Live TV
A broadcast-grade Live TV experience built for OTT scale — with 24-hour time shift, catchup, a full EPG, multi-audio and multi-subtitle, low-latency delivery, and cloud DVR available on every device you ship.
Linear television, reimagined as software
Vucos Live TV ingests linear channels from satellite, IP multicast, SRT, or direct SDI, packages them into ABR streams, and delivers them through low-latency HLS and DASH to every device class — with a rich EPG, multi-language audio and subtitle tracks, 24-hour time shift, configurable catchup windows, start-over, and cloud DVR. It handles regional blackouts, ad replacement, and program-level DRM without requiring a separate linear stack, and shares the same ad server, entitlement, and analytics as the VOD catalog.
Why this matters
Live TV is where OTT platforms win and lose viewers. A rebuffer during the final minute of a cup match, a 30-second delay behind broadcast, or an EPG that lags the schedule by five minutes is the kind of failure a subscriber remembers and cancels over. At the same time, linear channels carry the content rights and the audience that make the wider OTT business viable — so 'just about working' is never good enough.
Vucos treats Live TV as a first-class product, not a feature bolted onto a VOD platform. Low-latency delivery is engineered end-to-end from ingest to player; EPG, time shift, and catchup share the same content catalog as VOD; and the ad server understands linear break boundaries and SCTE-35 markers natively. Operators ship a Live TV experience indistinguishable from broadcast, on devices broadcast can never reach.
Live TV capabilities
Full EPG with metadata
Program guide with rich metadata, cast, synopsis, artwork, and parental ratings. Sourced from XMLTV, EIT, or operator feeds, with operator override and editorial curation.
24-hour time shift
Rewind any live channel up to 24 hours (configurable up to 7 days) with frame-accurate seeking, pause/resume, and cross-device session handoff.
Catchup & start-over
Watch any program from the last N days on demand with the same player experience, or jump back to the start of the current program with a single action.
Low-latency streaming
LL-HLS and LL-DASH with CMAF chunked encoding for 3-6 second glass-to-glass latency on live events — competitive with, and often better than, broadcast.
Multi-audio & multi-subtitle
Multiple audio tracks (stereo, 5.1, Dolby, original, dubs), multiple subtitle/caption tracks including CEA-608/708 and TTML/WebVTT, and audio description.
Cloud DVR
Per-subscriber DVR recordings stored in the cloud, with per-title or per-series rules, storage quotas, and automatic conflict resolution — no STB required.
How operators use it
Catch-up across every device
Offer a 7-day catchup window for every linear channel, with the same EPG and subtitle tracks on mobile, web, smart TV, and STB. Viewers move from broadcast to OTT without noticing the boundary.
Low-latency live with ad replacement
Deliver sub-5-second glass-to-glass latency on live matches with regional ad replacement based on SCTE-35 markers, so each market sees its own sponsors without leaving the linear rights holder exposed.
Cloud DVR without STB upgrades
Launch cloud DVR for the existing IPTV subscriber base without swapping STBs. Recordings are stored in the Vucos cloud and replayed via the same player that handles live and catchup.
Technical details
- Satellite via IRD
- IP multicast (UDP, RTP, MPEG-TS)
- SRT
- Zixi
- RTMP
- SDI via headend gateway
- HLS, LL-HLS
- DASH, LL-DASH
- CMAF with fMP4
- Codecs: H.264, HEVC, AV1
- Audio: AAC, AC-3, E-AC-3, Dolby Atmos
- 3-6 s glass-to-glass (LL-HLS / LL-DASH)
- 8-12 s (standard HLS/DASH)
- Tunable per channel and per device class
- Competitive with broadcast for sports
- Widevine (L1/L3)
- FairPlay Streaming
- PlayReady (SL150-SL3000)
- Common Encryption (CENC)
- Token-based URL authorization
- XMLTV, EIT, JSON
- Cast, crew, artwork, parental ratings
- Editorial override and curation
- Multi-language titles and synopses
- 24 h default time shift (up to 7 days)
- Frame-accurate seeking
- Cloud DVR per subscriber
- Series recording and conflict resolution
- SCTE-35-aware break trimming
Key Takeaways
- Linear ingest from satellite, IP multicast, SRT, Zixi, RTMP, and SDI
- LL-HLS and LL-DASH with 3-6 second glass-to-glass latency
- 24-hour time shift, catchup up to 7 days, and start-over on every device
- Full EPG with rich metadata, multi-language audio, and subtitle tracks
- Cloud DVR per subscriber with series recording and conflict resolution
- SCTE-35-aware ad replacement and blackout enforcement across regions
Frequently Asked Questions
What latency can you achieve for live events?
How does catchup interact with rights and blackouts?
Is cloud DVR a per-subscriber recording?
How do you handle SCTE-35 and ad replacement?
What about EPG accuracy?
Does Live TV share the same player as VOD?
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