Netflix has signed a multi-year agreement with Ateme to deploy the TITAN Live transcoder across its live streaming workflows, embedding the vendor’s real-time encoding technology into the core of its global delivery infrastructure.
The deal formalizes a deeper engineering alignment as Netflix scales live programming beyond experimental events and into repeatable tentpole distribution.
Ateme positions TITAN Live as a bandwidth-efficient, high-density video processing solution optimized for live delivery across OTT and broadcast-grade environments. Netflix will use the platform to support real-time multi-codec encoding with a focus on perceptual quality optimization, leveraging objective metrics such as VMAF alongside subjective assessment designed to minimize visual artifacts.
Thomas Burnichon, Vice President of Innovation Strategy at Ateme, said the companies aligned around a shared vision for live delivery and iterated quickly across teams to execute efficiently.
TITAN Live: High-Density Processing for Converged Headends
TITAN Live is designed as a high-quality, high-density video processing system capable of ingesting live channels and simultaneously producing multiple output streams in real time. The platform supports SD, HD, and UHD workflows across cable, DTH, DTT, IPTV, and OTT distribution environments.
Built on the fifth generation of Ateme’s compression engine, TITAN Live is engineered to deliver high video quality at minimized bitrates, a design principle aimed at reducing infrastructure strain while preserving viewer Quality of Experience.
The system supports:
- HEVC, AV1, SHVC, H.264, MPEG-2, JPEG 2000, JPEG XS
- AAC LC/HE/HEv2, Dolby Digital variants, AC-4, MPEG-H
- Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG, SL-HDR1/2, HDR10+, ST2094
- Low-latency encoding modes
- Mobile through UHD resolutions
In live environments, compression efficiency directly affects CDN load, concurrency handling, and playback stability. A high-density encoding architecture enables more channels per server instance, tightening the infrastructure footprint required for global distribution.
Pure Software, Infrastructure Agnostic Deployment
TITAN Live operates as a pure software solution. It is CPU and hardware-agnostic, supporting Intel and AMD architectures and deployable across on-premise and cloud environments.
The platform can be installed on bare metal in appliance-like configurations or deployed as a containerized, docker-orchestrated cloud-native service. That flexibility allows operators to scale encoding resources dynamically or integrate within hybrid infrastructure models.
Wide input compatibility supports IP-based workflows, including SDI, Transport Stream, ST2022-6, ST2110, and NDI, aligning with broader industry transitions toward fully IP headends.
Redundancy schemes, including 1+1, N+1, and N+M, are built into the architecture to ensure service resilience during high-concurrency live events.
Advanced Packaging, Monetization, and Workflow Integration
TITAN Live integrates advanced packaging capabilities across CMAF, DASH, HLS, ATSC 3.0, and DRM environments. It also supports channel branding, ad insertion, forensic and audience watermarking, and optimized statistical multiplexing.
Complemented by TITAN Mux and PILOT Manager, the broader Ateme ecosystem provides a web-based interface and a comprehensive API layer for integration into open ecosystems. That matters in live environments where orchestration, telemetry, and rapid configuration changes determine operational performance.
For Netflix, which tightly manages its encoding and playback pipelines, API-level control and workflow interoperability are essential to maintaining service consistency across devices and regions.
Efficiency, Retention, and Cost Control
Ateme markets TITAN Live’s compression performance as a lever for reducing the total cost of ownership by lowering bitrate requirements and infrastructure overhead. In live streaming, reduced bandwidth consumption directly translates into lower CDN transit costs and improved delivery predictability during peak concurrency.
From a business standpoint, high perceptual quality paired with bandwidth discipline supports two outcomes:
- Stronger viewer Quality of Experience
- Controlled operational expenditure
Ateme also frames TITAN Live as future-proof and scalable, enabling rapid adoption of next-generation codecs and HDR standards as device penetration evolves.
The Streaming Wars Take
Netflix is making live streaming a core part of its delivery infrastructure. The multi-year encoder agreement signals a long-term operational commitment as live programming scales across the service.
TITAN Live’s combination of high-density compression, multi-codec support, and infrastructure-agnostic deployment aligns with the scale requirements of global live distribution. Efficiency at the encoding layer compounds across every concurrent stream.
As live programming becomes a structural component of streaming portfolios, compression performance moves from backend engineering detail to margin-critical architecture. Netflix has reinforced that layer with a vendor built around perceptual optimization and scalable deployment.
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