Information Technology Used By Visual Media (NTV) For Broadcasting News

University of Dhaka Faculty of Business Studies Department of Finance

Department of Finance

Faculty of Business StudiesUniversity of Dhaka

F-102: Computer Application in Business

“Information Technology used by visual media (NTV) for broadcasting news”Presented To:

Shabnaz Amin Auditi Course Instructor Faculty of Business Studies

Department of FinanceUniversity of Dhaka

Presented By: Group-2

Batch : 14th

Section : B

Dept. of Finance

Serial No.

Name Roll No.

1 Sultana Shahreen Karim 14-006

2 Abir Hossain 14-010

3 Tanzim Afroz 14-026

4 Md. Habibbullah Mejbah 14-042

5 Abdul Ashif 14-064

Table of contents

SL.

No.

Contents Page No.

1. Preliminary parts 1-7

2. Theoritical Background 8

3. Transmission Process 10-14

4. Hardware & Software 14-17

5. Network Structure 17

6. Trend of Financial Development 18

7. TRP Rating 19

8. Superiority over others 20

9. Conclusion 23

10. Findings 23

11. Problem Identification & Recommendation 23-24

12. Appendix 25-26

May 22, 2008

ToShabnaz Amin AuditiCourse InstructorDepartment of FinanceFaculty of Business StudiesUniversity of Dhaka.

Subject: Submission of report About “The Information Technology Used by Visual Media (International Department Channel Ltd.) For Broadcasting News.”

Dear MadamIt is our real pleasure to submit this report titled “The Information Technology Used by Visual Media (International Television Channel Ltd.”) in Broadcasting News to you under Department of Finance of University of Dhaka.

The broad and overall objective of this report is to provide the reader with an overview of the information technology used by visual media in broadcasting news.

Preparing this report has been extremely challenging, interesting and rewarding experience to us we would like to express our deepest gratitude to you for providing us with such an opportunity.

Thank you for your kind consideration.

Serial No. Name Roll No. Signature1 Sultana Shahreen Karim 14-0062 Abir Hossain 14-0103 Tanzim Afroz 14-0264 Habibbullah Mejbah 14-0425 Abdul Ashif 14-064

Executive Summary

Although news (the most popular & people’s attention programme at present) broadcasting process is very complex and lots of hardware and software are needed in this process,everyone will get a comprehensive idea about the whole process by going through this report.

Basically there are two procedures for broadcasting news.One is Manual Transmission System which requires human involvement and another is the most sophisticated and efficient Automation Transmission System operated and controlled by an Automation Server through pre-scheduled programming.Since news broadcasting is a very long and continues process it requires lot of inter-connected operations maintained by various hardware and software to get the final output.Starting from the EDITING ROOM , Studio ,PCR(Production Control Room), MCR(Master Control Room) need lots of special and sophisticated hardware and software for sending the news on air.

With a view to gathering information from outside and for organizational requirement ,NTV is using Intranet(a combination of both LAN & WAN) secured by a customized Firewall Software.AS a result of using modern and most developed IT ,NTV is still in a profit earning position inspite of the the devastating fire explosion through the sales increase which got doubled from 2003 to 2008. The most conspiquous impact of using IT is the cost reduction and less dependency on manpower. Besides earning profit NTV has won the heart of people in home & abroad which evidence is the highest TRP rating (50.05%) on the 20th month of the year among nine TV channels.All these above things has become possible due to the indispensable use of IT in the news broadcasting process by International Television Channel Ltd(NTV).

Introduction

Origin of Report

With a view to producing tractable and flexible business executives, the

“Department of Finance in the Faculty of Business Studies (DU)” has designed a

well-planned curriculum for the students. By dint of this, the students are

privileged to have a course on “Computer Application in Business”, (F-102). This

course not only upgrades the book-based knowledge on computer application in

business but also enriches the capability of students related to practical-life .

