The fully digital production and transmission center built by ATG Broadcast for British Forces Broadcasting Service Television (BFBS TV) is now on air. BFBS TV previously used tape-based acquisition, recording off-air, editing out commercial breaks with transmission from tape via live continuity. BFBS TV is now live and able to deploy file-based acquisition and editing, playing to air straight from hard-disk server.
The new installation enables content to be acquired and processed much faster, and has allowed file-based content distribution to reduce manual movement of tapes within and beyond the network's headquarters.
A division of Services Sound & Vision Corporation, BFBS TV assembles and transmits two 24-hour channels from its studios near Amersham, in Buckinghamshire, U.K. BFBS channels 1 and 2 can be received via satellite by military personnel in 17 countries and by Royal Navy ships in various parts of the world.
ATG Broadcast has designed and built a system that streamlines workflow without introducing any system bottlenecks. Systems that required file-flattening following editing could not cope with the quick turn-round needed for many programs. ATG Broadcast installed a DaletPlus newsroom system, which allows journalists to input and review scripts and program material. They'll soon be able to access the system via the Web from anywhere in the world. A 120TB ADIC Scalar 2K Archive Library controlled by SGL's Flashnet Hierarchical Storage Manager allows files to be saved either as a manual process or according to archive rules set within Flashnet.
Each BFBS TV channel is controlled from its own presentation suite, which are each equipped with Custom Consoles furniture.
ATG Broadcast will be exhibiting on Stand 8.220 at IBC2006, in Amsterdam Sept. 8-12.
For more information, visit www.atgbroadcast.co.uk/.
