Tag: continuum

Bitcentral Shows Latest Newsroom, Automation and Master Control Innovations at NAB 2017

Newport Beach, Calif. – April 10, 2017 – Bitcentral, a provider of digital and broadcast video workflow solutions, will demonstrate the latest features and capabilities of its award-winning portfolio of newsroom workflow, automation and master control automation solutions at the NAB 2017 tradeshow.

CORE:news™, Bitcentral’s flagship news production suite, offers several new enhancements, including:

  • Updates and enhancements to its Oasis™ user interface (UI) that enable easier searching for content across various stations through various device types such as mobile devices, which improve collaboration and maximize the usage and value of news assets and packages.
  • Support for Apple Mac-based workflows. Apple Final Cut Pro X and Adobe® Premiere® Pro CC will be demonstrated running on Mac systems with Precis™ Attach integration allowing seamless workflow by eliminating the need to switch between applications to edit in these leading NLE’s while leveraging CORE:news to achieve efficient and collaborative news production workflows.
  • Integrated connected camera workflows across the three main broadcast news camera platforms that support wireless file upload – JVC, Panasonic and Sony – thanks to the enhanced Create™ ingest and editing utility in CORE:news. File naming and sharing is demonstrated to simplify, speed up and automate file ingest operations.
  • NRCS integration between Precis and the Ross Inception system, which expands CORE:news already class leading level of integration.

Bitcentral will demonstrate the CORE:news integration with Adobe Premiere Pro on Windows and the Mac OS. Adobe Premiere Pro is a great option for editing in the field as exported files can be contributed back to the station through Bitcentral’s browser-based Contribution Portal. The pre-configured H.264 export options in Adobe Premiere Pro CC and Adobe Media Encoder CC – both part of Adobe Creative Cloud® – allow editors to choose quality level and file size based on codec parameters. This determination is made based on the available time before a story goes to air; more time allows higher quality levels to be utilized. Bitcentral’s Contribution Portal and Precis Transcode features work in tandem to facilitate the seamless publishing of the story to the Precis playout’s newsroom computer system with no manual intervention needed inside the station.

Bitcentral’s Central Control™ master control solution has received several enhancements in the areas of syndication content processing and advanced Join In Progress (JIP) operation. Notably for NAB 2017, Central Control is now available in application-specific versions that offer superior price-performance while preserving Central Control’s rich functionality combined with targeted, intuitive operation based on simplified UIs. Complementing the “Full” version of Central Control are the following additions to the product lineup: “Light Edition,” “Ad Insertion with Graphics,” “Channel Branding” and “Studio,” which is optimized for live production.

Demonstrations of the company’s award-winning OTT solution Continuum™ will showcase the mixing of live production and automation-driven playlists with support for ad insertion – all vital capabilities as broadcasters continue to innovate with digital story first news production workflows. Additionally, the partnership with Brightcove is highlighted by Continuum sending a 24/7 linear feed to the cloud for adaptive bitrate transcoding, packaging and content distribution to mobile devices, showcasing apps that can be quickly customized to expand broadcasters’ brands to mobile and OTT audiences.

“These latest enhancements to our award-winning family of newsroom workflow and master control automation solutions are based on feedback straight from our customers, wNews Production suite, offers several new enhancementsho have deployed them in over 250 stations across the U.S. and power over 400 channels globally,” said Bitcentral CEO Fred Fourcher. “We are committed to providing solutions with the features, functionality and reliability that meet the real-world needs of newsroom. Complementing our cutting-edge products isthe industry-leading service and support we provide customers, because failure is not an option for news broadcasts – the show must go on!”

Please visit us at NAB 2017 – booth # SU2610 – in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 24-27, to learn more about our solutions.

 

About Bitcentral

Bitcentral provides solutions that maximize the value of media workflows. Our reliable and flexible product offerings represent our close partnering and intent listening to customers and world class support to back them up. Since 2000, we have gained a trusted partnership reputation with news and media customers, providing them with efficient media workflows that result in higher productivity – all while helping them increase their audience reach and competitive market position. We design forward looking, pragmatically designed and exceptionally reliable media solutions in news, master control and emerging-platform content.