Now-a-days visual media is playing the most significant role in making the world

a “Global Village” by providing all the current news happening in the farthest

corner of the world alongwith a very considerable participation in global

business.To keep pace with the modern world, the visual media industry in

Bangladesh is using the best Information Technology available which helps them

capture more market share through profit maximization.. Our focus was to

illustrate the use and impact of Information Technology on a business organization

and make out some overcome paths. For this task, we have prepared the report

titled’ INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY USED BY VISUAL MEDIA (NTV)

FOR BROADCASTING NEWS”.

Objectives of the report:

1. Showing the integral use of IT (Information Technology) in broadcasting

news by International Television Channel Ltd.

2. Providing information about the news broadcasting process.

3. Providing detailed information about MCR (Master Control Room), PCR

(Production Control Room), Editing or Ingesting Room, News Studio and

Archive.

4. Showing the hardware and software used in the process.

5. Demonstration the impact of the use of IT.

6. Clarifying the previous and present condition of International Television

Channel L td. in presence and absence of IT.

Methodology and Sources of Information:

1. Primary Source :

The required information is collected by interviewing the General Manager

of News and Broadcast, General Manager of Finance and Accounts,

Network and system administrator and News Room Editor.

2. Secondary Source:

Websites, annual reports, TRP reports are the secondary sources of

information.

Limitations: In preparing this report we faced some problems, which are

mentioned below.

1. Highly sophisticated and confidential department (IT Department) for

acquiring information.

2. Facing problems in getting easy access in IT department.

3. Lack of spontaneous support and cooperation from the NTV authority.

4. No permission to have any photographs of the equipments.

5. Company’s internal strategy and policy for keeping their hardware

configuration confidential.

About NTV

History:

NTV is a Bengali language satellite television channel based in Bangladesh. It

started its operation in 2003. Mosaddeq Ali Falu, a politician and former Member

of Parliament, founded it. It is one of the most popular Bengali channels and the

first ever IT based channel in Bangladesh. The channel broadcasts excellent

coverage of news, soap shows, educational, religious and politics related

programs.

Growth and Development:

In August 2006, Channel S, a UK based Bengali TV channel acquired

the rights to show NTV programs throughout Europe.

Now it is available in USA via Dish Network, a satellite provider.

On the anniversary of the channel, the founder raised a proposal of

creating NTV 2 to satisfy the watchers.

Key Events:

2003 It was established

2006 NTV became available in Europe

2007 It became available in USA. Later NTV

was forced off the air because of a fire

disaster.

Quality Policy:

“Shomoyer Shathe Agameer Pothe”

Mission:

NTV’s mission is to capture the market share and be the leader in television

industry in Bangladesh.

Vision:

To be broadcaster of highest quality program, drama, talk show, children program,

musical program and find out talented artists from the mass people and provide

best News services faster than any other channel all over the world to achieve

highest satisfaction of our customers and viewers.

Goal:

As a television company NTV’s goal is wealth maximization.

Social Responsibilities:

NTV has long been involved in a series of social activities.

Raising Fund for Sidr Victims:

NTV raised fund for the victims of Devastating cyclone Sidr which

occurred in November,2007.

NTV Basti:

NTV authority has a plan to establish an asylum called NTV Basti for the

Sidr victims who have lost their homes.

Care Program:

NTV provides financial help through the care program.

Music School:

NTV is going to establish a music school with the amount of money which

is earned from a talent hunt show.

Theoretical Background

Some technical words and phrases are used in the later part of this report which might be found unfamiliar by the readers. So for reader’s best convenience short explanations are mentioned here.

Digital Video Format (DV): This format delivers video output of 1080X780 resolution and 25fps refreshing rate.

Video Tape Recorder: An electronic device, much like VCR, used to play video of DV format.

Graphic Control System: A computer system, used to create templates and design animation to add extra visual effect in the news program.

Video Switcher: This device takes video images as input from different sources and gives output as only one video track.

Audio Mixer: Receives audio input from various audio sources like VTR or live feed and then mixes them up, controls volume level of each audio input and finally converts them as one audio track.

