Masstech and SAM Partner to Streamline News Production, Archiving and Media Exchange Workflows


April 12, 2017 -- TORONTO, Ontario and NEWBURY, UK: Masstech and Snell Advanced Media (SAM) today announced that the two industry innovators have formed a powerful partnership to speed and simplify how television and multi-platform video newsrooms manage and move content between production, archive and distribution processes. Debuting at the upcoming 2017 NAB Show, tight integration between the SAM VIBE News Solution and Masstech's award-winning media management and archiving software empowers SAM users with the ability to easily and efficiently archive, locate, retrieve and share news content between sites.

"In today's fragmented, hyper-competitive media landscape, newsrooms need to operate at an unprecedented pace," said Mike Palmer, Vice President of Business Strategy at Masstech. "Our seamless integration with SAM's multi-platform news production solution gives editors and journalists access to our media management benefits directly within the SAM interface and their familiar newsroom computer system, eliminating productivity-crippling workflow barriers while enhancing content discovery and sharing."

Leveraging the new SAM interoperability alongside established integration with NRCS offerings including AP ENPS and Avid iNEWS, the Masstech software enables news content to be automatically archived at the end of each newscast. For each story in the rundown, the corresponding media files are automatically copied from SAM sQ production and playout servers into the Masstech-managed archive, and stored alongside the news scripts and rich metadata. Content can also be archived to the Masstech system directly from the SAM software interface, independently of the NRCS.

The benefits of the new integration are further amplified when finding and retrieving content from the archive. Users can locate stories and clips with the native search capabilities of their NRCS software or through new Masstech tools embedded within the SAM user interface. Unlike basic storage management solutions, the Masstech-SAM combination takes full advantage of associated news scripts during searches, making it faster and easier to locate and re-use valuable, relevant content. Archived video clips can be previewed within the SAM or NRCS interface, and then fully or partially restored to SAM servers with just a few simple clicks.

In addition to streamlining content archiving and retrieval, the integration also gives SAM News customers access to Masstech's uniquely powerful newsroom workflows, including the ability to easily exchange content between multiple sites such as station groups. Users can search and retrieve stories and content from other locations' archives as well as their own, while the Masstech Media Wire feature lets users feed stories with video to other newsrooms in their organization with a simple drag-and-drop action in their NRCS. In both cases, the Masstech software transparently handles all technical details with no further effort from the user, including file transfers and any transcoding required to address differing NRCS or production platforms between sites.

"We're excited to partner with Masstech, who share our spirit of innovation and have proven their deep understanding of newsroom customers' needs," said Neil Maycock, EVP and General Manager, Media Software Solutions at SAM. "Our goal is for the SAM VIBE News Solution to be the fastest and most flexible multi-format news editing and publishing system available, and our integration with Masstech enables us to seamlessly extend those attributes to archiving and content sharing workflows."

Masstech will exhibit in booth SU3202 at the 2017 NAB Show, while SAM will showcase its solutions in booth SL1805. For more information about Masstech, please visit www.masstech.com. For more information about SAM, please visit www.s-a-m.com.

About Snell Advanced Media -- SAM has the vision to deliver business-transforming solutions across the media production ecosystem. Our future-ready systems enable broadcasters, content owners and service providers to evolve their business models to succeed in the consumer-driven era. We understand that it's not only about the future to get there, today's needs are also paramount; our smart, agile technology maximizes efficiency and productivity in today's rapidly changing media landscape. More information can be found at: www.s-a-m.com.

About Masstech -- Masstech provides innovative software solutions and proven expertise that media organizations trust to manage their valuable digital media content and related information throughout its lifecycle. Committed to exceeding expectations, Masstech delivers superior user experiences, unmatched ROI and efficient workflows that enable our customers to maximize operational performance and realize the full value of their content. Masstech is headquartered in Toronto, Canada with international offices serving a marquee customer base that spans the globe. For more information, visit www.masstech.com.