Sweden’s first 24/7 news network hits high notes with Mosart Medialab
Mosart Medialab's automation system GUI
Sweden’s largest provider of broadcast news, Nyhetsbolaget Sverige AB, has launched the country’s first 24/7 news channel using the Mosart newscast automation system from Mosart Medialab. As the sole supplier of news to TV4, Sweden’s largest commercial network, this service from Nyhetsbolaget allows TV4 to extend the network’s strength in news coverage, which has been a major component of its offering to the Swedish market since the inception of the network in 1990.
Newly constructed for the channel launch, the TV4 News gallery is the network’s second installation of a Mosart system. The main TV4 channel has used the platform for its newscasts since 2010. The two galleries share a common playout system and content store, with all devices under Mosart control, including cameras, audio and vision mixers, and servers. Schedules are loaded by Mosart from the network’s ENPS system, and the two channels are linked every 30 minutes during the morning show, which runs between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., with the TV4 News gallery controlling the broadcast.
Despite featuring a large proportion of live production, the 24/7 news channel is highly automated, and the gallery is usually operated by only one or two staff members.
“TV4 News demonstrates that a high-quality 24/7 news channel can be run very efficiently with the right technology,” says Stefan Kurvinen, head of technology at Nyhetsbolaget Sverige AB, the company that supplies all news to TV4 and publisher of the 24/7 news channel. “With Mosart, the director and the editor-in-chief can run the whole newscast with complete flexibility. This is the real benefit of the Mosart system; it provides very sophisticated automation, but it doesn’t limit what the operators can do when they need to deviate from the schedule.”
In addition to originating its own content for the channel, Nyhetsbolaget also features BBC World as part of the TV4 News schedule with local commercial insertion. The Mosart system also handles the automated triggering of Swedish subtitles for scheduled content that requires it.
“The launch of a 24/7 channel is a voyage of discovery,” adds John Kjellevold, managing director at Mosart Medialab. “There’s a steep learning curve, and each broadcaster finds its own way of running the channel in conjunction with its other newscast operations. The Mosart system has been designed to let broadcasters arrive at the best solution for their own unique requirements.”