SeaChange Broadcast MediaCluster Is Multithematiques's Key to Digital Video Delivery

Maynard, Mass. (PROTEXT) - French Multichannel Broadcaster Goes Digital With MPEG-2 Video Server Systems. Multithematiques, Paris-based broadcaster of 11 thematic television channels, has launched an advanced digital broadcast environment based on SeaChange International, Inc.'s (Nasdaq: SEAC) Broadcast MediaCluster digital video server system. The Broadcast MediaCluster's open and networkable server architecture has enabled Multithematiques to streamline its entire multichannel operation, from video content acquisition to on-air playback, with fault-resilient MPEG-2 video. One of France's largest multichannel broadcasters, Multithematiques is owned by CANAL+, TINTA, HAVAS IMAGE and PART 'COM. "The Broadcast MediaCluster is a tremendous enabler of our aggressive digital strategy," said Jacky Degorre, technical director, Multithematiques. "For example, it is the only server that can give us an 80Mb file transfer from archive to server, a rate many times faster than other products could manage. This provides fast access to archived video for those last minute changes in our program schedules." "SeaChange is very pleased to be working with Multithematiques on its very innovative, state-of-the-art multichannel facility," said John Pittas, vice president of broadcast products, SeaChange International. "It is the first realization of our Network Storage Architecture (NSA) and demonstrates both the simplicity and power of the idea. At Multithematiques, NSA allows multiple Broadcast MediaClusters to integrate easily with a multiple-drive digital tape archive through a low-cost, high-performance network based on Gigabit switching and IP protocols. Our goal is to propagate this architecture throughout the broadcast industry, thereby bringing the cost efficiencies of standard networking products to broadcasters worldwide." Two Broadcast MediaClusters, one for content acquisition and one for playback, anchor the environment, which integrates Avid non-linear editing stations and a Sony Peta Site archive. At the acquisition cluster, new programs and promotions are combined, encoded into MPEG-2 and then stored on the playback cluster for near-term delivery or stored on the Peta Site archive for later playback. Each cluster will store up to 89 hours of 18Mb MPEG-2 video. The operation is controlled by SGT's DBOS broadcast automation system. MediaCluster Technology The MPEG-2 4:2:2 Broadcast MediaCluster supports multichannel play-to-air applications including program origination, commercial insertion and time shift/delay. The system employs SeaChange's patented RAID2 ('raid squared') technology which performs RAID-5 striping on the disk drives on each 'node' (computer) and also across all the nodes in the cluster. Only one copy of any video file is required, thereby dramatically reducing storage requirements and also providing fault resilience. Multithematique's five-node clusters are configured with 18GB disk drives. Nodes are also available with 9GB or 36GB drives. Expansion increases a cluster's capacity to hundreds of hours of storage and 28 I/Os. The Broadcast MediaCluster will include full support for storage and delivery of MPEG-based DVB or ATSC Transport Streams in the fourth quarter of 1999. SeaChange in Europe SeaChange's EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) sales operation, headquartered in Genoa, Italy, is managed by Marcello Dellepiane (Tel. +39 010 5530177; Fax +39 0 10 5459778). The company's EMEA customer service and support facility is located in Sophia Antipolis, near Valbonne, France. Serving more than 25,000 television channels for broadcast and cable television companies worldwide, SeaChange International, Inc. (www.schange.com) is the world leader in MPEG-2 digital video systems. SeaChange's products, incorporating the Company's patented software and hardware technologies, automate the management and distribution of video streams including advertisements, movies, news updates and other broadcast- quality video programming requiring precise execution. Founded in 1993, SeaChange is headquartered in Maynard, Massachusetts. MediaCluster is a registered trademark of SeaChange International, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective companies. All rights reserved. ots Original Text Service: SeaChange International, Inc. Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: John Coulbourn of SeaChange International 1-978-897-0100, ext. 3098, johnc@schange.com Web site: http://www.schange.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT