15 November 2006
New Zealands public television broadcaster and largest free-to-air broadcaster has replaced its studio production tape-based playout systems with a multichannel Omneon Spectrum media server system with 4 TB of shared storage. The Omneon installation allows TVNZ to replicate its earlier playout functionality while implementing file transfers of content from the facilitys edit suites.
For 20 years our operation relied on Sony Betacart machines playing out
analog Beta SP tapes into studios for live-to-air production and for ‘as
live’ record-to-tape production, but as we transitioned to a digital
operation, it was clearly time for a modern nonlinear solution, said Paul
Hedges, studio resources manager at TVNZ. Our new Omneon Spectrum servers ability to accept digital content improves quality, and the nonlinear workflow speeds up production time, minimizes error, and eliminates the issue of lost tapes.
The scope of the project at TVNZ included replacement of the original
playout functionality of the Betacarts, and the Auckland-based broadcaster took the opportunity to design and implement new ingest, production, and playout workflows enabled by the Omneon Spectrum server system.
The Omneon server system allows TVNZ staff to continue familiar playout
operations while working with digital content ingested via an Omneon
MediaController interface. The MediaController panel and software provide robust ingest functionality, giving users single-button control in driving a VTR and an input port on the Omneon server system to execute
frame-accurate dubs from VTR systems, crash records from tape or live
feeds, or scheduled records from satellite.
In the near future, digital content prepared by the production team will be transferred from Avid edit systems onto the Omneon server system for
playout. Two Hi Tech active CartBox controllers, which mimic the operation
of the familiar Betacart operators control panel, allow the studio team to cue and roll clips from the server, playing those clips out on specific
channels or assigning clips to programmed shots.
An exceptionally cost-effective and flexible media server designed for the
professional television industry, the Omneon Spectrum media server provides
a reliable and scalable infrastructure for broadcast playout and storage
applications. The server system is built on an open architecture that
allows it to support a broad variety of third-party applications for
control and transmission, as well as media management, archiving, and
collaborative production.
15 November 2006
Al Jazeera English, the first English language international news and current affairs channel headquartered in the Middle East, launches tomorrow Wednesday November 15th at 12.00 GMT to over 80 million cable and satellite households worldwide. Broadcast across the globe, Al Jazeera English will far exceed its original launch target of 40 million cable and satellite homes. It will be distributed across all continents throughout the world and in addition to cable and satellite will be available on broadband IPTV, ADSL, terrestrial and mobile phone platforms.
Major distributors of the channel include:
Canal Sat and TPS France
Kabel Deutschland Germany
Kabel BW Germany
HK Broadband Hong Kong
YES TV Israel
Sky Italia Italy
Astro Malaysia
Canal Digitaal The Netherlands
ORCUS New Zealand
Canal Digital Nordic Region
Cyfra+ and Cyfrowy Polsat Poland
Digital Satellite
(Sky Guide 514) United Kingdom
Globecast United States
Wadah Khanfar, the Director General of the Al Jazeera Network stated, Our launch figure is over double the original target we set for ourselves and is unprecedented in the broadcasting industry – no other international news channel has launched with such a high number of homes across the world. We will continue to build on this figure after launch and will be looking to expand our reach significantly. This is another reflection of the strength of the Al Jazeera brand.
Commercial Director of Al Jazeera English Language Channel, Lindsey Oliver said, I am absolutely delighted that our efforts have paid off and that Al Jazeera English will be launching with over 80 million cable and satellite households. We particularly appreciate the support that has been shown far and wide with distributors signing up to carry Al Jazeera English on the reputation of the Al Jazeera brand, our stated goals, our on air and off air teams, and without having seen the channel on air.
In addition to cable, ADSL, mobile platforms and satellite, Al Jazeera English will be available as a live stream to the one billion users of the Internet worldwide. Al Jazeeras English language website, aljazeera.net/english will be re-launched with the launch of the English language channel at 12.00 GMT tomorrow, to reflect the channels look and feel and editorial content. It will provide live streams of the channel together with RSS feeds, e-mail newsletters and interactive discussion boards. RealNetworks will provide Internet users with a free live stream of the channel. Users will also be able to access a high bandwidth stream via subscription from Real, and a high bandwidth pay-as-you-go service will also be available.
