BEATING THE BUDGET CRUNCH – BUILDING AN
ENTERPRISE NEWS PRODUCTION PLATFORM IN A
DOWN ECONOMY
Thomas Bairl – Senior Product Manager, News
Raoul Cospen – Director of Marketing
Kevin Savina – Director of Product Development
Dalet Digital Media Systems
BROADCAST PIONEERS TEST THE WATERS
In the early 21st century, a number of television news
broadcasters emerged with highly innovative
technology infrastructures for gathering, producing and
distributing news. The fundamental principles of the
new model were straightforward: the staff is mainly
composed of content producers who produce scripts,
graphics, and multimedia content that is published on
multiple platforms. By re-aligning their resources and
leveraging the promise of open standards and IT based
systems, the new technology model enabled these
pioneers to reach a much wider audience. This ensured
their news was available in the medium their viewers
wanted.
More importantly, this new technology model gave way
to a new business model, enabling these innovative
broadcasters to significantly cut operational costs while
taking advantage of new streams of revenue. Despite
several instances of this proven model, many other
broadcasters were hesitant to make the leap.
The financial climate forces change
Fast forward to the year 2008 and we enter into an era
in where broadcasters must radically adjust their
operations to survive the economic climate. In the
United States, the severe recession forced more than
1,200 people out of their television news jobs – 4.3
percent of the local workforce. Ironically, even as the
manpower resources declined, the pressure increased to
create additional news content. Local TV news grew to
a record amount: 4.6 hours per weekday – up half an
hour from the year before. 1 This trend is seen on all
five continents.
The new reality forced many broadcasters to rethink
their entire operations and find a model where they
could deliver more content with fewer resources. 2009
saw an increase in the number of broadcasters
transitioning their entire operation to the open, fully
integrated – IT based technology and business model as
a means to survive - streamlining their workflow and
significantly decreasing costs.
1
Source: RTNDA/Hofstra University Annual Survey
Produce Once, Broadcast Many
The economic downturn did not slow the proliferation
of technology advancements. Powerful new distribution
vehicles; YouTube, iTunes and other mobile platforms
gave viewers highly attractive options for obtaining
their news and gave broadcasters new avenues to
increase revenues. To successfully harness this
opportunity without increasing their operational costs,
broadcasters would need a fundamental change in their
operations to succeed. Broadcasters need an
infrastructure that would not only allow them to easily
and quickly repurpose materials for various platforms,
but to also take advantage of unique technology
features such as interactivity… all without increasing
resources. Some people in the industry call this
convergence.
A Shift in Roles and the Importance of Change
Management
This new business model requires a deep change across
the organization for every broadcaster. Journalists and
other staff are no longer organized around the medium
in which they deliver – but around the content itself.
Many will have to adjust their roles and produce
content that can be repurposed for any medium. These
types of role changes are common across all industries
and are often triggered by the introduction of a new
technology that can optimize efficiencies to reduce
costs and increase revenues.
Strong change management and guidance is the key to
success.
This paper will outline several business models;
highlighting the technology and user benefits of a
unified newsroom solution developed on open
standards. It will also provide key information on what
to avoid when integrating your systems to ensure
maximum productivity and distribution efficiency.
CHANGING ROLES, MORE EFFICIENCIES
Launched in the early 90’s, NY1 News2
(www.ny1news.com), the Time Warner Cable Group’s
flagship 24/7 news station in New York City, combined
advanced news-delivery technologies with a reporter-
driven format in which reporters write and shoot their
own stories. For almost two decades, the NY1 News
model was a clear leader in advanced newsroom
gathering technology and reporting techniques.
In the early days, the video journalist trend was
followed by several broadcasters, but with some
limitations. Newsrooms systems were not fully
integrated and therefore, content was not easily
redistributed to multiple platforms. This changed in the
mid 2000’s with the introduction of enterprise media
asset management applications where systems could be
unified under one technology umbrella ensuring full
interoperability throughout the operation. With systems
fully integrated and simpler tools for content
development available, journalists can create media rich
news packages that are easily distributed over multiple
platforms.
