DENVER—AccuWeather has selected Comcast Technology Solutions’ (CTS’) Managed Channel Origination (MCO) to create, manage and distribute linear TV, on-demand video and over-the-top (OTT) channels to North American audiences. 

CTS’ Managed Channel Origination provides a fully managed 24x7 service. Its aim is to improve operational efficiency, reduce capital expenses and future-proof the ability of users to monetize viewing experiences at scale, the company said.

It offers media companies and broadcasters a platform for a unified video workflow from acquisition to delivery, it said.

The AccuWeather Network and AccuWeather NOW, with AccuWeather's Superior Accuracy forecasts, provide viewers the latest in breaking weather and videos and delivers stories illuminating the potential impact of forecasted weather on sports, health, travel and other everyday activities. It offers social weather content from popular platforms and long-form storytelling of major weather events and environmental wonders around the world.

“AccuWeather is synonymous with providing timely, accurate, and enlightening weather information that impacts the lives of millions of viewers,” said CTS senior vice president and general manager of Streaming, Broadcast & Advertising Bart Spriester. “We’re very proud that they have entrusted our Managed Channel Origination service to economically streamline their ability to reach and monetize audiences at scale. Our commitment with MCO is to help companies reduce capital costs and improve operational efficiency through a unique combination of capabilities that only Comcast Technology Solutions can bring to bear.”

Comcast Technology Solutions has provided Managed Channel Origination for hundreds of channels from its U.S facilities to serve North American audiences. Last year, the company extended its MCO capabilities to EMEA by leveraging Sky’s master control video and metadata platforms coupled with the CTS portfolio of solutions, it said.

Managed Channel Origination provides media companies a unified workflow with 24x7 service level agreements (SLAs). It enables organizations to acquire, prepare, create, package and deliver linear TV and OTT channels, it said.

More information is available on the CTS website. 

PHILADELPHIA—Looking like something that could have come out of one of his sci-fi films, Steven Spielberg—along with DreamWorks Animation, Universal Parks and Resorts, and Comcast Labs—has designed the Universal Sphere, a cross between virtual reality and a planetarium that is located on the second floor of the Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia. The sphere is a 360-degree dome theater that shows a seven-minute immersive film and is now open to the public.

Described by Comcast CEO Brian Roberts as “virtual reality without the glasses,” the film is about the ideas that shaped the world and features, according to a report from Philly.com, depictions of a ship falling off the edge of the Earth and being blasted into outer space, among others.

The Universal Sphere is open to the public Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. A reservation is required and can be made the same day via the Universal Sphere’s website. Tickets are free.

For more information, read the full story on Philly.com.

PHILADELPHIA–NBC10/WCAU and Telemundo62/WWSI this week launched their new newsroom, which the stations’ claim features the industry’s most “cutting edge” technology, including an IP-based network and energy efficiencies not seen in any other TV facility in the U.S.

The nearly 200-person news staff began broadcasting from the new 80,000 square-foot broadcast center located within the new Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia on Monday, having moved out of their Bala Cynwyd facility in late September. The news set was designed with distinctive “Philadelphia-area” designs, according to Ric Harris, President and General Manager, NBC10 and Telemundo62.

In addition to the facility’s IP-based network, the two news sets feature 4K LED screens, automated cameras, three control rooms, eight edit rooms, a 1,500 square-foot room dedicated to shooting promotions in-house, extensive use of LED panel displays for immersive experience and Augmented Reality capabilities, among other newsroom technology that the station says is being used for the first time by local TV stations in the U.S.

The facility also uses heating/cooling and ventilating systems that improve indoor quality and reduce noise. Wall-to-floor windows capture natural light while automated window shades reduce heat from sunlight. In addition, all displays and computers are Energy Star compliant. The stations are currently pending for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Platinum certification, the highest energy efficient ratings within the Council’s rating system. It also features an open-space layout designed to encourage and increase staff collaboration with wall-to-wall Wi-Fi access, sit-stand desks and flex-work spaces, coffee bars, quiet/focus rooms, huddle rooms and mothering rooms, among other features.

Systems integrator Diversified did the technical design and integration, while LF Driscoll constructed the set, which was designed by Gensler.

“We are excited to finally pull back the curtains on our breathtaking facility and reveal to our audience what our vision for a multi-platform, bilingual news facility looks like,” Harris said. “From our open newsroom layout to our studios that feature cutting edge technology and distinctive Philadelphia-area designs, the Comcast Technology Center enables our team to leverage innovative technologies in our storytelling. We look forward to delivering news and information that our audience expects from us while setting a new standard for Greater Philadelphia and our industry.”

The debut of NBC10 and Telemundo62’s new facility follows the unveiling of seven other new, state-of-the-art local television stations housed by NBC and Telemundo owned stations in Los Angeles (KNBC/KVEA) Dallas-Fort Worth (KXAS/KXTX), West Hartford (WVIT/WRDM), Denver (KDEN), San Antonio (KVDA), McAllen (KTLM) and San Diego (KNSD, KUAN), with the NBCUniversal Boston Media Center set to open in late 2019. NBC10 and Telemundo62 are part of NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, a division of NBCUniversal.