SYDNEY—Imagine Communications announced that it has expanded the capabilities of the National Playout Centre for Nine Network, the largest free-to-air broadcaster in Australia. The new enhancements to the NPC’s existing Imagine Communications and channel playout architecture enable the NPC to extend coverage to the Adelaide and Perth markets, which were acquired by Nine Network in 2013.
“When we first planned the NPC, we knew we had to build a system that was readily scalable, which is one of the key reasons we selected Imagine Communications,” said Geoff Sparke, director Broadcast Operations of Nine Network.
The NPC, which opened in 2012 in Sydney, originally served 18 channels across the country. The NPC’s initial deployment of a comprehensive Imagine Communications multichannel playout solution allowed the broadcaster to streamline technical operations by centralizing playout for all of Nine Network’s markets within a single, highly efficient and modern broadcast facility. In order to enable the continued growth of the network, the NPC expanded their deployment of Imagine Communications D-Series playout automation and Nexio Insight asset management software, while increasing their existing Nexio server installation’s capacity with Nexio Volt compact, integrated media servers. The expansion also includes Imagine Communications Selenio media convergence platforms for signal processing, and a Platinum router with Multiviewer for large scale routing and monitoring.
