SES bets on coralPlay for cloud-native channel playout automation

SES operates one of the world's largest video networks, carrying over 8,200 channels to 367 million households. Adopting a cloud-native playout system gives SES the flexibility to spin up channels in minutes rather than weeks, while maintaining hybrid deployment options for customers not ready to fully commit to public cloud. The deal reflects a broader industry shift: Harmonic reported in February 2025 that 30% of media executives surveyed are considering cloud playout migration, and ProSiebenSat.1 moved its entire content supply chain to AWS in January 2025. Watch whether SES expands coralPlay beyond its initial deployment — per Digital Media World, the system already handles 70 channels for SES — and whether competitors like Amagi or Imagine Communications respond with similar hybrid flexibility.

SES's cloud playout strategy extends beyond coralbay.tv into a broader partnership with Microsoft Azure. SES is working with the Azure team to reimagine how video channels are created, managed, and distributed using cloud flexibility and scale, positioning its Cloud Playout solution as a way for broadcasters to spin up channels in minutes rather than the weeks or months required by traditional on-premise hardware procurement and installation.

coralbay.tv itself was founded in May 2016 by former Pebble Beach Systems staff, including CEO Peter Hajittofi, who co-founded Pebble.

The SES-coralbay.tv partnership was first reported by TVBEurope in March 2021, noting that SES would use coralPlay to automate playout of numerous cloud-hosted channels with complex graphics insertion including dynamic now/next/later, lower thirds, tickers, clocks, and a two-stage DVE. The deployment reflects SES's stated need for a system that could serve customers with both cloud-native and on-premises playout, a hybrid requirement that distinguished coralPlay from competitors during proof-of-concept testing.