IBC 2023: Nextologies Launches New Remote Master Control Solution

Nextologies is launching its new remote master control solution, NXT-MCR, at IBC 2023 (Booth 1.D07) at The RAI Amsterdam, 15-18 September, 2023.

NXT-MCR is a hybrid solution designed to provide a unified remote master control interface for live event production. It orchestrates incoming satellite and/or IP signals, video routers, video switchers, audio coms, video monitoring, scheduling systems and pre recorded files, and generates a downstream feed that’s fully loaded with SCTE markers, CCs and all the metadata necessary to distribute the signal to any taker around the world.

“With live events, a series of dependent steps must all go perfectly – signal delivery, routing, switching, monitoring, ad-break coordination, which changes based on what’s happening in the event, and so on – and there are no redos,” says Sasha Zivanovic, CEO, Nextologies. “Typically, several people must manage all the different systems, solutions, and steps, and those people are located within a physical facility. We designed NXT-MCR so that live events could achieve the entire process on one screen, from anywhere in the world, without requiring our clients to invest in a single piece of hardware.”

NXT-MCR eliminates the burden of connecting to various systems through different remote control interface applications combining a one-stop UI, easy to learn and operate, that can reduce the manpower required for productions by 50 percent.

A quick summary of the process:

• Production feed received from the production truck via satellite and secondary backup source
• NXT-MCR provides signal to Closed Captioners so they can in real time generate the CCs
• Signal provided to associates through either satellite, SRT or and NXT appliance  (or a combination)
• NXT-MCR operator coordinates with the truck to automatically signal ad breaks by adding SCTE-35 and triggering the commercials (playout) they’ve previously provided, which are built into the NXT-MCR automated playout.
• NXT-MCR operator coordinates with the production truck and associates to trigger the local commercials. During those regional commercials, we still fill with promotional content, but associates generate ad revenue by selling their own ad inventory.

The benefits of NXT-MCR are already being realized. Those benefits include

• Increased flexibility. The remote automation software ties back to the Nextologies HQ in Toronto, where all of the hardware and software are located. This frees the operator from being tied to any location, allowing them to be located inside the OB van, production truck, or they could be sitting at a station a thousand miles away from where the devices are with virtually zero latency.
• Visibility. NXT-MCR allows the operator to monitor the health of the signal in one screen and, because the software is built into Nextologies’ Control Panel, to switch signals without leaving that screen.
• Lower operator cost. Because NXT-MCR allows one operator to run multiple pieces of hardware, fewer people are required to run each live event.
• No cap-ex investment. NXT-MCR is a fully managed service, employing Nextologies infrastructure, hardware, and software, as well as the operator required to run the event. In an era of unprecedented hiring challenges, that is sure to be a key benefit.