Omnibus and Quantel supply 'Inspiration' for TVNZ

Omnibus Systems have assisted New Zealand's national broadcaster, TVNZ, take a major step forward into the future of news and current affairs broadcasting with the launch of the integrated news production system jointly developed by OmniBus Systems and Quantel.
The system – Inspiration – which comprises OmniBus machine control, media management, desktop editing and play-to-air technology supported by Quantel video server technology will provide TVNZ with a server-based newsroom, enabling journalists to produce faster, more responsive news transmissions.
“This latest Inspiration installation conveys a sense of TVNZ’s clear ambition to move forward boldly into the broadcasting future and a conviction that the advanced automation solutions of OmniBus Systems can play a major role in helping them to achieve this objective,” said Glyn Powell-Evans, chairman of OmniBus Systems.
Using this new technology, journalists will be able to browse and edit material at their desktops with automatic conforming of the edits on the broadcast server, enabling them to make more advanced and creative decisions.
The system now allows TVNZ to re-purpose broadcast material for a broad range of uses including publishing audio and video content to its website (zoom.com).
Steve Browning, Business Improvement Manager at TVNZ, said: “This is a huge achievement for TVNZ. New Zealanders always feel a long way away from the happenings of the ‘first world’. But this project shows that NZ can be at the forefront of the latest technological advancements.”
Since their formation in 1994, OmniBus Systems – based in Stanford-on-Soar, Leicestershire and Nevada City, California – have rapidly established a reputation as the premier system for television station automation, encompassing every aspect of operation from lines-in to transmission and from remote camera control to satellite positioning.
OmniBus have also designed and installed automation at sites around the world including the BBC, ITN, and MTV Europe (UK), KGO-TV (San Francisco), KOMO-TV (Seattle), KVBC (Las Vegas), NOB and TMF (Netherlands), NRK (Norway) and TV4 in Sweden where the company helped create the world’s first tape-less digital television station.
TVNZ is New Zealand’s leading news organisation covering the entire country and, including camera crews, has a total of over 250-plus staff dedicated to news and current affairs.
(GMcG)