Leading satellite broadcaster uses ADC automation and Nexio to integrate workflows

Imagine Communications, empowering the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation, has implemented a robust playout system at Alrai TV, the premium family entertainment satellite service based in Kuwait. The system integrates with existing islands of operations, provided by Imagine Communications in the past, covering production, news and playout. The result is a tightly integrated, fully resilient end-to-end solution.

Imagine Communications has worked closely with Alrai since 2004. In the past 18 months, the two companies have been focused on upgrading the existing systems to the latest next-gen technology. The final stage of the project added a comprehensive broadcast playout and news production automation network based on Imagine’s market-proven ADC™ automation platform.

Content for both the newsroom and for channel playout is stored on a network of Nexio® servers. Management of that content, including ingest, quality control and transcoding, as well as redundancy and archiving, is handled by Nexio® Motion™ asset management software. This transparent utility layer links directly to both the ADC automation for channel playout and the Nexio integrated news production playout applications. The deployment also includes multiple Selenio™ 6800+ processing systems and Imagine Storage.

“We recognised that technology is moving on, and we wanted a fully integrated architecture that supported all of our workflows,” said Tarek Majdalani, Director of Engineering and Operations at Alrai TV, who noted that the Kuwait-based broadcaster is upgrading its broadcast infrastructure with the objective of achieving a full HD transmission. “Although we have worked closely with Imagine Communications for over a decade, we carefully evaluated every vendor in the marketplace to ensure that we got the best possible solution. That solution came from Imagine.”

The new system was designed and implemented internally by Alrai’s engineering team and supported by Imagine Communications’ professional services team.

Anas Hantash, director of sales for the MENA region at Imagine Communications, added: “Alrai has exacting demands and technical standards, and we have had to prove our solutions against the rest of the market. Ultimately, we offered the best combination of functionality, reliability and local support through our Dubai centre of excellence. We also offered a natural evolution path towards the IP transition. We are delighted to be working again with Alrai TV.”

The new production and channel playout automation systems are now installed in the Kuwait headquarters of Alrai TV. Imagine Communications is continuing to work with the broadcaster on further enhancements.

For more information, please visit www.imaginecommunications.com.

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About Imagine Communications
Imagine Communications empowers the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation. Broadcasters, networks, video service providers and enterprises around the world rely on our optimized, futureproof, multiscreen video and revenue enablement solutions every day to support their mission-critical operations. Today, nearly half of the world’s video channels traverse our products, and our software solutions drive close to a third of global ad revenue. Through continuous innovation we are delivering the most advanced IP, cloud-enabled, software-defined network and workflow solutions in the industry. Visit www.imaginecommunications.com for more information, and follow us on Twitter @imagine_comms.