Today more broadcasters are embracing the trend and
looking for video journalists who create “multimedia
stories.” With the right technology infrastructure in
place, the focus is on content, no matter if the story is
slated for broadcast, or to be published on the Web or to
smart phones. It is a true “produce once broadcast
everywhere” model.
WNBC, NBC’s flagship facility in New York took this
model to the next level. WNBC expanded further the
concept of “produce once – broadcast everywhere.”
They repurposed locally produced news content and
distributed it on highly innovative new channels such as
the PATH trains3 in NYC and on the back seat
entertainment systems of 5500 taxis in NYC. In the
mean time, WNBC has also managed to launch a
complete new 24x7 news station, New York Non Stop4.
To make it happen, WNBC revamped its entire
operation by implementing an open, IT based, fully
integrated newsroom solution that streamlined content
aggregation, production and distribution.
2 enhances collaboration across the operation.
Source : http://www.ny1.com/1-all-boroughs-news-
content/about_ny1/station_history/433/why-ny1-is-the-only-local-
news-worth-watching
3
Source :
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3iff50b
a6951560a30f6b7af52e5d298b6
4 5
Source :
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/nbc_to_launch_nyc_all_new
s_channel_kvugucCZ37YaJRajtPyDXN
WNBC5 re-organized the newsroom operation to create
a “Content Center” model, replacing non-integrated
news production systems with a unified multimedia
newsroom powered by an enterprise Media Asset
Management (MAM) platform. With journalists
producing their own packages for distribution to any
platform, the new WNBC model mimicked the pioneers
of early 2000 and let WNBC maximize resources, cut
costs, and leverage new revenue channels.
WNBC expanded their reach significantly, adding an
entire 24/7 news channel without increasing their
operational costs.
To remain competitive in the news market, it becomes
more obvious that deep, organizational changes are
mandatory.
THE FIVE COMPONENTS YOU NEED TO
CONSIDER WHEN BUILDING A MULTIMEDIA
NEWSROOM
Behind the scenes, technology is always evolving. Most
newsroom products such as the newsroom computer
and video production systems are already “multimedia
capable” – providing journalists with tools to produce
media rich stories for distribution to multiple outlets.
With a few clicks, we can turn a single – broadcast
quality – video clip, from the video playout server, into
a flash file and distribute it to the web AND
simultaneously turn that same clip into a 3gp file and
distribute to mobile platforms.
There is one key characteristic your newsroom solution
must encompass to successfully support the new
business model: all editorial staff must have access to
all content and information…at their fingertips
regardless of their location.
To achieve this, the five main newsroom technology
components must have several distinct attributes to
successfully transform the workflow;
- The Newsroom Computer System (NRCS) must
be the focal point where all workflows are
managed: newsgathering, assignment, story
writing, rundown management and content
publishing. Integration of workflows through the
NRCS optimizes information sharing and
- The Newsroom Production System (NPS) is
tightly integrated with the NRCS and should
incorporate efficient, yet user-friendly editing
Source :
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/hr_news_war_6ANAR5dEZ
rEMdH9EvgSdeN
 tools with full access to content. Most suppliers
propose a MOS type of integration with the
NRCS.
- Playout (Distribution). The playout automation
should be capable of managing multiple formats
and channels; tightly integrating with the NRCS
and with the NPS to efficiently handle last minute
updates. It should also be designed to reduce staff
needed in control rooms.
- The Media Asset Management (MAM) tracks
and manages all the content - media and metadata
- across the entire workflow. It orchestrates many
technical tasks such as transfers, conversions,
distribution intelligently. It must be integrated
tightly with the NPS and NRCS – as well as with
the rest of the infrastructure. From Traffic, Promos
and Marketing down to content playout and
distribution, all need to be exchange content in a
timely manner.