Automation Server: Server is general term used to indicate highly powerful computers which basically work at the center of a network system and manage data flow from one component to another component, monitor and control the functions of the components.

Solid State Technology: It is a new invention in the field of photography. It is recently introduced in Bangladesh by NTV. This technology made it possible to capture and store high definition graphics and audio of high sampling rate into a silicon memory in a compressed format.

To collect information we used questionnaire for interviewing the

officials of NTV all of our group mates participated in preparing the

questionnaire and interviewing the officials. We tried our best to

collect as much information as we can about the Information

Technology used by NTV for broadcasting news. We divided the

information that we collected into six major portions.

1. Procedures to broadcast news

I. Manual Transmission

II. Automation Transmission

2. Hardware & Software used in the process 3. Network Structure

4. Trend of financial development

5. TRP rating

6. Superiority over other TV channels

International Television Channel Ltd (NTV) is the first ever TV

channel in Bangladesh which started its transmission with a

complete Automation system. But due to the unavoidable fire

explosion on 26th February 2007,it was compelled to switch to

Manual Transmission for a temporary period .At present they are

using Automation system for transmission.

In order to have a clear concept about both the system we are going to

describe both manual and automation transmission systems respectively.

Manual Transmission System:

The transmission system, where the involvement of manpower is required

and manpower plays a vital role in operating and controlling the overall

transmission system, is called Manual Transmission System.

The flowchart of Manual Transmission System is illustrated in the next page.

Flowchart of Manual Transmission:

Cameraman & reporter on the spot

Capturing the event on DVC

MCR

(Hardware & Software)

PCR

(Hardware &Software)

Server

Earth Station

SAT

News on Air

EDITING ROOM

NLE(NON-LINEAR EDITING)

Studio

Equipment

Instruction from the CNE

Automation Transmission System:

The transmission system, which is exclusively operated and controlled by the

automation server with very little human involvement in scheduling operations, is

called Automation Transmission System.

All the steps in this system are same as the Manual Transmission System but some

extra equipment and rooms are needed in this system for the transmission, which

are illustrated as a flowchart in the next page.

.

To avoid complexity first four steps are not shown in the flowchart, which are the same as the Manual transmission system.

Flowchart of Automation Transmission:

IngestingRoom

PCR MCR

IngestingServer

PlayoutServer

CentralStorage

Earth Station SA

T

News on Air

Central Equipment Room

Automated Server

News Server

Studio

Automation Transmission System:

In this system two extra rooms are required for transmission. One is Central

Equipment Room and another is Ingesting Room. In the Central Equipment Room

there exist the Automation server and News server, which are interconnected.

Ingesting Room is such a room, which receives any current news from outside

source that was not included in the edited news package. There is Central Storage

in the Central Equipment Room, which stores all the information, and the Playout

server is used for the final transmission while the Ingesting server is used in the

Ingesting Room. Through the inter-connected operations among these equipment

and rooms news goes on air from the Earth Station.

Hardware and Software

A wide verity of hardware and software are used in broadcasting process. Here

classified description of hardware configuration is presented along with their

respective software. This classification has been according to the name of working

room they are installed.

Ingesting Room: The ingesting room of NTV possesses two workstations

especially configured to perform video editing. Detailed description of these two

workstations is given below.

Hardware:

Motherboard: Intel 945GCNL

Processor: Intel Pentium D 2.44GHz

RAM: 2 GB DDR-2

Secondary Storage: C- GATE 500GB SATA

Video Adapter: NVIDIA G-Force 8400GT, 512 DDR-2 video

memory

Editing Card: Matrons-EXIO

Software

System Software: Windows XP-2005

Editing Software: Adobe Premier, version-5.02

Production Control Room (PCR): The PCR directly controls the whole news

broadcasting process. Which camera view will go on air, sequence of VTR’s

operation, audio mixing etc every function is done from this room according to

production manager’s instruction. The PCR of NTV is equipped with three VTRs,

one graphics control system, a video switcher, an audio mixing device and some

monitors showing video running on the VTRs.

