Avid

On July 29, technologists will share perspectives on how long-term remote work and a growing focus on the cloud are creating opportunities for innovation in television workflows and facilities design. Speakers, (clockwise from left) will be Kevin Brosnan, solutions architect, Teradici; Tim Murphy, principal program manager for media and entertainment, Microsoft Azure; Ray Thompson, senior director, partner and industry marketing, Avid; Mike Kralec, VP technical operations and deputy CTO, Sinclair Broadcast Group and moderator Glen Dickson, contributing editor, TVNewsCheck. Register to attend the webinar here.

With adoption pushed by the pandemic, cloud editing tools have expanded to cover light-weight, heavy-weight and hybrid workflows as vendors continue to minimize latency problems. Above, Avid’s Edit On Demand provides a fully provisioned and secure virtual editing environment, complete with Media Composer cloud editing and Avid NEXIS cloud storage, that can be deployed and scaled quickly.

Equipment manufacturers say newsrooms have been too slow to embrace a storycentric model of content creation, one far more in line with consumer habits than the old evening-newscast-as-endgame paradigm. Above, Sam Adams, the morning anchor for KHQ Spokane, is preparing clips for NonStop News, the station’s 24/7 streaming channel. He’s seated at the NonStop News Desk, which is where these clips are prepared. He can produce and present the clips in a very short amount of time. The lower TV in the distance is receiving NonStop News over-the-air on ch. 6.3.

Pandemic-impacted newsrooms are increasingly embracing tools that allow more content sharing and collaboration from the field and between stations with the cloud playing an ever-larger role in the remote workflows involved. Above, Bridget Naso, news anchor for KNSD San Diego, uses Dejero’s LivePlus Mobile app on an iPhone to broadcast live from home during the pandemic.

This month’s virtual Devoncroft Executive Summit took the measure of a media technology market radically altered by COVID-19, from a 10% hit to its overall market size, a reassessment of how of it does business and a big potential shift in its sales and marketing efforts. Above, Devoncroft’s Josh Stinehour emphasized that technology investment by broadcasters is an opportunity to drive increased revenues, not simply a cost center.

Trends driven by the pandemic are likely to persist into 2021 and beyond, while transitions to IP infrastructures will accelerate and aging on-prem infrastructure will give way to increased reliance on the cloud. NextGen TV will also likely pick up speed after COVID’s cooling effect on its rollout this year.

News and technology executives from Fox Television Stations, Graham Media, Gray Television, Avid and Latakoo have embraced new technologies and workflows in a year of huge stories and largely remote production. They’re going to need to maintain that embrace while producing even more content in 2021, they said at a TVNewsCheck webinar last week.

Vendors are offering better tools to help newsrooms plan and generate social media posts with more integrated and streamlined solutions with a view to reducing “tool fatigue” and decreasing the turnaround time on new posts.

The 10th Annual Women in Technology Awards Presentation Ceremony and “Predictions for 2021” panel will kick off today, live on Zoom, at 4 p.m. ET. See the honorees, an honor roll of past honorees, here in the program. Still need to Register? 

Offerings from Blackbird, Grass Valley and Avid have seen a surge in usage since the pandemic spurred a remote workflow shift with costs coming down and performance improving.

COVID-19 has had numerous tectonic effects on broadcast technology vendors, from accelerating a move to IP- and cloud-based systems to making for much uncertainty and probable consolidations ahead.

Coronavirus-necessitated remote workflows have spun up quickly and reliably to allow TV stations to keep broadcasting during the pandemic. There’s reason to believe they’ll stick around after the crisis subsides. Above: Avid Edit On Demand provides a full virtual production environment in the cloud, including Media Composer software and Avid NEXIS storage. (Source: Avid)

With coronavirus pushing numerous staffers into remote working situations, broadcasters are increasingly looking to exploit all of the remote functionality in their newsroom computer systems. Improved IP connectivity and better automation software is helping to make that happen.

Artificial intelligence continues to help news organizations automate more taxing workflows. AI is making ongoing progress with autoclipping to generate news and sports highlights, metadata tagging and accelerating live research and real time content indexing. It’s also pushing into new fronts like delivering smooth slow motion without a super slow motion camera. Above: AI drives EVS’s new Overcam for offside camera positions during soccer games and reduces the need for camera operators for those locations.

Avid’s new product introductions will take place online in April. Avid and ACA will host regional Connect events after public safety is assured.

As television news broadcasters move to expand their reach into web, mobile and OTT platforms, they are adopting a number of tools and strategies including more automation, better collaboration tools and, in some cases, internal software development. L-r: Gray’s Mike Fass, Avid’s Ray Thompson, Fox’s Emily Stone and ABC’s Fabian Westerwelle. (Photo: Wendy Moger-Bross)

News organizations are increasingly using breakthroughs in technology to allow journalists to remotely, yet quickly, deliver more content over multiple platforms. The advances range from improved cellular networks that speed transmission of content from the field to the newsroom and cameras capable of streaming and providing remote video, to a host of tools available for journalists to remotely edit and produce content while collaborating with their newsrooms. Above, Grass Valley’s new GV Alyve, released at this year’s IBC Show, gives reporters a “virtual control room in the cloud” for production and distribution of video and livestream content. (Source: Grass Valley)

Automation technology is fast evolving to keep up with demand for content on multiple platforms. Vendors say it helps eliminate redundant tasks and integrates as many platforms as possible without posing a threat to jobs or creative control.

The global news giant has built the first major broadcast facility to be completely based on the SMPTE 2110 IP networking standard. “The idea behind going IP was to get everything across CNN’s facilities connected,” says Bob Hesskamp, EVP of broadcast engineering for Turner. “The other reason we did this was we wanted to build a facility that wasn’t out of date on Day One, that was software-configurable, expandable and easier to make changes to.”

Avid says more powerful and intuitive user experience, greater agility in creating and distributing content from anywhere, and flexible cloud deployment options are among the enhancements in the new platform.

Developments in TV news graphics have seen a host of improvements from better real-time flexibility to more streamlined workflows and even monetization prospects.

Avid Technology today announced its first quarter 2019 financial results that included revenue of $103.3 million and operating income of $5.4 million. First Quarter 2019 Financial and Business Highlights Revenue was $103.3 million, the second consecutive quarter of 5% year-over-year growth. Gross margin was 59.3%, up 240 basis points year-over-year. Non-GAAP Gross Margin was 61.3%, […]