Any business model

AVECO systems provide an adapting operational foundation for any business model. The current list of business models running with AVECO automation includes:

Some of our multichannel customers support different business models with one AVECO automation system. A multiple channel customer in Greece uses their AVECO TV automation system to run several traditional on-air commercial stations, some fee-based cable channels, a sports channel with many live events, and a pay-per-view channel. They are currently looking into simulcasting their varied content on to the Internet. They are interested in the experience we had in Germany configuring that automation system to address licensing rights when simulcating an on-air broadcast over the Internet. In Germany we went trough several iterations setting up their system. As our customer learned more about our capabilities and we learned more about their needs, we were able to find a revenue stream where they were facing a cost. In the final configuration, we simulcasted audio from their newscasts with substituted video for news clips for which they had no Internet rights. This saved them buying or developing alternative content. The iterative support process was accomplished with phone calls and remote intervention by AVECO engineers who reconfigured the AVECO automation system in Germany via modem. Our Greek customer is interested in finding a revenue stream on the Internet too. We are ready to help.

What is your business model? More focused on costs savings?

We can set our system up to manage remote locations from a central site. We can configure the system to manage one central location from several remote places, even from a laptop computer anywhere on the internet. Need a blend? Want to keep news production local while everything else is centralized? We have a solution.

More about our central casting capabilities.

Let us know your business goals. We can configure your AVECO system to your current business requirements and we can change the system when you need it to change without compromising reliability or interrupting ongoing operations.

Here is summary of the business models our customers are implementing with their AVECO systems:

Commercial TV station

Station revenues come from placing ads. Ad management can become complicated requiring local ad insertion and last minute changes of commercial breaks. Our automation system handles complex ad management by synchronizing multiple traffic playlists, managing media of multiple sources and destinations and, for last minute changes, providing access rights to the sales department for editing commercial breaks on the playlist while excluding them from editing other events on the playlist.

Accurate reporting of the as-run log and close integration with billing systems is also critical. Through support of network connectivity and communication with traffic and billing systems our automation addresses commercial station's focus on fee based revenue streams.

Internet TV

Here several functions are important: controlling interactive devices, managing licensing rights, transcoding media to the internet bandwidths and very specific ad insertion and as-run logging that may be tailored to individual users, to content or other highly specific criteria.

AVECO automation:

• Synchronizes program playout with interactive services provided by the web site.
• Evaluates licensing rights for program titles and is able to replace content with alternative program when required. Licensing rights can monitored separately for audio and video content.
• Transcodes media as required for simulcating at different bandwidths giving users the choices to match their internet connection speed.
• Provides tailored ad insertion by AVECO's controlling multiple channels and playlists through pre-programmed workflow procedures.

This example shows the combination of on-air broadcasting and internet broadcasting.

	Example: Internet broadcasting
	A customer requested a module to control internet broadcasting in parallel to the on air broadcasting. The initial customer request was to replace news content for which they had no internet broadcasting right with alternative content. We developed a module to do this and installed it via modem to their system, while their system continued on-air. When the customer tested the module, they realized they did have licensing rights to the audio of the news clips, though not the video. So, they requested us to fine tune our latest modification to allow the audio to be simulcasted with alternative video. Again we did this and installed the new configuration to their automation. All this without affecting the on air or internet broadcasting and without the need of switching off the automation. The customer had rights to the audio because they wrote and produced the news broadcast and now, they were able to use it a revenue stream instead of buying content filler.

Multichannel Operations

AVECO system can automate playout for any number of channels. One AVECO PC automation server can host up to six TV channels. The maximum number of channels for a multiple-server automation system is unlimited since servers can be added to the system to to increase capacity.

In multichannel operations with multiple points of failure there is a strong requirement for reliability, diagnostics and modularity. AVECO Automation's capability to assign TV equipment to a dedicated channel or as pools of shared equipment among channels, allows TV stations to design the level of independence and shared redundancy among their channels.

Also, to increase the capability of a TV station's staff as broadcast channels are added, AVECO's supports automation of complex sequences and live team-work to handle moments of heavy workloads. Access to a channel's playlist is available from any terminal unless restricted by the configured access rights for the user or terminal.

Diagnostic subsystems monitor and take corrective action of each channel being broadcast. Operator intervention is directed only to extraordinary events.

In many cases, multiple channel operations require coordination of several sites. AVECO systems can do this too. More about central casting capabilities.

Music channel

TV Music channels can benefit from the expertise of radio programming systems that have been perfected over the long history of radio broadcasting. These traffic systems address the unique needs of music playout. For example ensuring: no too many sad songs play in a row, that one song never plays at the same time on consecutive days, that male only songs get interspersed with female vocalists, etc. We have integrated AVECO automation systems to import schedules from radio traffic systems that are used by our TV music customers. We have combined these music playlists with playlists coming from traditional TV systems used by the news, promo and ad departments and controlled the broadcast process accordingly.

News channel

We have a solution for 24hours news channels as well as for channels where news is a only one part of their daily program. Integrating the Octopus newsroom system with ASTRA station automation allows complete newsroom management, news automation and playout automation to fit together. Equipment and content can be shared between the news and broadcast departments.

Public service broadcaster

Here ad insertion and integration with billing systems is not critical. State sponsored public stations often need to manage large teams of people and support live broadcasting of in-studio programs. AVECO's capabilities to coordinate simultaneous work by multiple users on a single playlist and tight integration with live studios keeps public stations running smoothly and reduces stress on the staff.

For public service stations dependent on viewer donations, operating at low cost can be critically important. Our systems can be configured to meet these needs as well. Automating complex workflow tasks and monitoring quality increases the capabilities of limited staff while maintaining a sophisticated on-air programming presence.

Subscriber TV

Here we provide control of conditional access systems. Individual events on a playlist can be configured independently as clear or scrambled with different categorization for parental guidance levels and tier levels. Then playout takes place automatically.

Time brokers

These companies buy broadcaster's commercial time and resell the time to individual ad agencies. Our automation solutions can manage the repository of commercial clips and, according to commercial playlists, assemble the commercial breaks on tape according to the company's technical specification. Technical specifications like: one minute of black followed by a minute of bars and 1kHz, then a five second countdown clip, head jingle, and the commercials divided by a specified number of frames of black, a trailing jingle and finally black for a whole minute. A accompanying document is prepared automatically to describes the position of the individual breaks on the tape.

Other models

Do you miss your business model in this list? Contact us. We will give you several concepts from which you will pick the one which suits you best.