of the 3 channels previously mentioned, and the redistribution of a dozen of channels making up the THEMA offerings to French operators.
In terms of the first project, AlterPoP hosts THEMA’s state-of-the-art playout platform and provides a wide range of production and delivery services. From content preparation up to 7/7 feeds’ supervision, including rundown creation in collaboration with THEMA editorial teams, graphics and advertising insertion andplayout, AlterPoP enables the broadcaster to improve efficiency and safely deliver high-quality content to numerous satellite and IP operators such as Free, Bouygues, SFR/Numericable or Canalsat.
For the second project, AlterPoP captures streams of the THEMA bouquet coming from Russia, Mauritius and Madagascar via fiber-optic links, transcode them in the required formats and redistributes them to French operators. In order to respect specific broadcasting rights, especially concerning Sports games, AlterPoP also handles the obscuring of some programmes of the national Haitian channel TNH – received in IP.
“AlterPoP is a human scale company, which allows it to be particularly attuned to its customers needs and very responsive,” declared Clementine Tugendhat, Senior Vice President Content & Edited Products at THEMA. “They helped us solve many delicate situations like when one of the channel we distribute stopped its satellite broadcasting without warning us. It then became necessary to implement – in record time – a new alternative workflow to retrieve the signal via a fiber-optic link and to redistribute it to the different operators. Only highly experimented partners can offer such a level of service. As to AlterPoP’s know-how, it enables us todaily deliver the brilliant TV experience our viewers are expecting”.
“ We are delighted that this major player in the French audiovisual landscape puts full confidence in our services,” added Dimitri Vrignaud, COO at AlterPoP. “We work hand in hand with THEMA teams toward their deployment strategy and are proud that our expertise helps them focus on their core business without having to make costly infrastructure investments of their own or deal with all complex technical aspects.”
AboutTHEMA
THEMA was founded by Francois Thiellet in 2005. It now has four foreign subsidiaries and works with more than nine agencies in the main European markets.
The company represents a portfolio of nearly 100 channels and has formed solid relationships with the main pay-tv platforms in France, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and North America.
THEMA publishes the Nollywood TV channel and a number of so-called « ethnic » multichannel packages: The African Multichannel Package, the Arabic Multichannel Package, the Indian Ocean Multichannel Package and the German Multichannel Package.
In April 2014, THEMA launched a new advertising business, THEMA advertising, in France and in Africa.
For more information about THEMA and its portfolio of channels, visit www.thematv.com.
About AlterPoP
AlterPoPis a playout Centre dedicated to broadcasters looking for a tailored, reliable and cost-effective solution. More than 50 TV channels rely on the power and flexibility of AlterPoP services for the preparation, playout and multi-platform delivery of their content and rich graphics as well as for a 24/7 supervision of their TV signal.
