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News, Broadcasting, Production and COVID

SMPTE Toronto’s January 2021 Virtual Go-To Webinar meeting reviewed how Global News and Corus Entertainment have had to adapt to the restrictions faced by the changing COVID regulations. Gerry Belec, National Director, Operations & Technology focused on the world of plexi-glassed control rooms, mask-wearing staff and PPE’d reporters. Gerry shares how working from home accessing operations systems for Graphics, Elections, intercom and monitoring via the network was possible.

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Watch Global TV’s Live Election Night with Bannister Lake Chameleon

Chameleon For Elections

Election night is one of the most important events for television broadcasters. You want to be absolutely correct when you call races. Watch how Global TV used Bannister Lake’s Election Module for three Canadian Provincial Elections and the 2020 US Federal Election. In this video, Global TV’s Gerry Belec, Director of News Technology & Operations and Laith Jadua, Global’s Graphic Technologist explain how they used Chameleon Election software for all their graphic displays including Broadcast L-Frame’s, Touchscreen, OTT channels and the Global News web site.

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Bannister Lake Drives Global Television’s Coverage of Three Canadian Provincial Elections On-Air and Online

Bannister Lake is pleased to announce today that it played an instrumental role in the production of three recent Global News provincial election specials. The company’s Elector software was used by editorial teams in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick to track results, make race calls and manage full frame graphic and ticker playout. Bannister Lake also provided custom software development services creating interactive web widgets. The web widgets were used to visualize results on on-set touchscreens that allowed analysts to navigate through various provincial ridings and pinpoint election results. In addition to results data, the widgets included other contextual datasets including demographics and historical voting outcomes. A second set of widgets were created and fully integrated into the GlobalNews.ca website providing users with access to election results in a fully interactive format that could be accessed by any device.

“We have a longstanding relationship with Bannister Lake and having them add their expertise to our online election coverage not only improved the overall web experience, it created a strong sense of consistency across both our properties”, said Gerry Belec, Director – News Technology and Operations, Global News.

Global took full advantage of Bannister Lake’s HTML5 capabilities and integrated election results data directly into VizRT graphic engines that populated regional L-bars. Bannister Lake’s election data was also incorporated into Global’s News’ social media distribution efforts populating graphics announcing breaking election news.

“Our election solutions are completely agnostic and work well on any graphic engine and as our web widgets demonstrate on any device. For broadcasters using various products to reach their audiences both online and on-air, we offer exciting new ways to tell the election night story.”, said George Hentsch, President, Bannister Lake.

The Global Television Network and its parent company Corus Entertainment use Bannister Lake solutions in a variety of innovative ways. In addition to election coverage, Bannister Lake’s Chameleon data aggregation and management solution powers L-Bar graphics for both the network’s regional morning news shows and for its over the top news channels. Chameleon also powers an extensive digital signage network with localized news, weather, sports and other data-driven content.

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Bannister Lake Provides Election Results Data Services and Graphics for the 2020 Jamaican General Election

Bannister Lake announced today that its election solution was used to cover the 2020 Jamaican General Election. In partnership with Jamaican production company Phase 3 Productions, Bannister Lake supplied Chameleon software, graphic design, and data integration services. Phase 3 made the election graphics feed available to its media partners including the Jamaica Observer newspaper who incorporated the graphics as part of its online coverage of the election.

Phase 3 played an integral role, adding candidate headshots, co-ordinating data with the Electoral Office of Jamaica and acting as the liaison with end-users. Phase 3 is the island’s most popular provider of television production services and has a great deal of election experience.

“We are always trying to raise the production bar when it comes to covering our national elections. Chameleon allowed us to create very sophisticated graphics under a tight deadline and generate a feed we could share with clients. We hope to work with Bannister Lake on future data related events”, said Delano Forbes, CEO, and creative director at Phase 3.

Bannister Lake developed a custom reader for the Jamaican election data feed and was able to test and implement the solution in a few days. The election campaign only lasted 20 days creating tight deadlines for both Bannister Lake and Phase 3.

“The Jamaican election project came together quickly. Our years of experience working on Canadian elections came in especially handy since Jamaica has a similar parliamentary system. Phase 3 was a great partner to work with and was integral to meet the tight time constraints”, said Georg Hentsch, president, Bannister Lake.

Bannister Lake’s Chameleon data aggregation and management product includes a powerful general-purpose election software solution. The solution is specifically designed to manage any kind of election style: US presidential, congressional, state races, first past the post, majoritarian, proportional, parliamentary, in addition to referendums, propositions, or down ballot races such as DA, school board or city council. This is possible because of a unique design approach Bannister Lake has taken. The election solution is organized by a combination of “contests” and “choices”. A contest would include specific areas or offices up for election while choices would list the parties and candidates participating in the race. It is this simple but unique approach that allows the product to have the flexibility to address any kind of election or polling situation.

