March 15, 2006
Top Story
New survey finds reluctance to watch “TV programs” on mobile phones
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
Before committing to the small screen of mobile phones for news clips, weather reports and traffic conditions, news directors may want to consider new findings of a new survey from RCB Capital Markets.
Three-quarters of the respondents to the survey said “I am not interested in watching TV programs or movies on my handheld device.” Whether or not “TV program” includes news in the minds of respondents was unclear.
Similarly, when asked if they would like to have in-car mobile Internet access and computing, 80 percent reported having no interest, and three-quarters said having it in the car would “be a dangerous distraction.” The survey also revealed that one in eight Americans have taken a photo or video of a stranger without their knowledge.
The survey was conducted online by InsightExpress, on behalf of RBC Capital Markets. A total of 1001 Americans were surveyed and the margin of error was +/-3.09 percent, 19 out of 20 times.
For more information, visit www.rbc.com.
Industry News
Sinclair to end newscasts on some stations
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
Sinclair Broadcasting is ceasing local newscasts in four markets, according to a report in Business First of Buffalo.
The company March 31 will end its 10 p.m. newscast on WNYO-TV in Buffalo, NY. It also reportedly will cease newscasts on WB affiliate WVTV-TV in Milwaukee, WI, at the end of the month.
Other markets where Sinclair reportedly is ending newscasts include Raleigh, NC, and Tampa, FL.
AP names Evansky director of operations for services, technology
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
The Associated Press has named Nick Evansky, director of technology for Associated Press Television News, vice president and director of operations for AP Services & Technology.
Evansky has been head of technology for APTN, headquartered in London, since 2000. In 2003, he also became director of Services & Technology for AP’s operations outside of the United States. In his new position, at AP Global Headquarters in New York, Evansky will be responsible for AP’s technical infrastructure and its support staff worldwide for all formats.
CBS gives Web users access to thousands of hours of local news
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
The CBS Television Stations Digital Media Group is working with multimedia content search engine blinkx to make thousands of hours of local content fully searchable online at www.blinkx.tv.
Users of blinkx.tv will now be able to find local news, weather, entertainment and traffic updates, as well as catch up on neighborhood current affairs, by searching locally produced video content available on the CBS Television Stations' Web sites. The local CBS stations will add several thousand hours of local news video to blinkx's growing list of content partners. Search queries will link users directly into relevant video segments located on a station's Web site. CBS Television Stations' "Always On" digital media initiative is a nationwide project focused on expanding the availability of the stations’ local, relevant text, graphic and video content to consumers via new media, 24 hours a day.
European tapeless newsroom seminar to wrap up March 23
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
A seminar series focusing on the benefits of moving a newsroom to an all-digital environment will conclude later this month in Madrid, Spain.
The series “Building a Tapeless Newsroom,” sponsored by Apple Computer, Dalet and Omneon Video Networks, is designed for broadcast engineers, news directors and IT managers who wish to learn about hardware and software solutions from the companies that leverage a file-based workflow to improve efficiency, giving journalists access to more tools to do their job and speed time to air.
The seminar began March 7 in Munich. Remaining seminars will be held March 14 in London and March 21 in Paris and March 23 in Madrid. The seminars are free, but seating is limited.
For more information, visit www.dalet.com/events.html.
Acquisition
Sprint Nextel announces 2GHz relocation plans for NAB2006
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
Sprint Nextel will be in a booth on the floor of NAB2006 in Las Vegas and hold several sessions at “Sprint Central” in the monorail station outside the Las Vegas Convention Center to answer questions and share information about its ongoing 2GHz relocation work with TV broadcasters.
NAB2006 attendees with full-conference exhibit passes can attend a session on the lessons that have been learned so far and the progress made in the transition. Broadcast engineering experts from Sprint Nextel will participate in the panel in the Las Vegas Convention Center room 219/220 at 10 a.m. on April 27.
At Sprint Central, broadcasters can attend sessions and have lunch with Sprint Nextel 2GHz relocation experts. Registration is required.
The Sprint Central session schedule includes:
- Monday, April 24, noon-1 p.m. — What is Sprint Nextel’s plan for relocation weekends? Lunch provided.
