Last year, more than 400 original series hit the small screen. With no signs of slowing; predictions suggest 2017 could beat records, with over 500 programmes launched. It’s now possible for companies to make video easily accessible online and with the widespread adoption of Video on Demand (VOD) the content floodgates have opened like never before.
_460_307_70.jpg "Software updates, patches and refreshes should be easy and safe. Often they are not.")
Broadcasters have historically not had to endure regular large-scale technology transitions. Sure, the industry moved from B/W to color, analog to digital, and SD to HD. But the upcoming move from the familiar and comfortable SDI technology to an IP-centric facility has many technical managers apprehensive. It is time to be calm and carry on.
Japanese broadcasters are preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, including getting ready for 8K UHDTV. In 2018, public broadcaster NHK will roll out the needed ISDB-S3 standard. The multichannel R&S SLG signal generator from Rohde & Schwarz was used for the 8K satellite tests.
In this interview, we meet Sean Prickett – a “young gun” audio mixer that’s making a name for himself on some of TV’s most high-profile live and audition shows. Most recently, Sean was A1 for the live-broadcast finals of the CBS reality-TV dance competition “So You Think You Can Dance” (SYTYCD), which just wrapped its 14th season. Other impressive A1 credits include the 2017 U.S. Presidential Inaugural Balls, SYFY Channel’s “Live from Comic-Con,” and MTV’s “Wonderland” and “VMA Weekend,” and he’s already out working on the new season of “American Idol.”
At the start of 2013, BCE at RTL City was a hole in Luxembourg’s ground and in less than four years they were on air broadcasting 35 different channels across Europe and Singapore. Costas Colombus is BCE’s Special Projects Manager and gave The Broadcast Bridge a unique insight into how they made this mammoth installation work, including describing the issues and how they overcame them along the way.
In this second article in the series we look at the IP routers Costas and his team chose, and why.
As more and more broadcast facility operations migrate to automated production and distribution systems, companies that market technical furniture are now offering next-generation products that accommodate less equipment (and operators) and consume less space while supporting the use of new technologies like flat screen displays and software-centric control systems. This includes the use of new fabricated materials that stand up to the daily rigors of operator use.
Disasters can strike at any time and in many forms, leaving facilities with severe damage and stripping broadcast data centers of power for days. Though this can have catastrophic results, many broadcasters — through no fault of their own — surprisingly don’t have plans about how to truly protect content/playout since most of their time (and money, mind you) is spent creating, managing and delivering that content. But in the wake of several hurricanes in the US this year, as well as the horrific earthquake in Mexico, media companies are in fact putting greater emphasis on securing content and making sure their station’s main and backup feeds aren’t compromised during a disaster.
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Broadcasters have finally been able to harmonize the Master Exchange Format (MXF) with the Digital Cinema Distribution format (DCP) and other international media exchange formats such as Digital Production Partnership (DPP). The result is a new specification called the Interoperable Master Format (IMF).
