Rogers Reinvests in Quantel for New Montreal Channel

NEWBURY, ENGLAND— Rogers Communications has purchased a Quantel Enterprise sQ news and sports production system for its new Montreal operation, City Montreal, to serve Canada’s Quebec region.

Rogers is in the midst of constructing a new studio and production facilities in downtown Montreal, with an on-air date of mid-August 2013 for the new HD station.

At the heart of City Montreal’s new schedule will be the locally produced BT (Breakfast Television) morning news program, weekdays from 6 to 9 a.m. This will complement the nationwide line-up of BT, already produced in Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary, Saskatchewan and Edmonton. Rogers also plans to add a one hour sports program to the schedule, focusing on local sports.

“The demands of a three hour live TV news program are heavy,” said Frank Bruno, Rogers Broadcasting vice president TV engineering. “We already have Enterprise sQ systems in other Rogers locations across the country, so we know the Quantel workflow will deliver on time, every time, even under extreme pressure. QTube also plays a major part in our production workflow, enabling our journalists and editors to view and share media between all our stations.”

The system includes 200 hours of HD storage. File ingest is handled by two sQ Load applications, scheduled and video recordings with sQ Record, and playout is controlled with Quantel’s sQ Play. Journalists and producers can review and cut edit all stored media, including live ingests, via 20 sQ View desktop applications, fully integrated with the Autocue Newsroom Computer System and Ross Overdrive Automation. Craft editing is handled by three sQ Edit seats— also integrated with the NRCS. Four QTube Browsers connect journalists and editors with media in all the other Rogers stations countrywide.