US Navy – Pentagon

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. The US Navy is one of 3 agencies that run operations and communications from this massive facility. In addition to using traditional forms of communication like radio and news wires the Office of Information for the Navy also uses the web and social media like Facebook and Twitter to communicate to sailors as well as the public.

Printable Version

The US Navy wanted a way to manage and combine many of these sources of information to create an in- house channel. BL Super Ticker on the XPression graphic platform provided the US Navy with a solution that fit for today and could expand to fit their growing needs.

 

Problem: A television or video broadcast will be seen by a wide range of personnel. How to efficiently aggregate and manage all of the US Navy’s data sources of approved communications.

Solution: BL Super Ticker provided a simple and intuitive interface to moderate automated content as well as input and edit news manually. RSS feeds, Twitter and Facebook posts would automatically be available to the moderator and output playlist.

Problem: The only constant is change and the US Navy needed to be able to dynamically change what information goes to air and where on the screen.
Solution: Super Ticker supports dynamic reassignment of content organized into topics. For each zone or area of the screen an operator only needs to drag available content to the assigned column. Drag out to remove, it’s that simple.

US Senate Republican Policy Committee – In-House Channel

The Senate Republican Policy Committee broadcasts an in-house channel of the floor proceedings and needed a reliable solution to include upcoming vote information, bills in discussion, and general information on proceedings and schedules.

Printable Version

BL Super Ticker (ST) provided the foundation for the solution; a simple and intuitive interface which is accessed through a browser rather than a dedicated application. This allows multiple users to access the system from any workstation on the network. Content is entered either directly into the ST interface or automatically through BL TweetOut, a Twitter filter following the Senator’s tweets.

Problem: Previous system used basic text files to store content making formatting and spacing unpredictable. Trial and error was required to get content displayed correctly i.e. word wrap issues, text cut off and spell checking are some examples.

Solution: ST interface provides simple forms for text to be entered thus clearly separating titles from text and automatically formatting text properties like word wrap and next page. Content can be reviewed and edited at any time. A preview of the content as formatted is shown.

Problem: Generate additional content of specific interest or relevance to the Senators.

Solution: BL TweetOut provided a simple way to filter and follow Senators tweets while still controlling the content through moderation and the automatic removal of retweets or links.

 

Rogers Sportsnet – Inscriber G3 HD/SD with SMS, Voting and PUPman.

Customer: Rogers Sportsnet
Application: Bannister Lake display engine with SMS and PupMan (Pop Up promotions)
Solution: Gscribe with RTX ports, Bannister Lake display engine with MyThum SMS system.
Platform: Dual Channel HD/SD Inscriber G3 system.

Printable Version

Rogers Sportsnet required a dual-channel CG for their master control to display trouble slides, insert programming changes and manage the display of SMS and Voting messages for their prime time interactive sports programs.

  • MyThum solution aggregates SMS and Voting messages from viewers, then forwards them to SMS/POP server.
  • Bannister Lake SMS/Chicker interface manages and moderates display of incoming MyThum SMS and voting messages sent from POP (email) server.
  • SMS/Chicker application inserts current scores, SMS sponsor logos and taglines.
  • BLSoft PUPman application allows TD’s to manually enter and display messages for program changes and special announcements.
  • GScribe Character Generator is used for trouble slides and custom boards.
  • Using independent output layers, the Gscribe CG, SMS and PUPman applications output concurrently to both channels.
  • System supports HD and SD output.

Rogers Media – The Shopping Channel

Customer: The Shopping Channel
Application: Bannister Lake Macro Application and Still Store
Platform: RossVideo XPression Studio

Printable Version

The Shopping Channel, Canada’s premiere broadcast retail Channel based in Mississauga Ontario worked with Bannister Lake to develop an automated broadcast graphics solution for their broadcast workflow.

  • Bannister Lake Macro Application reads the product inventory database to generate graphics for each one-hour segment.
  • Name Keys, Colors, Sizes, Star Rating and product availability is also generated with each segment.
  • Operators can manually intervene to edit or modify segments and Text content while on air.
  • Recap stills of each segment are captured by the Still Store, then saved to IPV for archive and proof of play.
  • A log file is generated for each take item with Time Stamp, Item number and Product Description
  • The log is encoded into the clean feed for Digital and Web applications.
  • This configuration is mirrored in the Main and Backup Control Rooms for redundancy.

Cheddar TV

Cheddar TV required a comprehensive Financial Dashboard application to manage and generate all on air graphics for their daily broadcast from the New York Stock Exchange.

Printable Version

  • Dashboard application automatically connects to Xignite Financial data feed.
  • UI provides stock ticker preview and modules to create Bugs, Stock Charts, Bumpers, Name Keys, Lower Thirds and Banners.
  • Quick filters to setup stock chart comparisons, desktop preview of charts then quick add to playlist;
  • Click drag and drop to change items in playlists.
  • Drop Down range menu to select time including, Intraday padded, Intraday, 2 day padded, 5 day, 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, Year to Date padded, 1 > 5 year and user (Custom) ranges.
  • Application supports overnight (after market) generation of content.

