When e.tv launched its multi-channel offering in October 2013 through Openview HD
satellite and began to diversify its content on digital platforms, the need for digital
archiving and long-term content storage became imperative. The channel turned to
Jasco Broadcast Solutions and the Oracle DIVA Content Management System (CMS)
to provide the solution.
With volumes of digital content continuing to grow, e.tv required a stable digital
archiving system that would allow for efficient archival and retrieval of footage.
This would allow the channel to more effectively repurpose and repackage existing
content, both for internal use and commercial exploitation. The solution also needed
to incorporate archival and storage of all legacy content, raw footage, clips, stills,
and supporting documents – both electronic and paper-based. One of the most
pressing requirements was the ability to index all footage comprehensively and
accurately, to ensure the ability to locate and retrieve specific clips on demand.
“Previously, we had relied on a manual process of browsing and retrieving footage
by viewing tapes and finding appropriate clips. This was both time consuming and
labour-intensive, and was becoming increasingly inefficient, especially given the
increasing volumes of content we were beginning to produce. The move from
analogue to digital archive workflows and storage on open standards (LTO) data
tape was therefore a logical step. Our goal was to improve efficiencies in organising
and storing content to enable monetising of completed programming and raw
footage for clip sales,’ explains Nohra Moerat, general manager, Group Libraries
and Archives at e.tv.
The Oracle DIVA CMS (previously Front Porch Digital DIVArchive) was identified as
the solution to address these requirements. Further requirements included the
ability to integrate with iAcquire and iFind from IBIS, the Media Asset Management
solution identified by e.tv for the implementation of the digital archive project. The
end goal was to implement a fully integrated digital archive and storage solution
customised for e.tv’s requirements. As the local agents for the Oracle CMS range,
Jasco Broadcast Solutions was chosen to deliver the solution. Jasco provided an
end-to-end system, including installation, support, integration and maintenance, as
well as on-site training.
“Project implementation began in 2014 and went live in May 2015. The
implementation of the Oracle DIVA CMS solution was overseen by our technicians
and managed by e.tv’s IT support team, who also received training from Jasco to
enable them to administer and maintain the system as well as support the end
users,’ says Rupert Dalton, sales executive, Jasco Broadcast Solutions.
The new centralised digital archiving solution is expected to deliver numerous
benefits to e.tv to assist them with improved efficiency and accessibility of their
digital archives, a factor which is of particular importance in a growing, multi-channel television environment.
