Omneon Video Networks today announced that CBS affiliate WISC-TV is installing an Omneon Spectrum™ media server system into a new consolidated network operations center that handles centralized playout of WISC-TV Channel 3, digital channel WISC-DT, and UPN local network affiliate UPN14. The Omneon server system will operate as the central program and commercial server for consolidated playout from the Madison, Wisc., station. The new operations center, designed and installed in house, represents not only a shift to server-based operations for WISC-TV, but also a move to streamlined multi-channel playout.

“ The Omneon server is easily expandable with respect to hard drive space, and it allows for inputs and outputs of any flavor ,” said Leonard Charles, director of engineering at WISC-TV. “Besides the system’s modularity, the key feature that attracted us to the Omneon Spectrum™ system was its ability to accommodate SD and HD material within the same platform. We really like the way that it handles both formats and allows us to handle streams in the format appropriate for a particular channel. In comparing it to competing systems, we also found that it offered an appealing price point .”

WISC-TV will cut over to server-based operations in its new tech core during the first quarter of 2005. The Omneon Spectrum™ media server system will be running in conjunction with Sundance Digital’s Titan automation system, and also with an Intellisat package that will allow for recording of syndicated programs from the satellite to the server. A Telestream system will facilitate ingest of program, spot content, and metadata from a variety of sources. Systems integrator ROSCOR assisted WISC staff in the design of these three systems.

An exceptionally cost-effective and flexible media server designed for the professional television industry, the Omneon Spectrum™ media server provides a scalable infrastructure for broadcast playout and storage applications. The server system at WISC-TV, which currently provides 4.28 terabytes of storage, delivers flexibility in playout to enable operations such as program shifting for smooth insertion of news breaks. It also provides a reliable and versatile foundation for increased sharing of media assets throughout production and across the facility’s sales, marketing, and promotions departments.

Omneon’s server system is built on an open architecture that allows it to support a broad variety of third-party applications for control and transmission, media management, archiving, and collaborative production. The modular design of the server system offers WISC-TV room for playout of up to five streams, or more through simple expansion of the system’s inputs and outputs. The distributed architecture of the Omneon Spectrum™ server system gives station engineers the ability to scale system components and capacity in small or large increments as desired.