HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- March 4, 2008 -- ScheduALL, a leading provider of broadcast production and operations management software, today announced that NBC is implementing the ScheduALL solution to schedule and manage feeds for NBC‘s coverage of the Olympic Games in Beijing. ScheduALL will originate and distribute scheduling information of the event content across a wide array of broadcast and broadband media outlets.
The Beijing Olympics marks the third consecutive broadcast of the Olympic Games in which NBC has used ScheduALL, and the broadcasting logistics are by far the most complex. With more than 3,600 hours of coverage planned, more than the total hours for every Summer Olympics ever televised in the U.S., the Beijing Olympic Games represent the most ambitious single media project in history. Also, for the first time in the U.S., NBC will provide live streaming video coverage of events over broadband outlets including Web sites and cell phones.
ScheduALL is a key component of a comprehensive digital media asset solution currently in implementation at NBC that will manage 48 high-definition feeds and up to 32 streaming encoders for transmitting Olympic content. ScheduALL will store and manage critical information such as start and stop times for each event, video router assignments, and satellite uplink scheduling, and then pass this information automatically to downstream systems to facilitate on-air coverage for each feed. In addition, ScheduALL will generate reports with scheduling and resource allocation data that can be easily accessed by personnel in the NBC‘s Beijing operations center as well as the company‘s central broadcasting facility at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York.
“ScheduALL provides a graphical means for us to track, schedule, and manage people, resources, and equipment across multiple time zones in a highly complex, constantly changing environment,” said Craig Lau, vice president of IT for the NBC Olympics.
Prior to its first ScheduALL implementation for the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, NBC relied on a manual, spreadsheet-driven process for managing and scheduling feeds. “Even in those days, sharing of information and tracking of all different components of a broadcast had become very burdensome. Now that we‘re re-purposing huge volumes of content for broadband streaming, in addition to providing 24-hour broadcasts from any number of our networks, we have far too many feeds to handle manually,” said Lau. “In such a high-pressure situation, we have no margin for error -- so we can‘t afford not to choose the absolute best-of-the-best technology solutions that work flawlessly and effectively. That‘s why we continue to partner with ScheduALL.”
“ScheduALL is pleased to have been chosen by NBC in support of their coverage of the Olympic Games in Beijing,” said Greg Dolan, senior vice president at ScheduALL. “ScheduALL‘s comprehensive operations management solutions are designed to support complex news and sports event operations as well as support a variety of production and transmission workflows. We look forward to working with NBC on its coverage in Beijing.”
More information about ScheduALL and its software solutions is available online at www.scheduall.com.
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About NBC Olympics
NBC, “America's Olympic Network,” owns the exclusive U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games, television‘s most powerful property, through 2012, which includes Beijing in 2008, Vancouver in 2010, and London in 2012. From August 8-24, 2008, NBC Universal will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of coverage, highlighted by NBC in primetime with live swimming, gymnastics, and beach volleyball. In August 2004, 203 million viewers watched as the networks of NBC Universal -- NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo, Telemundo, and NBC‘s HD affiliates -- offered a then record 1,210 hours of Olympic coverage from Athens.
For additional information, go to NBCOlympics.com, a year-round destination for fans of Olympic sports, featuring news, Beijing previews, athlete features, expert blogs, photos, Olympic video from the NBC archives, and social tools enabling users to build communities around their favorite sports, post comments, and blogs.
About ScheduALL
ScheduALL is the leading provider of enterprise resource management (ERM) software for the broadcast and media industry. With more than 1,200 worldwide clients within broadcast, satellite, and production facilities, ScheduALL is clearly recognized as the partner of choice for operational management software solutions. ScheduALL‘s software offers comprehensive workflow and resource management capabilities that enable clients to optimize personnel, resources, and bandwidth utilization in a way that directly translates into increased productivity and ROI. ScheduALL‘s modular approach and scalable product sets provide a collaborative platform for users in the broadcast, production, post-production, satellite/network transmission, and newsroom environments. ScheduALL clients include BBC, Fox News Network, The Associated Press, IntelSat, Turner Studios, Mediaset, CBC, ABC Australia, RTL, and NewSkies Satellites. More information is available at www.scheduall.com.
