Sony and IBM to digitise CNN's archive
- — 24 April, 2001 09:28
The Sony-IBM system will digitise, store, and catalogue more than 120,000 hours of archival tape, gathered during the past 21 years. The archive is intended primarily for CNN's internal use, but within the next several years the company hopes to add a consumer component to the archive, most likely through a pay-per-view-style plan.
A CNN (Cable News Network) spokeswoman said the archiving is currently under way. The network's initial focus is on archiving older material, both to preserve the material before it degrades and because it's in high demand.
IBM is providing the system's database and middleware software, its media management applications and an assortment of hardware. Specific IBM products involved in the project include the company's Media Production Suite, Content Manager, DB2 Universal Database, MQSeries workflow software, WebSphere infrastructure software, and RS/6000 and RS/6000 SP servers.
Meanwhile, Sony's Systems Solutions Division provided system design services, broadcast video products, custom software and integration services. The company's Sony Petasite robotic digital tape unit will digitally store the archived video; the company is also providing technology for the synchronous capture of multiple resolutions of video and metadata in a single pass.
Several third-party vendors are also supplying products, including Virage's VideoLogger and Minerva Networks's Video Network Platform-251 CODEC (coder/decoder).
Monday's announcement came at a National Association of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas.
