IBMS Provides Solid Foundation to Support New Services Such as Electronic Bookings, Multiplatform Offerings and Video on Demand
LONDON -- June 5, 2012 -- Pilat Media Global plc (AIM: PGB), the leading supplier of business management software to the media industry, today announced that New Zealand broadcaster MediaWorks TV has completed a successful migration of its operations to Version 6 of the Pilat Media Integrated Broadcast Management System (IBMS) for both TV3 and FOUR.
"Pilat Media's IBMS has been the core of our business since 2003, driving virtually every aspect of our broadcasting operation. With IBMS, we've been able to optimize sales profitability, streamline resources, and access the management information we need to make strategic decisions," said Peter Crossan, CFO, MediaWorks. "With Version 6, we're looking forward to building on that foundation to add significant new business management capabilities -- such as e-bookings and cross-platform sales -- to support our video-on-demand offerings."
TV3 launched in November 1989, and in 2008 was the first private television network in New Zealand to introduce HD broadcasts. The new IBMS Version 6 infrastructure will enable the network to fully integrate all sales, traffic, and content functions including acquisition and planning, scheduling and playout of media assets, and content inventory and rights. Key features of IBMS Version 6 for MediaWorks TV include its mainstream component architecture, ability to cache data locally to reduce network traffic, and the 64-bit option which will allow the network to add more users per server.
With the migration to IBMS Version 6, MediaWorks is taking advantage of several significant usability and productivity upgrades, including an enhanced GUI based on the Microsoft.NET framework. Other improvements are geared towards boosting user productivity, such as mandatory field indicators and new grid functionality such as pivot tables, column choosers, and column sorting, and exporting data to industry-standard formats.
"With this MediaWorks upgrade, our entire Asia/Pacific customer base is now running IBMS Version 6. As our flagship product, IBMS is precisely targeted to media companies who are continually expanding their service offerings and need the support of a scalable business management system that can grow and evolve with the business," said Avi Engel, CEO, Pilat Media.
More information about the complete IBMS product family is available at www.pilatmedia.com.
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About MediaWorks -- TV3 and FOUR
TV3 and FOUR are New Zealand commercial television networks owned by MediaWorks NZ Limited, New Zealand's leading private sector tv and radio broadcaster and online media company. Both networks broadcast nationally on analog and on all major digital platforms. Visit www.tv3.co.nz and four.co.nz.
About Pilat Media
Pilat Media Global plc (AIM: PGB) develops, markets, and supports business management software solutions for content and service providers in the media industry. Designed with the direct involvement of top-tier broadcasters, Pilat Media's systems improve business performance, accelerate time to market and enable diversification and growth of content programming, advertising sales, traffic, and media operations for multiplatform linear and on-demand services. More than 60 blue-chip media companies around the world use Pilat Media solutions, including CBS, Discovery, FOXTEL, Sky New Zealand, Chello DMC, the BBC World Service, SBS, Media General, Sky Italia, and ESPN Star Sports. These and other deployments represent the management of billions of dollars in advertising revenue and programming that reaches hundreds of millions of viewers. More information is available at www.pilatmedia.com.
