GLENDALE CA, August 27, 2007--Information technology (IT) integration is impacting the television industry with unprecedented efficiencies for content-creation workflow, management, and delivery. National TeleConsultants (NTC), the world‘s leading provider of strategic technology consulting and engineering-design services for the media industry, will once again provide expertise regarding the latest IT-based networking, storage, and workflow advances at IBC 2007, the International Broadcasting Conference in Amsterdam, Holland from September 7 to 11.
Chaired by NTC Managing Partner Chuck Phelan, an expert technical papers session on IT-Based Production Systems will be presented on Sunday, September 9th as part of IBC 2007‘s Content Production Theme Day. The session is part of IBC 2007‘s extensive conference program, which includes targeted theme days spotlighting vital technology and business trends for the broadcast and media industry. IBC 2007 will also feature more than 1,000 product exhibitors and attract over 40,000 professional attendees from around the world during its six-day run at Amsterdam‘s RAI convention center.
“IBC is the premiere European conference and exposition for the television and digital media industries,” Phelan remarks. “It is attended by key technical and business decision-makers from throughout the continent and around the world. IBC conference sessions contribute greatly to industry advancement on an international scale. NTC is honored to organize the session on IT-Based Production Systems for IBC‘s Content Production Theme Day.”
“This session will examine the accelerating uptake of file-based and IT-based tools from several points of view,” Phelan continues. “Expert users and solutions providers will address different aspects of IT integration in producing program content, including aspects of workflow, architectures, and the associated organizational changes required for successful implementation of these systems. The session will stress new systems and techniques that offer unique benefits to users beyond widely available off-the-shelf tools. An important topic will be the changes required in an organization to successfully implement an all-file-based workflow and how to address the challenges inherent in such changes.”
Presenters and topics at IBC‘s IT-Based Production Systems session will include:
• Bill Hudson (Director of Business and Market Development, Professional Applications, Apple Computer), “Building IT Infrastructures for Modern Content Production and Distribution.”
• Hroar Pettersen (Project Manager, NRK Programme Bank Project), “Handling the Transition to an All-File-Based Workflow at NRK from a Organizational Point of View.”
• John Footen (Vice President, NTC), “Service Oriented Architecture, Business Process Management, and Web Services in Professional Media Systems.”
• Clyde D. Smith (Senior Vice President of Global Broadcast Technology and Standards for the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.), “An MXF Automated Processes System for Television Operations.”
Commenting on his presentation, Hroar Pettersen explains that the Norwegian national broadcaster NRK‘s transition to an all-file-based workflow involves their Programme Bank, the main purpose of which is “to provide all departments and regional offices with a coherent digital production infrastructure and workflow that supports the strategic goals of cost/benefit, user acceptance, increased accessibility, productivity, and quality.” Pettersen adds that “the Programme Bank is a file-based storage and network system where finished and un-finished programs, raw material, and archive material are accessible to all the production areas and viewable from all office PCs. The project is one of the largest undertaken by NRK and is challenging both technically and organizationally.”
“The focus of my presentation is on the business benefits of adopting the MXF mastering format,” elaborates Turner Broadcasting System‘s Clyde Smith. “For almost three years now we‘ve put a lot of effort into looking at how our workflow is changing in the future and how--by using MXF--we can automate and simplify that workflow and reduce operating costs. What I‘m presenting at IBC is a case study that compares and contrasts existing methods, the costs associated with them, and the benefits of adopting MXF and the savings associated with that.”
“We appreciate the opportunity to present important information to IBC attendees regarding Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) and its immediate and important applications to broadcast organizations,” comments NTC‘s John Footen. “SOA offers a means for organizations to better deploy existing technology while incorporating IT to enable rapid change and agility in responding to new-revenue opportunities in the deployment of next-generation DTV, HDTV, and new-media services.”
“This session will provide IBC attendees with first-hand accounts of integrating leading-edge IT and file-based operations from both technology and organizational perspectives,” concludes session chair Chuck Phelan of NTC. “All of these presentations are designed to open minds to new ideas and systems that advance the state of the art in the media industry.”
To learn more about the IBC 2006 Conference, or to register, visit www.ibc.org.
About National TeleConsultants: National TeleConsultants (NTC) is the world‘s largest independent media systems consulting, design, and implementation firm with offices in Los Angeles and New York. NTC specializes in strategic technology consulting, media-related facility design and engineering, and systems integration. For more information, visit www.ntc.com.
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