France Télévisions’ plans to interconnect its regional stations with two central data centres uses 60 SNP-XS processors, based on ST 2110 for low‑latency media exchange across locations.
France Télévisions has undertaken a strategic initiative to interconnect all of its regional stations with two Paris‑area data centres using the ST 2110 IP standard to set up high‑quality, low‑latency media exchange across locations. Through this new deployment, France Télévisions will also be able to exchange data with operations that have already migrated to 2110, such as its Paris headquarters.
The architecture is fully redundant using the 2022‑7 protocol, giving the operation resilience and reliability as the organisation continues to modernise its national media network. Implementation is now underway, with their media exchange functionality targeted to be operational by the end of 2026.
Imagine Communications’ SNP‑XS media processor plays a major role in the company’s modernisation project. “The SNP is a remarkably useful Swiss Army knife that we are successfully using to transition to ST 2110,” said Yannick Olivier, cross-functional technical leader for ST 2110 infrastructure at France Télévisions. “For every technical challenge, SNP has a solution available, due to its many different applications and distinctive design that makes it easy to reconfigure with new functionality.
"This time, the new SNP-XS is helping to address space and density challenges, allowing us to bring ST 2110 into our regional production control rooms. With SNP-XS, we’re delivering uncompressed ST 2110 to all of our France 3 regional stations, improving our remote production workflows, and achieving measurable gains in quality and speed."
France Televisions will broadcast the Roland Garros tournment in Paris
Three Years with Imagine’s SNP
France Télévisions ordered 60 units of the SNP-XS, which was only released just ahead of IBC 2025, several months before it was fully available on the market. Their confidence came after the company had first selected Imagine’s original SNP three years ago as a foundation of its progressive migration to ST 2110 IP, initially deploying SNP to support UHD coverage of the 2024 Paris Games.
Following this event and its challenges, the broadcaster redeployed the devices to support the IP transition of the master control room at its Paris headquarters and implemented further SNPs across its playout operations, studios, digital platform and two new OB trucks.
“Media companies like France Télévisions are making the move to ST 2110 IP as they seek freedom, flexibility and long-term confidence to help cope in a fast-changing media landscape,” said Steve Reynolds, CEO of Imagine Communications. “ST 2110 isn’t just another product cycle — it’s the platform for everything that comes next. With every new release, the SNP continues to pave the way for the future of broadcast infrastructure.”
Same Functionality, Smaller Size
SNP-XS is built with the same range of capabilities developed for Imagine’s original SNP platform, including support for 12G SDI and SMPTE ST 2110, in a compact piece of hardware that suits restricted spaces where performance cannot be compromised. It includes flexible I/O configurations and all of the familiar AI features such as UHD and HDR conversions and fully synchronized 2110 adaptation.
For users, it has extremely quiet operation and high-performance processing in a deploy-anywhere form factor that can be carried to most venues and workplaces, making SNP-XS a good choice for edge deployments, facility expansions, remote routing endpoints, mobile production and other space-constrained environments. www.imaginecommunications.com
