China Central Television (CCTV) has launched multichannel broadcasting operations with an array of tightly coupled digital video server systems from SeaChange International.

With 10 channels reaching one billion viewers, CCTV runs the largest television operation in China. In newly-constructed broadcast facilities in Beijing, four SeaChange Broadcast MediaClusters ingest programming from various sources and play on-air eight Standard Definition and two High-Definition television channels. The SeaChange Broadcast MediaLibrary online storage system provides centralized, universal media access for the on-air clusters as well as VTRs, digital tape drives and other media creation and distribution devices across CCTV.

With these SeaChange systems seamlessly connected via fault-tolerant Gigabit Ethernet, CCTV has established a scalable and fully-automated digital video platform storing 18TB of digital video content. At this initial stage, CCTV can accommodate more than 1,400 hours of programs, movies, advertisements and interstitial material in any file format. CCTV currently encodes SD content at 25Mbps and HD at 40Mbps.

SeaChange customizes, deploys and supports its products with staff in Beijing and Shanghai and through integrators including NDT, SeaChange's partner in the CCTV deployment. Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region, the SeaChange sales and service team has bases in Perth, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo. A wide network of television equipment distributors and integrators provide strategic, localized sales and deployment support.