These benefits are especially compelling in a television newsroom, where seconds count in delivering breaking news to viewers before the competition. With a software-based live production workflow replacing functions that were previously the domain of expensive, specialized hardware, broadcasters can build a “virtual control room” for managing switchers, automation, graphics, and video playout from any location and anytime using a Web browser.

In this article, we will take a closer look at the drivers towards IT-based workflows for live production. We will also describe some of the challenges of adoption, particularly for environments that still rely heavily on legacy equipment and will need to do so into the future. In these instances, the most ideal software solutions are those that can offer a hybrid approach by integrating seamlessly with legacy systems, while also paving a smooth path for a complete migration to an all-IP workflow.

Broadcast Automation Comes of Age

Beginning in the 1990s, radio broadcasting technology underwent a sea change – from an era of bulky hardware that required highly specialized technicians and a significant capital outlay, to the easy-to-use, software-based automation systems that run most radio stations today. The digital revolution and the emergence of the MP2 and MP3 audio compression formats played a key role in this migration, together with advances in CPU performance that made computers powerful enough to replace analog tape recorders.

By 2000, most radio operations had adopted some degree of IT automation, but it would be a while before the idea began to catch on for television. Up until a few years ago, commercial off-the-shelf PCs and servers were simply not powerful enough to handle high-resolution video with acceptable latency, and TV broadcasters steeped in traditional workflows weren’t ready to make the leap to the new technologies. One large concern was whether software solutions were stable and reliable enough for high-stakes live broadcasts. In a highly anticipated, globally watched broadcast such as the Super Bowl, for instance, there’s no room for even a second of failure when every commercial playout represents millions of dollars in revenue.

Fast-forward to today, and commodity computer platforms and operating systems have grown exponentially in both power and stability. Another large driver is the explosion in multiplatform and OTT video delivery services over IP networks, which presents compelling new opportunities for broadcasters worldwide. Many broadcasters are beginning to take their cue from the world of consumer-produced video, spurred by the growth of highly intuitive mobile devices that make it easy for just about anyone to create sophisticated and high-quality content. The potential to apply similar workflows in a professional, production environment, with tools and systems that can be operated by non-technical personnel, is a powerful motivator for broadcasters of all sizes.

While maturing technology and the rise of IP video are the biggest drivers in the adoption of software automation in TV broadcasting, cultural shifts are also playing a role. A new breed of engineers is entering the workforce, and they’re bringing with them a broader view of content creation. Unlike previously, where engineers were trained to be highly specialized on specific types of equipment, the new class of engineers is embracing software-based automation tools that let them flex their creative muscle in a way that simply isn’t possible in traditional, hardware-based workflows.

An Incremental Approach

Now that IT- and IP-based systems can provide not only the horsepower to drive high-resolution video but also the reliability for live television, broadcasters are accelerating the move to all-software operations. In one survey, 37 percent of broadcast professionals identified transitioning to IP as their top technology objective for 2015, and the sense of urgency is growing to make the shift from baseband and proprietary hardware to IP and COTS equipment. [1]

But, just as the transition to digital and HD broadcasting was a gradual process (and is still ongoing in many parts of the world), this migration won’t happen overnight. Broadcasters with a large capital investment in legacy equipment – i.e. most of them – will need to take a phased approach that enables them to maximize their traditional hardware while beginning to reap some of the benefits of IP- and software-based workflows. This is complicated by the lack of integration among disparate hardware systems, but recent advances in APIs are enabling legacy systems to talk to each other in new ways and add elements of automation to existing workflows; for instance, a process that triggered a single action previously can trigger at least two at once.

The best strategy for these broadcasters, therefore, is a hybrid system that brings automation and integration to traditional systems, while at the same time enabling parts of the operation to adopt a full software-based workflow when the time is right. As a provider of IT-based software solutions for live broadcast productions and studio automation, VidiGo has embraced this approach as the key to helping customers move towards an eventual and complete migration to a 100-percent software-based environment.

Reaching Newsroom Software Nirvana

Besides integration hooks to legacy and other third party systems, what other qualities should broadcasters look for when evaluating software-based broadcast automation systems? Ease of use is top-of-mind, in keeping with the idea that software automation should “democratize” a broadcast operation be easy for anyone in the operation to learn and use. Rather than requiring users to conform to rigid technology requirements, the software should conform to the needs of users and therefore minimize the need for specialized technical staff.

Flexibility is a critical attribute for automation software. The solution should be able to automate every workflow in the newsroom, from camera output to final presentation for viewers. This means complete integration of all functions that were previously handled by isolated hardware, such as switchers, automation, graphics, and video playout. In this manner, the focus is shifted away from the technology and toward the users and their processes for creating content and presenting it to viewers.

Besides the obvious OPEX/CAPEX reductions of using lower-cost commodity systems and software, these systems deliver significant cost savings when executed properly. As we’ve said, incremental integration with legacy hardware enables an operation to migrate gradually to an all-software environment and maximize the investment in existing switchers, routers, playout automation, and other hardware-based systems. But savings also result from the extreme usability and automation of the solution, which enables news operations to produce more in less time, without increasing staffing levels and with a diminished requirement for technical expertise.

Consider a TV newsroom in the midst of covering a large, rapidly breaking story. In a traditional environment, making a simple announcement – say, that a fire has broken out in a certain location – requires separate operators to manage equipment such as prompters, graphics, still store, tape machines, switchers, and cameras. So many touchpoints introduce a higher margin of error, and the intense coordination required means it’s more difficult to get the news to air in a timely fashion.

Contrast this with a software automation environment, in which the only real unknown is the news itself. With time of the essence, the software enables a repeatable, reliable environment for packaging and presenting the content with fewer touch points. The newsroom is able to deliver the news to air quicker and with greater accuracy with a single solution for automating all essential production functions. The news anchor can sit down in front of the camera, push two or three buttons, and record the piece – and then easily cue it up for the evening’s news rundown or the station’s social media channel. Here, the content creator – not the technology – is in control. And – most compelling of all – such an IP-based solution enables the creation of a “virtual control room” in which news professionals can go to air anytime and from any location, even by logging in from their homes.

In Summary – It’s About Content

In the end, television is all about making content – and content has never been more important in today’s highly competitive news markets. The growth of IP video on many different types of devices has only compounded the challenge for broadcasters, who now must produce content for multiple delivery outlets without a commensurate increase in staff or budget. To stay competitive and thrive, broadcasters know they have to adapt.

With software-based newsroom automation systems, news organizations are able to get technology out of the way and focus their resources on the factor that will capture the biggest audience: high-quality, high-production-value news presentation. The more transparent and easy-to-use, and the more content-aware the system, the more people are freed to focus on telling the story in the most compelling manner possible.

[1] “Focus Forward 2015,” Imagine Communications.