Omneon today announced that Israel Educational Television (IETV) will become the first Israeli broadcaster to use the Omneon Spectrum™ media server platform for content acquisition, tape ingest, transmission, and archiving. The all-SD project is part of an upgrade to a file-based workflow at the IETV facility in Tel Aviv. Five Spectrum server systems were delivered in January and will go live in November, integrated by local SI and Omneon partner, AVCOM.

“The Omneon Spectrum system is the foundation of our new tapeless project,” said Shlomo Kasif, technical director at IETV. “The new file-based workflow will allow IETV to view and retrieve content faster, more easily, and more cost-effectively than we could when we were using a tape-based system. In addition, the Spectrum system’s modular design will allow for incremental and cost-conscious expansion, while its flexibility will allow us to consider HD when the time comes.”

Founded in 1965, IETV is an autonomous unit within Israel’s ministry of education. It broadcasts 215 hours a week of programming on two terrestrial channels and one cable channel. About 40 percent of programming is produced in-house, including entertainment, quiz shows, documentaries, and interviews.

At IETV, three of the newly acquired Spectrum systems are configured with four encoder ports to record I-frame MPEG video at 50 Mb/s off of four VTRs, which are located in three production studios under control of Pebble Beach automation. The other two Spectrum systems are configured for main and backup transmission, with two SD encoders and three outputs each. The system also interfaces to Front Porch Digital’s DIVArchive for program archiving.

“Built on an open, modular architecture, Spectrum server systems are easily customized to suit the unique needs of each broadcaster,” said Geoff Stedman, Omneon vice president of worldwide marketing. “The flexibility and affordability of the system has made it possible for educational broadcasters like IETV to take advantage of today’s leading technology for broadcast operations.”

About Omneon
Omneon is a leading provider of flexible media server and active storage systems that optimize workflow productivity and on-air reliability for the production, distribution, and management of digital media. Omneon is a pioneer in the use of advanced IT technologies and open systems for broadcast applications, producing a modular and expandable video server architecture in the Omneon Spectrum. The company's MediaGrid active storage system delivers centralized content storage that is scalable in capacity, bandwidth, and media-processing power. The company has an extensive global presence with customers in 45 countries on six continents. Omneon is on the Web at www.Omneon.com.

About AVCOM (Netcom Group)
AVcom, the leading video system integrator in Israel, provides integrated audio/video solutions to the non-consumer market. The company’s comprehensive line of applications and services starts with the sale of audio/video equipment, and continues throughout the design, supervision, and realization of large-scale projects. AVcom is managed by highly experienced professionals in broadcast and production systems applications, who bring their expertise to bear in the planning, creation, development, and delivery of integrated solutions for customers. These solutions include requirements analysis, design, customization, implementation, and project management, as well as professional training.

About IETV
Israel Educational Television was established in Tel Aviv in 1965 as the first national television station, and is probably the only model worldwide of an educational channel that preceded the launching of a public television. From its beginning until today, IETV has been an autonomous unit at the ministry of education and as such solely financed by the government’s annual funding. It is therefore considered free, non-profit, and non-commercial television, presently broadcasting on three channels, around 215 hours altogether weekly. IETV addresses all target audiences, from preschool to adults, using different forms of television expression: drama series for children and youth, documentaries, magazines, interviews, quizzes, daily live programs during summer’s school break, etc. As to subject matters, they cover many fields of interests of IETV’s broad audiences, like health, economy, literature, human relations, music, politics, history, and many more.

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