In Broadcast - December 2011/January 2012 - 46

InMEDIA
Update On Broadcast Newsroom Systems
By David Kirk Developments and refinements of the newsroom system remain crucial as broadcasters push the envelope of ever faster as-it-happens news delivery…
Television and radio journalists were among the first reporters to progress from typewriters to word processors. That was back in the early 1980s when many newspaper and magazine journalists were under strict orders to keep electronic text production as furtive as possible to avoid upsetting the highly unionised print-industry typesetters. These were the folk who insisted that you sent paper prints of your source copy which they duly returned a few days later on neatly printed ‘galleys’ to see if you could spot the additional errors. The first broadcast newsroom I recollect seeing was developed for the television mainstream by Basys Automation Systems. This company attracted broadcasters in many countries, including the BBC, ITN, Cable News Network, NBC and the Canadian and Australian Broadcasting Corporations. ITN was so impressed that it eventually bought Basys itself, later selling it to Digital Equipment Corporation which in turn sold it on to Avid whence came iNews. A distinguishing feature of broadcast newsroom systems was the practice, practically from day one, of networking them together so that writers could share resources and even co-operate on the production of a story. Speed was vital in a world where news could be flashed around the world almost as soon as it happened. Newsroom systems inevitably became more powerful, allowing journalists not only to craft text but also to access and manipulate images and before long to edit sound and video. Today the capabilities of these systems extend across a wide range of activities including assignment logging, messaging, internet searching, content management, graphics production, subtitling, prompting and playout. Almost everything short of opening the office door. So what’s new in News? The following is an overview based primarily on developments announced in recent months.
David Kirk

Aveco’s Astra Studio 2

Associated Press ENPS Tablet Story Viewer

The Associated Press’ ENPS Tablet Story Viewer (TSV) allows anchors and reporters to read and review stories directly on an Apple iPad or qualified Android tablet. TSV is part of the ENPS Mobile line of products. ENPS-powered newsrooms can access ENPS using clients for the Web, mobile wireless networks or smartphones. Stories can be viewed full-screen in portrait mode or in landscape mode including rundown. A full copy of the rundown and its stories are stored in the tablet, allowing access even if wireless connection is lost. TSV integrates with the ENPS client as well as other ENPS Mobile products and connects via Wi-Fi or mobile network.

Aveco’s Astra Studio 2 offers multiple levels of studio automation, from simple automation-assisted manual production to a single operator mode, where one person can control a live newscast or programme. It includes new journalist tools that makes it easier to develop stories and allows more control of how a story goes to air. A new pre-production mode for recording and editing a live show for later broadcast enables a quick and simple way to replace segments or correct simple errors. Intelligent splicing makes it easy to replace a section of the show at a point where it will look seamless, avoiding splicing during a transition or fade, inconsistent audio levels, or other points that would distract the viewer. The show is then automatically assembled and registered as being ready for broadcast.

Dalet Digital Co-develop With EVS

Dalet Digital Media Systems has begun joint development efforts to integrate the tools for sports, news, and programme preparation – encompassed in Dalet Sports Factory, Dalet News Suite, and Dalet Media Life – with the production suites of EVS, including the XT series servers and IPDirector content management system.

Desktop Technologies NewsBoss

ENPS TSV – read and review on tablet

Desktop Technologies has added new features to its NewsBoss system. NewsBoss Wires allows data to be captured from more than 40 preconfigured newswire services such as Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, DPA, IRN,

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In Broadcast - December 2011/January 2012

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