In Broadcast - October 2015 - 37


37

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 10 | October 2015

InStudio

News & Weather
so the running order can be changed
to reflect that."
Such feedback statistics are also
part of the latest upgrades for the
Octopus Newsroom system. Octopus
8 is designed for collaborative
news production, featuring web
connectivity, social interactivity and a
new mobile app that gives journalists
in the field access to information
through tablets and iPads. "The app
runs on mobile devices using iOS and
Android," explains Sales Manager
Carole Pigeard. "Octopus 8 also allows
them to see their assignments and look
at social media, YouTube and other
online sources. It gives a new way of
working, where nothing is separate
and social media is part of the main
broadcast system."

cont'd...

at Dalet, explained that this was
to demonstrate the company's xN
concept, solutions incorporating both
the cloud and virtualisation to create
flexible production installations.
"When you've got a big event like
the Olympics or an election, it's not
practical to build a new infrastructure
just for that one event. But with a
web and cloud-based NRCSs you can
expand as necessary."
Graphics and automation specialist
Vizrt is targeting special event
news set-ups in a different way
with the Showmaker system. This
is aimed at sports coverage and
light entertainment shows that
have
associated
magazine-style
programmes. It enables users to
create and alter a run-down without

SAM Catalog - Media Asset Details

The Internet brings additional
considerations and potential problems
in terms of what can be used where
and when. "There is the question of
whether the rights someone holds
allows them to use something,"
comments Trevor Francis, Director
of Production Systems at SAM (Snell
Advanced Media), the newly branded
company formed by the merger of
Quantel and Snell. "A piece may
also be embargoed in different time
jurisdictions. Social media cuts across
geography and broadcasters have to
address the question of, for example,
when is midnight if something can't be
broadcast until then?"
The possible future for news,
incorporating social media and the
web, was seen in microcosm during
IBC, with both Dalet Digital Media
Systems and EVS using emerging
technologies for in-house news
operation. Dalet built its own 'pop-up'
news service, sending six journalism
students round the show with iPads
to get stories that they posted to the
Internet using Amazon Web Services.
Ben Davenport, Director of Marketing

a full newsroom system, using the Viz
Mosart automation and Opus control
room packages. The company has
also developed workflows that allow
different graphics to be prepared and
delivered for broadcast TV and web
outlets.
EVS is part of many news chains
through its production and server
products. One of these was IBC TV,
which ran through the exhibition with
round-ups of the latest technologies
and interviews with leading figures.
James Stellpflug, Vice President of
Product Marketing for EVS, explains
that the IBC TV system was based
on the company's C-Cast multimedia
platform, which he described as "the
plumbing" underpinning any news
operation, whichever NRCS it uses.
"Typically it is more for live events
but it is relevant here because IBC TV
had to deliver to mobile apps as well
as television and the website," he
commented.
For most of TV's life so far the
weather was the bit at the end of
the main news programme. Now
there are weather channels, while

Dalet News at work

new technology is throwing up
new challenges. As Iver Endresen,
Managing Director of ChyronHego
Norway observes, broadcasters now
have to offer something more than
whether it's going to rain or not. "It's
all about engaging the viewer," he
says. "That can be done through social
media, using the established weather
presenters, who have credibility
with the audience. To do that we're
integrating our workflow more into
that of the newsroom, connecting
systems like our Bluenet graphics
workstation."
Due to extreme occurrences like
floods and hurricanes the weather is
as much a news story as politics and
world events. Endresen says the norm
now is for trusted weather presenters
to contribute to the main news, using
environmental and geo-reference data
in graphical or virtual form to explain
what is happening and why.
Broadcasters are also taking the
fight to social media, using the web to
deliver specific updates and reports
in between scheduled TV forecasts.
In response to this WSI, the products
and development division of The
Weather Company, has expanded its
Max Weather graphics package with

Vizrt Showmaker

Max One (for 'one man band'), which
is designed to be used at the weather
reporter's desk to create a short video
that can be posted to the station's
website. "With a little USB camera on
the workstation the presenter can
record a short introduction and put
something together with graphics
that can go on the web," explains
Tad Maguire, Managing Director of
International Sales with WSI. "It can be
only 15 to 30 seconds long but that's
enough to update the audience."
Max Weather also includes a Traffic
feature, with city maps and virtual
graphics to show how wind, rain and
snow are affecting the roads. A similar
program is offered by AccuWeather,
which also incorporates radar data and
social media capability. The company
also works with Weather Metrics,
which produces HD tower cameras to
get the best views of what the weather
is doing.
The
IBC's
unofficial
weather
focus this year was completed by
MetoGroup, the European private
sector weather information service,
and MetraWeather, which showcased
its Weatherscape XT presentation,
production, data management and
playout system.
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.dalet.com/business-solutions/news-production-and-distribution https://s-a-m.com/ http://www.vizrt.com/news/newsgrid/46322/Vizrt_debuts_new_automation_solutions_at_IBC2015
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of In Broadcast - October 2015
