12 January 2009
Pharos announces the completion of a major contract for BBC World Service. In the role of prime contractor, Pharos was selected to supply content management and automation for 68 channels of radio programming together with automation for live and time-shifted content playout.
Central to the project is a Pharos Mediator content management platform which has been chosen to integrate the network’s ingest, media workflow, transfer management, router control and playout. Mediator includes a task-specific web-based user interface which guides operators and supervisors through the workflow and allows search and browse of any material from their desktop. World Service workflows are prioritised and resources managed by Mediator based on the demands of an integrated programme schedule. A total of 32 channels are configured as complete playout-capable subsystems, each safeguarded by a fully mirrored channel.
“This latest contract was awarded after a lengthy OJEC process,” comments Nigel Fry Head of Transmission & Distribution at BBC World Service. “A full audit was conducted which Pharos passed with high recommendations. Pharos was then commissioned to look at our current operation and to co-operate with staff in creating an outline requirement for a future playout and routing infrastructure to cover the entire World Service operation. These requirements included flexible delivery of material to multiple platforms for both traditional linear broadcasting and new on-demand services. Reliability was obviously essential so the new playout infrastructure is protected by full redundancy. The overall system enables us to respond more quickly to late-breaking editorial changes and is scalable to meet changing demand.”
“Our Project Services team worked closely with the BBC to determine the system acceptance criteria,” adds Pharos Technical Director Spencer Rodd. “The new system is based on PC workstations running standard web browsers. Where staff previously interacted with individual audio elements manually, content management and switching are now automatically driven by the scheduling system. As material becomes ready for transmission, it is made available to Pharos Playtime automation for secure playout in conjunction with live and scheduled programmes switched from studios and other sources. All workflow states are tracked on-screen and used to generate reports as well as updating the material preparation status.”
Pharos has worked with BBC World Service for over 10 years, helping deliver new systems that maximise efficiency and allow prompt response to the rapidly developing media marketplace. Newly-developed features in this latest installation include a node-based online storage subsystem for content management plus a high-performance audio server. Router control was also a key challenge with thousands of on-demand sources and destinations. The audio routing system consists of dual Lawo Nova73 routers scalable up to 8,192 mono channels.
6 January 2009
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President Jeffrey Gedmin has called the decision by the government of Azerbaijan to take foreign broadcasters off the air on 30 December “a sad day for the Azeri people, who will now find themselves without access to free and independent media.” The OSCE calls the move a “serious step backwards” for Azerbaijan and the US State Department says the decision “retards democratic reform in Azerbaijan.”
In Baku, the Azeri National TV-Radio Council formally ruled to ban all international broadcasters, including RFE/RL, VoA and BBC, from the airwaves effective 1 January. The move essentially guarantees a monopoly for state-controlled media and prevents any independent news broadcasts from reaching the Azeri people.
Gedmin rejected Azerbaijan’s suggestion that RFE/RL can broadcast effectively on alternatives to FM frequencies such as Internet radio or short wave. “Losing our FM frequency means losing 90 per cent of our audience,” he said. “Nevertheless, we will find ways to reach our listeners. Our mission of bringing uncensored news and information to the Azeri people is now more important than ever.”
Since the announcement two months ago that authorities were considering this move, Azeri advocates of press freedom have joined the US, EU, OSCE, and international media watchdog groups in condemnation of the regime’s efforts at stopping the free exchange of information in Azerbaijan.
16 December 2008
Radio and TV Martí launched this week a newly redesigned version of its Spanish language Web site, www.martinoticias.com, giving users a full spectrum of media offerings including live streaming radio and television programming.
The site features more Web stories, including audio and video, allowing up to nine stories to be viewed and giving users a better idea of the full scope of the news from Cuba, Latin America and the rest of the world.
The site incorporates RSS feeds, and in the near future, will provide visitors the ability to subscribe to receive e-mails of news stories in their areas of interest.
“For anyone who wants to know what’s going in Cuba today, this is the place to come,” said Pedro Roig, director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which oversees Radio and TV Martí. “We want to enhance our Internet and digital media capacity and make it a priority. Our goal is to reach as many as possible, which is very difficult in Cuba.”
Other features of the site include a 24-hour news ticker, offering the latest headlines, as well as special feature news stories.
According to Roig, Radio and TV Martí hope to further augment its Internet presence, possibly with a presence on social media sites YouTube and Facebook.
15 December 2008
Wohler Technologies Inc. today announced that mobile production company Game Creek Video has installed VMDA-SUM8 analog/digital summing audio monitors in the company’s new Liberty HD two-truck mobile television production unit. Rolled out in August, just in time for the college football season on ESPN/ABC, Liberty HD relies on six VMDA-SUM8 units for flexible monitoring and mixing of intercom aux inputs.
