Cowles California Media Co. has selected Omneon Spectrum media server systems in conjunction with Omneon ProCast CDN at its California broadcast stations in an implementation supporting multichannel, multilocation master control. Integrated by Advanced Broadcast Solutions, the Omneon systems enable the Cowles stations to move high volumes of data from one station to another using a limited amount of bandwidth and, with this capability, drive master control for multiple stations from a single point.
The ProCast CDN file transport engine uses acceleration technology to enable the high-speed transfer of media files over a 45 Mbps dedicated circuit between KION-TV/KCBA-TV in Salinas, Calif., and KCOY-TV/KKFX-TV in Santa Maria, Calif.
Content ingested and prepped in Salinas is delivered to Santa Maria via the Omneon content delivery platform, which operates in conjunction with Sundance automation to ensure that the appropriate content and data are transferred. This content, stored locally on servers in Santa Maria, is switched and played out from master control in Salinas. The Santa Maria station provides master control only for its local news programming, though operators there can take over switching and playback at any time, as needed. Cowles also uses the Omneon content delivery platform as a backhaul for moving locally produced spots, promos, and other contribution content from Santa Maria to Salinas for prep.
"The data transfer speed and efficiency provided by our Omneon server and content delivery systems have allowed us to leverage existing production and master control resources in expanding the Cowles family of broadcast stations," said Paul Dughi, president of Cowles California Media. "Working closely with ABS and Omneon, we have successfully applied accelerated content distribution technology at the station level to establish streamlined, cost-effective operations for our geographically distributed stations."
The Omneon platform currently supports a total of six stations across two markets, as KMUV-TV (Telemundo) and NION-TV (CW) also are run out of the Salinas facility.
