Unified System Uniquely Supports TV and Radio Multi-station Operations for Optimized Efficiencies and Revenues as Well as Enhanced Customer Service
LONDON -- Nov. 5, 2013 -- Pilat Media today announced that Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), one of Australia's largest media companies, is expanding its implementation of the Pilat Media Integrated Broadcast Management System (IBMS) to encompass its widely distributed network of radio stations.
A long standingcustomer of Pilat Media, Southern Cross Media (prior to its merger with the Austereo Group to form SCA) first installed IBMS to support sales, traffic, and program scheduling for its television network, which currently includes more than 100 channels. Until now, the company's radio broadcast operations were managed through separate sales and traffic systems without integration between the stations.
The new expansion of SCA's IBMS implementation will provide a fully integrated business management solution that centralizes all metadata and workflows across its TV and radio business, offering across-the-board operational efficiencies. SCA will also benefit from comprehensive cross-platform performance analysis and reporting capabilities that will provide key insights into factors such as agency spend within its overall business, resulting in the opportunity to optimize revenue generation. In addition, SCA sales representatives will now be able to create unified campaigns that cover both TV and radio, offering a better customer service experience by generating a single invoice to the client.
"For over a decade, IBMS has been an integral part of Southern Cross Austereo's national and regional television sales campaigns in a very competitive environment where the best sales tools and systems are essential to maximizing revenue," said Raoul Prideaux, SCA's director of engineering and technology. "This expansion will allow SCA to integrate radio and TV sales for the first time into one centralized system across our whole network, enhancing overall operational efficiencies and optimizing airtime inventory."
During the past year, Pilat Media has worked closely with SCA to integrate the support of radio campaigns within its existing IBMS implementation. This includes the ability to centralize airtime, programming and traffic while supporting the independent transmission needs of each radio station, in addition to the integration of specific radio requirements such as Live Reads and management of the associated copy, rate cards, scheduling, and reconciliation.
"With SCA's very prominent and diverse radio and TV presence across Australia, it takes a comprehensive and powerful solution to support the multifaceted requirements and management integration needs associated with such an operation," said Damien Thomson, Pilat Media's general manager, Australasia. "SCA's IBMS implementation combines the best of both TV and radio broadcasting management in one central system, streamlining operations, optimizing efficiencies and revenues, and accommodating future growth."
More information about the complete IBMS product family is available at www.pilatmedia.com.
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About Southern Cross Austereo
Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) is one of Australia's most diverse media companies, with the potential to reach 95 percent of Australians. SCA creates more hours of live content than any other broadcaster in Australia, and includes regional free-to-air TV networks, national radio networks, online and mobile services, and unique one-off events. For more information, visit www.southerncrossaustereo.com.au.
About Pilat Media
Pilat Media Global plc (AIM: PGB) develops, markets, and supports business management software solutions for content and service providers in the media industry. Designed with the direct involvement of top-tier broadcasters, Pilat Media's systems improve business performance; accelerate time to market; and enable diversification and growth of content programming, advertising sales, traffic, and media operations for multiplatform, linear, and on-demand services. More than 60 blue-chip media companies around the world use Pilat Media solutions, including CBS, Bell Media, Discovery, BBC Worldwide, SABC, Chellomedia, Showtime, Sky Italia, AT&T, Globosat, and FOXTEL. These and other deployments represent the management of billions of dollars in advertising revenue and programming that reaches hundreds of millions of viewers. Through its new subsidiary, OTTilus, Pilat Media also offers a modular, end-to-end enterprise-class OTT service platform that seamlessly integrates with broadcast operations. More information is available at www.pilatmedia.com.