15 November 2006
Harris Corporation announced that Lok Sabha TV, a 24-hour television channel operated by the Indian Parliament, is on air with the Harris® NEXIO NewsNet newsroom system. The NewsNet newsroom system is installed in the Parliament House in New Delhi, India.
Lok Sabha TV covers a variety of parliamentary proceedings and broadcasts the live footage as a television channel. The NewsNet newsroom system installation includes NEXIO servers in a mirrored configuration; Velocity
non-linear editors; an X75 multiple-path converter/synchronizer; an
IconMaster SD/HD-configurable master control system; an IconStation system for on-air branding; a variety of 6800+ and NEO® processing modules; and Videotek® test and measurement equipment. The hardware is controlled by Harris® H-Class ADC Playout Automation.
Key factors in the selection of Harris equipment included reliability and upgradeability to accommodate the expanding needs of Lok Sabha TV as it
broadcasts the important proceedings of the Indian Parliament to homes
across the Indian sub-continent. BECIL (Broadcast Engineering Consultants
India Limited), the project management consultant for the Lok Sabha TV
setup, selected the technology and supervised the implementation. Systems
integrator Ideal Systems Asia Pacific Ltd. was responsible for configuring,
supplying, installing and commissioning the facility.
“We are pleased to have played a fundamental role in such a cutting-edge
broadcast project that was designed to bring the Indian Parliament closer to
the people,” said Tim Thorsteinson, president of the Harris Broadcast
Communications Division.
15 November 2006
Given the recent consolidation in the television and radio business intelligence environment, Mediaguide, a leading radio verification service, and Teletrax, the global television intelligence company, announced a commitment to jointly serve the needs of advertisers, their agencies and media buyers, broadcasters, and other content owners in tracking the use of their audio and video across more than 4,000 radio and television stations worldwide. Teletrax is a subsidiary of Medialink Worldwide Incorporated and a joint venture between Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands and Medialink.
,p>In todays fragmented media landscape, many clients require cross-media solutions, said Andy Nobbs, president of Teletrax. We believe that Teletrax and Mediaguide provide best-of-breed media solutions in an extraordinarily complementary way. Teletrax now covers more than 180 U.S. television markets, all major terrestrial, cable and satellite networks, and the major broadcasters of more than 50 nations across the globe.
Mediaguide currently provides advertising intelligence on more than 2,600 radio stations nationwide, stated Steve Lubin, chief executive officer of Mediaguide. We are excited to jointly offer the media industry an unprecedented breadth of broadcast information.
While each company will continue to provide its unique services to its respective client base, the commitment announced today provides for a coordinated client experience. The commitment announced today will enable both Teletrax and Mediaguide to better reach clients seeking a cross-media solution through referrals to each others industry-leading service.
Using cutting-edge technologies, both companies provide world-class content management solutions to key sectors of the media industry. The patent-pending Mediaguide audio fingerprinting solution is used by performers, publishers and the recording, advertising, radio, and television industries. The proprietary, award-winning Teletrax video watermarking system is used by companies, including ABC Television Network, Fox Broadcasting Company, NBC News Channel, Reuters Television, and ITN Networks.
Paul Wright, vice president business development, Mediaguide, and Dennis OHara, U.S. East Coast Sales Manager, Teletrax, are responsible for coordinating cross-media client requests, inquiries and pricing. For more information, please contact Paul Wright at (610) 560-4119 or Dennis OHara at (212) 812-7176.
15 November 2006
Harris Corporation announced that 10 of its NEXIOT servers and eight NewsFlashR networked, high-resolution editors have been installed at Sky Sports’ new broadcast facility in London to provide highlights packages for BSkyB’s interactive sports channel, Sky Sports Active. The new facility will provide the control room capabilities for live sports programmes, including international cricket and UEFA Champions League football coverage.
