Omneon Video Networks today announced that public television broadcaster Czech Television has invested in an Omneon Spectrum™ media server system for its regional studio in Brno. The new server system, installed by Czech systems integrator Visual Connection, is part of an Avid-based news production environment used to create daily half-hour news reports and bulletins for regional and national broadcast.

“When planning this facility, we realized that we needed an end-to-end solution that would provide us with the fastest possible time to air for our news stories,” said Pavel Cermak , Czech Television chief engineer. “Of all the solutions we evaluated, the Omneon product came out on top. It is cutting-edge technology that integrates extremely well with our other production systems.”

The Omneon Spectrum™ media server system provides a central shared-storage platform and enables fast time-to-air in Czech Television’s busy news production workflow. As new material is ingested into the Omneon Spectrum™ media server, it becomes available to journalists who can then use Avid iNews to create stories directly from the server. News segments are sent to air by producers using the Avid iNews ControlAir automation-assist system, which supplies automated rundown lists, provides tracking of script changes, and automates control of production and playback systems including the Omneon server.

“We installed the Omneon Spectrum™ in a very short timeframe,” added Cermak. “In fact, in just a few months after placing the order, we were ready and able to go to air.”

An exceptionally cost-effective and flexible media server designed for the professional television industry, the Omneon Spectrum™ media server provides a reliable and scalable infrastructure for broadcast playout and storage applications. Omneon’s server system is built on an open architecture that allows it to support a broad variety of third-party applications — such as Avid’s iNews family of products — for control and transmission, media management, storage, and collaborative production. As a result, journalists at Czech TV can share stored media easily in a more streamlined and efficient production workflow.

“The rapid installation and integration of our Omneon Spectrum™ media server system into Czech Television’s operations is a testament not only to the abilities of Visual Connections’ engineers, but also to the exceptional interoperability of our server system with Avid’s news production applications,” said John Nemeth, technology and applications manager at Omneon Video Networks. “We’re very pleased to see our server technology adopted so easily at the heart of a dynamic broadcast environment like that at the Brno facility.”

Learn more about Omneon's server solutions at www.omneon.com.

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 Czech Television
Czech Television (www.czech-tv.cz) was established in January 1992 as a successor of Czechoslovak Television. Czech Television broadcasts on two channels, CT1 and CT2, 24 hours a day. CT1 is a mainstream channel with drama, news, and information, while CT2 is a more culture-oriented channel with minority and sport programming. With its headquarters in Prague, Czech Television has two regional studios in Brno and Ostrava. Czech Television is financed from the license fee, advertising (maximum 1% of its air time), and other commercial activities. Czech Television is an independent organization and does not receive any support from the government.

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