Bitcentral Revitalizes Newsroom Workflow for Alhurra Television with Precis™ and Oasis™

Jan 05 2009

The company’s installation at a major Arabic-language network strengthens Bitcentral’s efforts as a global newsroom solution provider

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Jan. 5, 2009 – Bitcentral, Inc., a leading provider of news production, archiving and distribution solutions to television stations, is pleased to announce the installation of theirOasis and Precis systems at Alhurra, an Arabic-language satellite TV network based in Springfield, VA.

Bitcentral’s announcement of the deployment signifies both the company’s entry into the global news marketplace, and Alhurra’s adoption of Bitcentral’s efficient, file-based workflow.

Previously, Alhurra’s producers had limited access to content located in different facilities. With the installation of Oasis in Springfield, VA for use by their news bureau in Dubai, UAE, Alhurra now has the advantages of wide area media asset management system that allows its users to manage large volumes of media such as video, graphics, audio and text from one source. Once media is registered within Oasis, an approved journalist may edit media using any one of the common desktop non-linear editing systems. With extensive categorization and rights management available, Alhurra’s producers can organize stories quickly and easily for distribution on a global scale.

In addition to Oasis, Bitcentral also supplied Alhurra with Precis, which streamlines the process of going to air and playout of video. This end-to-end, scalable workflow solution allows Alhurra to produce content for multiple platforms while reducing costs. Overall, both systems will help provide the creation of compelling content that journalists around the world can access for distribution across various formats (play-to-air, 24/7 online news, mobile devices).

John King, Vice President of Engineering for Bitcentral, said, “Our intention to assist Alhurra was not just to sell them some hardware; it was really a project dedicated to maximizing the potential of their workflow. When we came to Alhurra, we scrutinized every detail of their then-current news gathering processes and found that their past infrastructure limited their ability to produce breaking news across large geographical distances. We identified when and where Alhurra’s content could be utilized and gave them a solution that allowed producers to do all of their work without leaving their desktops.”

Fred Fourcher, Bitcentral’s CEO, also commented, “The advent of Oasis and Precis at Alhurra further enhances their capability of providing quality 24/7 news to their audiences around the world,” he said. “In addition, our collaboration with Alhurra has taken Bitcentral from a domestically-focused technology provider to an international one, an accomplishment we intend to expand upon in the next decade,” he added.