ITN reach outline agreement with Avid

ITN, one of the world’s leading news and video content companies, has reached an outline agreement with Avid to provide a new media management system for ITN’s news and programme production departments.
The Avid system will enable all newsroom staff to process and edit from the desktop and will be capable of storing more content than ITN’s current digital system, which is now over seven years old. The new system is highly flexible and will achieve significant operational synergies with the Avid production technology in place in ITV’s regional newsrooms.
ITN will use a combination of hardware and software products from Avid including: Avid Unity ISIS – This will provide in excess of 1000 hours of broadcast video storage; Avid Interplay – the media asset management software that will organise and manage the many thousands of video assets that will exist on the system; Avid Interplay Assist – a desktop viewing application which allows users to view and log clips and create video sequences at the desktop; and Avid NewsCutter - a desktop and craft editing tool that will be used throughout ITV News and Channel 4 News.
ITN will also build a new high definition Avid system in ITN Factual and Visual Voodoo, its programme production units, to replace older Avid equipment. The new set-up will feature four Avid Media Composers connected together by an Avid Unity, allowing all edit suites to be connected with each other.
Keith Cass, Director of Technology at ITN, said: “ITN chose the new Avid system after having carefully assessed that this technology could scale both technically and functionally to meet the requirements of ITN across all areas of our businesses. We have also been immensely impressed with the use of Avid in ITV Regional News operations and look forward to integrating our Avid system with their own operations.”
Graham Sharp, VP European Sales and Operations, Avid, added: “Seven years ago, ITN were one of the first broadcasters in the world to adopt a non-linear workflow, so they are extremely knowledgeable and know exactly what they are looking for in an integrated news solution. We are particularly pleased therefore that they’ve used the benefit of their experience and chosen Avid to upgrade their operation. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Keith and his team and hope that we can take them to the next level in terms of efficiency of operation and integration with their ITV colleagues.”
ITN plan to roll out the new Avid system in the newsrooms over the next 12 months with Channel 4 News expected to complete the transfer to Avid in the early part of 2007. Over the next 2-3 years ITN expects to extend the roll out of the new Avid system to include its multimedia and image library departments, ITN On and ITN Source.
(GB)