Video Tape Recorder: Sony VTR; model-10

Graphic Control System: GCS includes the following hardware and software.

Motherboard: Asus P5BVM (965)

Processor: Intel Pentium 4; 2.44 GHz

RAM: 512 MB DDR2

Secondary Storage: 80-GB C-GATE IDE

Video Adapter: NVIDIA Ge-Force8600GS

System Software: Windows XP 2005 sp-2

Video Switcher: Panasonic AV-HS400N

(Compact Live Multi-Format HD/SD Switcher)

Audio Mixer: Panasonic AG-MX70

(8 input professional digital audio mixer)

Studio: In the news studio there are three camcorders positioned at three

different places of the room pointed at the news presenter. A short overview of

these three camcorders is as follows

Name: Panasonic P2

Manufacturer: Panasonic

Model no: AJ HPX3000

Pixel: Three 2/3” high density 2.2 million pixel CCDs

Resolution: 1920X1080 with 4:2:2 10- bit sampling rate

Master Control Room (MCR)

A master control server performs all operations of the MCR. This server literally

controls the whole broadcasting process from the beginning to the ending.

Scheduling sequence of each segments, period of commercial break, selection of

video templates every detail are conducted by this automation server as previously

provided instructions. Master control server is linked with ingesting panel, central

archive and news server placed at PCR. In automation transmission process master

control server plays the most prolific role of controlling the functions of each and

every component engaged in recording and broadcasting activities.

NTV uses a customized master control server in their MCR especially designed to

perform broadcasting activities. Detailed hardware configuration of this server was

kept confidential by NTV authority and cannot be provided in this report.

Network Structure

NTV uses a well interactive LAN. This LAN covers the whole 6th and 7th floor. In

automation transmission process this LAN links every working room with each

other. In case of any news-taking place outside of Dhaka, reporters and technicians

cover the event and send the video feed through Internet to the master control

server. Then the server sends the information to required section. In case of live

broadcasting the camcorder is plugged in the port. This port is channeled with the

Master Control Server placed in the head office. Then the Master Control Server

decides the next step of the broadcasting process. To collect information from

abroad NTV uses WAN. The entire network structure is well secured by a firewall.

Trend of Financial Development

Some important financial information:

Yearly maintenance expense for IT is 2%-3% of the total assets

Value of Total assets is 30 crore

Damage caused by fire explosion is 20 crore(Approx.)

Total sales has got doubled from 2003 to 2008 due to the use of modern IT

Increase in gross profit is 10%-20% due to the use of developed IT

TRP rating:

TRP rating is conducted by an Indian organization named SIRIUS to evaluate and compare the quality and popularity of programmes telecast by the TV channels of Bangladesh. A graphical illustration of TRP rating among nine TV channels operating in Bangladesh is presented below:

Superiority over other T.V. channels

1. Use of satellite microwave system.

2. More improved live show technology. (Transmission simultaneously from

6 different places)

3. Portable earth station.

4. Digital satellite news gathering system (DSNG)

5. Highly sophisticated and secure firewall software.

Findings

In this section we are going to show:

I. Impact due to the absence of ITII. Impact due to the use of IT

Impact due to the absence of IT after the fire explosion:

1.Temporary discontinuation in broadcasting:

Due to the fire explosion the entire broadcasting of NTV was collapsed and it was stopped for nearly two months.

2.Loss of quality in broadcasting:

As they lost their major equipments during the fire explosion, they were compelled to restart their broadcasting with scarce equipments which caused drop in there broadcasting quality.

3.More dependency on manpower:

Since the automated server was damaged during the fire explosion, they restarted their broadcasting in a manual transmission system which required more dependency on manpower.

4.Increase of Expense & decrease of Net Income:

Because of the loss of IT during the fire explosion the total expense of NTV increased in different sectors (more salary for the increased manpower) and in place of Net Income, a Net Loss of 15 crore was incurred.

5.Loss of potential time:

In the manual transmission system most of the operations were done by manpower, which resulted in slower performance than the automation transmission system.

