Bay News 9 of Tampa, FL, has selected OmniBus to provide automation systems for the channel’s new broadcast facility, currently under construction in nearby St. Petersburg. The OmniBus system will integrate with other broadcast technologies to enable rapid production and improved delivery of news, weather, and sports from around West Central Florida.
The news channel will use OmniBus automation along with a Pinnacle Systems’ Vortex video server, AP’s ENPS newsroom production system, and VertigoXmedia’s graphics automation for 24-hour local news coverage presented in the familiar “wheel” format. The station will air a combination of live and recorded segments to provide continuous, up-to-the-minute newscasts for viewers. An identical control room configuration will be installed at the new facility to support Bay News 9 En Español, a 24-hour news service offering local news coverage in Spanish.
The OmniBus system will serve as the facility’s central interface for controlling devices, getting feedback, and relaying playout messages. The OmniBus Desktop Control (ODC) interface will give Bay News 9 reporters and other staff the ability to search and browse archived material, create graphics, put production elements for studio events into the script, and control a variety of other functions from a single desktop. An ENPS system located at the station’s main facility and connected via a dedicated WAN will allow OmniBus applications to be used at remote bureaus in Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, and Polk counties. The St. Petersburg installation is scheduled for completion by fall 2005.
For more information, visit www.OmniBus.tv.
