Equity Media’s Innovative Broadcast Facility Relies on Omneon Active Storage and Media Servers

January 29, 2008

Source: Omneon

Omneon, Inc. today announced that Equity Media Holdings Corporation is relying on the Omneon MediaGrid™ system
for active online storage and Omneon Spectrum™ media servers for ingest and playout of content to some 70 stations nationwide, including playout for the fast-growing Retro Television Network (RTN). Equity Media’s unique and innovative Central Automated Satellite Hub (C.A.S.H.) system, located in Little Rock, Ark., originates and distributes more media content than any other single facility in the world. The C.A.S.H. system even replaces local station master control because it also manages accounting, spot inventory, promotion, and production functions.

Besides RTN, Equity Media stations include affiliates of Univision, Telefutura, MyNetworkTV, ABC, and FOX. RTN, an all-digital network that is based on classic programming and was founded in 2005, is driving Equity Media’s growth and is expected to top 100 stations by the end of 2008. RTN was specifically designed to air on a local broadcaster’s digital subchannel, enabling easy expansion of programming options in anticipation of the switch to digital. RTN provides each affiliate with a customized feed
that features not only the classic hit shows, but also local programming including news, weather, and sports.

Equity Media recently renovated its facility from top to bottom to accommodate new RTN stations. The company’s restructured workflow, directed by Crispin Automation, ingests digitized content to the Spectrum server,
then quality controls and stores it on the MediaGrid system, prior to playout on multiple Spectrum playout servers.

“The flexibility, reliability, and interoperability of the Omneon equipment really make our workflow possible,” said Chuck Stanley, Equity Media’s chief engineer. “The speed and processing performance of the MediaGrid are
especially valuable to us. For example, the MediaGrid enables a single stored copy of content -- say an episode of ‘Mork and Mindy’ -- to run on multiple stations. Likewise, because it handles transcoding and QC, the
MediaGrid enables us to avoid the complexity and delays of transferring media back and forth. When we want something on the air, it has to go on the air now, not later. MediaGrid makes that possible.”

A library-based network, RTN runs classics like “Knight Rider,” “Quincy,” and “I Love Lucy.” Omneon MediaGrid, operating in tandem with Front Porch Digital’s DIVArchive, enables RTN to ingest content once and keep a digitized copy of all these episodes ready for use at any given time. RTN currently has 22 TB of storage on the MediaGrid, and anticipates adding to it. The modular architecture of MediaGrid means it can be scaled without disruption to the system.

“Equity Media is all but re-inventing broadcast with its innovative hub approach,” said Geoff Stedman, Omneon vice president of worldwide marketing. “The scalable performance and easy-to-manage expansion of the MediaGrid active storage system fits perfectly into their sophisticated workflow, while the proven reliability of the Spectrum server delivers rock-solid 24/7 playout.”

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