Anhui Television Selects Omneon Spectrum Media Server for Stable Playout Platform

Omneon, a leading provider of scalable media server and active storage systems, has announced that Anhui Television, a regional broadcasters in eastern China, has purchased an Omneon Spectrum media server to support its expansion to a larger number of channels.
Founded in 1960, Anhui Television is a government-owned station broadcasting programming via cable to 70 million viewers in Anhui Province and via satellite to viewers covering 54 countries and regions including Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania.
Anhui TV currently has six TV channels: a satellite channel, an economic life channel, a movie and television channel, a sports channel, a public news channel and a science and education channel. The broadcaster will use the Spectrum system to provide a stable playout platform for varied programming.
The modular Spectrum system gave the growing broadcaster an interoperable, reliable and scalable platform for transmission of six SD channels when it was installed this spring, replacing an aging legacy system from another vendor.
The Spectrum system was purchased as part of Anhui Television's expansion to include two additional channels - making a total of eight - that went on the air this spring. Anhui is using the Spectrum system for six channels with plans in the near future to transfer all channels to the Spectrum server. While content initially will be ingested directly into the Spectrum playout system, future plans call for a Dayang editing system to generate MXF formatted content for transfer to the Spectrum system for playout. The Spectrum system's ability to play out the MXF files will afford Anhui a simplified and streamlined file-based workflow.
Wang Wenzhi, Director of Broadcasting for Anhui Television, said: "After considering several options, we concluded that the Spectrum system is an outstanding choice to meet our needs. Its proven reliability and excellent degree of flexibility makes our workflow more efficient. Another selling point was that the Spectrum server is easy and cost-effective to maintain."
Spectrum video servers use modular design and industry standard connectivity to create a highly configurable and reliable system. Multiple units can be linked to scale storage capacity and bandwidth and new components can be added easily, usually without taking the system offline. At Anhui Television, the Spectrum system will operate under the direction of Dayang automation.
Andrew Thornton, Omneon Vice President of Sales for the Asia-Pacific region, said: "Our partnerships with media workflow vendors enable broadcasters in China to create highly customised and tightly integrated workflows that are scalable, future-friendly and efficient. Like many other regional broadcasters, Anhui Television will reap the benefits of the flexible and reliable Spectrum system."
Earlier this year, Omneon demonstrated its dedication to the Chinese market by opening its first office in China. Located in Beijing, the office is staffed with a business development and technical support team charged with enhancing market responsiveness.
Further information is available at: www.omneon.com.
(KMcA)