- Monday, April 24, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. — What will the market and station training entail?
- Tuesday, April 25, noon – 1 p.m. — Real Life: How does the equipment work in the field? How hard is setting up a shot? Is there life after 2GHz for fixed links? Lunch provided.
- Tuesday, April 25, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. — What will the market and station training entail?
- Wednesday, April 26, noon – 1 p.m. — How do I compile quotes, including soft costs? Lunch provided.
- Wednesday, April 26, 3 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. — What will the market and station training entail?
For more information or to register for Sprint Central events and lunches, visit www.2ghzrelocation.com.
SBE tells commission Sprint Nextel “misunderstood” proposed ULS changes
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
Sprint Nextel “fundamentally misunderstood” a proposal from the Society of Broadcast Engineers asking the commission to make changes to the Universal Licensing System that would allow TV Pickup and Remote Pickup licensees to document the location and height of their antennas and RPU receive only sites, respectively.
That’s the contention of a March 2 SBE filing with the commission taking exception to the telecommunication company’s comments that object to the proposed ULS changes. What’s more troubling, the SBE filing said, is that Sprint Nextel “apparently does not understand the existing obligation” that commercial mobile radio service operators have to protect “an earlier-in-time” ENG receive only site.
The SBE summarized the claims of Sprint Nextel as being “mischaracterizations” of the society’s plan to modify the ULS. Specifically, Sprint Nextel claims that the SBE petition for rulemaking to change the ULS proposes a prior coordination notice for operators of commercial mobile radio services, CMRS, in regard to ENG-RO sites, the society filing said.
It also said the telecommunication company objected to CMRS licensees being required to notify BAS licenses prior to building and operating a base station and a requirement that CMRS base stations postpone testing and operation till filters are installed on ENG receivers.
The SBE countered that nowhere in its previous filings had it proposed a prior coordination notice, nor was there a suggestion that CMRS licenses be required to notify a TV Pickup licensee with an ENG-RO close to a CMRS base station.
According to the SBE, its Feb. 17 commission filing seeking rulemaking on the proposal for ULS spelled out the possibility of voluntary tests by “a newcomer CMRS station.” If those tests revealed interference to an ENG-RO sited, the tests “could then be put on hold until the necessary filters were added to the CMRS base station” or to the ENG-RO site.
According to the most recent SBE filing “nowhere… was there any proposal that these steps would be mandatory.”
For more detail on the SBE proposal to modify the ULS, read “SBE petitions commission to begin ULS modification rulemaking.”
For more information, visit www.sbe.org.
Newsroom
WRAL-TV to discuss transition to file-based HD news workflow
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
As part of the NAB2006 Engineering Conference, WRAL-TV chief engineer Pete Sockett and Charlie Grisham of BitCentral will discuss the Raleigh-Durham, NC, -based station’s ongoing transition from a tape-based HD news workflow to a digital file-based approach.
The pair will discuss the goals of making it easier to share video, eliminating tape cluttered tape archives and repurposing content for different platforms.
Sockett and Grisham will make their presentation April 25.
For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.
TV Bandeirantes streamlines news workflow
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
Sao Paulo, Brazil-based TV Bandeirantes has selected the Leitch NEXIO NewsNet server newsroom system from Harris and a range of Harris content management and distribution products spanning media ingest through storage, news production, post production and playout to provide a streamlined workflow throughout the content delivery chain. TV Bandeirantes reaches 94 percent of television households in Brazil via 77 broadcast channels. It will use the NEXIO NewsNet system to transmit a variety of programming, including local network news, 24-hour news and sports.
The Leitch NEXIO NewsNet system is composed of a NEXIO transmission server system, NEXIO NewsFlash networked editing systems and a NewsFlash Preditor low-resolution browse and edit solution, all connected to a shared storage system. The system enables a news operation to ingest, edit and air material without requiring content transfer.
The system also includes the Ingest Control Manager function to streamline acquisition; Rundown Manager, a MOS-enabled gateway and play-to-air system; NEXIO Remote, which enables control of up to four NEXIO channels over a standard LAN connection; and the NEXIO Playlist event sequencing application. In addition, the system features 14TB of storage in a mirrored configuration.
