CNN and Vizrt Win Innovative Content Management Award at IBC2011

At IBC2011, CNN received the IBC Innovation Award for Content Management at the IBC Awards ceremony on Sept. 12. As one of the premiere broadcast news organizations in the world, CNN developed a unified media asset management workflow based upon technology from Vizrt, as well as Adobe, Apple, IPV, Omneon, Sony, JVC, and Telestream.

Vizrt also received special recognition for its collaboration with ProSieben in the area of media asset management.

As a long-time Vizrt customer, CNN has been building out its extensive, high-performance media ingest and media content management workflow based upon such Vizrt systems as Viz Ardome for media asset management and Viz Media Engine for video management and multi-platform distribution.

With as many as 90 HD feeds concurrently streaming into its Atlanta and New York production centers, CNN has one of the most demanding media asset management applications in the world. The content is fed to 90 Apple Final Cut Pro edit suites, and 20,000 media assets are created each week. The video is then visible to thousands of CNN viewers around the world.

The digital architecture managing the content is founded on MXF as the single common format across hundreds of devices. The result is a location-independent production strategy, rather than forcing the work to be done close to the point of acquisition. Metadata is captured close to origination, and the common user experience means that staff can move freely between geographies, channels, and programs.

“We’re extremely pleased to help support and facilitate CNN’s groundbreaking global news gathering and distribution efforts,” said Petter Ole Jakobsen, Vizrt’s chief technical officer.  “Our products and solutions also benefit from continual refinement as we strive to meet the needs of one of the most highly respected news broadcast companies in the world.”

IBC Innovation Awards are given to broadcasters or media enterprises that implement innovative projects that drive their creativity or commercial efficiency forward.  While these awards recognize technological advancements, their true focus is on the way that the technology is applied to the benefit of the user’s operation.