STARZ ENCORE ACQUIRE SOLUTION FROM OMNIBUS

UK BASED Omnibus Systems have announced that the Starz Encore Group, one of the largest provider of cable and satellite-delivered premium movie channels in the United States, have selected solutions from OmniBus to automate a new 40 channel master control and on-air playback facility.
This order will provide Starz Encore with multi channel transmission automation, as well as asset and media management systems. OmniBus will install their Colossus multi-channel playout system to control Pinnacle MediaStream 1600 Servers for movie and interstitial playout, media acquisition, global asset and media management, (GAMMA) and the system infrastructure. The system is due to go on the air in Autumn of 2001.
Starz Encore operate a post-production and on-air broadcast facility in Littleton, Colorado, offering 13 full-time channels with two additional channels planned, all commercial free, to more than 74 million pay-units across the US.
Ray Milius, Vice-President of Production and Operations at Starz Encore, said: “We provide East and West coast feeds of all these channels, and a Mountain Time Zone feed of Encore, Starz!, and MoviePlex. In approximately one year, we will be re-locating our broadcast and post-production facility. In connection with this move, we will be creating a totally new, 40 channel master control and on-air playback facility which will be video server based.”
Starz Encore created an RFP with 41 requirements as part of the process of identifying a solution. The automation solution had to meet all of the requirements in order to be selected. After identifying all the automation vendors at NAB 2000, Starz Encore chose OmniBus.
(GB)