Voxafrica TV has expanded its presentation resources with the purchase of a multichannel PlayBox Technology AirBox Neo television playout system. The new installation was supplied and engineered by UK-based system integrator TNP Broadcast. It is located at the channel’s headquarters in the prestigious Battersea Studios media hub, south west London.
“A system based on the latest-generation AirBox Neo was the logical choice for this project,” states TNP Broadcast managing director Howard Rose. “Voxafrica is a highly successful long-time user of PlayBox Technology equipment so the channel’s staff are fully familiar with the user interface and the high inherent reliability of AirBox-based playout solutions.
“AirBox Neo also excels in terms of price/performance ratio and is widely used throughout the broadcast industry. Another reason for taking the PlayBox Technology route was that AirBox Neo includes IP output as a standard feature in addition to SDI. The IP output is useful for direct feeds to the internet.
“The primary purpose of this new infrastructure is to handle ‘The Voice South Africa’ which will be received as an IP feed from the production centre in Johannesburg. The solution we have supplied includes two complete AirBox Neo systems in N+1 configuration plus a fast-acting failover switch. We have also integrated third-party equipment including newly-supplied Intinor decoders and encoders plus Crystal Vision fast failover switching.
“The new equipment is installed in a playout control suite with its own dedicated apparatus room. Incoming production content from South Africa will be ingested and combined with interstitials and other material for immediate transmission. It will also be recorded for later playout.”
“Each of the two AirBox Neo servers provided by TNP Broadcast is a highly versatile playout system populated with five modules providing addition ingest, database, scheduling, backup and timeshifting,” adds PlayBox Technology president Don Ash. “The CaptureBox Neo module allows HD or SD content to be captured from up to four video sources in parallel. DataBox Neo is a tightly integrated database for media and content management, allowing instant access to more than 20,000 records simultaneously. ListBox Neo enables schedule managers to create and edit schedules days and weeks in advance with facilities such as text searching, clip copying/pasting and schedule printing. SafeBox Neo replicates remote content to local playout server folders for safe transmission. TimeShiftBox Neo provides user-definable delay in 10 second increments up to seven days, logo overlay and multichannel audio. TitleBox Neo provides a wide range of interactive on-air graphics and titling capabilities which can be manipulated live.”
‘The Voice South Africa’ centres on the search for the nation’s new big star. Four national performing artists select their own candidates during the auditions. The show kicks straight off with spectacular auditions in a theatre or studio with a big audience and live band. After blind auditions, each coach pairs two team members to perform together, then chooses one to advance to the live finale rounds. The performing artists don’t just coach their talents; they sometimes a get up on stage with them during the live shows to perform together.
Broadcasting on Sky channel 218, Voxafrica TV (www.voxafrica.co.uk) is one of the largest multi-award winning providers of African, Caribbean and American entertainment. Operating from its London headquarters, it offers lifestyle, entertainment, news and current affairs. Broadcasting 24 hours a day, Voxafrica provides English-language television available in almost 15 million homes in the UK, with around 1 million viewers each month. It is also available around the world, accessible to more than 100 million households in Europe, Africa and America.
TNP Broadcast Sales
Based in Watford, Hertfordshire, TNP Broadcast Sales (www.tnpbroadcast.co.uk) has been specialising in the supply of new and previously-operated professional broadcast equipment and services to the broadcast television and motion picture industries for over 20 years. Its collective experience spans in excess of 150 years and covers all things audio, video, broadcast, streaming and digital cinematography. TNP’s systems integration department has handled a variety of projects and can design, install and commission multi-camera studios, OB trucks, edit suites and live broadcast IT infrastructures as well as audio visual systems.
PlayBox Technology Limited
PlayBox Technology Limited (www.playboxtechnology.com) is an international communications and information-technology company serving the broadcast and corporate sectors in more than 120 countries. PlayBox Technology Limited is dedicated to the research, design, development and provision of the best products, systems, solutions and services. Over 17,000 TV and branding channels are powered by PlayBox Technology Limited broadcast solutions. Users include national and international broadcasters, start-up TV channels, webcasters, DVB (IP/ASI) TV channels, interactive TV and music channels, film channels, remote TV channels and disaster recovery channels.