- The Archive is key to increase the value and
optimize the use of existing content. It is often a
part of the MAM, and should seamlessly integrate
with the both the NRCS and the NPS, making
content searchable and accessible to the entire
staff.
These systems should be tightly integrated and
available directly from the desktop. It is often also
required that they are accessible remotely, through the
Internet to ensure access to content and tools from
anywhere.
From a technical point of view, several important
guidelines must be respected. First and foremost, your
newsroom solution must be developed on open
standards such as MOS and MXF. This will allow for
proper integration between the various components and
will guaranty a minimum level of interoperability with
distribution platforms.
Of course other components are typically integrated as
part of the newsroom, such as teleprompters, graphic
systems, video servers, and routers. However, they are
not critical to how your newsroom is organized. Apart
from graphic systems that can have integrations beyond
MOS, the integration of components is usually standard
and well mastered.
One last important note: your newsroom components
should support IT standards and equipment. This is key
for the following reasons:
- Keep Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) down; IT is
more economical and maintenance is less
expensive over time, especially for expensive parts
such as storage.
- Ensure your systems scalability for a reasonable
investment.
- Future Proof your infrastructure as IT hardware
typically provides continuity from one technology
advancement to the next
DON’T FALL SHORT OF YOUR BUSINESS
OBJECTIVES
We have outlined a technology base line that supports
the goals of the new business model. Initially, most
would envision this new newsroom as a combination of
‘best of breed’ components - working together to some
degree to provide the best workflow possible. The idea
would be to combine the features of the best editing
tool on the market along with the most flexible and
reliable automation tool, the best NCS and finally a
MAM to gather all these other components. It is even
likely that some of these components are already
deployed in your station, which would minimize some
of the investment.
The idea is appealing at first glance, however, a closer
look and you will quickly realize that this is not the best
way to maximize the ROI for the overall project, if you
consider the initial goal: “optimize your newsroom
organization”.
There are two main reasons why this does not achieve
the full business objectives:
1. There are significant issues related to integration
between systems
2. There is no clear path for change management
Challenges with system integration
Developers adhere to a number of standards and
protocols used throughout the industry to make sure
that the various components within the newsroom can
work together, the most common ones being MOS
(used to bind the NRCS with a newsroom production
and studio playout automation) and MXF (to exchange
video material and metadata).
However, there are some inherent limitations in the
MOS protocol that are a constraint when a high level of
interoperability is required. One of them is the narrow
capability of MOS to exchange metadata between the
NRCS, NPS, Archive and MAM. These limitations
greatly affect the capability of the systems to maintain
metadata properly and thus, the effectiveness of the
search tools.
Therefore, even when employing industry standards,
the integration between the separated components,
including NRCS, NPS, playout, MAM and archives
represents a risk in achieving optimized ROI:
- They are costly in software and customization
services.
- Optimizing these integrations is a time consuming
process.
- Integration points are bottlenecks in the workflow
which can result in a decrease in efficiency and
flexibility.
- Long-term support is more complex and
expensive, requiring either in-house expertise or
involvement of external consultants.
Challenges with Change Management
Change management involves managing the
expectations and role adjustments of people. As
explained above, the key to implementing these new
business models is to fully rethink the organization of
the newsroom. Shift roles, implement technology and
streamline the operation for maximum efficiency. Of
course, it is much easier to apply radical changes to a
brand new broadcast organization. Radical changes in
an existing newsroom environment can only happen if
proper change management is put in place.
In fact, implementing a new digital newsroom solution
is most of the time the trigger to make that change. The
natural move is to change either the NRCS or the NPS
systems that makes the workflow changes more
difficult because of existing habits. Changing both
increases training costs and naturally takes longer.
