ST. JOSEPH, Mo.—We’re a medium-sized broadcast group with multiple network affiliates across 10 markets, but we face the same challenges as other industry organizations, large or small.
If we want people to see us, then we need to be on every media platform. We couldn’t provide diverse programming and services on our increasing number of channels and stations without reliable and efficient master control, program automation and distribution.
We found the right platform for our needs with the Crispin Corporation, a Sony Group Company. The Crispin solution provides a browser-based playlist tool, webRPX, allowing for reliable and flexible control. Plus, Crispin’s CORE and its full suite of applications, is built to support a hybrid approach of on-prem, VM, and multisite.
Fractions of Seconds
We pride ourselves on local news coverage and in many of our markets we are the news leader. When viewers tune into live programming, everything must be dialed in perfectly—fractions of seconds can be the difference between ruining or enhancing the viewing experience.
In the fall of 2023, we deployed the Crispin software suite at our broadcast operations center (BOC) in Colorado Springs, Colo., and we are aggressively rolling it out to the remainder of our markets. We quickly began seeing the benefits—dependability and less time spent troubleshooting on-air issues, resulting in a better working environment and improved programming for our viewers.
I can best describe our search for a viable master control and automation platform as preparing for the future by going “back to basics.” Our industry used to be focused almost exclusively on hardware; now that’s become largely a commodity with so many software options on the market.
However there are still legacy workflows that aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. SDI is still a part of our plans. The resources simply aren’t there to redo each station and become a full IP house. IP will take the place of baseband, but the on-ramp to get there is still pretty long.
Crispin offered an ideal software-based platform that fits how we work today, allowing us to manage our existing baseband infrastructure and on-premise workflows. It also gives us the flexibility to leverage cloud and IP for future growth. It’s the best of both worlds.
Our BOC and market stations operate on a hub-and-spoke model. A few years ago, we were deciding between centralizing at the hub and transporting programming to the spokes or keeping the heavy lifting on-premise at the spokes with remote control managed from the hub. We chose the latter option.
Granular Control
Also, since we don’t have the resources for dedicated fiber or satellite uplink between all our facilities we rely heavily on public internet. The system we chose had to be resilient and able to run 24/7 without much maintenance required, which was especially important since we have added channels and services but not the staff.
With Crispin, we have granular system-wide control over a reliable remote IP connection and the assurance that all programming and ad content is being delivered and inserted properly with no downtime.
At one of our stations in the Crispin roll-out phase, our legacy automation system failed, and we were facing the prospect of dead air. But the Crispin system was running and even though it wasn’t fully commissioned, we flipped over to it to provide an hour of programming we otherwise wouldn’t have had.
That invaluable peace of mind is worth any time or costs involved with new technology, and we’re confident that as our needs change, the Crispin suite will grow and adapt with us.
James Crawford is director of engineering for St. Joseph, Missouri based News, Press & Gazette Broadcasting. He is based out of Idaho Falls, Idaho. He can be reached at james.crawford@npgco.com.
Additional information is available at www.crispincorp.com.
