CINCINNATI—E.W. Scripps has hired veteran cable programmer Adam Harman to lead its programming strategy as senior vice president of programming, effective Dec. 16.

Harman, who has more than 20 years of experience in the media and entertainment landscape, will oversee the programming and content acquisition strategy for Scripps’ portfolio of news and entertainment networks, which include Ion, Court TV, Bounce, Laff, Grit and Scripps News.

“As Scripps continues to evolve its content strategy to connect with audiences and advertisers on every platform, Adam is an ideal leader to steer our programming team,” said Keisha Taylor Starr, Scripps’ chief marketing officer and general manager, Scripps Networks. “Adam has the ability to seek out the bold and impactful content consumers crave, and his industry relationships will help Scripps continue delivering it to our audiences wherever they tune in.”

Harman most recently served as vice president of strategy and acquisitions at A+E Networks, where he spent 11 years shaping the company’s programming and content acquisition strategy through original content development, cross-platform strategy, content investment and deal negotiation. Prior to A+E, Harman led program planning and acquisitions at NBCUniversal’s Style after starting his career at Hallmark Channel.

“The Scripps brand has built tremendous equity through its rich history of innovation and its ability to connect with consumers in a trusted and meaningful way,” Harman said. “Their dedication to a wide range of compelling programming for both audiences and advertisers is something I’m excited to build upon as we work to engage the next generation of media consumers. I’m thrilled to join a team that shares my passion for delivering a top-tier viewer experience while also creating exceptional value and new opportunities for advertisers.”

Harman, who is based in Los Angeles, received a bachelor’s degree in screenwriting and television production from California State University, Northridge. He is also earning his master’s degree in strategic management and executive leadership from Penn State’s Smeal College of Business.

PARIS—NextRadioTV, a French multi-media services company with TV, radio and digital operations, has outfitted eight studios in its new broadcast facility with Studer by Harman mixing consoles and routing systems.

Working with Paris-based Harman distributor Audiopole and systems integrator Red Bee Media, NextRadioTV equipped the studios with an eye toward improving efficiency and setting each up as a multipurpose space with identical equipment.

In April 2018, telecom operator and media firm Altice France, completed an acquisition of NextRadioTV. With the takeover, NextRadioTV moved to a new facility inside the Altice France headquarters with twice as many studios.

“When they [NextRadioTV] decided to move to a new premises, we started discussing the project, and they said that they wanted to use same type of console in both the radio and TV studios,” said Audiopole managing partner Jean-Phillipe Blanchard.

NextRadioTV installed identical Studer Vista V consoles in seven of the studios, which make it fast and easy to switch between radio and television with little to no downtime, said Harman.

The Studer Vista V console uses the company’s Quad Star technology and Infinity Core processor, which delivers the DSP power needed for demanding mixing tasks, as well as the redundancy to ensure uninterrupted broadcasts, it said.

The Vistonics interface and FaderGlow technology enable engineers to understand at a glance all important console parameters, thus speeding up live, complex workflows.

NewRadioTV’s largest new studio can be used for live television and radio broadcasts with a studio audience. For this application, the broadcaster has deployed a Studer Vista X console with the power and flexibility to deliver separate audience and broadcast mixes. The Vista X and Vista V share similar interfaces, so NextRadioTV engineers can leverage the same workflow in each studio.

The new facility also is outfitted with 10 Studer Compact Stage Boxes to support a high density of inputs for complex broadcasts, Harman said. A Studer Compact Remote Bay in each studio adds redundancy.

Two Studer Infinity Core 400 units provide centralized master audio routing, which makes I/Os from any of the studios available anywhere in the facility. Together, they are capable of accepting 5,000 inputs and outputs, Harman said. NextRadioTV also leverages the system’s ability to perform precise automatic mixing to add commentary to audio feeds received from sporting events throughout Europe.

More information is available on the Harman website. 

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA—Seoul Broadcasting System recently rolled out a new 4K OB van and chose a pair of tools from Studer by Harman. The Vista X audio mixer and Infinity Core 400 audio matrix were installed to provide high quality of sound for this 12G SDI UHD single link production vehicle.

The Vista X provides operators with VistaMix features for consistent sound in live, multi-microphone events. The VistaMix allows for the increase in gain for talking mics, reduces gain for others, while also keeping the gain at a constant level. With the Vista X, the truck has four independent processors and CPU-based DSP enables two independent DSP cores running in parallel.

SBS first utilized the OB van during production of the ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating competition in Gangneung, South Korea. The truck is expected to assist in production for the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang as well.

BOTHELL, WASH.—The Alliance for IP Media Solutions wrapped up its summer with the addition of six new companies joining its ranks. Canon, Ciema, Gefei, Harman, LiveU and tpc have all officially signed up for AIMS, which promotes the adoption of an open-standards approach in transitioning to IP-based broadcast and video production workflows.

These new members will follow the AIMS bylaws, which provide specific guidance to members and to the media industry via its AIMS Roadmaps. The organization officially endorses an IP transition that includes support for SMPTE 2022-6, AES67, VSF recommendations TR-03 and TR-04, and AMWA NMOS IS-04.

For more information on AIMS and a full list of its members, visit www.aimsalliance.org.

AMSTERDAM—Studer, a Harman brand, recently unveiled the Vista 1 Black Edition, a redesigned version of its Vista 1 digital mixing consoles, at IBC 2015. With a Vistonics user interface and 40 on-screen rotary knobs, the Vista 1 is now similar to the Vista X and Vista V models and features capabilities like true broadcast monitoring, talkback, red light control, GPIO, N-x busses, snapshot automation and DAW control.

Vista 1 Black Edition

The Vista 1 Black Edition comes with software v5.3, allowing SpillZone and FollowSolo functionality, as well as a server-based event logger application. With an integral DSP engine of 96 channels, the Vista 1 can handle mono, stereo and 5.1 inputs and comes with 32 mic/line inputs, 16 line outputs and four pairs of AES inputs and outputs on rear panel connections. I/O can be expanded with the Studer D21m card slot on the rear, which allows MADI, AES, AoIP, ADAT, TDIF, CobraNet, Dolby E/Digital, SDI connections and more. MADI links can connect to any of the Studer Stagebox range for XLR connectivity as well as other formats.

Additional features of the Vista 1 Black Edition include an integral jingle player, played from files on a USB jingle stick and triggered by a series of eight dedicated keys in the master section. The system also comes with redundant PSU and RELINK integration with other Studer Vista and OnAir consoles.

Harman features a number of brands that design and engineer connected products, including audio, visual, enterprise automation, and connected services.

ELSTREE, ENGLAND – BBC Studios and Post Production have reevaluated its audio mixing architecture and has decided to replace the HARMAN Studer Vista 8 with the new HARMAN Studer Vista X at the George Lucas stages in Elstree, England.

BBC Studio's Sound Supervisor, Andy Tapley, working on the Vista X.

A fully redundant setup, the new system offers increased I/O capacity and processing featuring a new Infinity Core, with 12 high-capacity/high-speed A-link audio interfaces that provide more than 5,000 inputs and outputs and more than 800 audio DSP channels. The system also includes VistaMix for automated microphone mixing.

The Vista X is accompanied by four high-density D23m frames, which break out the A-link fiber connections to standard analogue, digital and video interfaces. The new frames are also backwards compatible with D21 cards. Studer’s new design philosophy - moving DSP from SHARC to Intel CPUS - offers more power and expandability. Other features include a history display to show the last 50 seconds of waveform audio for each fader, and FaderGlow, which provides a color reference on the desk to identify the right fader.

HARMAN develops connected audio, visual and infotainment systems and is based out of Stamford, Conn.