News Footage Aggregator Taps SSL MediaWAN

Network News Service, which distributes news footage among 500 ABC, CBS and Fox affiliates, is adding a Solid State Logic MediaWAN Gravity system to its operation. The configuration is comprised of 20 encoders and can store up to 32 TB of video on "a fully mirrored Gravity server," according to SSL in Oxford, England.

Gravity displays real-time incoming content across an entire IP network, allowing editors to select multiple incoming feeds and display them simultaneously. A LiveEdit feature allows the user to work on a file even as more content is streamed into it, without reloading or refreshing. MediaWAN is format agnostic, and allows the combination of 4:3 and 16:9 content on the same timeline while allowing for compilation to either format.

"Gravity will process audio and video content into three different formats as required by each of its partners' transmission and file transfer systems," said SSL Group Commercial Director Piers Plaskitt. "All metadata from the Gravity system is likewise transported via an SSL adaptation of MOS."