TV2 Nord Salto plays out with nxtedition
TV2 Nord Salto broadcasts a mix of live events, magazine-style programming and documentaries, as well as mirroring the news transmitted on TV2 Danmark. It broadcasts around 4000 hours of original content a year, with the 24-hour schedule made up by repeats. The TV2 Nord headquarters in Aabybro includes a production studio that is extensively used for locally-originated programmes.
“Our resources are limited, and our aim is to devote as many of our staff as possible towards creating content for the people of North Jutland and beyond to the rest of Denmark. nxtedition gives us a system for planning and delivering a flow channel: it makes it easy to focus on the content of the channel and automates the functionality, which really meets our goals.”Peter Zanchetta, CTO, TV2 Nord
In a broadcaster funded by licence fees, with limited resources, it was important to find a playout architecture which would deliver to the highest standards while requiring minimum staffing to operate. As live programmes are included, the automation had to be able to switch between precision timing and manual control, and from incoming feeds and the studio output as well as pre-recorded content.
TV2 Nord selected nxtedition as its production platform for news, because of its story-telling structure, intuitive operation, cost-effective implementation through virtualised software on COTS computers, and high reliability.
They quickly realised that these same qualities made it an ideal choice to control the playout of TV2 Nord Salto. Schedules are as simple to define as a script for the day, calling on video servers and live outputs as required, creating graphics in real time as required, and providing the resources for continuity and presentation. Staff are already familiar with the intuitive user interface, ensuring seamless operation of the playout system, sharing resources with the story-centric news production platform.
The covid-19 pandemic meant that the installation and training at TV2 Nord was entirely completed remotely. The nature of nxtedition’s modular, virtualised architecture means that remote working is inherent in the system, and engineers and journalists could work from home in isolation.
“Whether you are creating a news item, a programme or a day’s broadcasting, the principles are the same. You need to call up audio, video, graphics, studios, lines and more at the right moment, in a seamless continuity. For channels like TV2 Nord Salto, nxtedition is a perfect solution for playout.”
Ola Malmgren, CEO, nxtedition