Content security and rights management are paramount for media organisations and sports federations. Eurovision Media Service’s (EMS) recently upgraded its Eurovision Global Network with new encryption systems that ensure event transmissions are delivered to rightsholders in the most secure and flexible way.

Eurovision Media Services (EMS), the business arm of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), is at the forefront of media technology solutions for content distribution. Working closely with federations, EMS delivers high value sports properties over a fully IP-compliant satellite and fibre network.

EMS continuously upgrades their Eurovision Global Network with the best encryption methods. This includes adopting globally accepted recommendations, such as the EBU Tech 3292 – Basic Interoperable Scrambling System which was recently updated in March 2018, and developing their own encryption systems, such as HMCrypt.

"Earlier last year, in collaboration with NovelSat, we developed a new encryption system called HMCrypt. Using our Hypermux content distribution platforms, HMCrypt provides the utmost security when delivering content to rightsholders worldwide. Today, we are pleased to announce that the HMCrypt system has now been successfully operated on a number of high profile events," said Oscar Teran, Senior Manager of Technology & Solutions at EMS.

Based on proprietary algorithms and AES256 encryption, the HMCrypt system is highly resistant to external attacks. Its digital rights management technology allows clients to authorise or reject reception sites in minutes.

"We connect the venue via our global satellite and fibre network to the Eurovision Operations Centre and the client chooses where to deliver the content – Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Asia-Pacific, the Americas and Asia Pacific – and which takers are authorized to receive it," said Oscar Teran, EMS.

"Looking to the future, we will continue to upgrade our systems. At this time, we are also looking at video watermarking at edge terminals and token-based encryption for our digital portfolio. There are always improvements to be made," he continued.