Young Broadcasting has selected Crispin's master control automation and asset management solutions for upgrades in nine of the station group's master control facilities.
"Young Broadcasting's strategic plan is to upgrade our on-air automation system to take advantage of the industries transition to file based content delivery," explained Craig Porter, VP of engineering for the Young Broadcasting station group, in a statement. "This will provide our stations with the highest quality content processed though our stations in the most efficient manner. The combination of our vendor partners, including Crispin as the automation and MAM solution, is the best-of-breed approach that we are confident will accomplish our corporate goals."
As part of the upgrades, Crispin will be providing its Digital Transfer Agent and DigiPrep products for managing file-based workflows. Omneon video servers, Miranda graphics and routing, and Elemental transcoding servers will also be used.
The group is also planning to utilize Crispin's multi-facility master control automation technology, which would allow key
Young stations to provide monitoring and control of sister stations' channels during emergencies or in the case of future expansion. "Having our stations linked by a common automation product that can control channels from anywhere over our private wide area network was important," Porter noted. "It fits with our strategy of staying flexible and being able to accommodate growth or handle new operational challenges quickly with proven technology."
Some of the new capabilities that will be utilized include the automated delivery of catch server content such as Pathfire, Pitch Blue, and DG services with Crispin DTA and all-digital media preparation using Crispin DigiPrep, which will enable operators to time and segment shows with low resolutions proxies on standard personal computing workstations.
All of the newly acquired master control systems are expected to be operational in the spring or early summer 2012.
