by Pavlin Rahnev, CEO, PlayBox Neo
Broadcast television channel managers have known for decades that the most effective way to attract and keep an audience is by offering accurate, impartial and up-to-date news. If a TV channel is region-specific then content related to that locality is a highly effective way to create and sustain a distinctive identity. The same goes for a theme-specific channel if the staff are up to the challenge of sourcing or creating attractive relevant and credible content.
But spot the catch. In fact there are two:
- Broadcast newsrooms in today’s multimedia world do not have the luxury of focusing solely on producing TV news bulletins and news-related programs. Most newsroom teams are also responsible for feeding supplementary publishing media such as live streaming, video-on-demand, live radio, audio-on-demand, and text-plus-graphics webcasting.
- Although popular with TV viewers, radio audiences and internet-focused information consumers, news processing is by far the most demanding aspect of the entire media business. Getting it right demands that news production staff across multiple locations can operate as a fully coordinated team. This in turn requires reliable, efficient and easy-to-use tools to ensure maximum speed and efficiency.
Building on 23 years of successful innovation, PlayBox Neo pioneered the development of high-efficiency playout to support every scale and type of one-to-many audio/video content production and delivery. Our server-based, cloud-based and modular software solutions today power over 19,500 television and branding channels in more than 120 countries around the world.
As a company, we have always cooperated closely with other major product vendors to ensure that our software integrates fully with their devices. An example is our partnership with SNews whose Arion software is used by some of Latam’s highest-profile broadcast news networks.
Integrating PlayBox Neo products such as ProductionAirBox Neo-20 with SNews’ Arion software allows newsrooms to perform all the core tasks of content accessing and news rundown playout directly from the PlayBox Neo user interface. Arion's News Graphics template generation and its playout are directly integrated with our TitleBox Neo-20 graphics processor. This allows newsroom staff to concentrate on their core activity without distraction, saving time and maximizing production efficiency.
Ultra-efficient production and playout
ProductionAirBox Neo-20 was developed specifically for use in live production. It integrates easily with MOS-compatible solutions such as Arion to make the entire process of newsroom content production and playout ultra-efficient.
The ProductionAirBox Neo-20 feature set includes the ability to trim or reposition every clip in a playout while the scheduled session is on-air. Content can be manipulated with the near-zero latency demanded for the fast-paced work environment of broadcast news, sports and live production. Commands such as next, jump or shuttle allow playout order to be modified seamlessly without interrupting the current playout session.
Up to four independent players can be configured on a single ProductionAirBox Neo-20 server. Each player can be controlled via its own playlist. The four SDI/NDI interfaces can be individually assigned as program or preview outputs. Single-channel or multi-channel user interfaces are available to streamline the operation.
Newsroom system integration
SNews Arion is designed to give newsroom teams all the facilities they need to monitor, search and filter incoming and archived news. Newsroom teams can create their own rundown including an exact count of surpluses or overruns. View layouts and colors can be customized to match a channel-preferred design. Arion also allows easy configuration of subsections and expected video clip length. Externally sourced news can be verified automatically through channels such as RSS, Twitter and Facebook. Shared across the entire newsroom, Arion gives authorized users access to the broadcaster's registered sources quickly and easily via a structured agenda augmented by the ability to make a direct query via their mobile phone.
"Integrating PlayBox Neo's ProductionAirBox Neo-20 with our Arion system gives newsroom staff the ability to perform playout in a seamless environment," adds Rodrigo Brasiel, CEO of SNews. "The combination conforms fully with our strategy of making technology fully transparent in a practical, agile and efficient solution that maximizes productivity at every point in the news production workflow.”
In an Arion-connected system, news graphics template generation and its playout are directly integrated with our TitleBox Neo-20 graphics processor. This allows newsroom staff to concentrate on their core activity without distraction, saving time and maximizing production efficiency. TitleBox Neo-20 allows a practically unlimited number of graphic overlays to be created and manipulated during on-air.
You can see PlayBox Neo’s ProductionAirBox Neo-20 and SNews’ Arion in action at IBC 2023, RAI Amsterdam, 15-18 September. InBroadcast readers are warmly invited to experience the fully integrated news production, on the PlayBox Neo stand 7.A17 or SNews Broadcast Solutions stand 8.D46 on the Brazil Pavilion.