We are dedicated to creating a culture of proactive sharing and listening to understand to stay close to our customers and partners as we solve real-world problems and an environment that attracts and retains the right talent. See how at www.es.bitcentral.com

 

Local Sports Media: A National Issue

Local television is doing an admirable job holding its own against the stiff competition that is mobile and digital, but it still needs a lot of help. It’s an industry that has been on the decline ever since newspapers realized that advertising revenue wouldn’t be enough to support a team of writers to cover local sports teams. So when regional newspapers began to cut costs the sports desk was often the first to go – especially since national brands like ESPN were already offering similar content.4

Of course, no problem is ever as simple as having just one reason for it and so there are other mitigating factors. Contracts are one sticking point. In 2014, the Sharks – a Bay Area Hockey team – decided that its contract with Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area was giving them $7 million per season and still had 14 more seasons at that price to go. Thing is, as Mark Purdy, sports-blogger, pointed out “according to Forbes’ magazine and website, the Toronto Maple Leafs receive $41 million per season in local TV rights. Several other teams – the Rangers, Canadiens, Red Wings – bring in more than $30 million per season. The Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks have $20 million-plus-per-season deals, as do Dallas and New Jersey and the New York Islanders.”1

Adds Purdy, “Needless to say, this puts the Sharks at a disadvantage. Do the math. Over the next five years alone, the Kings and Ducks will have a minimum of $65 million more than the Sharks to push payroll up to the salary cap limit and/or buy out contracts and/or turn a profit. The team says it isn’t making one now.”1

And according to Ben Koo “Combined with an expiring lease or a below average stadium or arena, bad television contracts now may destabilize a team to the point where they might have to flee the area. Or at least that’s what they’re selling the league and apparently in the Sharks scenario, it’s working.”2

Another sticking point is the lack of current options for local sports viewing.  Cord-cutters are abandoning cable TV (and, to a degree, local TV if they don’t have an HD antenna) in droves for the web. And cord-cutters are rewarded for that decision: Every major sports organization offers some kind of streaming package, from MLB.TV to NFL Live to NBA League Pass. These services are expensive compared to streaming subscriptions, and can cost between $100 and $200 per year.3

If you’re a die-hard sports fan in general, a cable subscription is probably worthwhile for that content alone. But if you follow only one or two teams in one or two sports, you can probably get away with paying $15 to $20 per month — much less than traditional paid TV.3

An interesting twist in the story appeared as recently as July 8, 2016, when TechCrunch reported on a new start-up called The Athletic. The athletic launched 6 months ago in Chicago – they hired the top sportswriters in the city on a full-time basis, and have them write a total of five to ten quality pieces of content a day. The startup is credentialed by all five sports teams in the city, and mixes in traditional sports reporting with inside access and exclusives from team executives and agents of the hottest players.4

But an even bigger twist comes in the form of Continuum; it’s a broadcaster solution that allows local TV stations to take control over their own destiny and not be slave to the business whims of countless cable companies and/or cord-cutters. If you’re a station, Continuum takes the sports, news and advertising you already have to automatically produce a polished 24/7 linear digital channel reaching new audiences across online, mobile + OTT.

Continuum allows you to load your local sports coverage up over three dynamic programming modes. It also communicates with master control/automation systems that can build go-to-air and/or streaming playlists. Combined with asset discovery and management solutions like CORE:sports, it’s a comprehensive foundation for local sports producers to remain relevant in today’s distributed media landscape.

However you decide to tackle it, local sports cannot take a back seat to this tech explosion.

Now let’s play catch (up).

1http://blogs.mercurynews.com/purdy/2014/06/17/sharks-bay-area-future-jeopardy-nhl-commissioner-gary-bettman-even-intervened-try-fix-tv-deal-threatens-franchises-local-future/

2http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/can-leagues-step-in-and-save-teams-with-bad-local-television-contracts.html

3http://www.tomsguide.com/us/cord-cutting-guide,news-17928.html

4https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/08/the-athletic-is-bringing-subscription-based-local-sports-coverage-to-a-city-near-you/