In addition, having separated MAM, NPS, NRCS,
Archive and Playout systems mean that users will have
to work with three to five different systems. It will have
implications on:
- The efforts related to training
- The inherent flexibility of the workflows that can
be put in place
- The ease of use of the overall system
The following section will introduce and illustrate the
concept of a fully integrated newsroom that will
typically offer the following components, all natively
integrated:
- Newsroom Computer System
- News Production System
- Archive
- Enterprise Media Asset Management
- Playout control
OPTIMIZE WORKFLOW YOUR WORKFLOWS
As the technology and market mature, the solutions
available today are well packaged and fully integrated.
Such solutions will:
- Remove the limitations related to integrations
- Ease the burden and decrease the cost of the
change management process
To illustrate the benefits of a fully integrated system,
we will describe the new business model workflow in a
fictitious newsroom scenario.
Jane Doe is a video journalist at the mid-size station
ABCD. ABCD delivers 24/7 news localized for three
regions. News content is distributed to traditional
television, the web, mobile phones, and available to
viewers via VOD. ABCD belongs to a group that owns
several local and one national news services so some of
ABCD content is distributed nationally as well.
Jane Doe has just been assigned a story about the
government reactions on yesterday’s plane crash. From
her desktop system, Jane gets an assignment
notification, with a link to the news planning. This
event was created the day before and already enriched
by two colleagues with a couple of wires, video footage
from the crash, and the contacts of a few survivors of
the crash.
From the same user interface, Jane is notified that the
footage of a press conference with the airline
spokesperson has just arrived. Because she has
subscribed to the news group related to this crash, she
automatically receives alerts related to this story.
Jane’s system includes an enterprise search tool that lets
her quickly search for any content, including videos
located in the archives, past scripts, blogs, RSS feeds
and various sources of information. She compiles a
wide range of information that allows her to quickly
build a much richer story.
Because Jane’s producer has only assigned her a short
voiceover segment, she has decided to create two
versions of the story: one for broadcast that will air as
soon as possible, and one for Web/Mobile Phones that
will include richer information.
Again, from the same user interface and in a matter of
minutes, Jane has selected a few shots and organized
them in a timeline using her integrated shotlist tool.
She could have completed the edit herself but decided
to ask an intern for help – using her built-in chat tool.
With a few clicks, the intern has access to Jane’s shared
storyboard and media. While he finishes the TV piece,
Jane can focus on finalizing the version targeted for
Web and mobile phones.
Ten minutes later, the intern has finished the voice over.
To put the graphics together, he has used the “CG in
timeline” feature to prevent graphics to be burned in the
final clip. Those graphics will play out of the studio
automatically when going live on TV, but the finished
piece will remain clean of graphics for repurposing
later.
Our intern has just completed the clip. He saves the
voiceover directly against the empty placeholder that is
already in the live rundown. The newsroom system
automatically alerts Jane and her producer that the story
is now finalized and ready for review. Since the
newsroom system automatically converts media into
proxy format, they can both preview it from their
desktop.
Seconds after the story is saved against the rundown
placeholder, it becomes available for air on the playout
server. Jane’s producer decides to air this piece
immediately as breaking news.
The output of the production studio is automatically
recorded into a package that is now available to use in a
any news wheel. In the mean time, it is automatically
converted into an appropriate resolution for the Web
and mobile platform. The story is then immediately
published on those two platforms with much more
information, including the video that was repackaged
and a link to a blog and to a YouTube video.
ABCD is the first news station to broadcast the story on
the TV, the web, and mobile phones. But in addition,
thanks to the system’s underlying enterprise MAM,
ABCD sister stations are connected and can access the
same materials. Because the story was marked as
breaking news, the group’s national television service,
located in a completely different state, has received and
aired the story as well.
The national producer has decided to air the story as
well. A simple drag and drop of the story in the live
rundown of the national channel triggers the transfer of
the high resolution video clip in the appropriate playout
video server. The story was on the air even before the
transfer ended.
Jane Doe is a highly productive and successful
journalist. Her comprehensive story was first to air on
three different platforms in different and appropriate
formats. Thanks to the systems versatility, Jane was
able to easily make two versions of the same story in a
highly efficient manner. Jane has worked
collaboratively with her colleagues and has benefited
immensely from the MAM capabilities to gather news.
