Vienna State Opera Selects Ooyala to Livestream the World's Largest Repertoire of Ballet and Opera to a Global Audience

VIENNA, AUSTRIA and LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM and MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 25, 2013) - Ooyala, the leading innovator in video streaming, analytics and monetization, today announced its selection as the streaming technology provider for "Wiener Staatsoper livestreaming," the new cutting edge service from the Vienna State Opera. Available worldwide beginning October 27, the service enables viewers to purchase a selection of live performances over the web and on Samsung Smart TVs (made in 2012 or later), time-shifted for prime time viewing in each local market.

The live performances will be available for video-on-demand (VOD) purchase for one week after each performance. Mobile applications for iOS and Android are in development. Streams for the first three performances can be purchased immediately at streaming portal http://staatsoperlive.com.

The Vienna State Opera selected Ooyala for its ability to rapidly deploy a high-quality solution with sophisticated business and technical requirements; the entire livestreaming solution was implemented in only six weeks. Ooyala is powering the secure streaming of two parallel live streams (one for each user-selectable camera view) in full HD with adaptive bitrate streaming to the web and a Samsung SmartTV app, as well as the forth coming iOS and Android Apps. Additionally, Ooyala implemented secure authentication for livestream and VoD entitlements, all playback functionality across devices, and the time-shifting method through which the start time for livestreams is localized to each market.

Home viewers will be able to choose between two perspectives at any time: an overall view of the stage and a live-edited film of the opera or ballet performance. In Vienna the live streams will be transmitted live at the starting time, and then time zone delayed in order to ensure that the opera or ballet has an acceptable starting time for viewers around the world. The live streams start 30 minutes before the performance with background illustrations, information about the Wiener Staatsoper and synopses of the streamed works. Streaming during the intervals will include impressions from back stage as well as from the interval rooms.

Neil Berry, vice president, EMEA for Ooyala, said, "Wiener Staatsoper livestreaming is a hallmark of innovation for the arts, and we're proud to play a significant role in bringing it to a global audience. The Vienna State Opera is taking a smart approach to making their cultural heritage available anywhere and on any device; which is clearly what consumers want today. Our technology will not only help the Opera massively scale its viewership around the world, but deliver an in-home viewing experience that no other art institute offers."

Dominique Meyer, director of the Vienna State Opera, said, "The Wiener Staatsoper has the world's largest repertoire with 60 different opera and ballet works. We would like to make a selection of this wide programme on the highest artistic level available to opera and ballet fans from all over the world. We have now found the right people and partners to achieve this by our own efforts. We can furthermore use this new infrastructure for cultural mediation such as special children's and youth programmes for schools."

In parallel with this, another programme is under development that will enable the Wiener Staatsoper to use its technical facilities for entirely new offerings for schools, universities and other institutions. For example, a class of school children will be able to take part in a live backstage tour or see an introduction to a work before watching the live stream of an opera or ballet performance together.

The live stream of an opera or ballet performance from the Wiener Staatsoper will cost EUR 14. An on-demand stream of a recorded production will cost EUR 5 and will be available for one week. The payment system on the streaming portal is easy-to-use and secure worldwide.

Wiener Staatsoper livestreaming was developed in partnership with Nous, a leading provider of multimedia solutions for arts and cultural institutions, based in Austria and their partner company PocketScience. Among other project areas Nous creates mobile interfaces for streaming portals of major media companies and broadcasters. Payment solutions are provided by Culturall, Vienna State Opera's trusted payment services provider. 

ABOUT OOYALA
Ooyala delivers personalized video experiences across all screens and is a leader in online video management, publishing, analytics and monetization. Ooyala's integrated suite of technologies and services gives content owners the power to expand audiences through deep insights that drive increased viewer engagement and revenue from video.

Companies using Ooyala technology include Telstra, ESPN, Pac-12 Enterprises, Bloomberg, Telegraph Media Group, Telefonica, The North Face, Rolling Stone, Dell, Sephora and Yahoo! Japan. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, Ooyala has offices in New York City, London, Sydney, Tokyo and Guadalajara, Mexico. The company works with premier reseller and technology partners throughout the Americas, Europe, Africa, Japan and the Asia-Pacific region. For more information, visit www.ooyala.com.