New Benfica TV channel selects end-to-end HD vsn system

The turnkey project was awarded to GMTS and includes a complete HD newsroom, automation and archive solution from vsn installed by GTC

Benfica (Lisbon, Pt) joins the group of 6 top European football teams that offer their own thematic TV channels through different platforms. Benfica and Portugal Telecom signed a new agreement recently that allows Meo (PT’s CATV platform) to broadcast the new channel starting November ’08 through its ‘Sports’ package.

The target is to offer three dedicated news programmes, delayed matches, younger teams’ footage, training sessions, etc, to Meo’s subscribers. Benfica has the intention to build a centralized digital media archive with all its valuable contents. The new channel is being built on location at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.

The famous Portuguese club selected GMTS to run and setup the necessary infrastructure to make all this possible. Both partners decided to build a brand new tapeless system straight in high definition, based on XDCAM HD format. GTC (vsn’s partner in Portugal) will be in charge of deploying an end-to-end solution for ingest, newsroom, archive, master control and traffic-scheduling. GTC has a proven track record of previous vsn installations, including a partnership with SIC for the Portuguese Parliament Channel ingest and postproduction system.

GTC will install a powerful SAN central storage fed by a 6-channel ingest solution (vsnautorec) and serving 10 Thomson-GV Edius editing suites. The asset management (vsnnetsharer, HD version) is fully integrated with the vsnarchive solution that controls a 105-TByte Qualstar LTO4 library. The newsroom playout and remote licences, the graphics and integrated teleprompter will be supplied by vsn too. Finally GMTS will install a fully redundant master control room setup managed by the powerful vsnmulticom8 automation.

The production management, scheduling, ad contracts and so on will be managed by vsncreaTV. This closes the circle of a trouble-free integration between the different areas that will allow all partners to meet the very tight deadlines forecasted.

The Benfica TV Channel is set to become the most important broadcast project installed by GTC with vsn solutions in Portugal so far.