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US Election Data Expert Drew McCoy of Decision Desk HQ to Host Special Bannister Lake Webinar

Bannister Lake is pleased to announce today that election data expert Drew McCoy will host a special webinar aimed at producers, reporters and analysts covering the upcoming US elections. The webinar will take place on Tuesday, August 25 at 2:00pm eastern. Drew is president of election results and data collection and reporting service, Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ). In his role at DDHQ, Drew is responsible for all aspects of DDHQ’s election, business, and editorial operations.

The systemic changes in the organization of US elections forced by COVID-19 will have dramatic implications on the flow and reporting of results data. Drew will be discussing what election production teams can expect regarding the dissemination of official results and how this will impact coverage planning, making calls, timelines, and other potential challenges facing the election system this November.

DDHQ is at the forefront of technical innovations that leverage the changes in how voters have been casting ballots, election officials report results, and how outlets, particularly online platforms, consume and publish election night results.

“We’re pleased to be joining forces with Bannister Lake to inform production teams everywhere about the extraordinary changes in store for election data reporting this November”, said Drew McCoy, president, Decision Desk HQ. “It’s crucial for anyone covering the elections to understand the implications and anticipate how their work will be impacted.”

Bannister Lake’s Chameleon data aggregation and management solution reads election results data from providers such as DDHQ and the Associated Press. Chameleon provides media organizations working on any platform with a powerful tool to track and analyze election races, make calls, and create and manage graphics populated with real-time results data.

“The upcoming US elections will be unprecedented in terms of ballot counting and the distribution of results. From both a software and a data perspective, both Bannister Lake and DDHQ are well prepared to handle the dramatic changes in results reporting and this webinar featuring Drew will help our clients produce the best coverage possible’, said Georg Hentsch, president, Bannister Lake.

DDHQ began operations with the 2012 U.S. presidential election. In 2014 DDHQ gained national attention by being the first election service to call Dave Brat’s upset win over then House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in that year’s GOP primary. Recently DDHQ has experienced rapid expansion providing election results and related data to outlets such as Buzzfeed, Vox, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, Business Insider, and many others.

To register for the webinar please visit: https://bannisterlake.com/webinar-registration/

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Bannister Lake to Launch Webinar Series Focusing on Its Chameleon Real-Time Data Aggregation and Management Solution

Bannister Lake is pleased to announce today that it will be presenting a series of casual, 30-minute Chameleon product education webinars over a three-week period beginning on Tuesday, May 5, 2020. Each Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern / 11 a.m. Pacific, Bannister Lake will showcase Chameleon’s unique feature set directed at broadcast, web, and digital signage professionals.

Chameleon is a multi-module, web-based, real-time data management solution popular in the broadcast, OTT, and signage sectors. It is used to create custom news tickers, launch automated information channels, track and visualize election results, manage snipes and branding elements, and much more.

The product also includes Chameleon Designer, a powerful template design and data connection tool. Chameleon Designer serves as a unique, single solution to build projects that can be simultaneously used on NDI, SDI, or web platforms.

The first webinar, kicking off on May 5, will focus on tickers and introduce Chameleon’s data ingestion workflow, content management features, and integration of sponsorships. The session is designed for news producers, station management, as well as engineers looking to integrate more timely news content into their programming while generating new revenue opportunities. 

The second webinar, on Tuesday May 12, will center on Chameleon’s enhanced election production capabilities. The webinar will discuss the product’s ability to ingest real-time election results and provide election producers with the ability to track and filter results, make race calls, and quickly create graphic playlists for air. There will also be a look at the product’s RESTful API, where users can distribute customized election data to various devices and endpoints, including mobile devices, websites, augmented reality systems, and social media.

The third webinar, being held on Tuesday May 19, will feature Chameleon’s on-air branding capabilities. This session will explore how the product is used for managing and scheduling promotional snipes, bugs, and full-frame “coming up” billboards. The webinar will also include information about automation, asset management, and advertising campaigns.

“With the cancellation of NAB and the public, now more than ever, depending on news and information that is constantly being updated, we felt that reaching out directly through these focused webinars was important,” said Georg Hentsch, president, Bannister Lake. “This is a great opportunity to learn more about Chameleon and how it can best serve audiences.”

Real-time data provides producers, engineers, and management with unprecedented ways to tell stories, leverage automation, and expand reach into new platforms. Please join Bannister Lake to learn more about these exciting opportunities.

To register for any or all of these webinars please visit https://bannisterlake.com/webinar-registration.

