Indian broadcaster Mahuaa Media Private Limited (MMPL) has expanded the Dalet newsroom system in Nodia in order to launch an additional 24/7 news channel.
Newsline UP, the new Hindi-language channel, complements Mahuaa Bihar, the broadcaster’s Bhojuri-language channel, which was the country’s first network to adopt Dalet’s MAM-based, tapeless workflow in 2009.
‘The scalability of the Dalet system offered us a cost-effective and efficient way to implement this additional channel,’ says Atul Jain, Technical Head (Engineering & Operations) for Mahuaa TV. ‘It allowed us to jump-start the project, as we could build on our existing infrastructure.
‘We added servers and storage capacity to support the higher workflow and we’ve had excellent performance operating both channels simultaneously. From a technical standpoint, having a unified system certainly simplifies maintenance and overall operations.’
Dalet’s underlying MAM framework supports integration with other systems used at Mahuaa’s news centre, including Final Cut Pro editing systems, Omneon MediaGrid and Quantum offline storage with XenData HSM for archive and Vizrt graphics. The Dalet system also controls video ingest and playout via Omneon MediaDeck servers.
‘The single, cross-system MAM platform makes it much easier for us to manage content throughout the production chain – from ingest to archiving,’ Jain explains. ‘Journalists can search the metadata fields to find the content we need wherever it is located. The MAM capabilities are especially important as we add additional channels and languages.’
Newsline UP has its own news team, nearly doubling the number of newsroom staffers using the operation’s 70 Dalet News Suite workstations. They monitor incoming video, browse, log metadata, read newswires, prepare scripts and make rough video editings, as well as managing assignments and rundowns. Both channels have dedicated Final Cut Pro edit suites for editing and effects.
Journalists have full editing capability of the video packages with Dalet Media Cutter. Additionally, the Dalet Xtend plug-in for FCP allows direct transfer between the Dalet browser and FCP bins for production.
‘Mahuaa’s channel expansion illustrates the benefits of Dalet’s MAM-based platform, ‘ says Dalet Asia Pacific General Manager, Arnaud Elnecave. ‘By leveraging the scalability and flexibility of the existing Dalet system, Mahuaa TV has doubled its production capacity and increased the number of its media outlets. This is the same trend we are witnessing across our community of broadcast customers.
‘I want to emphasise our commitment to this region,’ he adds. ‘This market is incredibly vital, and Dalet has recently expanded its presence in India – Jonathan Coutts has been appointed Country Manager and is based in Delhi. A local project implementation and customer support team is now also present in Noida.’
Dalet business partner, Ideal Broadcasting India, handled the system integration for the facility.
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