SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Nov. 5, 2008 — Omneon, Inc. today announced that Anhui Television, a regional broadcaster in eastern China, has purchased an Omneon Spectrum™ media server to support its expansion to a larger number of channels.
Founded in 1960, Anhui Television is a government-owned station broadcasting programming via cable to 70 million viewers in Anhui Province and via satellite to viewers covering 54 countries and regions including Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Anhui TV currently has six TV channels: a satellite channel, an economic life channel, a movie and television channel, a sports channel, a public news channel, and a science and education channel. The broadcaster will use the Spectrum system to provide a stable playout platform for varied programming.
The modular Spectrum system gave the growing broadcaster an interoperable, reliable, and scalable platform for transmission of six SD channels when it was installed this spring, replacing an aging legacy system from another vendor.
The Spectrum system was purchased as part of Anhui Television's expansion to include two additional channels — making a total of eight — that went on the air this spring. Anhui is using the Spectrum system for six channels with plans in the near future to transfer all channels to the Spectrum server. While content initially will be ingested directly into the Spectrum playout system, future plans call for a Dayang editing system to generate MXF formatted content for transfer to the Spectrum system for playout. The Spectrum system's ability to play out the MXF files will afford Anhui a simplified and streamlined file-based workflow.
"After considering several options, we concluded that the Spectrum system is an outstanding choice to meet our needs. Its proven reliability and excellent degree of flexibility makes our workflow more efficient," said Wang Wenzhi, director of broadcasting for Anhui Television. "Another selling point was that the Spectrum server is easy and cost-effective to maintain."
Spectrum video servers use modular design and industry standard connectivity to create a highly configurable and reliable system. Multiple units can be linked to scale storage capacity and bandwidth, and new components can be added easily, usually without taking the system offline. At Anhui Television, the Spectrum system will operate under the direction of Dayang automation.
"Our partnerships with media workflow vendors enable broadcasters in China to create highly customized and tightly integrated workflows that are scalable, future-friendly, and efficient," said Andrew Thornton, Omneon vice president of sales for the Asia-Pacific region. "Like many other regional broadcasters, Anhui Television will reap the benefits of the flexible and reliable Spectrum system."
Earlier this year, Omneon demonstrated its dedication to the Chinese market by opening its first office in China. Located in Beijing, the office is staffed with a business development and technical support team charged with enhancing market responsiveness.
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About Anhui Television
Founded in 1960, Anhui Television is a government-owned station broadcasting programming via cable to 70 million viewers in Anhui Province and via satellite to viewers covering 54 countries and regions including Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Anhui TV currently has six TV channels: a satellite channel, an economic life channel, a movie and television channel, a sports channel, a public news channel, and a science and education channel.
About Omneon
Omneon, Inc., is a leading provider of scalable media server and active storage systems that optimize workflow productivity and on-air reliability for the production, distribution, and management of digital media. Omneon is a pioneer in the use of advanced IT technologies and open systems for broadcast applications, producing a modular and expandable video server architecture in the Omneon Spectrum. The company's MediaGrid active storage system delivers centralized content storage that is scalable in capacity, bandwidth, and media-processing power. The company has an extensive global presence with customers in more than 50 countries on six continents. Omneon is on the Web at www.omneon.com.
