MGI upgrades Sharjah TV
Published: MEA
UAE: Media Group International has upgraded Sharjah TV’s Avid storage system and redesigned its network infrastructure to enhance day-to-day operations. The upgrade is part of the broadcaster’s migration to HD.
The Avid upgrade was needed to provide additional storage for current production work and to ensure that Sharjah TV was ready for the new format. The project, which began at the start of 2014, involved upgrading Sharjah TV's Avid Interplay Central system and increasing the broadcaster's storage capacity from 48TB to 768TB. MGI and Avid also redefined and engineered the broadcast workflow to ensure a smooth transition to HD and to provide Sharjah TV with a fully tapeless operation.
‘Sharjah TV is committed to technological developments and professionalism. This commitment enhances performance and maintains an approach that is consistent with the ambition of Sharjah in its quest to achieve leadership in various fields,’ said His Excellency Dr Khalid Al Medfa, director general of Sharjah Media Corporation. ‘There is no doubt that the transition to High Definition TV broadcast is an important step for Sharjah TV in providing modern and cutting edge coverage. The move sheds light on our unlimited support that will lead to advancements in the media sector and highlights our leadership in this field.’
MGI was reportedly selected for the project due to its expertise with Avid systems and its ability to provide Avid-trained in-house engineers.
‘MGI worked closely with us to ensure that this complex series of upgrades happened in a smooth and cohesive manner,’ noted Aisha Alzareef, head of broadcast IT at Sharjah Media Corporation. ‘We had to implement these changes in a very tight timeframe and were impressed that MGI managed the whole process so effortlessly, without any interruptions to our broadcast schedule. We were also grateful to MGI for ensuring that third party software from companies like Vizrt, FlipFactory and DivaArchive was upgraded in line with these changes.’
‘There were a number of challenges to overcome, not least the need to keep Sharjah TV on air throughout,’ said Mohamad Othman, business development manager at MGI. ‘The task was tackled in two phases to ensure that there was no downtime and that we stayed within the specified timeframe and budget.’