Stenna Group, Brazil’s largest independent broadcast television organization, has selected media production and playout solutions from PlayBox Neo to support a series of newly launched streaming channels. The recently completed system, located at Stenna’s São Paulo facility, includes four PlayBox Neo Channel-in-a-Box units in two-plus-two main and backup configuration plus SafeBox Neo and ListBox Neo-20 modules. The project was negotiated by PlayBox Neo distribution partner CIS Group, based in São Paulo, who also provided training.
“We needed a solution that would integrate with our existing server network and operate transparently,” says Stenna Group CFO and CTO Fabio Buhr. “PlayBox Neo was the logical choice given its proven track record here in Brazil and globally. The user interface allows every aspect of the scheduling and playout routine to be managed quickly from a single desktop. The display is eye-friendly, easy to learn and ergonomically efficient with all the tools necessary for each step of the process immediately to hand. Additional operational elements can be accessed quickly if or when needed and critical elements such as gaps in the schedule or a frozen source are supported by automated alerts. The PlayBox Neo user environment is geared for 24/7 transmission, including the freedom for playout staff to work remotely if required. We particularly appreciate the modularity of PlayBox Neo’s product range as this allows us to configure solutions that match our current business model while retaining the flexibility to respond to future demands on a workflow.”
“Our success as a company has long been in helping our customers meet their operational challenges and achieve their goals,” adds Felipe Andrade, VP of Sales Americas at CIS. “We maintain an ongoing study of product and service developments across the broadcast media sector, ensuring that we can recommend the best possible solutions for any given project. Our clients vary widely in the regions and themes they cover but all share a common desire to expand their business activity in line with market demand. PlayBox Neo’s long experience in the media channel management, presentation and playout marketplace is reflected in the ease with which its hardware, software and cloudware can be scaled to any required business level or reconfigured to accommodate additional channels or changes in workflow. The PlayBox Neo approach has become increasingly flexible over the years with recent additions such as Media Gateway and Capture Suite offering powerful new options which can be integrated during the initial system design or at any future time.”
“Stenna is an excellent example of an efficient and future-focused media service company making good use of the Channel-in-a-Box concept which we pioneered and continue to refine,” comments Sonya Chakarova, PlayBox Neo Business Development Manager. “Our approach integrates easily with legacy production and transmission systems and has achieved great popularity among operators for its very logical user interface.”
“The Channel-in-a-Box model continues to be very popular throughout the media industry among content owners and broadcasters as well as third-party playout service providers,” summarizes Pavlin Rahnev, PlayBox Neo CEO. “We anticipate this mode of operation retaining a strong following both in the satellite and terrestrial mainstream as well as for the expanding number of IP-based live-stream channels. Our strategy as a company will be to continue offering our customers the great possible flexibility in how and where they choose to operate, be it with onsite hardware, server-based software, network-connected hybrid or fully cloud-based.”
SafeBox Neo is a turnkey playout server solution for broadcasting single or multiple television channels in HD or UHD. It provides a seamless workflow to keep a channel on-air by combining scheduling, ingest, playout, title and rolling-text management and interactive graphics within one module. Also included are remote tools to enhance QC checks, preparation and monitoring. The output can be SDI or IP-streamed. SafeBox Neo can work in playlist-dependent or mode with Channel-in-a-Box and/or Cloud2TV. It can also be operated standalone.
ListBox Neo-20 provides the editing facilities required for playlist creation, such as search, cut/copy/paste, multi-selection editing, ordering facilities and playlist printing, all with multi-level undo/redo. The integrated clip trimmer allows unnecessary segments to be removed as well as clip splitting and last-minute order reversal within the same clip. It can even be used to edit the on-air playlist. AirBox Neo-20 will automatically reload the new playlist on the next event. ListBox Neo-20 also imports traffic logs from third-party scheduling and traffic systems. This is achieved by using universal tab-delimited and comma-separated values (CSV) and flat fixed-width text import.
