DTVLA acquires produces and broadcasts content for 9 million Latin American customers across the Latin America and the Caribbean. The company receives and edits content from providers across the globe, and distributes to broadcast facilities in the United States, Mexico and South America.

Before using Aspera, the post-production and distribution process involved receiving, editing, dubbing and shipping physical tapes—a resource- and time-intensive process. Furthermore, as HD content became the new standard in broadcast, the cost of tape skyrocketed. DTVLA needed to move to a file-based workflow, to create a faster, more efficient and cheaper collaboration and post-production process. In turn, they also needed to work with a technology provider that would enable them to make that transition.

To shift to this file-based workflow, DTVLA selected Aspera’s technology because of its security and reliability, and because Aspera’s underlying protocol, fasp™, proved best-suited to manage the often 65-85 gigabyte files that needed to be shared. Content providers from across the globe can easily upload content to DTVLA’s Aspera servers at maximum speed. From there, the video editor at DTVLA’s central facility in El Segundo, Calif., can download the files directly into the Final Cut program to edit and finalize for distribution and promo-production. The editor then simply sends the file up to the Aspera server, allowing each production center to download the file and push the content onto their playout servers. The need for dubs is entirely eliminated—every facility can get the same file via Aspera’s servers.

“Aspera’s technology has been instrumental in helping us achieve our goal of moving to a file-based workflow,” said Robbie Mitriani, senior manager of on-air operations at DIRECTV Latin America. “Since using Aspera, efficiency and productivity has easily increased five-fold by freeing up my staff’s time. We trust Aspera as a secure, reliable and irreplaceable tool in our collaboration infrastructure.”

As satellite operators and broadcast professionals have shifted to file-based workflows, as a way to reduce operational costs and increase efficiency, they’ve also been coping with increasing pressure on their infrastructure because of the massive files needed to be shared and edited. Aspera has become the de facto choice for broadcast and satellite operators who need to adapt to increasingly file-based workflows.

“The transition from physical to digital media has allowed companies like DTVLA to expedite production cycles and reduce costs,” said Kip Schauer, Vice President of Sales at Aspera. “Moving to a file-based workflow presents new technical hurdles, however, particularly in dealing with large files over large distances. Aspera is helping many groups like DTVLA transition to file-based workflows, making them not only a reality, but also a clear improvement over legacy workflows.”
 

##

About DIRECTV Latin America

DIRECTV is the world's leading provider of digital television entertainment services. Through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies in the United States, Brazil, Mexico and other countries in Latin America, DIRECTV provides digital television service to 19 million customers in the United States and 9 million customers in Latin America. DIRECTV Latin America, through its subsidiaries and affiliated companies in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Argentina, Caribe, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Uruguay, leads the pay-TV category in technology, unmatched programming, the most comprehensive and exclusive sports packages available and higher customer satisfaction, and delivering an unrivaled digital television experience.