A company belonging to Fenway Sports Group, owner of Premier League Champions Liverpool FC, and Delaware North, NESN was the first regional sports network (RSN) in the US. It reaches six million households via cable, telco, satellite and over-the-top (OTT) services, delivering multiple Designated Market Area (DMA) channels to homes throughout the six-state New England region and nationally, through NESN National.

In September 2020, aiming to improve the flexibility of its video distribution network and ensure superior live sports feeds of its Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins franchises, NESN turned to The Switch to implement a high-performance hybrid fibre/internet network. The new network, replacing an existing satellite distribution platform, will deliver next-generation IP infrastructure and content delivery services for the pre-eminent RSN which in addition to the aforementioned baseball and ice hockey teams two sports teams also hosts live college sports events, such as Hockey East, the Beanpot Classic, broadcast through its channels and affiliates.


As it carries out its contracted role, The Switch selected MediaKind’s Cygnus Distribution product suite to support the replacement of the existing satellite distribution platform. A tailor-made workflow supports NESN’s smooth transition to IP-based media delivery, and this is said to bring significant cost savings and increased flexibility for the regional sports network.

The partnership also combines video processing and content protection technology from MediaKind with the hybrid fibre network. NESN delivers high-value live content to broadcasters across any network, in 4K Ultra HD high dynamic range (HDR) quality.

Software-based stream processing application MediaKind MK Stream Processing sees use ensuring high availability and delivery efficiency on all broadcast and multiscreen platforms. The MediaKind System Multiplexer supports NESN’s mission-critical stream processing applications in terrestrial central head-ends, said to allow for greater flexibility and upgrade ease for future system expansions, while also saving space in operational centres.

The deployment of MK RX1 Receivers enables the efficient delivery of NESN’s high-quality content at low-latency. The workflow is controlled and encrypted by Cygnus Director and supported by the SRT open source transport specification.

“We chose MediaKind because of its proven expertise and innovation in IP-based sports broadcasting solutions,” noted Robert Szabo-Rowe, SVP engineering and product management at The Switch. “With our extensive experience delivering mission-critical live content, MediaKind is the ideal partner for us to support NESN’s delivery workflow transformation. NESN now benefits from a flexible video distribution network, and guaranteed delivery of superior live sports feeds for Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins games, as well as hundreds of other live college sports events.”