Atlanta, GA (April 12, 2011) – Video Technics Inc., a leading provider of IT-based broadcast solutions, today announced Ramar Communications selected the NewsFlow™ solution to initiate the next-generation digital transition for their stations based out of Lubbock, Texas. RAMAR is the parent company of FOX 34, FOX 34 NewsNOW, the FOX AccuWeather Channel, My Lubbock TV, the Lubbock CW, and Telemundo Lubbock.
When their older broadcast equipment began to fail, Ramar Communications asked Video Technics to ship a demo Apella server to their facility, have it remotely configured and get them up and running in record time. Exceptionally pleased with the responsiveness of the organization and how well the NewsFlow solution met their needs, Ramar purchased an end-to-end solution from Video Technics. With this new solution, the team at Ramar can now use their existing Avid and Adobe NLEs with the VT Media Exchange server and Java Plug-Ins to push and pull content from the network attached storage (NAS). Additionally, they can also use their existing ENPS newsroom workstations, with the embedded VT Proxy Editor MOS Plug-In, to allow operators to preview low-resolution media, apply simple edits as needed, and seamlessly manage their news rundown in real-time.
“The biggest return on investment we realized with the Video Technics solution was how well it integrated with our existing broadcast equipment and how much time our operators would save with the advanced software applications provided to each user” said Tee Thomas, Director of Engineering at Ramar Communications.
Ramar uses WEGENER iPump for CNN NEWS and FOX NewsEdge downloads then pushes the raw content to the VT Media Exchange server, which automatically imports the media with metadata and generates frame-accurate, low-resolution proxies. Once ingested to the shared NAS, VT Proxy Editor users are able to collaborate in creating simple packages, VOs, SOTs, and teases directly from their ENPS desktops in the newsroom using proxy editing. VT Director’s MOS-enabled A/B channel PlayLists run on a primary and backup server for complete redundancy and failover capability. The two 3-channel Apella HDS video servers (1 record / 2 playback) and the shared NAS offer enhanced redundancy with automatic caching of “ready for air” content to each local server.
Andy Tuggle, Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Video Technics said, “Video Technics has always been committed to providing cost effective and powerful workflow solutions to professional broadcasters involved with HD news. We are very pleased that Ramar Communications has chosen our NewsFlow solution to meet the growing demands of their workflow requirements.”
“We were very impressed with the fact that Video Technics built, commissioned, and trained our staff in record time,” said Thomas. “We will enter our May sweeps with our new HD news programming, which makes us that much more competitive in our market’”.
About Video Technics, Inc.
Video Technics, Inc., a pioneer in revolutionary systems development, supplies the global broadcast industry with innovative, feature-rich workflow solutions built around the company’s IT-based media servers. Video Technics’ Apella™ and NewsFlow™ products streamline the entire production process, and feature inherent proxy editing, embedded ingest/playout tools, and digital asset management. www.videotechnics.com
About RAMAR Communications
Locally owned and locally operated, RAMAR Communications has deep roots in Lubbock, Texas. RAMAR is the parent company of FOX 34. Other RAMAR TV stations include FOX 34 NewsNOW, The FOX AccuWeather Channel, My Lubbock TV and Telemundo Lubbock. RAMAR operates The Lubbock CW. RAMAR radio stations in Lubbock include FOX Talk 950, Magic 93.7, Stars 97-3 and Double T 104-3.
