Harris

The CEO of Imagine Communications (formerly Harris Broadcast) says the company will “out-innovate” its chief rival, Belden’s Grass Valley. Charlie Vogt says Imagine “is moving into a very dynamic software environment and I’m not sure that that is in the DNA” of Belden. He also says Imagine will be “bold and agressive” in acquiring smaller companies that round out its product line.

When some stations started multicasting digital subchannels there were a number of engineering issues that made the process cumbersome. Today, although there are different methods to launch a diginet — from using network-configured equipment to running second channels through a station’s main master control — most broadcasters say the task is neither tough nor expensive.

Harris Morris says that The Gores Group, which bought the broadcast equipment firm last week, is on board with the unit’s management and strategy of offering a one-stop-shop that can provide all of the major pieces of a broadcast plant. “We absolutely think that we have got the right pieces of intellectual property and we have got the right people.”

Vendor consolidation was one of the most discussed topics at the annual Amsterdam tech conference, although no new deals were announced there. Other hot topics: new products and services based on cloud technology, multi-platform content delivery; social media services; Sony/SES Astra’s 4K demo; and channel-in-a-box.

At IBC today, Harris became the latest vendor to offer a channel-in-the-box solution for quickly and cheaply putting signals on the air. The vendor says Versio incorporates proven Harris technology and integrates seamlessly with other Harris gear and software. Harris’ Andy Warman says it’s only a matter of time before broadcasters accept channel-in-a-box technology, even for news-laden main channels.

Broadcasters across the country and around the world are wondering how Tuesday’s announcement that Harris Corp. wants to spin off its storied broadcasting business will play out. The division’s president, Harris Morris, says the company “is going to seek a buyer who is committed and focused on this business and on growing in the media space. At the same time, we will try to eliminate disruption in the short-term while we go through the sale process.”

The Communications Division’s president, Harris Morris, says the unit has become “less aligned with the Harris core businesses and long-term strategy,” and the timing is right to sell.

Harris Corp. (NYSE:HRS) has introduced a solution for mobile production trucks that it says reduces costs and complexity for customers.  At the 2012 NAB Show, Harris showcased complete solutions to […]

Harris Corp. has introduced HView SX Pro, a scalable, high-density multi-display management system. The HView SX Pro extends Harris’ HView multiviewer range, delivering a compact, new signal processing and monitoring […]

The growth of customer relationship management solutions and data analytics means stations have a number of options to help them collect and manage information about their customers. Among those in the sales software hunt are Harris, WideOrbit, Decentrix, Matrix Solutions and SalesForce.

Over the past decade, the T&B sector has consolidated dramatically. Where once there were 15-20 players, there are now just a handful, fiercely competing to meet clients’ demands for trimming costs and managing ads on the proliferating platforms, including the Web, digital subchannels and various mobile offerings. WideOrbit and Harris OSi are the dominant companies in the U.S. commercial TV station sector, but a number of others, including Myers, BroadView, Pilat and Sintec, want a piece of the pie.

IT-based playout, or channel-in-a-box, is the hottest TV technology around these days. Propelled by broadcasters’ insatiable need to cut costs, Grass Valley, Miranda, Florical, Snell and Evertz are now offering the virtual master control technology and Harris and Harmonics may be next.

Harris Corp. has struck a deal with Rentrak that aims to make Harris’s software solutions for advertisers more robust. Broadcasters and their advertiser clients will be able to access Rentrak’s rating data in Harris’s products.

Among the myriad of broadcasting gear on display at next week’s NAB Show in Las Vegas are automation, traffic and billing equipment and software. There’s growing interest in these products since TV broadcasters need to be able to oversee a growing number of channels with a shrinking number of staff.

Panels, papers, prototypes and ready-to-go technology exhibits on the emerging broadcast mobile market will be a big part of next week’s NAB Show in Las Vegas. Says ATSC’s Jerry Whitaker, “This is the year that broadcast stations want to put mobile on the air and are indeed acting on that.”

The new applications demonstrate the viability of ATSC’s Non-Real-Time Content Delivery Candidate Standard. Among the uses are glasses-free 3D, electronic couponing, mobile digital signage, interactive mobile tweeting, Roundbox widget server applications, traffic and travel info and emergency alerting.

Harris Corp. announced Tuesday that it has strategically realigned its operating businesses” to provide increased market focus and address the fast-growing global market for integrated communications and information technology and […]

Dubbed Selenio, the multifunction, rack-mounted unit uses modules to perform a variety of tasks — frame synchronization, video conversion, encoding, decoding, multiplexing and demultiplexing. It also give users a pathway to IP networking, while saving space and power, Harris says.

Golden Eagle Broadcasting’s KGEB Tulsa, Okla. (DMA 61) has installed a variety of Harris workflow, infrastructure and networking equipment for its master control operation as the broadcaster continues its analog-to-digital […]

Harris Morris, president of Harris Corp.’s Broadcast Communications Division, explains the major reorganization and new goals of the equipment giant. It’s concentrating on an expanding global emphasis, while not lessening its U.S. efforts. Among its other initiatives are repurposing existing technology in new markets and helping broadcasters find new ways to exploit new technology. Morris says the plan is to be “laser-focused on getting BCD back into the black this year and showing that we can profitably grow the top line.”