NAB 2017: TVU, AP Improve Newsroom/Content Connection

The new metadata-based workflow streamlines the direct linking of media content to specific news story assignments at the point of acquisition

TVU and the Associated Press (AP) at NAB 2017 will showcase a new, integrated newsroom video content acquisition workflow developed through the two companies’ technology partnership. The new metadata-based workflow streamlines the direct linking of media content to specific news story assignments at the point of acquisition. The TVU Alert and AP ENPS integration automates and accelerates the transfer and ingest of the linked content to the studio and within newsroom production solutions.

The TVU Networks backpack system now has tight integration with the AP Newsroom system.

The new workflow delivers greater efficiency for newsrooms. An assignment with associated metadata is created within the AP News Production System (ENPS) and sent using TVU Alert to field crews equipped with TVU Networks transmitters. The automated message from TVU Alert triggers the Progressive Download feature in TVU transmitters to create a high-resolution mirror image of the camcorder’s content on the TVU transmitter (via SDI connection) as the story’s audio and video content is recorded at the camera.

The recorded video content, with matching timecode and the unique metadata for the assigned story, automatically and immediately transfers to the studio. Once in the studio, the location of the content and its associated metadata is reported to ENPS and placed in the rundown so that the relevant content is immediately available for editing and playout.

“We’re excited to continue our technology development partnership with AP to deliver advanced workflow enhancements to our mutual customers. Our newest integration effort between TVU Alert and AP’s ENPS will save newsrooms significant time and effort when it comes to newsgathering operations,” says Matt McEwen, VP of Product Management, TVU Networks. “The new workflow is designed to improve the efficiency and speed of news content acquisition through automation and a reduction in the need for human intervention, while also providing greater flexibility.”

A key feature from TVU in the integration is the new Progressive Download function. With Progressive Download, when a user records content to an SDI-based camcorder, a mirror image of that content is recorded in high-resolution to the TVU transmitter’s internal SSD. The camcorder’s start/stop triggers are transmitted over SDI ensuring the timecode on the acquired content matches that of the camcorder’s own media. TVU’s mirrored content is immediately transferred at high speed via the transmitter’s aggregated link as a file to a TVU Transceiver video decoder at the studio in an editable QuickTime file format, making it immediately available for transfer to editing solutions.

“AP ENPS is always looking for new ways to help news people get the information and resources they need in the most efficient way possible. ENPS working with TVU’s Progressive Download eliminates tedious busywork and file manipulation for the producer in the newsroom and the crew in the field ­ and gets the video on the air or on the web as quickly as possible,” adds Phil Avner, Director of Development, Broadcast, Associated Press.

With the TVU and AP integration, there is no need to manually transfer recorded clips or “tape feeds” from the field to the studio or wait for the original camera media to arrive at the studio. It also eliminates the need to manually ingest and log content at the studio, increasing operational efficiency through a reduction in workflow steps.