ATLANTA: Lifetime Television, the leader
in women's television, has chosen a Scientific-Atlanta PowerVu digital
video compression system to shift its US programming distribution
from analog to digital. Lifetime's west coast affiliates are scheduled
to begin receiving their program feeds through PowerVu receivers shortly.
Lifetime plans to deploy the PowerVu Program Receiver (Model D9850),
and has made special arrangements with Scientific-Atlanta for its
affiliates to purchase additional receivers for back up. The new encoding
system, scheduled to be operational in July 2003, will include PowerVu
encoders, statistical multiplexers and modulators, all controlled
by the PowerVu Network Centre management software. Currently, more
than 400 Scientific-Atlanta PowerVu digital video compression systems
are transmitting over 2,000 channels of digital programming into more
than 175 countries.
The new PowerVu system will offer several significant benefits to
Lifetime's west coast affiliates including: Improved video and audio
quality - compared to analog satellite transmission, Less rack space
in headends - 1RU high PowerVu Program Receiver, Proven, reliable
performance - NTSC, DVB/ASI, MPEG-2 support, Automatic ad insertion
for local advertising - affiliate revenue opportunities, Flexible
audio options - Dolby Digital® (AC-3) balanced audio and SAP second
audio program channels, Smooth programming migration to digital tier
when needed - future-friendly system.
To streamline the deployment and authorization of Lifetime digital
receivers for those affiliates using the network's west coast satellite
feed, Scientific-Atlanta's SciCare(tm) Broadband Services is providing
a suite of PowerVu receiver deployment and database management solutions.
The centerpiece of this solution is PowerVu Connect, an integrated,
Web-based system that automates the receiver authorization process
to enable each one to receive the Lifetime signal.
By automating the authorization process, Scientific-Atlanta can significantly
lessen the personnel requirements usually associated with this function
and minimize any impact that the distribution and authorization of
large numbers of PowerVu receivers might have on Lifetime's current
operations, says an official release. |
