27 March 2006
Autocue has signed new contracts with the BBC for the provision of prompting systems and operator services. The contract with BBC News is for two years, with an option for a further three years and will cover Breakfast, One, Six, and Ten O’clock News, Newsnight, News 24, World, The Politics Show, Sunday AM and Newsround. BBC Scotland News & Sport’s contract is for one year, with an option for the contract to be extended on a rolling basis; programmes covered include Reporting Scotland, Newsnight Scotland, Sportscene, Holyrood Live, Politics Scotland and the Politics Show.
Under the terms of the new contracts, Autocue will work in partnership with the Corporation to explore technology and process innovations that will deliver added value.
“We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to continue to exclusively provide this service,” said Kieran Smith, Autocue’s CEO. He added, “Our team of experienced, professional operators has been providing operating services to the Corporation for a number of years. This renewed agreement is an opportunity for Autocue to build on its existing relationship and focus on innovative solutions that will further deliver value.”
17 March 2006
ESPN Inc, the worlds leading multinational, multimedia sports entertainment company, has struck a deal with GlobeCast a global content management and delivery company – to deliver ESPN Classic, the companys first UK-dedicated sports channel, to the Sky Digital platform. Launched this week using GlobeCasts capacity on the Eurobird satellite, ESPN Classic is devoted entirely to the greatest moments and legends of sport with a mix of all-time classic highlights, matches, movies, interviews, profiles and documentaries.
GlobeCasts solution for ESPN includes connectivity from the broadcasters playout facility in West London to GlobeCast, where the feed is encoded, multiplexed then sent to GlobeCasts Brookmans Park teleport for uplink to the Sky Digital platform using GlobeCasts Eurobird capacity. ESPN Classic is available 24 hours a day on Skys EPG channel 442.
GlobeCast has an established relationship with ESPN Classic, providing a content and delivery services for the channels existing French, Italian and European feeds via Astra at 19.2ºE, Hotbird at 13ºE and Sirius 2 4.8ºE respectively.
17 March 2006
Dutch broadcasters Omroep Brabant, UBF and DMC Chellomedia have all chosen Quantel sQ integrated production systems to power their next-generation, server-based production needs.
Alexis Rowell, Quantel Area Manager, Northern Europe, said, We are delighted to have made a clean sweep of recent broadcast projects in Holland. All of these contracts were won in the face of stiff competition. Once again the speed to air, common user interface and expandability of our sQ technology have proven key differentiators in the market.
Omroep Brabant, the regional broadcaster for the province of Noord-Brabant in Holland, has purchased its sQ system to service its news and post production needs, the latter both promotions and longform work. The news system is being commissioned first. It is centred around an eight port sQ server with 110 hours of IMX50 broadcast and browse storage, supporting six sQ Cut and three sQ Edit desktop editing applications in the newsroom, as well as one sQ Edit Plus system for craft editing. Automation, asset management and the newsroom system are all being supplied by Dalet, which is also providing web publishing facilities and radio automation software. The news system is scheduled to go on air in May, and in June will be extended to cover post production from the same SQ server. Storage will be expanded to 220 hours and one sQ Cut and two sQ Edit applications added, as well as a further three sQ Edit Plus craft editors, all located in the post production area. Willy Bollen, Omroep Brabants Technical Manager, said, We needed a system which was easy to learn and use for our news journalists and yet would also satisfy the high-end post needs of our craft editors. The system also had to integrate closely with the Dalet newsroom computer system that our journalists have chosen. We looked closely at systems from three major suppliers, and the Quantel sQ was the clear winner against all our criteria.
