Playbook streamlines newsgathering

The Associated Press ( AP ) is planning for the September 2018 launch of Playbook , a Web browser-based solution designed to help journalists not only plan news coverages , but also to create more efficiencies in the news production process . With the news environment also spreading to social media platforms , content producers need improved planning to manage text , video and photo coverage for publishing to social media , as well as online portals . The Playbook thus is designed to be scalable and customisable , depending on the size and resource of the news organisation .

Calrec ’ s Type R makes regional debut

At last month ’ s BroadcastAsia2018 , Calrec debuted Type R , an IP-based radio system . With the combination of standard networking technology and configurable soft panels , Type R allows users to customise systems according to their needs . Packed within a 2RU frame , Type R is integrated with I / O resources , and supports up to three independent mixing environments in a single core . Type R is also equipped with the ability to use multiple mixing engines , allowing users to deploy the IP-based system as independent studio consoles , microphone processors or utility mixing .

Next Month @ Creation

Broadcast Monitors / Multiviewers

Dr Ahmad Zaki Mohd Salleh

Director Technical Operations TV Networks Media Prima

Phan Tien Dung

CTO Vietnam Digital Television

Mike Whittaker

Executive Vice-President and CTO , Asia-Pacific and the Middle East , Fox Networks Group Asia

As broadcasters continue to work in multiple formats and are increasingly controlled by tight budgets , emerging technologies such as AI are expanding the flexibility and functionality of newsrooms automaton systems . Shawn Liew reports .

Speaking with APB , Somu Patil , vicepresident of sales , Asia , Grass Valley , says : “ Consumers increasingly want access to news content in a range of formats — from social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter through to streaming live news on over-the-top ( OTT ) platforms .

“ In fact , consumer viewing time on social media channels is projected to overtake the time spent on linear TV for the first time this year .”

Media organisations thus have never been under greater pressure to deliver compelling news stories to their viewers anytime , and anywhere . To achieve this lofty goal , it is critical for media organisations to invest in newsroom technology that enables them to do this more effectively , Patil suggests .

He continues : “ The right news automation system can help with cost-efficiency by automating simple processes . News broadcasters need to be able to offer real-time delivery of news and also support 24-hour multicasts . This is particularly difficult when it comes to unscripted news such as a sports game , an election or breaking news .”

Grass Valley ’ s news automation portfolio include Ignite APC , a “ dynamic and powerful ” automation tool that works to enhance any production environment with its flexible features and strong return on investment ( ROI ).

Patil goes on to highlight how a news automation system , built for the future of news , must be able to facilitate lastminute changes and allow production teams to deliver real-time cut-ins easily . “ With productions varying , news automation systems also need to be intuitive and customisable to address any need .”

One key solution Grass Valley offers is the GV Stratus , which has been recently upgraded to enhance broadcasters ’ ability to address changing consumer viewing habits , platforms and demographics . Social media integration , particularly , is a key focus for Grass Valley , who wants to allow broadcasters to address the critical need to deliver content as and how consumers want it .

According to Patil , GV Stratus provides the “ most comprehensive ” set of tools — from ingest to playout — with a high-speed parallel file system that was created to solve the daunting problem of sharing access to massive data sets for strategic use and analysis .

He continues : “ With media organisations under greater pressure to deliver better quality content to more platforms on tighter budgets , infrastructures and workflows , we offer a wide range of industry-leading solutions that can suit any operation , regardless of its size , budget or business need .”

Besides GV Stratus , Grass Valley ’ s news automation solutions also include Ignite APC . While the former offers rule-based media asset management ( MAM ) that automates the management of media to outside resources and creates “ powerful engagement ” with current and potential viewers , the latter is a “ dynamic and powerful ” automation tool that works to enhance any production environment with its flexible features and strong return on investment ( ROI ).

Patil elaborates : “ Ignite 11 offers a new event manager to control the look and feel across all sites in a group , ensuring consistency and allowing for the quick and easy creation of event libraries — reducing training and commissioning by up to 50 %.

“ This drastic reduction in resources required makes Ignite a very dynamic system , allowing productions to focus on content creation .”

One technology that is slowly but surely improving the efficiencies of today ’ s newsroom automation systems is artificial intelligence ( AI ), an assessment Patil agrees with . “ Multi-platform , multiformat content is delivered much easier and quicker with AI , and the migra tion of technologies and platforms to the cloud also means that AI can help drive productivity ,” he says , adding that AI enables broadcasters to better understand the content in their live streams .

Furthermore , tasks that used to take broadcast facilities hours can now be handled in seconds ; AI can also be used to identify , retrieve and aggregate data such as intricate speech and facial recognition to feed into the coverage of unscripted productions , Patil identifies . “ Many news networks have to operate with limited staff , making the creation of high-quality content next to impossible . With AI , production teams are able to re-invest time back into content creation ,