Cisco's esteemed partner, AEG Digital Media, needed a way to stream and monetize its production of GRAMMY Live, a three-day webcast covering exclusive events, parties, and red carpet interviews. Here's a case study of how that happened.

1. Customer Case Study
Transforming the GRAMMY Awards Into
a Compelling Online Event
AEG Digital Media and Cisco team up to stream and monetize
high-profile awards coverage to global audience.
Business Challenge
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A leader in webcast management and technical media services, AEG
AEG DIGITAL MEDIA Digital Media (AEGDM) has more than 12 years’ experience in
● Industry: Media Services
enabling and streaming some of the world’s most innovative events.
● Location: Los Angeles, CA
Headquartered in Los Angeles, AEGDM has produced many of the
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
● Deliver high-quality video and audio streaming defining moments in Internet broadcasting and live streaming media.
of a three-day event to users with diverse
bandwidths and devices One of the company’s most notable productions is GRAMMY Live, a
SOLUTION three-day webcast providing a behind-the-scenes look at exclusive
● Powerful video encoding solution supports
content including GRAMMY events, parties, and red carpet interviews.
adaptive streaming to desktop and mobile
devices
The 2012 edition of GRAMMY Live was expected to draw millions of
RESULTS
● Easy-to-manage Cisco solution delivers global viewers, including desktop, smart phone, and tablet computer
superior viewer experience while supporting users. To meet the demands of this high-profile event, AEGDM
advertising and monetization
needed a dependable video and content delivery solution that could
encode and deliver high-quality video from multiple sources to a variety of devices and bandwidths. The solution
would have to be easy to set up and manage, yet provide advanced features to simplify advertising and
monetization of content. A Cisco solution, coupled with AEGDM’s expertise, made this year’s GRAMMY Live event
an overwhelming success.
Solution
®
To support its demanding encoding requirements, AEGDM employed the Cisco AS8100 Series Media Processor.
This advanced solution enables AEG to stream in multiple formats to any device, with consistently professional,
reliable results. The Cisco AS8100 Series is an integral part of Cisco Videoscape, a platform that lets content and
service providers reinvent the TV experience, by combining a variety of content and applications from any source
into an immersive, personalized experience.
“We have utilized the Cisco Media Processor for more than two years,” says John Petrocelli, Vice President of
Sales and Business Development at AEGDM. “It’s a continuation of an existing relationship, and it’s extremely
easy to leverage the platform. We work with the Cisco Media Processor on a daily basis, so getting exactly what
we wanted for GRAMMY Live was a piece of cake.”
To accommodate the diverse bandwidth needs of the audience, the Cisco AS8100 Series offers an exceptional
adaptive streaming experience, including eight or more output streams per encoder. AEGDM employed adaptive
bitrate streaming (ABR) to maximize the quality of the content for every user.
© 2012 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public. Page 1 of 2

2. “With the Cisco solution, we can encode into eight bitrates at a time, use ABR
streaming to present all of them to the video player, and determine the best bitrate
for delivery based on the end user’s bandwidth. It helps increase viewer hours and
enhance the overall experience, because users don’t experience buffering, delays,
and other issues that normally make people turn away from online video.”
– John Petrocelli, Vice President, Sales and Business Development, AEG Digital Media
“We use ABR for all of our events to let the client computer choose the optimal bitrate for delivery,” says Petrocelli.
After programming content was encoded, the program was delivered to a content delivery network (CDN) for
streaming to the audience.
Business Results
The 2012 edition of GRAMMY Live was a huge success, attracting 4.5 million viewers—its largest audience ever.
The Cisco AS8100 Series played a key role in helping ensure that every viewer enjoyed the best possible sound
and video quality.
“With the Cisco solution, we can encode into eight bitrates at a time, use ABR streaming to present all of them to
the video player, and determine the best bitrate for delivery based on the end user’s bandwidth,” says Petrocelli. “It
helps increase viewer hours and enhance overall experience, because users don’t experience buffering, delays,
and other issues that normally make people turn away from online video.”
Intuitive web-based tools simplified management, enabling AEGDM
PRODUCT LIST
to deliver consistently excellent quality throughout the event.
Video and Content Delivery
● Cisco AS8100 Series Media Processor “GRAMMY Live was a three-path multiday event for multiple formats,
so coordinating all those different encoders can be troublesome,”
says Petrocelli. “We were able to use the Cisco Media Processor’s management console to maintain
communication to all the encoders and ensure quality across all outputs.”
With its proven Cisco video solution in place, AEGDM will continue to build on its reputation as a leader in
delivering compelling, high-quality online events.
For More Information
To find out more about Cisco video and content solutions, visit:
http://www.cisco.com/web/solutions/sp/video/index.html.
Printed in USA C36-705553-00 04/12
© 2012 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information. Page 2 of 2