Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has been chosen by Charter Communications, Inc. and Cox Communications in separate agreements to support the creation, management and distribution of linear channels carrying out-of-market games from major sports leagues, including MLB, NHL and NBA.
Both companies now use Comcast MediaOrigination—part of the Comcast Media360 portfolio—for video management, delivery and viewing-rights enforcement.
Support for Sports Content Delivery
Tom Montemagno, Executive Vice President of Programming Acquisition at Charter, stated that Spectrum customers expect access to premium sports content, including out-of-market games. He explained that, following Charter’s content rights agreements with the leagues, a reliable back-end system was required, leading to the company’s decision to work with Comcast Technology Solutions.
Mark Gathen, Senior Vice President of Content Acquisition at Cox Communications, noted that sports remain an essential part of the customer entertainment experience. He said CTS eliminates the technical complexity associated with delivering out-of-market sports, allowing Cox to focus on enhancing sports subscription offerings and viewing options.
CTS Perspective
Bart Spriester, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Streaming, Broadcast & Advertising at CTS, said that both Charter and Cox aim to offer strong sports programming portfolios. He added that CTS supports this through its CTS SportsHub facility and Comcast Media360 platform, enabling operators and content owners to streamline operations and increase efficiency.
Comcast Media360 Overview
Comcast Media360 provides a managed service that supports global video delivery, distribution and monetization across linear and on-demand environments. The portfolio includes Comcast MediaOrigination, which offers content acquisition, preparation, channel creation and delivery across devices. Content can be ingested via satellite, fiber or secure IP, and then processed through rendering operations, cloud-based content supply chain workflows, media asset management and metadata services.
Channel creation capabilities include automation playout, graphics, SCTE triggers, closed captioning, master control and VideoAI. Channels are then prepared with encoding, encryption and linear rights management before being delivered to MVPDs.