6.Loss of previous TRP rating:

Due to the fire explosion on 26th February 2007,NTV had to keep their transmission off for nearly two months, which caused the loss of their previous TRP rating.

Impact due to the use of IT:

1.Faster, reliable & flawless broadcasting:

THE automation server along with other highly sophisticated and developed information technology ensures faster, reliable and flawless broadcasting with very negligible participation of manpower.

2.Less dependency on manpower:

Through the use of automation server, NTV is getting the advantage of less dependency on manpower as it works automatically according to pre-scheduled operations.

3.Time and cost saving:

Because of using automation server and other improved technologies NTV is saving its time and cost on manpower comparing to the preliminary stage.

4.Increased capacity to broadcast abroad:

By developing the technology of Satellite Microwave Station outside the country NTV is now telecasting their proagrammes in U.S.A. and Europe.

5.Affluence of highly skilled IT professionals:

In order to maintain the entire system, NTV has the affluence of highly skilled IT professionals who help keep the broadcasting going smoothly.

6.Higher TRP rating& immense popularity in home & Abroad:

By telecasting quality proagrammes ensured by modern IT, NTV has achieved immense popularity in home and abroad and it has gained the highest TRP rating (50.05%) on the 20th month of 2008.

7.Profit maximization & capturing more market share :

Because of the immense popularity of proagrammes the sponsors are investing more on advertisement and this trend has doubled the total sale of NTV from 2003 to 2008 resulting in profit maximization (6 crore in 2006) and capturing more market share in Visual Media Industry.

Conclusion:

After analyzing all the information given before we have come to a decision that

Information Technology is an integral part of International Television Channel Ltd

(NTV) and it has an absolute impact on the overall business activities of

NTV.Although they started their transmission with the most developed technology

available, the unavoidable accident of fire greatly hampered their overall

broadcasting and business. But it is a matter of great surprise and appreciation that

overcoming all the obstacles NTV re-started their broadcasting within nearly two

months and regained their previous popularity in home and abroad only by using

modern and developed Information Technology.

Problem Identification & Recommendation

After having a clear idea about the Information Technology used by NTV in news

broadcasting, we have figured out two weaknesses of their technologies which

are :

1. Not having any backup Automation server

2. Not having Digital Archive with a backup

In order to overcome these weaknesses and for further enhancement in the quality

of their broadcasting we are recommending some latest technologies for them

along with specific reason.

1. Backup Automation server:

In order to keep the transmission going incase of any damage to the main

Automation server.

2. Digital Archive along with a Backup:

In order to save the cost of magnetic tape and have all the collections intact incase

of any damage to the main Archive.

3. P2-Panasonic Camera (Solid State Technology):

I. Quality maintain

II. Time saving

III. Less expensive

IV. Multiple Format Selection in the same camera

4. “COMBUSCHAIN ”, Real-time Graphics System:

In order to have more graphical impact on news broadcasting with more quality

Appendix A

Bibliography

Personnel:

Md. Zinnah Hussain, GM Finance & Accounts, International Television Channel Ltd.

Nashir Uddin, Senior News Room Editor, News and Current Affairs, International Television Channel Ltd.

A.T.M. Ahbab Nawaz, Network and System Administrator, International Television Channel Ltd.

Belal Aman, GM News and Broadcast, International Television Channel Ltd.

WEBSITES:

www.Vizardee.com www.Octopus.com www.aveco.com www.Gigasat.com www.Sony.com www.Panasonic.com www.ntvbd.com

Appendix B

Questionnaire:

How many departments do you have in your organization?

What are the procedures for broadcasting news?

What are the hardware needed to broadcast news?

What are the software needed to broadcast news?

Do your organization use any customized software for news

broadcasting?

What is your superiority over other TV channel?

What are the impacts on your organization due to the use of

developed IT?

What are the impacts on your organization during the absence of

IT due to the fire explosion?

What is your current financial condition and TRP rating?

Do your organization have any plan to modernize the IT section for further development?