Launched in 1967, Bangkok Broadcasting Television (BBTV), or Channel 7 HD as it is also known, is the leading television station in the Thai market with millions of viewers daily.
Channel 7 HD wanted to dramatically enhance its Newsroom Computer System (NRCS) and decided upon a collaboration with Octopus.
The goal was to dramatically improve collaboration among BBTV’s internal editorial news team allowing users to better manage concurrent tasks, eliminate redundant or duplicated job processes and increase reaction time for breaking news to be on-air.
Channel 7 HD selected Octopus based on a variety of requirements, from business workflow improvements and technical functionality to integration, training and ongoing support.
Octopus fully integrates with the station’s media asset management and graphics systems, teleprompter and automation, giving Channel 7 HD a highly effective workflow. Newsgathering, editorial, asset ingest, video editing and studio automation teams can be working and viewing the same story at the same time. This collaboration further adds to Channel 7 HD’s ability to maximise value from resources and time.
Channel 7 HD uses the assignment feature within Octopus to allocate resources for a news story and assigned users to receive notifications directly from the system. This allows the team to plan out news stories and initiate the process which is clear from the start for all members involved.
In addition, Octopus gives Channel 7 HD the confidence that creating and amending a news story is a fast and reliable process, including updating elements such as graphics and media. And finally, management on every level requires precise information about the performance of their teams. The tailored reporting functionality of the Octopus provides dynamic reports immediately available to view.
As with any enterprise installation, Octopus encountered some challenges to solve on behalf of Channel 7 HD. As the main part of the workflow, Channel 7 HD uses its own approval status metadata that is critical in triggering the automation workflow to transfer only the required media files to the playout component. Octopus was able to implement this requirement.
Another challenge is Thai language handling. Thai is a unique language where there are no punctuations between sentences and no spaces between words. Octopus overcame that by developing a software engine to properly handle word-splitting analysis for onscreen display and in pre-defined print forms.
Lastly, Octopus was able to effectively train a large user base. Understanding that a powerful tool is only as good as its users, Octopus created relevant training courses to effectively teach different groups of users based on their specific job roles.
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