Public Television Service’s future roadmap with Sony

In Taiwan, many TV stations are owned by political parties or politically-affiliated organisations. The need for an impartial public service broadcaster brought about the creation of Public Television Service (PTS).

Starting off as a terrestrial television channel in 1988, PTS’ key objectives include improving the standards of local broadcasting and to help define Taiwanese culture.

PTS states that it has a tradition of producing original content for its programmes which include news, documentaries, sports, children’s shows and drama mini-series. Many of its productions have gone on to win accolades in local and international broadcast award shows, the company said in a statement.

In 2006, as part of the government’s mandate to bring High Definition (HD) to Taiwan viewers, according to the company, PTS became the first Taiwanese TV station to broadcast HD programmes. To reach a wider and younger audience, PTS also embraced digital media and launched several mobile apps to provide live streaming of its programmes.

“To keep pace with our viewers and the broadcast industry, we recently revamped our production workflow”, said York Kuan, Deputy Director of Production Department at Public Television Service. “Innovations like 4K, HDR and High Frame Rates can place enormous demands on existing coaxial infrastructures. We are very excited to make IP an operational reality in live productions.”

To help make the transition to IP Live, PTS tapped on Sony’s expertise to help build a full IP Live Studio and OB ecosystem that includes HD/4K system cameras, multi-format switchers, HDR converters and IP live system manager stations.

With IP Live Studio complemented with a well-equipped OB van, PTS has the ability to carry all its content through a single network connection, reducing cabling complexity and enabling smart workflow options.

“A key advantage of IP Live Studio is that it is completely scalable and fits nicely with our current workflow,” added Kuan.

“Our IP Live Studio and OB van gives PTS an opportunity to move from HD to 4K progressively. In fact, our popular quiz show called 100calls is already on 4K, the feedback from viewers and crew has been very positive.”

PTS extended the benefits of 4K to its archiving format by investing in Sony’s on-site backup and asset management solution – Optical Disc Archive (ODA). It has acquired a combination of stand-alone drives and PetaSite scalable libraries to build its first offline ODA library for 4K content.

“A major part of our transition to IP is to move towards tapeless storage. We carefully evaluated the various solutions in the market and opted for Sony’s ODA as it fits seamlessly with our roadmap for the future,” said Kuan.

Quicker than tape and more reliable than hard drives, ODA offers PTS super-fast random access to its content whenever it is needed. And with 100-year rated media life and no special storage requirements, PTS’ data is always secure.

“Sony impressed us with their after-sales service, technical support and even provided training to get our team ready for an IP environment and of course, an exciting journey ahead,” concluded Kuan.

Sony will be exhibiting at BroadcastAsia 2019 (BCA 2019). Join the company at booth #4N4-01, Level 4 Suntec Singapore, from 18 – 20 June. Alternatively, visit their social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – during the show hours to find out more about the latest happenings, right at the heart of BCA 2019.