Finnish broadcaster MTV Oy has decided on SGL FlashNet as a key element in its major newsroom archive upgrade. Mediatrade, SGL’s Finnish partner, is providing sales and first line support. This announcement follows MTV Oy’s successful installation of SGL FlashNet as a significant part of its digital upgrade project in December 2004, writes Fergal Ringrose.
The new newsroom system interfaces with a StorageTek tape library and uses Omnibus automation to run Leitch video servers. News feeds from a number of sources are stored in the system, with defined rules implemented for every type of content. MTV Oy’s news editors then edit news stories in the running order and compile them in the Leitch video servers ready for playout.
Antero Hoffman, MTV Oy’s vice president Technical Operations, commented, “We have been impressed with the extensive capabilities of SGL FlashNet following our initial installation two years ago. From the beginning, the plan included our playout operations as well as the news area. We started by implementing the system for advertisement storage. This meant that short advertisements could be stored over a long period of time allowing clients to rerun ad campaigns years after the original campaign had aired. As the system proved to perform as expected, we continued with long-form programming, which naturally makes most of the content stored in the system. Based on the project success so far, SGL was a natural choice.”
The Finnish network based in Helsinki, broadcasts six channels including MTV3, the leading channel in Finland, which boasts 40 per cent prime time viewer share. MTV3 broadcasts breakfast television programmes, news, sports, series and films in both terrestrial analogue and digital formats. Subtv is MTV Oy’s digital terrestrial and analogue cable channel directed at a younger demographic. The number of channels is growing rapidly. MTV recently launched four new pay-TV channels for terrestrial and cable distribution and also plays out TV4 Fakta for Sweden.
