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Engineering Excellence Awards

Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM

WINNER:
Ascent Media

Submitted by

Sundance Digital

Ascent Media

Winner of network automation

When the additional demands of new business hit Ascent Media, it was time for a bicoastal upgrade. The organization offers broadcast, cable and satellite network distribution solutions from Stamford, CT, and Burbank, CA. The East Coast Network Origination Center (NOC) has handled distribution for the YES Network, A&E Television Networks and the NFL, and recently added the NHL Network. The West Coast NOC distributes the “Classic Arts Showcase,” a free cable TV program, and added ReelzChannel, a cable and satellite network, to its roster.

The new networks meant that an infusion of advanced, scalable and reliable technology was needed to provide the highest quality transmission service that caters to high-profile sports and entertainment channels. The dynamic nature of sports networks typically requires individual live master control rooms, while entertainment programming needs more efficient multichannel operations.

Ascent Media opted to unify each origination center under the central control of a robust automation configuration. In the end, it chose nearly identical, but individually operated, fully redundant, multichannel Sundance Digital Titan automation solutions.

The new automation systems enable Ascent to add channels easily to Titan as its roster grows. Recently, an additional three channels were added for agile, on-demand stations to accommodate live events as needed.

Each highly scalable configuration drives an Omneon Spectrum server and Harris IconMaster master control switchers for branding. Sundance Digital's MediaCacher was installed in both locations to efficiently and robotically cache content from tape to the servers.

Although the Titans are near mirror images of each other, some individuality was required to maximize efficiency. The spontaneous nature of the sports networks serviced by Stamford's playback center required a system responsive to real-time, last-minute playlist changes due to game timeouts, rain delays and the like. Sundance Digital's NewsRecorder was installed to achieve the live ingest of sporting events for server-based playback.

In Burbank, Titan drives a Front Porch/StorageTek archive system that is an important component of the entertainment-centric ReelzChannel and “Classic Arts Showcase.”

In Stamford, each channel operates from its own master control room. In Burbank, the networks are managed in a multicustomer room. Both facilities are multicustomer installations and require significant scalability.

The new automation solution cost-effectively increases Ascent's existing platform to accommodate additional customers without needing to purchase a new automation system each time business grows.

WINNER:
Intelligent Tool

Submitted by

TV GLOBO

Intelligent Tool

Winner of newsroom technology

Because Brazil has continental dimensions, news is the key tool to integrate all regions of the country and is the main GLOBO production, with a total of 58,000 hours per year produced by 3000 journalists. GLOBO's newscast schedule is divided into local and network newscasts from morning to evening. Each affiliate produces up to 13 hours of weekly news for its districts and sends content to network headquarters for broadcast.

Traditionally, content was exchanged via microwave or satellite links in real time, which means booking complexity and limited time windows in expensive communication channels. But since July 2007, GLOBO and its affiliates have operated a customized system to exchange off-air news content using IP technology over a robust and private broadband network.

This Intelligent Tool shares the content produced by each affiliate based on 24/7 operations. All participants are able to search, select, watch low-res content (LR=WM@256Kb/s) and retrieve high-res files (HR=WM@4Mb/s). The system provides security settings for protecting confidential information and defines rights management for content usage. Each affiliate can automatically manage the files' download priority according to its program guide. Other important features include archive control, partial retrieval, customized reports and peer-to-peer sharing between affiliates.

The system architecture is comprised of an SQL redundant central database, a redundant central DNS Web server, workstations and MPLS network technology.

All content shared in the new system is available 24/7 over a reliable private network with firewall and cryptography protections, which equates to three times the savings when compared with the booked and rented A/V satellite or microwave links.

The application has a user-friendly Web GUI for the journalists, who can watch the low-res clips before asking for the high-res content, which is transferred at least two times faster than real time.

RUNNER-UP:
Category

Newsroom technology

Submitted by

CNN/Frontline Communications

CNN

CNN first used a mobile news bureau to cover the presidential campaign in 2004, which was a 1980 tour coach. Although crude in design, with folding tables and virtually no connectivity, its potential for much more was obvious. In 2005, CNN decided that a fully customized conversion could provide a premier workspace and give the connectivity that had been missing from the previous coach.

David Bohrman, CNN's Washington, D.C., bureau chief and senior VP, wanted to create a multiuse platform that would provide a combination HD studio, satellite transmission center and newsroom with an editing suite. The project required contributions across several disciplines. Frontline, a builder of satellite transmission trucks, provided overall project management and installation of the broadcast electronics. Parliament Motor Coach provided coach interior outfitting and chassis modifications. CNN's willingness to think outside the norm in broadcast vehicle design illustrates its commitment to deliver the highest quality news reporting.