Tabcorp bets on IPTV

Australian betting giant Tabcorp is ramping up its IPTV connectivity in significant deals with Akamai and Kit Digital as it expands its streaming media and integrated betting applications globally.

Tabcorp Chief Operating Officer Brendan Parnell confirmed that Sky Racing had been working closely with the video streaming vendors to extend and enhance capabilities for international and domestic video distribution.

The bolstering of its online and mobile media growth will include the establishment of a local data POP as part of its deal with KIT Digital, which is shifting a POP from Dallas, where Tabcorp’s data is currently housed to Sydney. “It is all about reducing latency and having the best live streaming experience in real time as possible. A local POP will also give us better disaster recovery and access to managed solutions,” Parnell said.

Subject to approval Tabcorp is also planning to launch an IPTV betting app with Samsung connected TVs by mid year.

Tabcorp’s Sky Racing covers 80,000 races per year and currently broadcasts 18 hours a day of continuous live racing via single stream channels and multi view channels with 1 million web videos streamed per month. It broadcasts three racing channels over cable and satellite through Australia and Southeast Asia.

Under the new video streaming deal with KIT Digital, live races will be delivered over the web and to connected tablet devices and integrated with Sky's live betting system. The KIT Digital solution also supports online in-stream and paired advertising, as well as e-commerce merchandising.

Parnell said that the two year extension deal signed with KIT Digital at NAB last week would assist in facilitating higher quality multiscreen experiences for the growing international and domestic audiences and monetize archived footage.

Enhancements will include adding to it already extensive racing footage archive for video on demand and amplyfing the data base with rich historic racing data. KIT Digital's platform will deliver premium on-demand access to Sky Racing's recordings of archived races via pay per view or monthly subscription.

On the mobile front Tabcorp launched Australia’s first wagering app on iTunes in April 2010 and has subsequently launched on Android in February 2011, on iPad in May 2011 and now boast around 400,000 App downloads to-date.