Snell Makes Automation Move at NAB

Snell, the new company created by the merger of Pro-Bel and Snell &
Wilcox, will enter the news automation fray this week with a new
solution based on its Kahuna SD/HD multiformat production switcher.

The
new solution, which will compete with Grass Valley’s Ignite and Ross
Video’s OverDrive, aims to boost efficiencies and consistency in news
production and also to save on costs, both at TV stations and
24-hour-a-day news networks.

Sinclair Communications’ WBFF Baltimore is beta testing the new system for Snell.

Deploying
technology from Mosart Medialab, the new Snell news automation system
tightly integrates with newsroom computer systems via a MOS gateway and
controls an array of production, gear, including the Kahuna production
switcher, robotic cameras, audio mixers, video servers, graphics,
routers, lights and multi-viewer displays, the companies says.

Because
the Kahuna enables simultaneious standard- and high-defintion
operations in the same mainframe, it automatically mixes content feeds
from any source or format into the news broadcast. The fully integrated
system gives producers complete control over the newscast and enables
them to drive various devices with the press of a button.

“Our
newsroom automation system represents a big leap to the next-generation
of technology,” said Jonathan Goldstein, president of Snell’s Americas
business. “It allows broadcasters to reduce production costs
dramatically while improving the quality and consistency of their news
shows.”