Ecuador – Coasting To Success

Following in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, and utilising all of the latest media technologies, RTVEcuador have now taken their next evolutionary leap and contracted with Hitachi Kokusai to install Provys as their programme planning system.

Ecuador sits on the Equator in the north-west corner of the South American Continent with the Pacific Ocean to the west, where the Galapagos Islands, the place of birth of Darwin's Theory of Evolution, are located. Running down the centre of the country are the magnificent Andes, watershed of the west-flowing rivers and the Amazon tributaries to the east. This Amazon, with its unique river basin is not to be confused with the other Amazon in Silicon Valley, which is currently lacking water.

Returning to Television and Radio Ecuador, the story starts with an agreement in 2016 with the Japanese company Hitachi Kokusai Electric to expedite the process of migration of public broadcasting from analogue to digital television. The vice president of the Republic, Jorge Glas, explained that for the development of digital television in the country, "the Japanese standard ISDB-T with Brazilian modification was chosen", and stressed that, among other reasons, that "enables interactivity with the viewer". This standard is almost universal in the whole of South America.

Included within this completely new TV and Radio distribution system is an advanced, state-of-the-art playout automation developed, supplied and installed by AVECO. Such advanced technology requires only the finest broadcast management system with the most modern programme scheduling, and it was therefore, inevitable (in modesty) that the Provys suite of software solutions was chosen to meet the quality demands of RTVEcuador. In this connection, the Provys representative for Latin America, David Hledik says: "The digitisation of Latin American broadcasting is creating significant challenges in the management of their sophisticated workflows, requiring the best of breed systems whose functionalities must integrate seamlessly, complementing each other with the highest level of reliability."

In order to remain economical, RTVE chose to implement a basic broadcast management and scheduling solution, some details of which follow. The cornerstone of the whole system is a robust relational database which needs to be initiated, reliably and securely connected and properly configured. Ongoing tasks include workflow analysis, basic setup, training sessions on-site, and initial data entry which includes content, licences, weekly plans and EPG preparation, micro-scheduling and promo campaigns. As seen in the self-explanatory picture, worthy of your study, another critical task is tight integration with the playout system which is an invaluable defence mechanism against subsequent errors and time-consuming corrections, as well as providing management with timely as-run feedback. In addition, no one could imagine a modern television programme without secondary events/graphics, and of course, these are also included. In the package, RTVE will also enjoy 8x5 support – technical and emergency support during working hours (9-17 local time). In this particular situation, 24x7 support (standard for Provys) is not required as in this size of project, 8x5 is still sufficient.

As ever, there are some requirements for the client to fulfill, both technical and logistical, and in line with industry practice, RTVE have chosen to supply their own IT infrastructure according to recommended specifications. These requirements include: dedicated office for the project team; training facilities; database backup and hardware maintenance; organisational change according to new workflows; test commissioned systems and report as appropriate; and finally, cooperate in all stages of the implementation in line with agreed milestones.

Although this is only a small project, it is nevertheless, a critical step in the digitisation of Ecuadorian broadcasting, bringing benefits to viewers and reducing stress levels for RTVE employees, paving the way for further developments in Ecuador, and showing the way forward to the whole of Latin America.

Image: Transmission Content Management Schematic.

Author: Martin Junek.

www.provys.com

(JP)