BBC World Service has chosen DaletPlus News Suite as an integrated video ingest, media asset management and production platform to equip its forthcoming Arabic TV channel.
This new BBC World Service channel will be launched in autumn of this year and will broadcast in Arabic to 22 countries across the Middle-East. DaletPlus will control ingest of video feeds and field material as well as provide 80 journalists with desktop editing tools and seamless digital archiving. The built-in workflow management and approvals processes will be central to the BBC Arabic TV operation, opening the door to a truly multimedia broadcast facility.
“DaletPlus News Suite went through a rigorous selection process and is the best match for our requirement,” said Jerry Timmins, Head of Africa and Middle East Region, BBC World Service. “The coming BBC Arabic TV channel will be a true multimedia operation that will span content across television, radio and BBC interactive services: the Dalet media asset management platform provides us with the adequate platform to do so.”
“Digital tapeless news production brings unique challenges to today’s broadcasters,” explained Stephane Schlayen, COO, Dalet. “DaletPlus News Suite was specifically designed to address these challenges; its open architecture and unique flexibility make it the ideal platform for today’s newsrooms. The BBC choice proves it.”
The system – which is to be installed in the newly refurbished BBC Broadcasting House, London – will take advantage of Omneon Spectrum Media Servers for ingest and playout and integrate with a number of systems, including AP ENPS text newsroom computer system and an IBIS playout automation platform. The media produced will feed the TV channel and also be repurposed for output on the web and for radio broadcasts.
Dalet Professional Services will provide the project management, workflow analysis and specifications, installation and configuration, testing of workflows and integrations plus a full training program for administrators, super-users and newsroom staff.
The BBC has been broadcasting in Arabic since 1938 and already has a measured audience of over 14 million on Radio and Online across the Middle East and North Africa. The TV service is due to launch in the autumn of 2007. It will be the first publicly funded international television service launched by the BBC.
