ATEME, the leader in video delivery solutions for broadcast, cable TV, DTH, IPTV and OTT, has announced that RTL Luxembourg, the main television channel in Luxembourg, has made use of its 90-day free software video transcoding licenses to adapt its video operations and channel line-up in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Already leveraging the ATEME value proposition around bandwidth efficiency and high quality of experience for its OTT service, RTL Luxembourg has had to react quickly to adapt to new social distancing and quarantine rules, as well as changing viewing habits, using ATEME’s TITAN Live licenses to do so. Designed especially for these type of challenges, ATEME’s free 90-day offer has enabled RTL Luxembourg to not only adjust its OTT service but also perform full remote monitoring without disruption.

Magewell has been named to the second annual Streaming Media Producer 25 list of the leading technology companies driving advances in live streaming media production. The Streaming Media Producer 25 recognizes innovative companies that enable, enhance and streamline the workflows of live video producers – particularly those who need the mobility, agility, and versatility to deliver great work, regardless of the venue or production conditions.

“The Streaming Media Producer 25 highlights companies who develop and manufacture gear that not only demonstrates promise or prowess in one or more stages of the live production and streaming process, but also fits well as part of a kit that makes the overall workflow successful,” said Steve Nathans-Kelly, editor of Streaming Media Producer.

The 2020 edition marks the second time that Magewell has been named to the Streaming Media Producer 25. Since its selection to the inaugural list last year, the company has continued to introduce new products and expanded features that help a diverse range of content producers create, deliver and display high-quality streams easily, efficiently and cost-effectively. Magewell has also made the transition to IP-based production workflows affordable and practical with new models in its Pro Convert family of NDI^® encoders and decoders.

The ProHD Studio 4000S, a self-contained, four-channel live streaming studio system from JVC Professional Video, a division of JVCKENWOOD USA Corporation, has proven to be the right solution for the 48 Now Center digital studio at WAFF-TV. The Gray Television-owned NBC affiliate serving Huntsville, Ala., has deployed the ProHD Studio 4000S, complete with two robotic JVC KY-PZ100 pan, tilt and zoom (PTZ) cameras and the company’s RM-LP100 PTZ camera controller to increase its ability to live stream original content and replays of its newscasts.

Interra Systems and Skyline Communications today announced a new partnership to improve quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) for linear and nonlinear OTT channels. The integration between Interra Systems' ORION-OTT system and Skyline Communications' DataMiner® network management and orchestration (NMS/OSS) platform gives broadcasters and OTT service providers a single, automated, end-to-end solution to efficiently manage OTT content workflow orchestration and quality alerts.

Viaccess-Orca (VO), a global leader providing OTT and TV platforms, content protection, and advanced data solutions, today announced that Philippe Leonetti has been appointed as CEO of the company, replacing Paul Molinier. Philippe Leonetti has established expertise in the field of security with over 12 years of experience in senior management roles at Orange, one of the world's leading telecommunications operators.

During an extensive career mixing audio for live sports, Fred Aldous has earned over 20 Emmy awards and a spot in the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame. He currently works as a lead mixer and audio consultant for FOX Sports, managing live audio for a variety of broadcasts, including professional football and racing. Improving viewers’ sound experience over time has necessitated a shift to a Dante®-enabled digital workflow powered by products from Studio Technologies.

Ikegami UHK-430 and HDK-99 cameras have been chosen for a recently completed 4K OB vehicle, designed and built by Milan-based broadcast system integrator Aret Video & Audio Engineering. The vehicle was commissioned in time to cover the Qatar National Day festivities celebrating the country's foundation in 1878.

"The Ikegami cameras were selected both for their high signal quality and for the proven excellence of Ikegami post-sale support," comments Aret's Vice President Alessandro Asti. "Eight UHK-430 models have been purchased plus two docking-style HDK-99. All 10 cameras can be tripod or pedestal mounted to achieve steady long-zoom closeup capture of fast-moving action while retaining the freedom to operate in free-style over-the-shoulder mode. The HDK-99 can be configured to feed directly from the camera control unit into any 4K periphery."

Ikegami’s Middle East office, located in Dubai, assisted in the customer’s decision-making by providing consultation support and product demonstrations.

Ikegami observers were present to offer assistance over multiple days during the ongoing festivities," adds Asim Saeed, Business Development Manager – Ikegami Middle East. All the equipment worked perfectly and the production went flawlessly.

During these changing times, it’s more important than ever to ensure your company’s disaster recovery and business continuity tools are fit for purpose. Whether upgrading systems for remote working, streamlining workflows across a multi-site enterprise or enabling production sharing, each company has differing requirements and will often need complex integration solutions. With a complete portfolio of off-the-shelf apps and technology, plus an ‘interoperability lab’, where a library of third-party professional APIs and plug-ins is maintained, Marquis Broadcast has a unique ability to develop and deliver high quality and complex software integrations.

Many of Marquis Broadcast’s products have been recently upgraded. The latest versions of Project Parking and Workspace Tools systems provide native support and full functionality with the new Avid OP1A workflows. They also integrate with Avid NEXIS | Cloudspaces, letting you free up Avid NEXIS storage space and safely backup or park projects in the cloud. Medway allows the export of Avid sequences from all Avid platforms without requiring them to be flattened or conformed in Avid. This allows generation of genealogy information on a sequence, describing the content used in a sequence before exporting and flattening to a single output file. And Postflux, for Adobe^® Premiere^® Pro, improves the archiving, versioning, integrity, security, performance and sharing of Adobe Premiere projects in extended workflows, and has been updated to support additional project types, including Premiere Productions.

