Streaming provider Watch Brasil securely delivers live linear content with the support of AWS Partner Kaltura

Delivering video content is no simple task, especially in Brazil. Businesses wishing to break into streaming require scalable, reliable video platforms and strong cloud infrastructure. Without those, watching video-on-demand and live linear content can be choppy, unreliable, and low quality—putting the provider at a significant competitive disadvantage in a growing industry.

Watch Brasil was determined to overcome these challenges. Founded in 2018, the streaming provider knew that advanced streaming technologies would provide it with the scalability and reliability that it needed to support thousands of viewers worldwide. So Watch Brasil seamlessly adopted cloud-native streaming solutions built on Amazon Web Services (AWS) from AWS Partner Kaltura. Using the Kaltura TV Platform, Watch Brasil is streaming live linear channels, delivering content to 500,000 subscribers.

Choosing Kaltura to support high-quality live and on-demand video

Watch Brasil delivers video content to regional internet service providers (ISPs). “Here in Brazil, we have a telecommunications market quite different from other countries—we have more than 15,000 small ISPs across the country,” says Maurício Almeida, CEO of Watch Brasil. “We provide a business-to-business solution to those ISPs directly, and they provide our solution to their subscribers.”

When Watch Brasil began searching for a way to build its service with a robust video technology provider, it discovered Kaltura and realized that its streaming solution, running on AWS infrastructure, would meet its needs. “Our solution is reliable and expandable, and it’s very easy to scale,” says Alex Kalil, director of customer success at Kaltura. “And because it’s in the cloud, there’s no need to have complex hardware deployments, which reduces infrastructure costs and time to market.”

Watch Brasil began using Kaltura to deliver content, expanding to support 400 ISPs and their subscribers.

Developing a cloud-native linear streaming solution

After meeting its video delivery goals, Watch Brasil began planning its future road map. The company knew that it wanted to stream linear television channels running live 24/7. However, Brazil required all linear streaming providers to hold special licenses, preventing Watch Brasil from pursuing its expansion.

When the country changed these licensing requirements in 2021, Watch Brasil saw an opportunity for growth and engaged Kaltura for a solution. “We launched our linear channel service initially with 15–20 channels in 3 months. With Kaltura’s support, we were able to deliver this project before the deadline,” says Almeida.

Using AWS services like AWS Elemental MediaLive, a broadcast-grade live video processing service, as well as AWS Elemental MediaPackage, a solution that reliably prepares and protects video for delivery over the internet, Watch Brasil now delivers 54 live linear channels to hundreds of thousands of users worldwide. Subscribers from virtually any location can access these channels and receive an optimal video experience tailored to their devices. “The linear channels need to cater to different audiences with different types of devices,” says Kalil. “We adapt the quality of the video to the device and available bandwidth for a superb viewing experience.”

To meet media providers’ requirements for digital rights management and content protection, Kaltura developed an innovative encryption solution using Amazon API Gateway, which makes it easy for developers to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at virtually any scale. Watch Brasil first rolled out Kaltura’s cross-device digital rights management service during a live soccer game, where it reduced piracy frequency from 80 percent to 0 percent. With this solution, Watch Brasil can demonstrate its strong content security posture for linear streaming to potential customers with stringent requirements.

The linear channel project was highly successful for Watch Brasil. “The viewer is very happy with our solution,” says Kalil. “The head of programming at a major free-to-air channel called Watch Brasil right after a soccer game and congratulated its team on the experience. We’ve been getting constant feedback that our AWS-powered services are living up to the expectations that Watch Brasil had for high-quality video streaming.”

Accelerating streaming intelligence with data analytics

Using Kaltura’s platform, Watch Brasil has seen significant success. The company registered 150 percent growth in 2021 and attracted the attention of investors. In fact, Watch Brasil received a R$28 million investment from Bertha Capital, a corporate venture capital firm. “These investments will accelerate our growth,” says Almeida. “Our target is to reach two million subscribers in 2022, a growth of 400 percent. We expect to grow even more, reaching four million subscribers by 2023.”

As Watch Brasil continues to roll out and expand its linear streaming service, it will develop and expand its capabilities on the cloud. For example, Watch Brasil is currently selecting a data analytics solution that will deliver valuable information to inform its customers and internal teams about content performance. “Capturing data is always a benefit,” says Ado Oliveira, chief content officer and cofounder of Watch Brasil. “Data leads to better decisions in marketing, technology, and beyond. It’s always good to have visibility into how our service is used.”

In the future, Watch Brasil will continue to deliver innovative solutions on AWS powered by Kaltura. “Our relationship with Kaltura has been very good,” says Oliveira. “We are impressed with the quality of the delivery that it provides and the quality of the development that we are doing together.”

About Kaltura

Kaltura delivers software solutions to power virtually any video experience, serving over 1,000 enterprises, media companies, service providers, and educational institutions globally. Kaltura is an AWS Partner and a member of the AWS Solution Provider Program. Learn More