Webinar Schedule:

Tuesday, May 5, at 2 p.m. Eastern / 11 a.m. Pacific: Chameleon Tickers

Tuesday, May 12, 2 p.m. Eastern / 11 a.m. Pacific: Chameleon Elections

Tuesday, May 19, 2 p.m. Eastern / 11 a.m. Pacific: Chameleon Branding 

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Bannister Lake Introduces Major Enhancements to Its Chameleon Election Module for the 2020 Election Cycle

Bannister Lake announced today that its industry-leading data aggregation and management product, Chameleon, will now include additional election-specific capabilities. The new enhancements will allow broadcasters, station groups, streaming news services, and online media companies to launch election coverage with full editorial, data, and graphics support. Sophisticated election systems have historically been custom built by network news departments and are out of reach for many media companies. Bannister Lake’s Chameleon election solution provides any media outlet with the ability to professionally cover elections and ingest automated AP Elections or Decision Desk HQ data or enter results manually.

The new election module features customizable race tracking and filtering functionality, allowing producers to focus on specific races of interest. Editorial teams can use Chameleon to follow races based on star candidates, close results, geography, or other criteria. Producers can also create pre-built collections of races to have them readily available for air. As a web-based system, Chameleon can support an unlimited number of users, allowing producers and reporting teams to have access to results and functionality from anywhere.

Within the election module, producers can quickly create graphic playlists populated with real-time results based on the races they are following and display them immediately. Chameleon also allows production teams to add candidate headshots, customize the UI to zero-in on specific races or groups of races, and switch to manual results should the data feeds be interrupted.

“Elections are all about getting results on air quickly and accurately,” said Georg Hentsch, president, Bannister Lake. “The new Chameleon election module will ensure that any broadcaster or media company can win over audiences, on any platform, with great data-driven graphics and analysis.”

In addition to managing graphics for broadcast, election producers can leverage Chameleon’s API to distribute results data to a wide variety of graphic engines including NDI, SDI, and HTML 5. Subsets of data can be strategically distributed to on-set touchscreens, augmented reality systems, web widgets, or mobile applications. This important feature allows clients to extend election coverage to social media, websites, and interactive applications. 

Be sure to visit Bannister Lake at the 2020 NAB Show, Booth SL4711.

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Bannister Lake to Showcase Data Management Innovations at NAB Show Driving Election Coverage, Tickers, On-Air Branding, and Infochannels

At the 2020 NAB Show, Canadian real-time data solutions provider Bannister Lake will be focusing on its industry-leading data aggregation and management solution Chameleon and how the product adds value to a wide variety of broadcast, OTT, and digital signage applications.

Bannister Lake will be highlighting Chameleon’s enhanced election module ready for the 2020 U.S. election cycle. Media companies can take advantage of Chameleon’s new election features to produce real-time election coverage on any screen. Chameleon reads election results from both the Associated Press and Decision Desk HQ, allowing media to report on up ballot and down ballot races as well as the primaries and caucuses.

Bannister Lake will also be highlighting Chameleon’s ability to fully manage and visualize both live data feeds and on-air branding content for enhancing news productions, sponsorships, and promotions. Broadcasters in any market, using any output device, can integrate, moderate, and customize multiple live data feeds into graphic templates and provide their audiences with real-time news, weather, sports, social media, financial, and fully customized data. In addition, the product’s branding module can fully control sponsor’s snipes, bugs, and other promotional graphic content triggered by the broadcaster’s traffic system.

Automated infochannels will also be in the spotlight at the 2020 NAB Show. Chameleon serves as the foundation to ingest, manage, and visualize an unlimited number of data feeds that can be rendered to any graphics engine, HTML 5, or NDI. Broadcasters can quickly launch infochannels made up of real-time news, weather, sports, financial, event calendars, and other relevant content. To enhance the offering, Bannister Lake has recently added transit and car sharing data to make the channels especially important to local audiences.

As legal sports wagering continues to grow across the U.S., Bannister Lake will be featuring wagering channels covering horse racing, fantasy sports, and other events. Chameleon has become an essential tool to aggregate, manage, and display both sports statistics and betting data. Bannister Lake works with media companies that require a robust solution that can read data from a wide variety of sources and can integrate that data into the on-air presentation.   

The 2020 NAB Show will also spotlight in-venue, real-time data solutions for arenas and stadiums. More and more venues are realizing that real-time data plays an integral role in delivering content that adds a deeper and more entertaining fan experience. Venues appreciate that advertising- and sponsor-related content has more impact if real-time, game-relevant, insightful data could be tied to the presentation. Chameleon is used to ingest real-time statistical data from the leagues, allowing fans to view carefully parsed live game and league statistics combined with game action. Venues are also turning to Chameleon to develop innovative use cases for real-time data and sponsorships, including graphically visualizing wait times at exit gates and concessions, charity lotteries, and corporate communications solutions.

Be sure to visit Bannister Lake at the 2020 NAB Show, Booth SL4711.