UBF provides both broadcast and post production facilities from its Hilversum headquarters. It has purchased a Quantel sQ system to create its Dutch football Premier league television coverage in conjunction with production company, Eyeworks Sports. UBFs system, which has already gone on air, is based on an 8 port sQ server with 180 hours each of IMX30 broadcast and browse storage. It supports two sQ View, three sQ Cut and five sQ Edit desktop editing applications for journalists and producers, as well as four sQ Edit Plus craft editors and several Quantel Power Portal open network data interfaces. Quantels QRecord and QPlay applications are used to control ingest and playout to studio/air. Asset management has again been supplied by Dalet. The system delivers a fully tapeless MXF file-based digital workflow from ingest to broadcast to archive and back again, with faster than realtime delivery. Peter de Vink, UBF Business Unit Manager Post Production, reports that the company carefully evaluated all the server-based production systems on the market before choosing the Quantel sQ system. We chose Quantel because we wanted a solution to do close-to-air post production better than any competitor; today, you simply have to show a difference, and the sQ has given us the edge we need. We are faster to air with better looking packages, and because of the openness of the Quantel solution, we have complete flexibility to interface with any and every other system, both up- and downstream. For example, the Talpa soccer web pages are also fed from the sQ system. Another key factor for UBF was sQs common progressive user interface. All of the Eyeworks Sports production people immediately started viewing, selecting and cut-editing material for broadcast. And they have all quickly learnt more skills simply by watching the craft editors using exactly the same interface but with more sophisticated tools. It means we get better looking programmes, and faster too. Which is just as well; not only does UBF provide football coverage and highlights for three different broadcasters (Talpa, Tele-2 and RTL) with the sQ system, it also uses it to produce a half hour primetime news, sports and entertainment programme five days a week for Jon de Mols broadcast company Talpa.
Finally, Amsterdam-based sports broadcaster DMC Chellomedia has purchased a Quantel sQ system for its coverage of the forthcoming FIFA World Cup as well as its Champions League football broadcasts. The system comprises two sQ servers with a total of 420 hours of IMX30 broadcast and browse storage with 16 i/o ports. The system supports two sQ Cut and four sQ Edit workstations together with one sQ Edit Plus craft editor; it is also equipped with Quantels MXF Power Portal for archive interchange. Looking to the future, and with an eye to the soccer world cup this summer, DMC Chellomedia also specified that the system must be fully HD upgradeable; this is a standard offering with all Quantel sQ systems.
17 March 2006
RadioScape, the world leader in digital audio and multimedia broadcast and reception technology, has announced that it has just won further contracts to supply DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcast) and Enhanced Packet Mode (EPM) infrastructure systems for Mobile TV. RadioScape is unique in that it supplies solutions for all stages of the delivery process from the initial trial stages, where its Research and Test Systems and Field Monitoring Receivers are used to evaluate reception conditions in the field, through to complete broadcast installations, such as those used in the recent trials of the BT Movio service for Mobile TV in the UK and in the roll-out of DMB in China.
Mobile TV trial in the UK
Nick Banks, RadioScapes Product Manager for Digital Radio Infrastructure, said, The BT Movio trial demonstrates the benefits of using the unique, end-to-end solutions on offer from RadioScape. The RadioScape Professional Broadcast system is used to multiplex the multimedia streams using Enhanced Packet Mode to ensure the robust delivery of valuable, rights-managed content to mobile phones. The phones used by BT Movio last year to prove the viability of their service received broadcasts from transmitters using RadioScape’s world-renowned software. The ability of RadioScape to offer both broadcast and receiver solutions enables our customers to accelerate time-to-market whilst incorporating leading-edge functionality, secure in the knowledge that the whole system is fully integrated from end-to-end.
Leading provider of Mobile TV broadcast equipment in China
In China, RadioScape has just won contracts to supply a further five multiplexers bringing the current total number of multiplexers to nine, some of which are already broadcasting DMB Mobile TV and DAB audio. We are the leading provider of DMB broadcasting systems in China, said John Hall, RadioScapes CEO. We have been working closely with the major Chinese broadcasters over the past two years and, having won contracts with leading broadcasters in the major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, we are confident that other broadcasters will follow their lead and specify our solution.
RadioScape now has systems that are broadcasting or shortly coming on stream at Beijing Jolon Digital Media Broadcasting, Shanghai Oriental Pearl (Group), Guangdong Yue Guang Digital Multimedia Broadcasting and others soon to be announced.
