German TV Producer Plazamedia Chooses Omneon MediaGrid

Omneon, Inc., today announced that PLAZAMEDIA GmbH, a full-service television provider that is also Germany’s largest sports television producer and an EM.Sport Media AG company, has selected Omneon storage and server solutions to form the basis of its new platform for highly efficient, file-based workflows.

 

At the heart of PLAZAMEDIA’s ‘eCenter,’ a new Omneon MediaGrid active storage system provides facility-wide central storage, with Omneon Spectrum media servers performing ingest and playout functionality. In addition, Omneon ProXchange provides automated file transcoding within the MediaGrid, while Omneon ProBrowse delivers enterprise-wide media viewing capabilities. As a complete system, the Omneon solution provides PLAZAMEDIA with a scalable platform to support future growth, while offering reliability and resiliency, the ability to work in a mixed-format environment, the capacity to move between formats effortlessly, and seamless integration with other leading third-party applications.
 
PLAZAMEDIA currently delivers 19 channels to air, and the new eCenter platform will allow the roll-out of additional channels as needed.
    
"We have relied on the Omneon Spectrum servers for ingest and playout since 2004, and in that time we have come to appreciate their absolute reliability. Now, with the MediaGrid system’s ability to serve as a central distribution platform for multiple formats, we have designed a highly efficient and cost-effective workflow platform that will enable us to better serve our customers through more efficient management of existing channels while at the same time giving us the ability to roll out new channels more readily," said Chris Wieland, director of technology at PLAZAMEDIA. "For us, it’s the unique processing capabilities of the MediaGrid system, its flexible interoperability, and its huge capacity that make it the perfect fit."
 
Working with systems integrator and Omneon partner Netorium, the team at PLAZAMEDIA has developed a workflow in which content — provided either via tape, satellite feed, or file — will be ingested to existing Omneon Spectrum servers under the direction of Blue Order media asset management and then sent or imported to the new, redundant, 2x 24-TB MediaGrid system for secure, resilient central storage. Relying on the Omneon ProBrowse application, the MediaGrid system can actively generate browse proxies while content is still being recorded. This efficiency is particularly valuable to anyone working on a tight deadline — editors making shot selections for sporting events, for example.
 
Directed by Marquis Medway, MXF IMX 50 files will then make the roundtrip from the MediaGrid system to Avid editing and back, at which point the ProXchange application will transcode designated files into MPEG LGOP for playout under Pro-Bel Morpheus automation. The MediaGrid system will also interface with EVS servers used for live sports production and with an SGL tape library serving as deep archive.
 
"PLAZAMEDIA has developed a very forward-looking workflow that maximizes efficiency today and positions it for growth opportunities tomorrow," said Geoff Stedman, Omneon senior vice president for products and markets. "This unique Omneon installation in Germany is another illustration of the new paradigm for the broadcast industry — file-based workflows built around centralized active storage."