Starz Entertainment Uses Miranda’s iTX Automated Playout to win ‘Network Automation’ Award

Starz Entertainment has been named the winner of the Network Automation category in the Broadcast Engineering Excellence Awards. Starz is recognized for the successful migration of its entire automation and playback operation to a file-based workflow, using Miranda’s iTX IT-based automated playout.

“We’ve achieved so much with iTX, including a much higher level of redundancy for our playout chains, as well as reducing the hardware footprint and error potential across our operations”, says Ray Milius, Senior Vice-President of Programming Operations for Starz Entertainment. “It’s fantastic that our vision for a true file-based workflow has been realized, and our achievements acknowledged with this award”.

The iTX platform runs on enterprise grade IT servers and storage, with a single 1RU Output Server providing fully integrated video/audio and graphics playout plus signal processing for a single channel. This highly streamlined design has enabled Starz to reduce its channel playback infrastructure from 44 racks to just 16, for all of its 44 richly branded HD/SD channels. The system simplification has also reduced energy costs, and minimized maintenance and the potential for equipment failure.

Miranda’s iTX is a software-based television production and transmission solution, which allows broadcasters and media operators to unify and streamline ingest, media management, workflow organization, schedule management, automation, master control and playout for multi-format television. By handling all stages of the production and delivery process under a consistent user environment, the iTX system delivers unprecedented increases in efficiency, scalability, and speed of response for media businesses.