Revolutionizing Newsroom Workflow Efficiency
The Newsroom Workflow Efficiency Challenge
The financial and business information channel CNBC Arabia faced the daunting challenge of a comprehensive overhaul, which was imperative due to the revamp of its Dubai headquarters and an expansion in Doha, as the network sought to adapt to the ever-evolving industry demands and emerging technologies.
Embracing the change, the network faced the task of modernizing its operations with a clear goal: streamline workflows, enhance collaboration, and drive innovation across the organization.
“We transmit huge amounts of content each day and we were spending so much time re-editing and transcoding files before sharing between locations,” explains Shabbir Hussain, Director of Engineering and Operations at CNBC Arabia. “With Avid’s solution, our teams are now working seamlessly and synchronized, and we can focus on delivering high quality programs.”
The End-to-End Solution
An Avid customer for more than 15 years, CNBC Arabia had previously used another Newsroom Computer System (NRCS) with third-party integrations before switching to MediaCentral | Newsroom Management (iNEWS). With two facilities in Dubai and Doha as well as several news bureaus across the Middle East, CNBC Arabia recognized the imperative for a comprehensive and integrated newsroom workflow efficiency solution from a single vendor, so that content could be easily shared between locations and delivered to end users as fast as possible.
Avid’s solutions offered a unified user experience in the web-based MediaCentral | Cloud UX, bringing together script writing, video viewing and editing, logging and access to archive content. Editors work in Media Composer to craft packages for air, powered by the video sharing capabilities of MediaCentral | Production Management, with Avid NEXIS shared storage. Avid ingest and playout servers are deployed in both sites for robust workflows to get media in and play media out to air.
Another key aspect of CNBC Arabia's transformation was the adoption of Avid | Edit On Demand, a cloud-based platform for seamless media sharing and collaboration, removing the need for on-premises infrastructure in the bureaus and providing a simplified way of creating content that can be easily accessed by both main studio locations.
CNBC Arabia benefits from being on a subscription package encompassing all locations, giving the organization leverage and flexibility to upgrade to a better system without a heavy initial investment.
From Legacy Systems to Modern Solutions
CNBC Arabia’s migration to the new solution in both Dubai and Doha was not without its challenges. Solid support from the Avid team, including sales, pre-sales, professional services and technical support, delivered a successful outcome.
Using the web-based MediaCentral | Cloud UX, staff can easily view and browse content in either site on a unified user interface, and then use MediaCentral | Delivery to exchange content swiftly for use by their editorial teams.
The capabilities of MediaCentral | Newsroom Management also allow staff to view any stories in either site and transfer them simply by dragging and dropping from one rundown to the other.
In Dubai, CNBC Arabia’s infrastructure was, and still is, based on SDI, while in Doha, an IP-based infrastructure was deployed. The Avid solution has the capability to handle both scenarios. While viewers may not notice any change to their viewing experience, the technical infrastructure behind the scenes is vastly different.
Teams worked on the two systems during the transition period, ensuring that change was brought on in a sustainable manner and that individuals were properly trained.
"Our team was highly motivated by knowing they were migrating to a more straightforward system,” says Hussain. "And the support we got from Avid was instrumental in making this transition seamless."
Avid | Edit On Demand, which runs in the Microsoft Azure Cloud, empowered CNBC Arabia to create, edit, and distribute content with unprecedented ease and efficiency. Additionally, CNBC Arabia’s distributed teams benefited from a sense of reliability and consistency, which is crucial in the fast-paced media production world.
“With Avid | Edit On Demand, we now have a centralized process to bring content into the Cloud,” Hussain explains. “It has made our lives much easier.”
The Results
With a modernized system now in place in CNBC Arabia’s two main locations, combined with the cloud-based flexibility of Avid | Edit On Demand, the need to re-edit and transcode files and footage before sharing has been eliminated. Valuable time is saved, allowing CNBC Arabia to deliver news to its audience more swiftly and efficiently than ever before.
Hussain explains how much peace-of-mind this transition has brought him and his team: “Now that we’re not spending time digging through file systems, our content schedule is the main thing we focus on. We have more bandwidth to create new programs and talk shows.”
Looking forward, the flexibility and scalability offered by Avid’s subscription packages will enable CNBC Arabia to adapt to evolving needs and take full advantage of all system capabilities. With plans to further explore Avid's offerings, CNBC Arabia is poised to unlock even greater newsroom workflow efficiency and innovation, paving the way for future growth.
Products used in Dubai:
- MediaCentral | Cloud UX
- MediaCentral | Production Management
- MediaCentral | Newsroom Management
- MediaCentral | Delivery
- MediaCentral | Shared Library
- Avid Media Composer with the Newscutter Option
- Avid NEXIS E4 online storage
- Avid NEXIS E5 Nearline storage
- Avid Airspeed
- Avid | Edit On Demand
Products used in Doha:
- MediaCentral | Cloud UX
- MediaCentral | Production Management
- MediaCentral | Newsroom Management
- MediaCentral | Delivery
- Avid Media Composer with the Newscutter Option
- Avid | Edit On Demand
- Avid NEXIS E4 online storage
- FastServe - ST2110
Find out more about how you, too, can maximize your newsroom efficiency.