Bell Media – CTV News Channel

Customer: Bell Media – CTV News
Application: Chameleon
Platform: Chameleon and RossVideo XPression

Printable Version

CTV News Channel, CTV’s National 24/7 News Channel, required a refresh on their HD look to display News, Finance, Scores, Weather and Breaking News.

  • Chameleon ingests News, Finance, Scores and Weather data sources into its centralized database.
  • Operators edit content, rundowns and schedules for each zone. 
  • Breaking News Items are triggered automatically without operator intervention.
  • Imagine ADC automation triggers Chameleon Player layout (state) for Commercial Breaks and special segments.
  • To ensure output and on air reliability, Chameleon Player uses a combination of Timecode, GPI, Serial (Sercom) and IP triggers.
  • Automatic replication of Main and Backup Chameleon Servers are connected to mirrored XPression BlueBox systems for fail over and redundancy.

Global News – 2011 and 2014 Ontario Provincial Election

Global News required a comprehensive, dynamic ‘real-time’ election package to manage their Election results and on air output for the 2011 and 2014 Ontario Provincial Elections. Bannister Lake Elector on RossVideo’s XPression BlueBox provided Global News with a superior level of editorial and graphic control for their entire election telecast.

Printable Version

  • Easy and reliable support for Election Consortium Feed with full support for automated and manually entered results.
  • Flow, BL Elector’s web based content management dashboard, provided a centralized hub for dozens of talent, producers and political analysts to the “real time” election data. Data included, Charts, candidate and riding context, ‘what-if’ scenarios and alerts that assisted in highlighting close and interesting races.
  • Playlist building from within Flow allowed workload to be offloaded from the on-air operator with the result being a dynamic and exciting telecast.
  • Elector’s standardized graphics specification allowed unlimited graphic design freedom without programming modifications.
  • Flow’s candidate management module allowed easy addition of candidate head shots for on air broadcast.
  • Elector Player output to multiple HD channels using RossVideo XPression BlueBox.

CityTV Dundas Square – Channel One/ Connectus

CityTV and Rogers Media required a reliable HD display solution to manage, schedule and output content for their Panasonic outdoor monitor located at Dundas Square in downtown Toronto. The Harris Channel One and Connectus solution provided Rogers with a means of collecting and scheduling advertising content for display from all business units within Rogers.

  • Rogers Media and other business units send content to the Harris Connectus Server at Dundas Square.
  • Channel One content is scheduled remotely at Rogers Lakeshore, then published to the main Channel One output system at Dundas Square.
  • The Channel One schedule alternates between advertising and CityTV’s main broadcast feed.
  • All content displayed by Channel One is logged for ‘proof of play’ or ‘as runs’.
  • System is scalable to accommodate additional Channel One systems.

CBC Sports – BLScoreBug Hockey with NHL Scores and SuperStats

Customer: CBC Sports
Application: BLScoreBug Hockey with NHL Scores and SuperStats
Platform: Inscriber/Harris G3 HD/SD platform with RTX

Printable Version

CBC Sports required a fully automated Score and Statistics display solution for their SD and HDTV NHL telecasts. BLScoreBug and NHL Scores with Super Stats provides a real time game summary and detailed game statistics for NHL telecasts.

  • BLScoreBug AutoPilot connects directly to the local arena ScoreBoard Controller, automating the on air display for the score, shots on goal penalties, period and powerplays.
  • Selecting Home team automatically sets the type of ScoreBoard Controller for BLScoreBug AutoPilot.
  • NHL Scores and Superstats, the companion application for BLScoreBug, automatically updates a local database from NHL’s FTP with Out of Town scores, game summaries and statistics from around the league.
  • Superstats provides detailed rundown of individual Player statistics including Faceoffs, Hits, Shifts and Time on Ice (TOI). Shots on Goal and penalty minutes statistics for selected Teams.
  • Promos dialog allows entry of text for Advertising, Coming Ups and Programming announcements.
  • Both BLScoreBug and NHL Scores operate concurrently, providing Hockey fans with an enhanced viewing experience.

Bruce Power – BL BBS, Harris Infocaster

Bruce Power Communications required a series of intuitive ‘self-serve’ network applications that would allow multiple concurrent users throughout Bruce Power to enter mission critical and time sensitive data for their internal broadcast, BPTV. Bannister Lake delivered a series of robust Microsoft .Net ‘Single Click’ network applications to allow each department to enter, manage and control their own content being displayed on BPTV.

Printable Version

  • Applications include, Outages, Warnings, Sync Dates for Outages and Equipment Status.
  • All applications run from a single shared folder.
  • Each application provides support for multiple concurrent users.
  • User Account, content changes and each instance of application activity are logged for auditing.
  • Enhanced style support allows operators to assign color and styles for status and warning messages