Master control systems
Jan 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By John Luff
Today, broadcasters are increasingly relying on automation to cut costs.
Senior project manager Bob Peck monitors operations in the Turner Network master control center, which employs NVISION’s NV5100MC multichannel master control system.
Master control has an auspicious sound to it. When you hear the words master control, you think of a technology that keeps everything running perfect — well, partially.
The function of master control has significantly changed over the years. For starters, it used to be responsible for just getting one NTSC channel on the air. My first job outside of a studio was in a public TV station running MCR, which the station called air operations. I was the duty director. I read the log, found the media, loaded film and tape when there wasn't another operator around, rolled the media, and did the air switching. The booth announcer (when was the last time you saw one of those in a local TV station?) waited for a hand signal while keeping an eye on the monitor. We had NAB carts for some voice-over content when there wasn't an announcer. There was no local editing, so promos were all live.
Contrast that early 1970s norm with the early part of this decade. Ten years ago, operations were usually live or syndicated content on tape, or server. Promos were always prerecorded. The booth announcer had retired, or at least only cut tracks for a short time per day for each station he supported. And MCR was seldom more than a two-man operation. If the station was automated, it may have been unmanned at times (overnight or weekend graveyard shifts). Manually rolling content hadn't disappeared, but increasingly automation at least stacked the events and rolled them more often than not. Reconciliation wasn't comparing the paper air log to the original from traffic, but rather an electronic process. It's been a pretty amazing transformation. Master control has changed even more in the past six to eight years. The dynamics behind the change are not at all obtuse; they are obvious.
Costs
Driven by costs that grow when revenue is flat, broadcasters have increased their dependence on automation and other labor-saving measures. Implementation of a file-based workflow, servers for recording and playout of syndicated content as well as interstitials are now almost a requirement.
Just as costs have impacted the playout side of the operation, they have also affected the syndication and duplication business. Twenty years ago, tape delivery of content was replaced by satellite delivery. This is now being replaced by delivery services that take content from syndicators, add the appropriate metadata and deliver it to servers in the broadcaster's facility without intervention by the operations staff.
Early implementations were developed initially for news delivery from network news departments to affiliates. They could not transfer files directly to online servers for air. Over time, standards for file interchange have become available, and IT file transfer is now a reality.
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