The California Channel has installed a Software Generation (SGL) archive to improve its offline workflow procedures. The channel is a public service broadcaster funded entirely by California’s cable TV operators for citizens’ access to the proceedings of the California Legislature.

The SGL archive integrates with Avid’s Sundance automation, an Omneon server and a SpectraLogic T120 tape library. Prior to installing the SGL archive, the network’s excess video content was offloaded to stand-alone disk drives, which meant that tracking and reloading content was problematic. The network records vast quantities of unedited material, so it was important that operators could store content offline but could still access that content quickly and easily. The SGL archive allows easy offloading and restoration of Omneon-encoded video content from/to the channel’s Omneon server as required.