MUMBAI: Omneon Video Networks has announced that CNBC Arabiya is employing an Omneon Spectrum media server system as a cost-effective platform for a flexible, efficient editing workflow and to ensure reliable playout of the Dubai-based network's 24-hour Arabic-language business news programming to the region.

CNBC says that reliability and playout stability were critical factors in choosing a playout server, and the Omneon Spectrum system met this standard at an attractive price point. The Spectrum system also integrates very well with third-party systems, a capability that will enable streamlined editing via our Avid editing platform.

The Spectrum server system is built on an open architecture that allows it to support a broad variety of third-party applications for control and transmission, media management, archiving, and collaborative production. With the support of Marquis software, the Spectrum system integrates easily with CNBC Arabiya's Avid nonlinear editing systems.

The Spectrum servers and Avid editing stations form a unified working environment with bidirectional, faster-than-real-time media transfers over standard data networks. Lists of material stored on the Omneon servers can be browsed from the Avid workstations and selected for editing using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface. Because the majority of the network's promos are constructed on the Avid system, the tight integration of server and edit systems delivers significant efficiency that results in both time and cost savings.

The Spectrum systems plays out CNBC Arabiya programming, comprising 15 hours of live and real-time coverage of regional and international stock markets and business news throughout the day, under the control of IBIS LandScape automation, which provides the robust functionality and responsiveness required for live news and event coverage.

The modular design of the Spectrum media server brings redundancy to playout operations and helps to ensure uninterrupted on-air operations. As CNBC Arabiya grows, the new server system can be expanded incrementally to meet the network's storage and channel count needs. The Omneon system was brought online at the beginning of November 2005.

Omneon Video Networks provides cost-effective and flexible networked standard (SD), high (HD) and mixed definition media server solutions for the broadcast and video industry. The company's strategy integrates a foundation in broadcast with the best practices of information technology - giving its customers the best of both worlds. Omneon claims to have pioneered the use of open systems in broadcast and, as a result, receives wide support from the application developer community.