“We’ve always worked with Wohler audio monitoring products, and we selected the VMDA-SUM8 for Liberty because it provides eight channels where most systems offer just four or six,” said Jason Taubman, vice president of design and engineering at Game Creek Video. “The summed output feature on the VMDA-SUM8 also was a major factor in our purchase decision, as it offers operators the convenience of creating a small eight-channel mix down into one headset. As a result, production staff can put that audio in their ears rather than in front of them.”
Ideal for mobile production applications, Wohler’s VMDA-SUM8 analog/digital summing audio monitor provides self-powered stereo or mono monitoring in a 1U rack size and depth of only 4.5 inches. A total of eight mono or four stereo channels may be summed together and monitored from the two speakers on the front panel. The user may select either digital AES/EBU or standard analog audio input sources for each of the eight input channels to be monitored.
Liberty production staff typically use the VMDA-SUM8 for discrete sources such as IFB talkback, network returns, and producer and director hot mics. Eight volume controls on the front panel allow for separate adjustment of each channel in the summing mix, and a recessed trim pot on the front panel serves as a master volume control for all eight selected channels.
“We are constantly finding new ways to add convenience to our clients’ production work, and the VMDA-SUM8 offers a combination of functionality and audio-channel density that serves the mobile production market very well,” said Carl J. Dempsey, Wohler president and CEO. “Game Creek Video is a leader in this market and a longtime Wohler client, and we’re pleased to see the VMDA-SUM8 implemented in the company’s newest-generation mobile truck.”
Game Creek Video has also outfitted Liberty HD with additional models offered in Wohler’s wide range of solutions. A VM-2A is installed for utility analog audio monitoring in camera control, while an AMP1-DA/106 is used for analog and AES monitoring in audio control. The utilitarian standard VAMP2-SDA has been installed for SDI signal monitoring of transmission video with embedded audio. Rounding out the Wohler solutions for Liberty HD are cost efficient VMQ-4 units, which provide monitoring of four simultaneous discrete analog channels and are located at virtually every operator position that is a router destination for video and audio monitors.
5 December 2008
The BLOOMBERG TELEVISION network has won two Emmy Awards
for its investigative reports, “401K Hidden Fees” and “Deadly Brew: The Human Toll of
Ethanol.” The awards, in recognition of excellence in business reporting, were announced
at the 6th Annual Emmy® Awards for Business & Financial Reporting in New York City.
The BLOOMBERG TELEVISION network received the Emmy award in the outstanding
investigative reporting of a business news story category for “401K Hidden Fees,” a half-hour
special exposing hidden charges that can skim off more than half of investment returns over a
lifetime of retirement plan saving. “401K Hidden Fees” was hosted by anchor Mike Schneider
and produced by Gary Matsumoto.
The BLOOMBERG TELEVISION special “Deadly Brew: The Human Toll of Ethanol” received the
Emmy award in the outstanding documentary on a business topic category. The half-hour
program, hosted by Mike Schneider and produced by Randy Martin, investigates abuses
endured by Brazils migrant workers who harvest sugar cane for ethanol production.
2 December 2008
The first delivery of the UK’s digital switchover (DSO) by transmission company Arqiva in the Border television region (southern Scotland/northern England) has been supported by engineering and infrastructure solutions supplied by VT Communications.
In 2007 VT Communications was awarded a contract by Arqiva to install low power digital terrestrial TV (DTT) transmitter cabins at television relay stations throughout the UK as part of the DSO programme. These relay cabins facilitate the delivery of DSO to mainly rural areas, complementing the coverage from the UKs main TV transmitting stations, so are a critical part of the overall programme.
Border has two main transmitting stations (Selkirk and Caldbeck), plus Kendal and Douglas. Three have one or more associated low power relay stations. Fifty percent of television viewers in the Selkirk area rely on the relay stations to provide the digital coverage to these rural areas. In September, VT Communications successfully completed the installation of cabins at ten of the eleven relay sites associated with the Selkirk main TV station. The Selkirk relay chain was the first within the Border region to complete DSO on 20th November 2008.
Bryan Coombes, Director of Broadcast at VT Communications, said: “VT Communications goes beyond the delivery of traditional broadcast services. From the design, build and systems integration of bespoke projects like this, to working in partnership with customers to plan for the future, we not limited by the boundaries of existing processes, technologies or knowledge. Our team surveyed almost 250 sites and installed 25 cabins at sites in both the Border region and now West Country. However, this is only the beginning; we still have many more installations and four years to go!”
