NewsRunner1 - Typical prices range from $16,000 to $29,000*

Generate new revenue streams by creating your own 24-hour News Channel using your existing news content with no additional staff.

Your own 24-hour News Channel

• On a Second Digital Channel
• On the Internet
• On one or more cable MSO’s

   

Features

• Repeats last news program until next live news
• Fully automated recording of news segments
• Fully automated playback of news segments
• Inserts new commercials sold for time slots
• Play schedules can come from your existing traffic system
• Can service multiple or tiered cable MSO’s
• Triggers cable MSO’s to insert their own commercials
• Breaking News feature switches to live news then Joins In Progress repeated news
• Repeated news can replace traffic reports with current weather

Benefits

• Station gains revenue with minimal operating expense
• Avoid must carry contention: cable will carry news to insert commercials
• New revenue with no added staff
• Cross-promote three streams: primary, web and 24-hour news
• Advertisers get increased rating points and better CPM’s
• News is spread across more demographics
• Investment break-even point can be as short as 3 months

The NewsRunner1 is a low-cost, automated solution for the provision of news content 24 hours per day, as a new source of revenue.

Ordinarily, the NewsRunner1 will repeat, on another channel, the most recent news broadcast on the station’s primary channel until the next live news.  In addition, the station may transmit other news programs or recordings of several earlier live news programs instead of the repeated most recent news. 

During the repeated news different commercials may be automatically inserted in the commercial breaks according to the schedule from the traffic department. 

If the repeated news is sent to a local cable operator, either the station or the cable MSO may insert commercials which have been ordered by the cable company.

The Breaking News feature allows the system to switch directly to a live source (e.g. a news studio  or network interruption) and then rejoin the schedule, without the schedule being interrupted or delayed (Join In Progress). While the live source is switched to air, the schedule continues to play as it would if it were on-air. When then live event is completed the schedule will be joined at that point, avoiding any timing errors. Any commercial material that played during the time that the live event was on-air will be automatically marked as ‘missed’ to ensure ease of reconciliation in the Traffic department, if this process is used.

The control system will operate totally unattended, with the exception of the potential to edit the playlist when the repeated news airs fewer interstitials than had been planned for the live news.

Details

The system can operate with either analog video components or digital video components, and any appropriate audio components.

The recording schedules will be created on the Arcord system, which controls recording in the server.   The recording can consist of only the news segments, or of news segments and interstitials.

The transmission schedules may be created in the traffic department, or may be created using the Editor supplied with the system.  If schedules are created in the traffic department, and as-run logs returned for billing, then the Argentem Artist universal traffic-automation software will be employed.  As an alternative when commercial volumes are low or different from the main channel, the Artist can be used to automatically extract news playlist files from the main channel traffic schedule, eliminating the cost of another transmission channel from the traffic system supplier.

During the live news program, the commercials can be run from the Argus control system or from the primary master control system.

Commercials and other interstitials will be played from the facility’s video server.   The same or different video server may be used to play interstitials during the repeated news.   Using a play output from the main transmission channel video server is recommended.

If a video server is dedicated to this operation, material in it may be obtained by mirroring the dedicated video server to the main transmission channel video server using the Argentem Armir software, which will copy material ingested into the main server, and delete material in it which has been deleted in the main server.

Alternately, when a video server is dedicated to this operation and copying from another server is not possible, the Argentem Arget ingest system may be used to ingest material from a tape machine running the Sony BVW control protocol.

The triggers to automatically record only the news segments may come from either master control switcher tally or from the news production studio switcher tally.

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* The estimates do not include costs of equipment being controlled such as video servers, switchers, logo / character generators, videotape machines, etc.  The estimates do not include installation, shipping or taxes. All prices are in US$ and are subject to change without notice.