The foreign news channel Deutsche Welle, headquartered in Germany, is relying more than ever on LiveU’s mobile IP broadcasting technology to maintain and expand its global live coverage during the current coronavirus crisis. While the delivery of trustworthy news in real-time remains the first priority, Deutsche Welle’s worldwide reporters and correspondents are working under difficult conditions with many of them being locked down at home and unable to access a studio. This is why Deutsche Welle draws on LiveU equipment even more frequently than usual these days for flexible, location-independent production solutions. As an early adopter of innovative broadcast technology, the station has been building a comprehensive LiveU infrastructure with the help of Netorium, LiveU’s local partner in Germany.

Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (RTP) has standardized on Grass Valley cameras, deploying 49 LDX 82 Elite camera systems, with XDR licenses, across its studios and Outside Broadcast (OB) fleet. The upgrade to its camera chains provides HD and high dynamic range (HDR) support across RTP’s live events and studio productions and ensures future-proof acquisition capability, thanks to Grass Valley’s robust upgrade path. The sale was managed by Grass Valley’s Portuguese channel partner Ibertelco.

With the new cameras in place, the RTP production team can seamlessly switch between resolutions (1080i, 720p and 1080PsF), while the PowerCurves feature handles shoots in even the most challenging conditions. Any lighting issues are easily addressed using LDX 82 Elite’s built-in Color Protect function.

As many broadcast stations are operating in a work-from-home environment amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, TSL Products has altered its R&D roadmap for the short term, in response to specific customer requirements and to meet the current needs of the industry.

Since TSL’s acquisition of DNF Controls in April 2019, the U.S. team based out of Northridge, CA, has remained focused on the developing and supporting the Flex Control Network and range of Universal Control Panels. “We have many customers across the United States who use our Flex Control Network for critical production and playout in news-based Hub and Spoke systems that connect network stations. Due to heightened demands in remote broadcasts, we recently altered our R&D to service our Flex customers and assist them in response to the pandemic,” says Fred Scott, regional sales manager U.S. at TSL and former sales director for DNF Controls. “With many customers working remotely, rather than in-studio, we added a feature called ‘Web Keys’ that, when connected to any DNF powered Universal Switch Panel within the Flex network, allows users to control devices situated in major hub and spoke installations across the U.S. from home.”

Mo-Sys Engineering, a global leader in real time camera tracking and remote systems, is proud to announce a collaboration with Panasonic. The AW-UE150 and the Mo-Sys StarTracker module will empower AR and virtual studio graphics by together creating engaging content with natural depth and changing the perspective of the virtual background.

Previously planned to launch at NAB, the webinars will be co-hosted by Panasonic and Mo-Sys and will showcase the new Panasonic AW-UE150 - a 4K, wide-angle lens, PTZ head with absolute camera tracking for AR and virtual studio application. With Mo-Sys StarTracker, the venue or event is no longer restricted to a fixed camera position and can be more creative using the PTZ head on a jib, crane or a dolly for unlimited camera motion.

Breaking down barriers between athletes and fans, Ross Stripling and Cooper Surles launched “The Big Swing” podcast in January 2019 to discuss everything from sports to pop culture to finance, with a focus on all things baseball. When the co-hosts were looking to deploy a high-quality microphone solution to capture crystal-clear audio for their podcast, they found exactly what they were searching for with MXL Microphones’ BCD-1 Live Broadcast Dynamic Microphone.

“In our first few months of podcasting, audio was the biggest challenge for us,” says Stripling. “Once we were able to deploy the MXL mics and put them in front of each speaker, our audio went up twofold – the sound quality of MXL’s BCD-1 is incomparable to the previous solution we were using.”

MediaKind, a global media technology leader, today announced the launch of its new virtual experience, a unique portal that invites the world to explore and engage with the full range of MediaKind content, anytime, anywhere. The MediaKind Virtual Experience invites visitors to walk through a simulated video wall tunnel and enter the heart of a futuristic virtual venue where they can discover MediaKind’s media universe through a wide range of interactive offerings.

PlayBox Neo announces the completion of an expanded playout system at the Bangkok headquarters of Thai broadcaster TV Direct. The installation doubles the network's capacity from three to six channels, transmitted in high definition via direct-to-home satellite and online.

"PlayBox Neo's Channel-in-a-Box system has the fourfold advantage of being installer-friendly, efficient to operate, easy to expand and highly reliable," says TV Direct's MCR Manager Akarachai Tobsin. "This new investment comprises three additional AirBox Neo-19 servers, each configured with the resources we need to schedule programs, commercials and promos as far in advance as the production team chooses to work. AirBox Neo-19 also allows us to make near-to-air changes in playout running order or to transmit live whenever we choose. In operational terms, the control GUIs go beyond intuitive by being relaxing on the eyes rather than imposing a lot of glare. Content can be accessed quickly, trimmed and finessed, all within the Neo-19 environment. That saves staff time and ensures maximum confidence. The servers are located at our satellite uplink service provider, PSI Broadcasting, here in the same city, and operated via secure IP links which carry complete program files as well as control data."