Rethink Video Delivery in Sports Bars and Commercial Venues
From sports bars and restaurants to arenas, corporate offices, and other commercial venues, televisions are everywhere.
In sports bars, televisions are central to the guest experience. In these environments, the quality and timing of the video stream matter.
Video operators have embraced ABR streaming for flexibility and cost savings, updating QAM workflows to deliver ABR streams to multi-TV venues. However, ABR set-top boxes create a significant new challenge: synchronization. Each box buffers and decodes independently, meaning that TVs tuned to the same event can be seconds out of sync. This delay disrupts the shared, realtime atmosphere fans expect.
Imagine one screen showing a game-winning play while a nearby TV is still a full play behind. For venues built around collective energy and live reactions, that’s a major problem.
WISI eliminates this issue by converting ABR streams to QAM or multicast IP, ensuring every TV displays the exact same frame at the exact same moment. Operators keep their modern ABR workflows without added complexity – just one on-premise device engineered specifically for commercial environments.
Whether in sports bars, restaurants, arenas, corporate offices, or other commercial spaces, synchronized televisions enhance both the viewing experience and operational efficiency. WISI’s Multi-TV solution delivers perfectly aligned playback, simplifies system control, reduces bandwidth consumption, and works over existing coax or
IP infrastructure using the same ABR streams operators provide today.
Sync the Experience
Traditional approaches to multi-TV video distribution often fall short. Televisions showing the same live event may be seconds out of sync, creating a jarring viewer experience. Staff are forced to manage multiple remotes and inputs. Systems depend on fragmented or duplicated workflows, and legacy delivery methods can strain limited bandwidth.
Meanwhile, operators waste bandwidth delivering full channel lineups to each site, even when experience shows that only a fraction of that content is actually being watched at any given time.
WISI’s ABR Video Gateway eliminates these headaches. With a simplified, low-maintenance gateway and centralized app control, it’s purpose-built to meet the needs of today’s networks and modern environments.
- Perfectly synced playback – Converts ABR to QAM or IP multicast for screen-to-screen alignment
- Reduce headend-to-venue bandwidth – Active Channel Streaming ensures only the content in use is streamed, freeing up capacity for broadband and high-bitrate feeds
- Enable better viewing experiences – Saved bandwidth allows higher-bitrate ABR streams for Pay-Per-View and premium sports content
- Simple control for staff – Assign and manage channels from a phone or tablet, no remotes required
- Operator-friendly management – Remote monitoring and API-based control reduce complexity and eliminate truck rolls
- Reliable and cost-effective – Built on WISI’s modular Tangram platform for carrier-grade reliability at scale.
Stop Wasting Bandwidth
Smarter delivery with Active Channel Streaming
Traditional systems push the entire channel lineup to every site, even when only a few streams are in use. WISI’s ABR Video Gateway does it differently. With Active Channel Streaming, the system only pulls and delivers the content that’s actually being watched.
This means:
- Less bandwidth consumption – Only active streams are sent, freeing up valuable capacity
- More room for high-speed broadband – Reclaim spectrum for DOCSIS and internet
Simplify Screen Management
One tap does it all
Venue staff can assign content to any TV or group of TVs using a phone or tablet interface. No remotes. No guessing.
EPG-based channel selection
Staff can browse a live program guide showing now/next content across all available channels, including pay-per-view options.
What makes it unique is its seamless workflow:
- Select what’s playing on each TV using a simple app
- Only selected ABR streams are downloaded
- Content is converted, protected, and output as QAM or IP
What is an ABR Video Gateway?
Also called ABR reception, it’s a single device that converts ABR streams to QAM or IP multicast—enabling perfectly synced playback across every screen. It also helps maintain existing infrastructure and end devices at the property, making deployment simpler and more cost-effective.
Why ABR Video Gateways?
- Free up RF bandwidth from the headend – reduce QAM load to enable broadband and DOCSIS upgrades
- Cut satellite costs – shift to internet-based delivery and simplify site operations
- Reuse existing ABR workflows – leverage your residential CDN infrastructure
Launch with WISI