“We evaluated a number of server manufacturers on the market for this project, and our key driver for choosing the NEXIO servers was the ability Harris had to complete the installation quickly and effectively,” said Darren Long, head of sports operations at BSkyB. “It wasn’t all about cost – time and implementation also were very important factors for this particular project. We needed to be on air to deliver the cricket coverage to our viewers earlier this year, and Harris was able to deliver, install and complete all staff training required within a very short time. To achieve this, we worked very closely with the Harris team to ensure the build went as smoothly as possible.”
The NEXIO production system forms the backbone of the Sky Sports Active facility, which consists of two newly enhanced, continuously operating control rooms. Integral to the production system are the NewsFlash editors, which allow highlight packages to be cut quickly and played to air almost instantly through the NEXIO servers. The combination of the powerful NEXIO tools and NewsFlash editors enables Sky Sports to provide a unique, interactive viewing experience to its subscribers, allowing them to select alternative camera angles, access a wealth of statistics, review match highlights and even choose between live matches and place bets through their set-top boxes. The NEXIO servers enable a fast turnaround of sports production and enhanced interactive opportunities.
“With the NEXIO servers, we found a system that was scalable, flexible and able to deliver on our critical programming requirements,” said Long. “We needed to be able to turn programme material around quickly, seamlessly and instantaneously to the viewer, and we found that the NEXIO server with the integrated NewsFlash editing tool was able to achieve this.”
“The installation at Sky Sports Active’s enhanced control rooms demonstrates that our NEXIO servers are able to achieve fast turnaround of content for sports production applications where timing is critical,” said Dave Dougall, vice president of sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for the Harris Broadcast Communications Division. “At Sky, the production team using the NewsFlash editing software is able to deliver up-to-the-minute programme packages and achieve a very different style of production output.”
NEXIOT is a modular, scalable server system for transmission and news environments that offers integrated application platforms for editing, browsing and media management across a multi-tiered storage hierarchy. As an operation grows, the NEXIOT design allows users to build systems of up to 28.8 terabytes in a single domain in small, low-cost increments.
A high-resolution craft editor, NewsFlashR sets industry standards for speed of editing and turnaround. The key is direct Fibre Channel access to shared NEXIOT storage by all users, without delay or restriction. More important, all seats can begin editing the moment that ingest begins, enabling a true collaborative environment.
15 November 2006
SES ASTRA, an SES GLOBAL company announced that the German commercial broadcasters ProSieben, Sat.1 and N24 will offer the interactive service Blucom as of 2007. The number of broadcasters using the ASTRA service Blucom has now increased to ten.
The interactive Blucom technology supports services like programme announcements, weather information, lottery and sports results or further programme information. Additionally, it enables ways of interaction such as voting, downloads, chats, and advertising, which actively involve the viewer in the ongoing programme. The return channel operates via the mobile phone.
The Blucom offers from ProSiebenSat.1 use the mobile telephone system standards UMTS or GPRS as well as by Bluetooth technology via the set-top box, enabling all TV households in Germany benefit from the service, no matter whether they receive the channels via satellite, cable or terrestrial antenna. The only tool necessary is a browser which can be ordered by a text message (SMS) and has to be downloaded onto the mobile phone.
We are excited about our new Blucom partners because the agreement with the three strong brands ProSieben, Sat.1 and N24 will strengthen the acceptance of Blucom in the market, says Alexander Oudendijk, Chief Commercial Officer of SES ASTRA. Blucom offers a simple, attractive and cost efficient way of communication between broadcasters and their audience in parallel to the programmes. With the award-winning service Blucom, ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG will offer its young target groups an additional attraction.
Dr. Marcus Englert, Member of the Executive Board of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG and Managing Director of SevenOne Intermedia, the multimedia company of the ProSiebenSat.1 Group, says: The additional interactive service coming with our TV programmes is an important part of our activities to deepen our relations with the audience and to generate new revenues. The mobile phone becomes an elementary return channel for this interaction. The increasing penetration of households with mobile handhelds of the latest generation broadens the opportunities to reach the customer with mobile services via a further display. Our TV offers accompanied by Blucom create an attractive added value for our audiences.
