IBC 2023: Oman TV deploys EVS MediaCeption to enable multi-site content management

EVS announces at the IBC content and technology show that its end-to-end live production asset management (PAM) solution, MediaCeption Signature, has gone to air September 7. The deployment is part of a major upgrade for the Oman Ministry of Information’s Oman TV studios in the capital Muscat and its facility in Salalah.

The Oman Ministry of Information issued an RFP in 2017 to upgrade its existing infrastructure, including its NRCS and PAM system. Following a rigorous and critical evaluation process stretching over four years, the project was awarded to Dubai systems integrator United

Broadcast and Media Solutions (UBMS).
The upgrade extends over two sites in the Sultanate of Oman, the capital city Muscat and Salalah in the Dhofar Province. Key components of the new system consist of server infrastructure, network infrastructure and hyper-convergence infrastructure (virtualization).
Oman TV was searching for a PAM solution for news and studio production operations that is interoperable with third-party systems from Adobe, Avid, Vizrt and Tedial. The broadcaster also sought to reduce rack space by virtualizing some back-end resources.

EVS was chosen by UBMS as a fast and fully-featured PAM solution taking full advantage of EVS’ loop recording technology, so that operators do not have to worry about missing content or downtime. Operators in one Oman TV location can access content from the other. The new virtual environment reduces rack space and power consumption, increasing flexibility for systems administrators and providing scalability for future expansion.

The EVS MediaCeption Signature solution for each site includes:

• Multi-feed ingest and playout with XS-VIA servers.
• IPDirector for ingest scheduling, media search and browse, creation of playlists, transfer of content to shared storage and playout control.
• IPWeb for remote access and browsing of content as well as the creation of clips from anywhere using a web-based UI.
• VIA Xsquare to transform, orchestrate and monitor the transfer of media files between EVS and third-party systems.
• XStore for central shared storage – from which Adobe PP users can access growing files through a plug-in.
• PMZ to virtualize the backend resources used for IPDirector and IPWeb and thereby reduce rack space.

The EVS MediaCeption solution supplied to Oman TV also includes a rough-cut editing tool and handles both news and production workflows across eight galleries.

The integration between EVS’ solution and the existing Tedial MAM system facilitates the archive and restore of content. Muscat PAM users can access the Salalah EVS PAM content remotely and initiate a content transfer from Salalah to Muscat and similarly, Salalah users can access Muscat content and initiate transfers.

Another important integration is between EVS’ IPDirector and Avid iNews to publish a rundown from iNews to EVS and get the rundown status/feedback from EVS to iNews. It is worth noting that IPDirector users can browse a proxy while the ingest is in progress.

EVS also provided Oman TV with on-air support and technical training for 30 engineers plus operational training for 150 operators at both sites, with support staff from EVS’ Dubai office and its headquarters in Belgium.

UBMS Consultant Parwaiz Anjum comments, “Training was the most challenging part of the Oman TV project. We ran multiple courses covering each part of the system for 130 days in Muscat and 80 days in Salalah for operational users and system administrators.”

“Being able to instantly access, manage and turn around our live production assets quickly and easily, and from just about anywhere, is key to success,” says Mahmoud Mirza Albalushi, Project Manager of the Oman TV Muscat site. “EVS’ MediaCeption solution allows our production teams to manage the ingest of multiple live feeds, import files and ENG material, log and manage content so that editorial teams can swiftly find and retrieve what they are looking for, and play out content in studios.”

Ahmed Hassan Bait Said, Project Manager of the Oman TV Salalah site adds, “The EVS MediaCeption architecture enables tight integration with third-party MAM, automation, archive and post-production systems. The EVS solution also facilitates multi-site contribution for more efficient collaboration between production teams working on site and remotely.”