Grass Valley Group Winning In All-Digital, Nonlinear Hard News Production

—Announcement of PAL version of Vibrint Digital News Production Workgroup opens worldwide news environments to digital—

Amsterdam, IBC, 8 September, 2000 — Demonstrating rapid market acceptance of its Vibrint News Production Workgroup solutions, the Grass Valley Group has announced the installation of the powerful, PC-based products in some of the largest US television markets. Providing the world's most comprehensive, cost-effective hard news production solution, the Vibrint News Production Workgroup systems also are installed at a number of small-to mid-market stations, underscoring their appeal across all markets to newsrooms making the transition to digital.

Installations in major US markets include WNJU Telemundo and NY1 News in New York; KWHY in Los Angeles; Philly TV News in Philadelphia; WHDH-TV in Boston.

Other US installations include Reiten TV and Rammar Communications which are in North Dakota and Texas.

Bringing faster hard news production to newsrooms worldwide, Grass Valley Group has also announced the release of PAL (625/50) versions of its Vibrint Digital News Production Workgroup solutions.

"Large or small, newsrooms worldwide now have the opportunity to leverage the efficiencies and revenue opportunities offered by the world's most comprehensive news production solution —Vibrint," said Tim Thorsteinson, president, Grass Valley Group.

Grass Valley Group's Vibrint line, which includes the NewsEdit™, NewsQ™, and FeedClip™ systems, gets breaking news to air faster at less cost than traditional tape-based production gear. Combining the most intuitive news production software with an open, standards-based personal computer platform, the Vibrint News Production Workgroup solutions eliminate the need to digitise prior to editing, and improve image quality by eliminating the generation loss resulting from repeated transfer of those materials.

Philly TV Picks Vibrint , Profile for Newsroom Retrofit

The first over-the-air, all news broadcaster in Philadelphia, Philly TV generates the bulk of its own content, and considers critical the ability to deliver fresh packages in a timely fashion while maintaining high production values.

When the single-channel servers and existing, non-linear editing equipment of its news operation did not live up to expectations, Philly TV turned to the Grass Valley Group's Vibrint line and its Profile XP Media Platform. The combination of the NewsEdit nonlinear editor, FeedClip feed capture system, the four-channel Profile XP Media Platform , and Crispin Corporation's RapidPlayX software for application news-rundown management, offered reliability and flexibility the network required.

"We were very impressed with the capabilities of the NewsEdit solution—and more so because its integration with the Profile server was seamless," said larry manne, general manager at philly tv. "Other MPEG systems are in various stages of testing, whereas the Profile/Vibrint combination is ready to go now. And while cost was not the ultimate deciding factor, it didn't hurt that this solution was more economically priced than its nearest competitor."

Reiten Television

Reiten Television Inc., a family-owned North Dakota broadcasting company has ordered four NewsEdit nonlinear editing packages and two NewsQ manual playback applications for stations KXMC-TV in Minot, N.D., and KXMB-TV in Bismark, N.D.

The Grass Valley Group's Vibrint solutions meet the ease-of-use, speed and image-quality requirements of small-market stations, said Bob Turneau, chief engineer at KXMC-TV. "The Grass Valley Group's Vibrint line is so easy to use and fast. You don't have to pre-digitize before editing and that time savings is critical."

Ramar Communications

Ramar Communications of Lubbock, Texas has ordered three NewsEdit nonlinear editing applications and one NewsQ playback solution for its startup news operation at Fox affiliate KJTV34. Ramar also plans to integrate its Vibrint solutions and the AP ENPS newsroom computing system. The news operation will launch in September.

"We believe Vibrint offers the highest quality MPEG news solution on the market and we're very impressed with its ease of use," said Winn Boedeker, acting chief engineer at KJTV34.

Changing Newsroom Workflows

The Vibrint Digital News Production Workgroup significantly reduces the need for tape in newsrooms as well as associated frenzied sprints in and out of edit bays, increasing the efficiency and speed with which the news is brought to air. Producers can create clips on the fly, send them to an edit bay over the newsroom's existing network, and continue to monitor a feed without interrupting the recording process.

"We are replacing tape machines in a lot of areas of business and improving the work flow to give people a more logical way of doing production," said thorsteinson. "We're enabling our customers to make a greater investment in their original content. With our standards-based technology, we provide a cost-effective solution, a plug-and-play migration path, and enable customers to take advantage of latest technology."

To capture feeds, the Grass Valley Group offers two complementary solutions: the Profile XP Media Platform for automated feed capture where the start time is known and where there is an automation system that will control the feed recording, and Vibrint FeedClip for breaking news situations. With Vibrint FeedClip, producers can record live feeds to disk, mark and create clips while viewing the feed, organise them into a playlist for direct play to air, or send them, in the background, to edit bays.

To develop polished packages, selected clips are sent to Vibrint NewsEdit where they can be mixed with archived material or fresh local field tapes and enhanced with wipes or dissolves.

When the packages are ready for play to air, Grass Valley Group offers two choices: NewsQ for manual play to air, and the Profile XP Media Platform, which is designed for automated assist play to air in larger broadcast situations where it can be controlled by newsroom computers system or automation.

Highly Networked, Standards-Based Solution for News

A powerful, highly networked and standards-based solution for news emerges with the combination of the Vibrint News Production Workgroup and the Profile XP Media Platform.

Built to easily scale as broadcasters transition to digital and the Internet, the Vibrint solutions are powered by an Intel Pentium platform relying on standard MPEG-2 video, Microsoft Windows NT^® file and operating systems, and standard networking and storage technologies. While traditional video servers typically offer only playback and storage capabilities, the Profile XP Media Platform, with its Microsoft Windows NT architecture and standard networking and storage technologies, is extensible to new applications inside and outside a broadcast facility, including hard-news production.

For more effective collaboration between journalists, producers, and video editors, the Vibrint system integrates with leading newsroom computing systems (NRCS) including Avstar and ENPS allowing editors to view scripts and rundowns alongside the video editing timeline and to organize and control playback through the Profile XP Media Platform.

The systems are easy to use—even for personnel lacking computer experience. The Vibrint Workgroup systems are simple to upgrade as technology evolves and cost-efficient for both large and small broadcast stations, as evidenced by widespread acceptance in small- to mid-size U.S. markets.

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Notes to Editors

The Grass Valley Group knows more about high-quality video than anybody else—especially as video goes digital. Interactive television. Digital cinema. Data-enhanced broadcasting. Internet. It's a world of Digicasting™—of Media Without Bounds™. Whether online or on the air, the Emmy^® award-winning Grass Valley Group, a privately held digital media leader, has the hardware, software, and new media technologies necessary to get content wherever it needs to go. For the latest Grass Valley Group product information, visit /.

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