For decades, it has worked the same way for stations all over the world. You’ve got the master control room (MCR). And you’ve got live news production (PCR). And never the two shall meet.
But now, that’s beginning to change. Stations are experimenting with new models that dramatically reduce resources and costs, while actually enhancing the quality of the station’s content.
Using automation, you can combine PCR and MCR all in one system in a simplified way. In this article, we’ll explore the advantages and models that are available to you if you’re interested in ways to make your station more efficient.
This approach offers you 3 key advantages:
- Streamlined stationed resources
- Scalable, efficient news production
- Increased precision and enhanced production value
Streamlined Station Resources: Combining MCR and Live News Production
When the automation system manages resource allocation, stations in small to medium-sized markets can streamline workflows and reduce costs. Depending on their ownership, size, and specific needs, stations have adopted various models:
- Unified Control Room Operations
Some stations have combined live news production into the master control room—one room, one console, and one director operating both MCR and PCR functions. The operator handles channel playout, and when it's time for news, they manage studio control. This revolutionary efficiency is possible when the two systems are fully integrated through automation.
- Operational Flexibility with Minimal Staff
Small stations operating with limited resources have innovated by running entire newscasts with minimal personnel. In some cases, the anchor advances through the rundown by pressing 'Take' on a simple control panel, allowing them to proceed to the next segment without needing to interact with complex client terminals. This enables the anchor to focus on delivering the news while seamlessly controlling the broadcast flow.
There are two key scenarios where this approach is particularly effective:
- Breaking News Situations: When unexpected events occur, the anchor can quickly prepare a script and go live on air, managing the broadcast independently until the production staff returns to the Production Control Room (PCR). This ensures that critical information reaches the audience promptly without delays caused by staffing constraints.
- Pandemic-Induced Isolation: During the COVID-19 pandemic, health guidelines required minimal staff presence in studios. Stations adapted by having the anchor alone in the studio with automated cameras, while a single operator controlled the show remotely using Aveco's ASTRA Orchestrator from a different room. This setup maintained social distancing protocols while ensuring the broadcast continued smoothly.
Aveco's automation tools facilitate these flexible operations by simplifying control mechanisms for both anchors and remote operators. This model, born out of necessity during the pandemic, continues to be an efficient method for resource allocation and ensures uninterrupted news delivery even under challenging circumstances.
- Driving Playout from the News Studio
Some stations have started driving playout directly from their news studios. When it's time for a news bulletin, master control switches from regular playout via an automated queue exchange. The lead-in jingle starts rolling, and they're on air. At the end of the newscast, when the trailing jingle plays, master control automatically resumes running the regular playout schedule. This seamless transition is managed entirely through automation, eliminating the need for manual intervention and allowing for efficient use of resources.
By incorporating this additional example, we've provided a more comprehensive overview of how different stations leverage Aveco's automation solutions to streamline operations and maximize efficiency.
Scalable, Efficient News Production
Traditional studio playout systems focus solely on controlling the playout. With Aveco ASTRA Studio, the system not only manages playout but also records the content that is aired. This recorded material can be seamlessly added to the playlist and rebroadcast multiple times as part of the daily plan.
For example, you've got the news at noon, and stories from the news broadcast can be automated to repeat throughout the day. And once news stories are automated, much more becomes possible. You can easily record story by story because the automation knows when one story ends and the next story starts. Rundowns can be reused, stories can be automatically published on your website, one person can run it all… The sky’s the limit.
Aveco’s automation combines efficient news production automation, master control automation, and media asset management. This allows you to scale with greater efficiency, reduce the workload on your staff, and continually improve on-air production quality.
And with Aveco’s automated system failover, you can rest assured that if a part of the system fails, it will automatically get rebuilt without anyone needing to intervene. The redundancy architecture detects, diagnoses, and recovers from failures in the background without human intervention.
Increased Precision and Enhanced Production Value
The traditional way of doing things, with dedicated staff running the production, has worked well – unless, for example, there was a frozen picture for a few moments because the TD was waiting on a cue from the director to do a take. Mistakes happened from time to time, but there were a lot of hands-on deck to correct them quickly.
Now, with fewer people manning the ship, avoiding mistakes is crucial.
When automation is taking care of the switcher, playout, and graphic elements, you can minimize human errors. With ASTRA Studio complete studio automation, you make the broadcast more precise.
That additional reliability opens up the possibility of adding more graphical elements, for example, than one person could handle. You can enrich the content with more graphics and richer design because the system operates automatically or semi-automatically. The same applies to all aspects of the workflow.
Conclusions
Aveco’s ASTRA MCR, ASTRA Studio, and GEMINI Media Asset Management offer you unparalleled automation that combines scripted newscast production with playout. They use the same easy-to-use interface and software system to share data and resources, so everything, including your infrastructure, can be used wisely.
You can choose to combine resources using the model that works best for your station. Whatever you choose will bring you 3 key advantages:
- Streamlined station resources: Combining MCR and live news production
- Scalable, efficient news production, such as the ability to reuse rundowns throughout the day using Aveco NewsWheel
- Increased precision and enhanced production value
Would you like to find out more about how you can combine Aveco’s automation tools to reduce costs and more efficiently allocate station resources? Get in touch with us.