Distributed across digital terrestrial TV, FM radio, and the internet, Spanish broadcaster betevé’s 24-hour broadcasts reaches tens of thousands in Barcelona, Spain. betevé’s localized news reflects the broadcaster’s mission to enrich the daily lives of citizens with relevant content that informs, educates and entertains.
Broadcasting since 1994, betevé is managed by Barcelona’s City Council. With the channel’s content led predominantly by its news broadcasts, betevé is a key figure in the Catalonian media industry, keeping up with other players as the channel reaches new heights in terms of digitization, connectivity, and media distribution.
betevé is transitioning from a classic linear media model to one that better serves changing media consumption habits. Streaming, in particular, has opened new avenues for the channel. Yet as it attracts a broader audience and more opportunities, it also faces technical challenges. With an influx of viewers and new technical hurdles, betevé recently reviewed its existing graphics software, looking to both improve its branding with its current audience and secure wider brand recognition among the broader Barcelona media community.
“The old-fashioned newsroom technology in place was obsolete and unreliable, so it was crucial for us to rethink our options and seek a more advanced solution as soon as possible,” says Jordi Colom, the channel’s technical manager. As an existing user of Avid asset management and video editing tools, Colom and his team at betevé knew where to look.
High-resolution graphics
For its Barcelona-based studios, betevé turned to Avid for a comprehensive set of graphics solutions to elevate the brand’s technical offering and improve the channel’s branding. Overall the team was looking for tools to best create, manage and distribute captivating news graphics and visuals across multiple platforms.
“We chose Avid tools because of their flexibility—they enable us to work quickly and easily,” says Colom. “We needed solutions that met every level of graphic news production—from simple on-screen tickers to more complex graphical procedures.”
betevé invested in Maestro | News (formerly Maestro)—an end-to-end graphics solution that manages the creation, management and distribution of striking, high-resolution graphics and video. From inception to transmission, Maestro | News keeps betevé’s newsroom ahead of the game, providing system flexibility and giving betevé the control to manipulate on-air and interactive graphics, virtual studio displays, and high-res video wall content.
With its user management feature, Maestro | News meets the demanding nature of local news broadcasts with the option to work collaboratively—whether on the ground in the city’s center or back at the studio. As Colom explains, “With 24-hour news delivery, we’re always on the go, so our technology needs to be reliable and capable of an extremely fast turnaround. Thanks to the new Avid solutions, our graphics can be created by designers, directors, and news gatherers directly on set, quickly and efficiently.”
Integrated branding
As betevé works towards greater brand presence across its channel and beyond, Maestro | TX (formerly 3DPlay) provides a vital extension to the graphical capabilities out of its Barcelona studios. The end-to-end channel branding solution provides a complete toolset to deliver real-time 2D and 3D branding graphics for ‘coming up next’, promo over credits, squeeze backs, multiple tickers, and more.
Maestro | Branding ensures betevé’s branding takes pride of place on screen. The channel benefits from the tool’s logic-based graphics, where the graphics’ behavior is determined by scenario. The ”if/then/while” conditions embedded into the tool’s software create both short-term and long-term benefits for betevé, from reduced preparation time to simplified production processes, for highly efficient branding execution. “We dedicate time to create efficient templates, and then from there, we can broadcast them instantly,” adds Colom.
A collaborative, story-centric workflow
The addition of Avid’s industry-leading graphics tools into betevé’s story-centric news operation is hugely advantageous for the broadcaster. Powered by MediaCentral, the industry’s most open, tightly integrated and efficient platform designed for media, the workflow complements the broadcaster’s around-the-clock production. With its new graphics solutions tightly integrated into its existing Avid broadcast workflow, betevé’s newsroom works harmoniously, ensuring each production, and its elements, is managed and delivered seamlessly.
Opting for a scalable and future-proofed newsroom, the broadcaster’s decision to choose Avid graphics was partially driven by its technicians. “One of the benefits we were looking for in a new graphics system was a seamless integration with our newsroom and existing technology,” says David Sánchez. “We want to make life easier for our technicians and journalists, which in turn, ensures everything is done efficiently and on schedule.”
betevé’s Avid workflow is designed to allow greater collaboration between teams and disciplines. This is critical to betevé’s news production that frequently sees journalists and technicians working in different locations. “The content from our journalists gets ingested into MediaCentral | Asset Management (formerly Interplay | MAM) ready for us to review and once approved, we use Media Composer | NewsCutter Option to complete the editing. This is all managed by iNEWS (now part of MediaCentral | Newsroom Management), which looks after every element of our news production. The end-to-end process is completed easily and very efficiently.”
Creative freedom
betevé’s new Avid graphics solutions have changed how the channel operates internally and how it’s viewed externally. “To be the best, you need to have the most modern technology”, explains Colom. “With better, more sophisticated tools, you have more freedom to inject creativity into your productions and adapt when needed. Sometimes our journalists and crews have to drop everything and head into the city to capture news live from the scene. People want to see the news immediately, and thanks to our Avid solutions, we can deliver it in way that’s highly engaging, in record time.”
betevé’s new Avid graphics solutions have helped not just with news delivery but also to transform the visual quality of its programming. With Maestro | News and Maestro | Branding, betevé’s vision to create the highest-quality graphics and branding possible is supported at every step of the workflow. As Sánchez elaborates, “The final viewer gets very sharp, beautiful images; ultimately the picture and design speak for themselves.”
betevé looks to the future with new graphics and branding capabilities that have them prepared. “Avid’s technology has allowed us to tackle branding and consistency with graphics and an improved overall look and feel to our news,” says Colom. “In this competitive and evolving industry, the right broadcast solutions will take our channel to the next level. As we evaluate the investment we’ve made, we couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”