Fisher Communications Deploys MonitorIQ from Digital Nirvana for Loudness and Compliance Monitoring
Fisher Communications Deploys MonitorIQ from Digital Nirvana for Loudness and Compliance Monitoring
Author:Pipeline Communications
Stations Monitor Compliance Issues Independently, but Group Management can also Perform Remote Checks
Newark, CA, January 16, 2012 – Fisher Communications, Inc. [NASDAQ:FSCI], a Seattle-based broadcast communications and media company, announced that Digital Nirvana’s MonitorIQ Essentials 3.0 is the station group’s chosen platform for regulatory compliance and loudness monitoring. MonitorIQ provides Web-based, HD/SD channel monitoring, logging, compliance, and diagnostics/QC, as well as archiving of content recordings for up to 90 days.
MonitorIQ Essentials is one of four versions designed to tailor MonitorIQ to the varying requirements of broadcasters. “So far, we’ve installed MonitorIQ at three of our stations, including KOMO-TV4 in Seattle and KATU in Portland, OR in 2011, and KBAK-TV in Bakersfield, CA this year. Our plan is to eventually deploy it across the entire station group,” said Lee Wood, regional director of engineering for Fisher Communications, in Seattle, WA, which operates 13 full power and seven low power television stations across the U.S. To verify regulatory compliance or diagnose technical issues on the recorded air-checks, MonitorIQ lets station engineers and operators watch HD video and listen to individual audio channels to check the quality their viewers experienced during the live broadcast. They can also double-check the presence of vital metadata, such as closed captions, the Nielsen NAVE II Watermark, and picture identifier data (PID) embedded in the transport stream, as well as loudness levels now regulated by the U.S. CALM Act.
“All of our stations will use MonitorIQ primarily for regulatory compliance and loudness monitoring of our off-air HD and SD DTV channels,” Wood added. “Also, should a question ever arise as to whether a commercial spot ran as scheduled, MonitorIQ lets us to create a Windows Media video clip of the ad in the context of the programming to prove it ran as planned. Having this capability protects and preserves strong customer relations, revenues, and our credibility.” While each Fisher station will manage and maintain its own compliance air-checks independently, station group management can check anything in any of their stations’ MonitorIQ databases remotely. With its Web-based access and intuitive search tools, MonitorIQ ensures that any desired video segment will be readily accessible, easy to find, and viewable from any browser. Searching is based upon keywords, titles, subtitles, descriptions, textual metadata, closed-caption text and imported logs, with filtering by time, date and channel. Recordings can be easily edited, clipped, stored and sent via email or FTP.
“With mandates related to loudness levels, closed captioning, and other regulations, broadcasters need capable, scalable solutions designed to monitor their off-air signals for compliance,” said Ned Chini, vice president of sales and marketing for Digital Nirvana. “MonitorIQ also serves as a quality control solution that automatically logs technical issues, such as dropped audio or missing closed captions, and provides links to the video for easier access and review. We’re extremely pleased that Fisher Communications has entrusted their regulatory compliance and loudness monitoring to MonitorIQ.”
About Digital Nirvana
Since 1996, Digital Nirvana has been empowering customers with innovative knowledge management technologies. By combining media and digital technology expertise, Digital Nirvana makes it possible for organizations to streamline operations and gain competitive advantage with advanced product and service offerings. The industry-leading MonitorIQ Broadcast Monitoring System from Digital Nirvana is a full-featured monitoring platform incorporating the most advanced capabilities available in an affordable, networked appliance. Digital Nirvana is headquartered in Newark, California and has operations in multiple locations globally. Further information is available at www.digital-nirvana.com. Download this release as a PDF. For more information, contact: Robin Hoffman Pipeline Communications 277 Valley Way Montclair, NJ 07042 Cell: (917) 763-8069 robinhoffman@pipecomm.com www.pipecomm.com Ned Chini Digital Nirvana 39899 Balentine Drive, Suite 200 Newark, CA 94560 510-226-9000 x707 nedchini@digital-nirvana.com www.digital-nirvana.com. Editor’s Note: High-resolution product photography is available upon request.