For more information, visit www.harris.com.
New Products
Russian broadcaster selects vsnnews
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
Russian public broadcaster STS has chosen vsnnews and vsnarchive recently for an eight-seat digital newsroom, including graphics and prompter, and integrated archive system, at its St. Petersburg branch office.
The system, installed by DNK, also includes advanced real-time network post production based on Canopus Edius.
Additionally, vsn has announced that Olay TV in Turkey will upgrade its capabilities with the installation of a vsn turnkey master control room system and a network production system for two studios, featuring a six-channel ingest, two automatic studio playouts, synchronized teleprompter, graphics, network post production, master playout and digital archive. The vsn dealer EREL is installing the system.
For more information, visit www.vsn-tv.com.
Curious Software certifies “The Map Doctor” as independent trainer
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
Curious Software has qualified David Wells, head of U.S.-based company, The Map Doctor, as a Certified Independent Trainer for its map creation software, Curious World Maps.
As the company’s first Certified Independent Trainer, Wells is able to help new Curious World Maps users to get the most from their software, regardless of their level of expertise.
Established in 2003, The Map Doctor offers a training and design service for broadcast, post production and corporate clients wanting access to high quality still or animated maps. Wells, former art director of “NBC Nightly News,” heads the company, which helps broadcasters decide what map software and satellite data to buy and how to use it.
For more information, visit www.curious-software.com or e-mail: David Wells.
Sony to extend XDCAM HD features with four new boards
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
Sony will introduce four new option boards for its XDCAM HD Professional Disc system to extend the system's capabilities next month at NAB2006 in Las Vegas.
The PDBK-101 network board delivers GigE capabilities for users in networked environments. The PDBK-102 allows input and output of 25Mb/s HDV streams (MPEG-2 transport streams) for interfacing with HDV products or HDV-based nonlinear editors via an i.LINK (IEEE 1394) port. The PDBK-103 offers an HD analog component input and RGB input. The PDBK-104 provides SD-SDI and SD composite inputs for HD upconversion recording capabilities.
The Sony XDCAM HD family of optical products includes the PDW-F350 and PDW-F330 camcorders and PDW-F70 and PDW-F30 decks.
For more information, visit http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBusiness/index.shtml.
MBC TV selects SWE-DISH DA150K for SNG
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
 MBC broadcasting stations will be equipped with SWE-DISH DA150K Drive-Away uplink packages. |
Pan-Arab news and entertainment channel MBC TV has begun using SWE-DISH Drive-Away systems within its mobile fleet. MBC broadcasting stations will be equipped with SWE-DISH DA150K Drive-Away, a unique concept for vehicle mount antenna systems. Mounted on top of an SNG van, the roof box contains an antenna that deploys and automatically points towards the selected satellite and can be operational within 10 minutes.
Among the key attributes of the DA150K are:
- Low drag and low profile
- Rugged with all equipment protected in transit
- Automatic alignment with GPS, step tracking, single thread, redundant, phase combined
- Compliant, Eutelsat/Intelsat compliant
For more information, visit www.swe-dish.com.
Avid begins shipping AirSpeed 2.0
Mar 15, 2006 8:00 AM, News Technology Update e-newsletter
 The Avid AirSpeed 2.0 system is available with front-panel video control and monitoring or with control and monitoring optimized for HD workflows and remote operation. |
Avid Technology has begun shipping the Avid AirSpeed 2.0 system, a multi-purpose video ingest and playout server for sports, news, live events and other productions requiring fast, efficient turnaround.
The AirSpeed 2.0 system now supports uncompressed SD and the Avid DNxHD format to facilitate HD production from capture to playout. The new system is also available with front-panel video control and monitoring or with control and monitoring optimized for HD workflows and remote operation. The latter offers four times the storage capacity in place of the front-panel controls and monitor.
The AirSpeed 2.0 system is designed to deliver video ingest and playback server functionality within a streamlined digital nonlinear production workflow. The system features VTR-like functionality with full remote programmability and control, and offers complete interoperability with the Avid Unity family of shared-storage solutions.
For more information, visit www.avid.com.
