WETP-TV Takes Operational Efficiency to New Heights With NVerzion® Automation System
SALT LAKE CITY — Jan. 19, 2016 — NVerzion®, a leading provider of cutting-edge tools for digital broadcasting and television station automation, today announced that WETP-TV, the PBS station in East Tennessee, has replaced its existing automation system with a new solution from NVerzion. Using NVerzion's Component Level Automation System Solutions (CLASS™) for master control, playout, and media asset management operations, WETP can now deliver a superior quality of on-air presentation to viewers, faster and more affordably than ever before. Based on a flexible, modular-based architecture, CLASS offers unparalleled ease of use, reliability, and seamless integration with third-party equipment, dramatically reducing WETP's CAPEX and OPEX.
"As a non-profit, viewer-supported television station and PBS member station, WETP provides lifelong learning opportunities to more than 1 million viewers in East Tennessee, Southern Kentucky, Southeast Virginia, and Western North Carolina. To continue delivering the high level of programming we're accustomed to providing viewers, we needed an automation system that is efficient, flexible, and reliable," said Tony Poole, chief engineer at WETP. "NVerzion CLASS automation completely changes the way we work, speeding up every step of the file-based workflow, from ingest to playout and archiving. This invaluable solution has already saved us a significant amount of money and will continue to do so for many years."
WETP purchased NVerzion CLASS from Heartland Video Systems to support its main HD channel and two subchannels. The solution includes a variety of hardware and software components, including: NControl™ on-air playlists, NGest™ professional dubbing and recording software, NPoint™ video preparation software for segmenting and trimming, NBase™ SQL media database manager, NView™ database viewer, NCommand™ machine status and control, NConvert™ traffic interface, NTime™ time-driven event scheduling, EMC Ethernet Machine Control, and a CPIM creative protocol interface module for the BXF traffic communications.
With CLASS, WETP can control all third-party equipment, including a Harmonic Spectrum™ MediaCenter™ video server, Utah Scientific UTAH-100/UDS universal distribution system, Sony XDCAM video recorder, and Myers ProTrack traffic system. An NVerzion TeraStore nearline storage archive system controls WETP's active storage system, streamlining file management.
NVerzion's CPIM module, which supports the BXF format to improve internal communications and workflow efficiencies, is especially useful for WETP. Using this feature, WETP enjoys seamless two-way communication between traffic and automation, with real-time updates.
NVerzion's automation system guarantees the consistency of WETP's on-air presentation by eliminating any single point of failure within the broadcaster's file-based workflow. Unlike CIAB systems, CLASS allows engineers to bypass any piece of dysfunctional equipment to ensure a flawless on-air broadcast. Through the modularity of CLASS, WETP has the flexibility to add more features and perform additional infrastructure upgrades as needed. In the future, the station can easily support additional channels and subchannels leveraging the scalability of CLASS.
"Considering the large number of file-based assets TV stations are handling today, they cannot afford to be slowed down by manual operations, such as archiving," said Reed Haslam, director, sales and marketing, NVerzion. "By taking over these essential tasks, CLASS enables broadcasters like WETP to focus on other, more critical, business operations, ultimately leading to enhanced on-air presentations and reduced costs."