All the complexities of file formats, conversions,
transfers were fully automated.
The senior executives are happy as well since the
ABCD journalists are now capable of producing more
compelling content that reaches a wider audience. The
unified newsroom system is much more flexible, it
offers truly collaborative tools around which it is
possible to build many different workflows. It brings
time saving advantages and most of all, all content
utilized for its maximum potential!
As explained in the example above, when looking at the
overall cost and benefits of implementing a unified
newsroom solution to support a new business model, it
is important that the NRCS, NPS and archive
functionalities are natively integrated using open
standards. This will help you achieve optimal ROI.
Used to its full extent, this approach can cut operating
costs by as much as 30%. The formula can provide a
very fast ROI on the original project cost. Some
broadcasters have even reached ROI of just a few
months after launch.
The same model also applies for green fields. For
instance, YNN, a new Time Warner Cable channel
launched in 2009 in Buffalo, broadcasts 24/7 local news
programming with only 25 staff. Since both the
operating costs and the upfront capital required to run
such an integrated solution remain low, it makes it
possible to launch new types of newsrooms that only
rely on local advertising.
A UNIFIED NEWSROOM SOLUTION WILL
BRING FULL ROI POTENTIAL
It doesn’t matter whether your newsroom is small or
large, nor whether it is an independent news operation
or it is connected to other stations. It is important to;
1. Change your organizational approach – re-aligning
resources and roles makes it possible to produce
more with less.
2. Choose a solution that makes it possible – a
flexible, unified system using open development
principles addresses the needs of flexibility and
speed. It also supports the shift in resource roles.
3. Leverage advances in technology to make the leap
to your new business model – implementing a
new, modern system (or switching to HD) is often
a unique opportunity to make this change process.
The benefits of a fully integrated and unified newsroom
solution go beyond productivity and content
repurposing maximization;
- Simplify and consolidate training. With a
standard user interface, journalists are trained on
one single system. Not only it decreases the cost
of training, it also minimizes the impact of
learning the new system and eases the process of
change management.
- Minimize support and maintenance. One system
is less expensive and easier to maintain than three
systems. Moreover, it avoids the maintenance of
 the integration aspect which is often the most
difficult and expensive part
- Optimize implementation. Integration is vastly
simplified when using one solution. It creates
seamless interoperability, eliminating the use of
MOS protocol that often leads to workflow
limitations. This really keeps the cost of
implementation down.
- Take advantage of new revenue channels and
workflows – create new channels and change your
workflows to meet your business needs. Take
advantage of new business opportunities in the
future. The system can evolve over time
- Keep metadata consistency - from news planning
to archiving, an integrated system will track and
maintain your metadata at every step of the
workflow. The time when metadata disappears due
to limitation of integrations or MOS protocol is
over.
- Automate technical tasks – the underlying MAM
framework will automate all technical tasks such
as transfers, conversions, rendering, etc.
- Make your workflow collaborative – the
combination of a “human” workflow engine,
collaborative tools and chat rooms will make your
workflows much more collaborative.
- Scale your system to your needs – from a small
to a large newsroom, unified newsroom solutions
using open standards and IT based principles are
highly scalable and support multisite operations.
- Optimize your TCO – the upfront investment of
an integrated solution is usually lower when you
rely on inexpensive, open IT hardware.

Last word: yes, video formats, storage vendor, tape

libraries and all the components must be considered and
have their importance. However, the true value of the
unified newsroom solution lies in the application you
choose to integrate your systems and streamline your
workflows.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by team at Zazil Media Group
(www.zazilmediagroup.com) Janice Dolan and Anna
Mae Sokusky

Presentations of Paper
This paper was presented at the following international
conferences:

 National Association of Broadcasters

Engineering Conference (Las Vegas, NV) ,
April 2010