Leading Middle East production and playout center increases HD transmission capabilities in response to user demands

DUBAI, October 6, 2020 – Imagine Communications has upgraded its proven playout facilities at Jordan Media City (JMC) in Amman.  JMC is a leading production and transmission center in the Middle East, providing services to multiple broadcasters and service providers.

Imagine installed its first servers at JMC in 2004 and began the migration to high-definition (HD) channels in 2016. The latest expansion provides capabilities for 18 premium, full-functionality SD and HD channels. Content delivery from ingest to on-air branding and playout is achieved using software-centric tools running on cost-efficient COTS hardware. The flexible, robust and readily scalable solution enables JMC to switch the 18 premium channels freely between SD and HD to meet demand.

“We needed to move quickly to expand our capabilities,” said Radi Alkhas, CEO of JMC. “That meant going for equipment that we knew we could trust. Imagine Communications has been a key technology partner for as long as JMC has been in business and has developed a close understanding of our operations, so can proactively develop solutions with us as we grow. When we needed to get our new HD services on air quickly, Imagine was able to agree the specification, deliver and commission the facility to our timescales ― even under the difficult conditions of the global pandemic.”

Alkhas added, “The open architecture and interoperability of Imagine Communications’ solutions ensure future expansions can be completed with minimal disruptions to our operation.”

The capacity was scaled through the deployment of five additional Nexio+™ AMP® playout servers, providing 30 bidirectional ports. In addition, JMC’s Nexio online shared storage, Platinum™ VX router and Selenio 6800+™ modular processing were all expanded to meet the additional demands.  The expansion project doubled the JMC facility’s existing 32 TB of shared storage including intrinsic mirroring, with the additional disk space being integrated into the single server environment without interruption to operations. The result is high-performance, high-bandwidth core storage with the highest levels of digital asset protection.

“JMC is a world-class facility, and we are proud to continue our association with them,” said Anas Hantash, head of Middle East, South Asia and North Africa for Imagine Communications. “Imagine is dedicated to the media industry and has a long-term, proven commitment to the Middle East. That allows us to build strong partnerships, like our relationship with JMC, which has provided them with high-performance playout infrastructure for close to two decades.”

Hantash continued, “We are particularly delighted to have designed and delivered yet another major Middle East project in the current challenging environment.  Broadcasting and content delivery have been more critical than ever during the recent lockdowns, and we recognize that our customers like JMC must be able to rely on us unequivocally to deliver on time and meet deadlines.”

The expanded system was installed by JMC’s Engineering team and commissioned jointly by Imagine Communications and JMC’s Engineering team during the second quarter of 2020.

For more information about Jordan Media City services, please visit https://www.jordanmediacity.com/en/

For more information about Imagine Communications’ products and solutions, please visit https://imaginecommunications.com

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About Jordan Media City

Jordan Media City is a state-of-the-art media service provider located in Amman as a free zone company. Making the best use of Jordan’s geographical location between Asia, Africa and Europe, JMC has become a regional hub for media organizations, providing teleport, OTT, production and technical services, and anti-piracy monitoring, JMC specializes in transmission facilities (SD, HD playout center), ad hoc fiber links to satellite and satellite to fiber and internet connectivity with all Jordanian ISP providers. Visit www.jordanmediacity.com for more information.

 

About Imagine Communications

Imagine Communications empowers the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation. Broadcasters, networks, video service providers and enterprises around the world rely on our optimized, future-proof, multiscreen video and revenue enablement solutions every day to support their mission-critical operations. Today, nearly half of the world’s video channels traverse our products, and our software solutions drive close to a third of global ad revenue. Through continuous innovation, we are delivering the most advanced IP, cloud-enabled, software-defined network and workflow solutions in the industry. Visit www.imaginecommunications.com for more information, and follow us on Twitter @imagine_comms.