The Cox duopoly in Charlotte, NC, with WSOC-TV and WAXN has upgraded to a Florical automation system and new Grass Valley Profile Video Servers for on-air operation.
Both stations use a full complement of Florical automation solutions including play-to-air, material ingest, asset management and program acquisition from satellite.
The new system adds the ability to ingest content into either video server without regard to which server was assigned for play-to-air.
The new MediaMaster asset management system uses API calls across the Local Area Network to manage the contents of the broadcast video servers and to initiate fiber channel transfers between them, as material is needed for air. MediaMaster also detects material scheduled for play-to-air that is not currently stored in the video servers and produces a prioritized task list of material to be ingested.
The new Florical automation system uses a two-channel AirBoss system to originate programming and insert commercial breaks for WSOC-TV, an ABC affiliate, and WAXN an independent television station. The two systems are interconnected so that either system can function as a backup for the other, providing a high level of redundancy protection. Currently both channels use Grass Valley Master 21 switchers, Leitch Logomotion character generators for channel branding, Grass Valley Profile XP video servers, Sony Beta SX and Panasonic videotape machines for play-to-air.
Two MediaFiler ingest workstations provide frame accurate ingest of commercials and programs into the Profile XP video servers from videotape machines. Each ingest workstation also has MediaTimer which is used to precisely time and segment program material for playback from either videotape or video server. The AirBoss Editor imports play-to-air schedules from the Encoda-Bias traffic system on workstation computers located in the traffic department. The Charlotte facility uses the Schedule Timing Report produced by AirBoss Editor several times per day to detect any available time for commercial insertion in order to maximize revenue opportunities. The Pre-Air Discrepancy report is also regularly used to protect against revenue loss by detecting errors in the schedule before the day of air.
Automated satellite acquisition of program material is handled by the Florical ShowTimer system that produces and executes the daily record schedule. ShowTimer provides automated control of video servers and videotape machines for recording, the house routing switcher for input selection, as well as satellite receiver and antenna control. In order to automate the creation of program segment timing, WSOC-TV and WAXN use the Florical Validator system to improve workflow efficiency.
For more information visit www.florical.com.