Leading provider of test equipment in Korea
RadioScape has now supplied over twenty DAB/DMB Research and Test systems to Korea, which are being used by leading companies and research institutes to allow them to develop and plan the highly successful roll out of DMB networks and receiver products. For example, RadioScapes portable Field Monitoring Receivers enable broadcasters to determine the actual performance of their DMB network and compare with the predicted performance to make their network planning significantly easier.
Korea is leading the world in Mobile TV, added John Hall. They have recognised that DMB provides a means of delivering Mobile TV now as it is based on proven working technology and spectrum is already available in most countries unlike rival technologies. Korea has taken a dramatic lead in DMB in the same way that the UK leads in DAB. As a result, Korean manufacturers have a ready and growing home market for their DMB handsets so that handsets are available in volume and at competitive prices for other countries as they deploy DMB-based Mobile TV. For example, half a million have already been ordered to support the rollout of DMB in China.
Rest of world rolling out DMB and DAB
Many other countries are following the lead of Korea and China with RadioScape recently supplying full broadcast multiplexes, trial systems, and test equipment into the Netherlands, Germany, France, Taiwan, Australia, Canada, the UK, and Slovenia.
Flexibility and future-proofing are key to RadioScapes success
DMB and EPM technologies are based on the highly robust, proven technology of Eureka-147 Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) for which RadioScape is the worlds leading provider with a large number of installations around the globe including the worlds largest commercial DAB broadcast infrastructure deployment in the UK. This gives RadioScape unparalleled systems expertise to drive the rollout of DMB and EPM solutions.
RadioScapes DMB and DAB products are the solution of choice because of the flexibility of being able to be quickly adapted through software to cope with any changes or enhancements in the DMB specifications as they evolve. For example, the RadioScape Broadcast System can be configured to support both Enhanced Packet Mode and T-DMB via simple software selectable options. T-DMB can provide H.264 QCIF and QVGA sized pictures at a frame rates from 15 to 30 fps using 384 to 512 kbps and, with the Windows Media format used by BT Movio, it can be configured to even lower bit rates. These multimedia broadcasts will cover news, music videos, sports, education, movies and the simulcast of terrestrial TV programmes. DAB radio will also be broadcast bringing the benefits of digital clarity and a wider range of content than offered by FM broadcasting.
17 March 2006
Harris Corporation announced that its award-winning Leitch X75T M-PATH Multiple Path Up/Down/Cross Converter Synchronizer is now included in the DolbyR E Partner Program. The X75 synchronizer is the latest in a number of Harris products that have qualified for the Dolby Laboratories program, including the VideotekR TVM series of video and audio signal analyzers with integral LCD display; the Videotek VTM SeriesT of multi-format, on-screen monitors; and the Videotek RS-12AES routing switcher.
“With the demand for high-definition content on the rise, broadcasters are looking to provide consumers with the highest quality experience possible, which includes 5.1 channel audio with HD video. Dolby E technology enables broadcasters to deliver multichannel audio in the space of two traditional channels, making it a seamless transition,” said Jeff Nelson, broadcast channel manager, Dolby Laboratories. “We are pleased to welcome the Leitch X75T as the latest product to meet the requirements of the Dolby E Partner Program and offer broadcasters the tools they need to transition to the HD world.”
Dolby E is an audio format that enables professional broadcast equipment to handle multichannel audio and metadata conveniently. Products included in the Dolby E Partner Program undergo testing to confirm proper Dolby E decoding. The program is open to manufacturers of products that incorporate the Dolby Cat. No. 552 or Cat. No. 558 modules, or that are otherwise compatible with Dolby E encoded audio. In addition to supporting manufacturers, the program provides broadcasters and system designers with accurate and helpful information about Dolby E compatibility as they make equipment-purchase decisions.
“Adding qualified Dolby E support to the already versatile X75T enhances our support of multiple audio channels for surround sound and multiple-language production,” said Tim Thorsteinson, president for Harris Broadcast Communications Division’s Leitch Business Unit. “This is of growing significance worldwide as high-definition content delivery becomes more and more prevalent, and consumer demand for accompanying surround sound in home theater environments continues to grow.”