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Bannister Lake Announces Partnership With Election Data Provider Decision Desk HQ

Bannister Lake is pleased to announce that it is partnering with Washington, D.C.-based election data provider Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ) to provide U.S. election data and analysis. DDHQ is a leader in election data collection and reporting, providing results solutions that are up to the second, competitively priced, and accurate.

Bannister Lake has developed and implemented a parser for DDHQ election returns that ingests results data directly into its industry-leading Chameleon data aggregation and management solution. Within Chameleon, producers and analysts can track results, identify voting trends, make race calls, or use DDHQ supplied calls. Producers can then generate graphic playlists and use Chameleon’s RESTful API to distribute data and render graphics through popular broadcast graphic engines or through Chameleon’s HTML 5 renderer.

Broadcasters and online media organizations will be able to use the combination of DDHQ data and Bannister Lake’s Chameleon software to produce exceptional election coverage. DDHQ data includes results for senate, congress, governor, and down ballot races, as well as presidential primaries and the presidency.

Of special interest to local broadcast outlets, DDHQ is the only service to collect and report election results for county and local offices. This includes judges, supervisors, town and school boards in addition to ballot propositions and referendum questions. Bannister Lake is an established leader in managing election data. The company’s Elector software is used by leading Canadian broadcasters to cover elections while Chameleon is equipped with a robust election module geared toward U.S. and other styles of elections.

“Bannister Lake, with its Chameleon software and proven track record with broadcasters across the United States and Canada is a natural fit for DDHQ data,” said Drew McCoy, president, DDHQ. “The product will allow broadcasters in any market, and online services, the ability to produce highly visual election coverage featuring graphics populated with up to the second results. We look forward to working with them, their clients and our partners to provide cutting-edge national, state, and local election coverage in 2020 and in the future.”

“Clients are looking for an alternative to current election data providers and require a robust election data management solution that can generate spectacular graphics,” said Georg Hentsch, president, Bannister Lake. “The combination of Chameleon and DDHQ data provides a cost-effective and editorially powerful solution for any organization covering the upcoming elections.”

Bannister Lake will be making DDHQ election data available within a variety of solutions, including broadcast graphic engines, web widgets, on-set interactive touch screen displays and as customized social media content. Together, the companies will provide election producers with a wide variety of data solutions to reach audiences on any platform.  

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Bannister Lake Delivers Cross-Platform and Innovative Graphic Solutions for Canadian Federal Election Coverage

Bannister Lake played an essential role providing Canadian broadcast and online audiences with live election results during the Oct. 21 national election. In addition to providing the editorial tools to producers, Bannister Lake enabled decision desks and graphic operators to identify key races, declare winners, and organize graphic playlists. The company also devised and implemented on-set touchscreen mapping widgets and social-media solutions.

This marks the 18th time Corus Entertainment’s Global Television Network has used Bannister Lake solutions to drive election coverage. Elector software was used to aggregate and manage election results and populate graphics that were rendered by four different engines: HTML5, Avid/Orad, Ross XPression, and Vizrt. This provided Global Television with multiple options to visualize election results and present them in exciting new ways. Graphics appeared as full frame, as part of the broadcast’s unique video wall, as regional L-bars, as augmented reality elements, and as online winner cards that were tweeted out.

The broadcast’s touch-enabled HTML5-based widgets proved to be a distinctive storytelling device. The solution allowed hosts to blend real-time data with demographics information on electoral district maps and walk viewers through trends and analysis. Since the solution was built entirely in HTML5, editorial and cosmetic changes could be executed quickly without reliance on other hardware or software systems.

“Having Bannister Lake data available on various endpoints meant we had maximum flexibility to tell the election night story,” said Gerry Belec, director news technology and operations, Global News. “Once again Bannister Lake ensured that both our editorial and production teams had the data and the tools to execute a great election night broadcast.”

At the Cable Public Affairs Channel (CPAC) studios in Ottawa, Bannister Lake integrated election result feeds from the Canadian Press and producers fully utilized Elector to filter and display results. CPAC took full advantage of Elector’s advanced capabilities to filter regions and quickly identify important developments such as incumbents or high-profile candidates losing or being re-elected. In turn, CPAC could quickly create graphic playlists for use on-air.

“Elector race software gave us the ability to parse the incoming results quickly and zero in on important voting trends,” said Steve Rifkin, manager digital content, CPAC. “This allowed us to instantly deliver results to our audience.” 

“Over the years we have developed a deep understanding of election data and know that producers require a straightforward approach to pull insights out of results data,” said Georg Hentsch, president, Bannister Lake. “It is always satisfying to see broadcasters using our tools in innovative ways to reach Canadians on such an important event.”

Bannister Lake’s Elector software is Canada’s trusted election-data solution, providing broadcasters with the widest and most complete variety of tools to analyze, filter, and display election results. For U.S. and other style of elections, the company’s Chameleon product comes equipped with an election module suitable for aggregating and managing results and displaying graphics.