ITV Selects Akamai TrafficPeak to Optimize World Cup Streaming
- ITV deployed Akamai TrafficPeak powered by Hydrolix to help safeguard its ITVX live-streaming architecture during the World Cup.
- Subsecond log ingestion eliminated 5- to 15-minute telemetry delays, enabling instant issue resolution and protecting ad revenues.
- Running on Akamai Cloud provided scalable, cost-effective observability and operational efficiency.
LONDON, Sept. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- To help eliminate the costly telemetry delays that threaten live-streaming operations during massive sporting events, ITV, the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, used Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) TrafficPeak powered by Hydrolix to help safeguard its World Cup 2026 broadcasts. By running TrafficPeak on Akamai Cloud, ITV overcame traditional log latency gaps of 5 to 15 minutes, gaining the real-time observability across its multi-CDN environment required to instantly isolate network bottlenecks and protect critical ad revenues on its ITVX streaming service.
Integrated directly into ITV’s existing Akamai Media Delivery and security infrastructure, TrafficPeak provided critical insight during live tournament matches. ITV’s Network Operations Center used the real-time processing to pinpoint where localized streaming anomalies were originating on third-party internet service provider (ISP) networks rather than ITV’s core architecture. Engineers could instantly distinguish between core platform health and last-mile transit bottlenecks to mitigate delivery risks before they impacted national viewers. Concurrently, security teams employed real-time log ingestion to detect unauthorized access clusters and protect exclusive broadcasting rights.
“There’s absolutely no margin for error when delivering an event of this magnitude,” said Mark Ison, Director of Engineering, Video at ITV. “We added TrafficPeak to our workflow so we could move from a reactive troubleshooting posture to a proactive, real-time footing when it mattered most. The instant visibility was a critical insurance policy that helped ensure a flawless viewing experience across the UK and protected our ad revenue over the course of the 104-match tournament.”
Scalable observability powered by Akamai Cloud
To support the tournament’s massive telemetry demands, TrafficPeak operated as a managed service deployed directly on ITV’s Akamai Cloud infrastructure. By running containerized Kubernetes clusters on Akamai’s global compute footprint, ITV achieved subsecond log ingestion with complete operational flexibility while eliminating the higher costs of some legacy third-party tools.
“Broadcasters preparing for tier-one global sporting events require visibility tools that scale dynamically without adding heavy operational friction,” said Natalie Billingham, Senior Vice President, Sales and Channels & Managing Director EMEA, Akamai. “By leveraging TrafficPeak on Akamai Cloud, ITV proved that high-velocity telemetry can be analyzed and acted upon in real time at a fraction of the complexity of legacy architectures. We are proud to expand our relationship with ITV to help power and protect their most critical broadcasting moments.”
“Millions of viewers of ITV’s live events generate telemetry at a rate that most log pipelines aren’t built to keep up with. What Akamai and Hydrolix deliver together through TrafficPeak is access to their entire access log data, in real time, so ITV teams can catch delivery problems before viewers do. It allows ITV to protect broadcast revenues when stakes are high,” said Coralie Seuzaret, Senior Solutions Engineer, Hydrolix.
World Cup coverage generated more than 200 million streams on ITVX, making it the most-streamed sporting event in ITVX history. The England vs. Norway match peaked at nearly 5 million concurrent streams.
About Akamai
Akamai is the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business online. Our market-leading security solutions, superior threat intelligence, and global operations team provide defense in depth to safeguard enterprise data and applications everywhere. Akamai’s full-stack cloud computing solutions deliver performance and affordability on the world’s most distributed platform. Global enterprises trust Akamai to provide the industry-leading reliability, scale, and expertise they need to grow their business with confidence. Learn more at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai Technologies on X and LinkedIn.
About Hydrolix
Hydrolix is a Portland, Oregon-based real-time data platform for operational intelligence at internet scale. Founded in 2018, Hydrolix addresses the two scale barriers facing observability and security platforms: global scale and real-time performance. The platform delivers real-time analytics that get you insights in seconds across globally distributed data at internet scale—from servers and microservices to AI agents — while enabling years of retention through next-generation compression. Trusted by Fox, ABC, and Paramount for mission-critical live events, Hydrolix has grown to over 650 customers globally in just 24 months. For more information, visit www.hydrolix.io.
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