Benfica TV (Portugal) - case study

Given the time and budget restrictions of this proposal, we needed a project involving the lowest possible number of providers. VSN's philosophy and solutions were best suited to the needs of the channel.

- José Lopes, GMTS Technical Director, VSN integrator for Benfica TV

The Challenge

• We needed to carry out a turnkey project including a complete high-definition (HD) system of news production, master control and archive.       

• Benfica TV required a brand new high-definition "tapeless" system, based in Sony's XDCAM HD format.

The Solution

• VSN's Ingest, News, Archive, Master Control and Traffic Management solutions were implemented.

• A last generation SAN was installed as central repository, fed by a 6 channel ingest solution (vsnautorec HD) and 10 Thomson-GV Edius editing suites. The content manager vsnnetsharer, HD version, was totally integrated with the archive solution vsnarchive , which managed a Qualstar library with over 100 TB in LTO-4. The studio playout, the journalists' licenses, graphics and the integrated teleprompter were also supplied by VSN.

• Finally, a redundant master control system controlled by a  vsnmulticom automation was installed. The programming, scheduling, publicity contracts and playlists are now fully managed with vsncreaTV.

The Results

• The synergy among the modules of a single manufacturer, VSN, meant a smooth integration among the different areas. This allowed the channel to meet the stipulated deadline to get on air.

• Benfica was satisfied with the VSN systems, which cover all the channel's programming needs for its news and current affairs sections, football game prerecorded broadcasts, etc. They have begun to bet on the gradual creation of a centralised digital archive that will return value across time.

About Benfica TV

The history of Benfica TV (BTV) channel came to light from within the club itself. The project is owned by the Sport Lisboa e Benfica club (51% of the capital) and by the company (the remaining 49%). After the constitution of Benfica TV as a legal body and the final decision on its management model, Benfica TV starts broadcasting in 2008.

It broadcasts live full matches, interviews with staff, players, and historic matches, as well as other sports