Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 11, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The new facilities are to be installed at TF1 headquarters in Boulogne near Paris and will serve the production of all TF1 news programmes – the broadcaster’s daily news bulletins, with almost 40 percent audience share, are among Europe’s most popular news programmes – as well as those of the 24-hour news channel LCI.
In addition to new state-of-the-art production and playout technology for TF1 news, the Ascent Media S&TS team is building a comprehensive backup production system that will play a central role in disaster-recovery planning. This emergency system mirrors the live facility’s workflows and will ensure the broadcaster can continue operating if the main system fails. A third system will be built for testing and development. It will allow the broadcaster to check system updates and test future newly developed platforms.
Ascent Media’s solution was selected after months of evaluations and tests of various competing systems. The integration and installation project, planned for 12 months, is to start immediately, with the first systems ready for use by mid-2008.
Gilles Maugars, CTO, Technology & IT Division, TF1, explained: “After a thorough year-long search for the right solution, we are convinced that Ascent Media’s open-platform solution offers the flexibility and scalability that best meet our current requirements and take TF1’s future broadcast needs into account. With Ascent Media, we have found a team with which we can combine our expertise and develop a genuine partnership that creates a win-win situation for everyone. Ascent Media has the technical know-how and resources needed to support a project of this scale and importance over the long term.”
As part of its largest project in Europe to date, the Ascent Media S&TS team will also provide ongoing technical support for TF1 after installing the new systems. The five-year contract includes the provision of call-centre support teams and responsibility for technical maintenance and the future development of new systems.
“A contract of this scale from a forward-looking broadcaster such as TF1 clearly shows that the broadcast industry is moving away from vendor-dependent solutions,” commented Alain Polgar, Vice President, EMEA, Ascent Media Systems & Technology Services. “Ascent Media’s approach of deploying first-class technologies for the highly dynamic requirements of television production is gaining ground. Our ability to integrate comprehensive support and training services to deliver a vendor-independent solution for the entire duration of the TF1 project was also highly persuasive and represented a real differentiator from the other parties that bid for the tender.”
All components of the new TF1 system will come from leading manufacturers of broadcast and IT technology. At its core is Dalet’s Media Asset Management platform, which also manages the entire system workflow and is connected to TF1’s existing newsroom computer system and archive management. In the main system, 26 video channels of incoming material will be processed using the high-performance Omneon server platform, while another 40 will be played back. In addition, Exanet Network Attached Storage solutions will manage 96 terabytes of redundant storage provided by DataDirect Networks in the main and backup systems. Apple’s Final Cut Pro will be used as the shared editing platform. The new workflow must integrate 150 workstations, enabling editors and journalists to edit content both in the studio and on location.
