Rogers Buys Quantel Enterprise sQ For New Montreal Channel

Rogers Communications has purchased a Quantel Enterprise sQ news and sports production system for its new Montreal operation, City Montreal, to serve the Quebec region of Canada. Rogers is in the midst of constructing a new Studio and Production facilities in the heart of downtown Montreal. Once completed this new HD station will be on air in mid-August 2013.

At the heart of City Montreal’s new schedule will be the locally produced BT (Breakfast Television) morning news program, running from 6 to 9am every weekday. This will complement the nationwide line-up of BT, already produced in Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Calgary, Saskatchewan and Edmonton. Rogers also plans to add a one hour sports news program to the schedule, with the emphasis on local sports.

“The demands of a three hour live TV news program are heavy,” said Frank Bruno, Rogers Broadcasting Vice President TV Engineering. “We already have Enterprise sQ systems in other Rogers locations across the country, so we know the Quantel workflow will deliver on time, every time, even under extreme pressure. QTube also plays a major part in our production workflow, enabling our journalists and editors to view and share media between all our stations. Choosing Quantel for City Montreal was therefore a pretty straightforward decision for us.”

The City Montreal system includes 200 hours of HD storage. File ingest is handled by two sQ Load applications, scheduled and video recordings with sQ Record, and playout is controlled with Quantel’s sQ Play. Journalists and producers can review and cut edit all stored media, including live ingests, via 20 sQ View desktop applications, fully integrated with the Autocue Newsroom Computer System and Ross Overdrive Automation. Craft editing is handled by three sQ Edit seats – also integrated with the NRCS. Four QTube Browsers connect journalists and editors with media in all the other Rogers stations countrywide.

“We’re delighted that Rogers has once again come to Quantel to meet its fast-turnaround news and sports production requirements,” said Quantel CEO, Ray Cross. “Our two companies have a very strong relationship, built on mutual trust and understanding. Rogers has been a key partner in helping us further develop Enterprise sQ and a pioneer in realising the huge connected workflow benefits that QTube unlocks.”