NY1 News

NY1 News

NY1 News, Time Warner Cable’s 24-hour news channel in New York City, is one of the most advanced newsgathering operations in the world. Since its debut in 1992, NY1 has won universal acclaim for its comprehensive coverage of the five boroughs.

Always evolving, the station recently worked with Azzurro Systems Integration to upgrade and consolidate its master control environment. The consolidation allows the broadcaster to provide multiple distribution streams from a single master control area using three master switcher systems. All feeds are distributed in both HD and analog. HD feeds are converted to ASI streams and analog video and audio in the final stage prior to transmission. One feed carries normal NY1 News programming and is distributed to Manhattan, Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn and Bergen County, NJ. A second master switcher feeds a local insert to Queens, and the third system provides Spanish programming. Local ad insertion capability has been built into the system. Internal routing and distribution is accomplished via HD-SDI with embedded audio channels.

Programming for each feed is switched with an Evertz QMC-2 HD-SDI master switcher. The master switchers each control an Evertz Topaz 16 x 16 routing switcher, which provides subswitching for the program, preset, bypass and key feeds to the master switcher. Sources feeding the Topaz switchers include Omneon server ports providing inputs and outputs to and from a central storage system. The system has 16 bidirectional channels, 32 playout channels, and storage for 1250 hours of DV50 material and four audio channels. Additionally, an Omneon MediaDeck provides backup, central routing switcher outputs and additional sources. The MediaGrid active storage system provides 126TB of raw capacity using high-bandwidth content servers, 57TB of available storage with a replication factor of 2:2, and storage for 2035 hours of DV50 material and four audio channels.

A Dalet Enterprise Edition automation system controls the server systems and switching. At the core is a comprehensive MAM system that integrates a broad range of production tools to allow ingest, production, playout and archiving video content, and access to a set of NRCS functionalities. This provides a single platform and interface for logging, browsing, searching the archive, editing packages and planning distribution. Journalists can easily assemble a story that includes text, video and graphics right from their desktop.

All air signals pass through a Chyron MicroX for live insertion of lower-third graphics and full frames. Finally, the air path passes through a Chyron CAL Box for bug insertion and live tickers. All commands to all of the graphic devices are achieved by automation through TCP.

Control panels and terminals for the switchers, server systems and automation system are incorporated into a new “L” shaped TBC Consoles IntelliTrac custom console. The console has three primary operator positions each capable of switching and monitoring signals. Feeds are distributed to an Evertz MVP multiviewer system, which provides preprogrammed multiplexed monitoring layouts to each of four LCD displays.

Newsroom technology
Submitted by Azzurro Systems IntegrationDesign teamAzzurro Systems Integration: Marc Bressack, EVP, Bill McKnight, VP/general mgr.; Scott Buchholz, dir. of eng.; Ray Bucceri, proj. mgr.; Frank Riccardelli, proj. leader
NY 1 News: Joe Truncale, VP of eng.; Gunn Isarankura, dir. of eng.; Steve Paulus, VP; Brad Shapiro, IT mgr.
Dalet: Daiva Lomsarge, proj. mgr.; Benjamin Desbois, general mgr.
Omneon: Brian Chavez
TBC Consoles: Steve Struhs, sr. proj. mgr.; Jerry Hahn, president
Technology at workChyron: MicroX CG
Dalet: Enterprise Edition automation sys.
Evertz: MVP multiviewer, QMC-2 HD-SDI master switcher, Topaz routing switcher
Grass Valley: Router
Harris: Frame syncs
Ikegami: Monitoring
Omneon: MediaDecks video server
TANDBERG: MPEG-2 encoders
TBC Consoles: Intellitrac custom console