Broadcaster makes move to greenfield site without disrupting operations

Imagine Communications has successfully completed a significant project for Fiji Television, transitioning the broadcast operations of Fiji One to a new, custom-built greenfield site. The project was accomplished without any interruption to Fiji One’s 24/7 news channel, which is one of the most popular and trusted news networks in the APAC region.

Imagine Communications provided the core of the news operation, including four Nexio+™ AMP® HD video servers and Versio™ IOX SAN high-performance online shared storage, running as software instances on standard Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) servers. This upgrade is an important step for any customer considering a transition to next-generation playout solutions such as Imagine’s Versio™ Platform. Alongside the storage network, Imagine also provided Fibre Channel switches and a Platinum™ VX router for baseband switching. The new network also includes a Nexio® NLE Gateway server to allow full integration of Apple® Final Cut Pro® editing tools.

The newsroom installation was a key part of Fiji TV’s overall move to a new site. Fiji Television worked closely with engineers from Imagine Communications to ensure the broadcaster’s newsgathering, transmission and vital on-air services were not interrupted.

“Our requirements were for a new, contemporary platform that would enable Fiji One to grow and enhance the premium news services we provide to our viewers, but without compromising the key operational workflows that our news and technical teams rely on today,” said Karen Lobendahn, CEO of Fiji TV. “We needed a technology partner capable of assisting with this transition within extremely tight deadlines, as well as implementing a new platform that we could use immediately, with no downtime, and with minimal training overhead.”

Joe Khodeir, vice president of sales for Australia at Imagine Communications, added: “Our solution runs on industry-standard IT hardware, which delivers real cost savings and forms the basis for future migration to next-generation playout systems like Versio Platform. It is also ready for other future enhancements like IP connectivity, yet looks and feels familiar to Fiji One’s operational staff. Using industry-standard equipment helped us to build the new facility ahead of time – despite seasonally inclement weather and construction delays.

“The reality is that Imagine was best-positioned to manage this transition,” Khodeir added. “We have regularly worked with Fiji TV in the past, and this was a great project to continue that relationship.”

The facility was operational in winter 2017. It supports all the news operations of Fiji One, including major live bulletins at midday and 6 p.m., and regular updates during the day.

Additional information about these solutions and Imagine Communications can be found at www.imaginecommunications.com.

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About Imagine Communications
Imagine Communications empowers the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation. Broadcasters, networks, video service providers and enterprises around the world rely on our optimized, future-proof, multiscreen video and revenue enablement solutions every day to support their mission-critical operations. Today, nearly half of the world’s video channels traverse our products, and our software solutions drive close to a third of global ad revenue. Through continuous innovation we are delivering the most advanced IP, cloud-enabled, software-defined network and workflow solutions in the industry. Visit www.imaginecommunications.com for more information, and follow us on Twitter @imagine_comms.

About Fiji Television
Fiji Television Ltd is a leading broadcaster in Fiji and the Pacific region, operating the most-watched free-to-air TV stations in Fiji. Fiji One and TWO are free-to-air channels, fully funded from revenue generated through commercial advertisements. Fiji TV owns and operates its own news, production and broadcast operations centre based in Suva, in the Fiji Islands.  Fiji Television was established as Fiji’s first commercial television station in 1994, and carries over 20 years of growth and experience in delivering local and international news, entertainment and events to its viewing public. These include major international sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games, PGA Tour of Australasia, English Premier League, SANZAR Rugby, BCCI Cricket, 4-Nations Rugby League, the 2014/2015 HSBC Sevens World Series, World Rugby Sevens World Cup, FIFA World Cup, Rio Olympics, World Rugby Pacific Challenge, Melbourne Cup, Australian Summer Cricket, and US Masters Golf and many more.

Fiji Television Limited also has invested in a live stream channel which was launched as Fiji TV Stream. The Fiji TV Stream channel allows Fijian globally a feel of Fiji as it streams all local content.