AMC scares up GoldPocket
Cable network AMC is working with GoldPocket Interactive and ExtendMedia on an interactive game that will allow viewers to answer questions on AMCTV.com and win prizes during the network's MonsterFest. The contest begins Oct. 25; questions will be based on the 8 p.m. ET movie shown on AMC (on Oct. 25, it will be Predator 2).
AMC will use GoldPocket's EventMatrix technology for the real-time aspect of the contest. MonsterFest at AMCTV.com will also feature screen savers, Flash and Shockwave games and movie trailers.
Nat Geo rights itself
National Geographic Television & Film has chosen RightsLine to provide the business-rights-management software for the National Geographic Film Library. The software will administer, manage and license the rights associated with thousands of hours of footage to customers. RightsLine also will integrate its software with NGT&F's existing implementation of streaming-media services.
Dual-Mode DVCPRO
Panasonic's lineup of dual-mode DVCPRO products is available, including the AJ-SD955A and AJ-SD930 studio editing VTRs and the AJ-SDC915 2/3-inch IT 3-CCD camcorder. The gear is switchable between 25-Mb/s ENG mode and studio-quality 50-Mb/s 4:2:2 mode. When operating in 50-Mb/s mode, DVCPRO products offer 3.3:1 DV-based compression, 4:2:2 sampling and four 16-bit 48-kHz sampled channels of uncompressed digital audio. The new VTRs also feature an autoformat playback-detection function for seamless playback of DVCPRO50, DVCPRO, DVCAM and DV format recordings (an adapter is required with mini-DV– format cassettes).
WizeBuys taps GlobeCast
WizeBuys, a nationwide direct-response television network that targets cable-, broadcast- and satellite-TV operators, has selected GlobeCast to provide network origination and nationwide satellite distribution on AMC1 from its all-digital satellite broadcast center in Miami. WizeBuys is located in West Chester, Pa., and distributes paid-programming content to affiliates as a revenue-generating service to fill remnant time in bulk.
Optinel trial success
Broadband optical transport provider Optinel Systems reports that Adelphia Communications recently completed a successful field trial of Optinel's PLEXiS MFX Transport System, which can be used for head-end interconnection, VOD, high-speed data or cable telephony. The field trial involved long-distance optical transport of live digital video signals in their native format over Adelphia's Northern Virginia ring. It also involved a drop-and-forward network architecture using Optinel's Fractional Optical Multiplexer, enabling all-optical sharing of traffic among several sites.
Adelphia Regional Corporate Director of Engineering Abe Naghibi says the system provides an alternative to SONET-based systems and yielded several improvements over traditional systems, including better picture quality and lower error count.
EMC info storage for Scripps web sites
E.W. Scripps will use EMC Corp.'s networked information storage to store digital content and stream video for its Web sites. Scripps will use EMC MirrorView software to continuously mirror data across the Clariion storage systems in multiple data centers as a part of its business-continuity and disaster-recovery plan. Scripps will also use an EMC storage area network (SAN) based on EMC Symmetrix Enterprise Storage and Fibre Channel switches. The SAN handles the storage tier of Scripps's Web-hosting operation, which provides both content management and content delivery for its media brands, including Home & Garden Television, Do It Yourself Network and the Food Network.
WLEX-TV picks Panasonic
WLEX-TV Lexington, Ky., has purchased more than $625,000 worth of Panasonic DVCPRO gear. The 56 pieces of equipment include AJ-D610WA 2/3-inch 16:9/4:3 camcorders, AJ-LT85 laptop editing systems, AJ-D850 studio recorder/editors, AJ-D455 studio recorder/ editors, AJ-D230H desktop recorder/players, and AG-A850 edit controllers. The purchase completes the conversion of news- and commercial-production operations to DVCPRO format. According to Chief Engineer Dave Powell, each of the NBC affiliate's photographers will use an AJ-D610WA camcorder; one camcorder will be assigned to production. The AJ-LT85 laptop editing systems are deployed in the station's live trucks.
