Welcome to the new quarterly newsletter from OmniBus. With each issue, we'll attempt to provide insight into the latest trends in video content management and broadcast automation and how IT-based solutions are solving unique and complex challenges for broadcast, cable, and new media companies around the globe.

The transition to a fully IT-based infrastructure for automating the broadcast chain has been both an opportunity and a challenge for broadcasters. Most recognize the benefits – and the inevitability – of replacing their proprietary, video-based systems with file-based processes running on commercial-grade IT hardware platforms.

Traditional systems require a substantial amount of dedicated hardware, and coordinating all of these systems and related protocols to enable transmission can be both challenging and costly. Yet, until recently, no practical solutions existed for porting the transmission chain over to the IT environment.

Against this backdrop, our CTO, Ian Fletcher, realized that the approach of using disparate products to deliver small pieces of the puzzle would never scale up to match today's complex broadcasting operations – a world that's increasingly defined by the repurposing and rebroadcasting of content over many different platforms. That’s when we took the decision to make a significant investment in R&D to develop iTX, our enterprise-class, software-based video content management and transmission solution. With iTX, we've delivered a fast and cost-effective path for our customers to enter the new merged worlds of IT and broadcast.

In many ways, we were taking a big chance with iTX by bucking the status quo and questioning whether "business as usual" was enough for today's broadcasters. But overwhelmingly, we have seen leading broadcasters, most notably DIRECTV, install iTX to launch channels for traditional broadcast applications, satellite broadcast and mobile content delivery. As a result, iTX is rapidly gaining a solid installed base and has garnered substantial recognition and the top awards in the industry.

We hope you enjoy this newsletter and we want it to serve as a valuable resource for you.

Mike Oldham, CEO

On September 7, OmniBus Systems announced that it was in the final stages of deployment of its largest iTX installation for DIRECTV, the leading satellite television service provider in the United States. iTX is to be used for DIRECTV's HD CONUS expansion project, which will enable DIRECTV to initially deliver up to 100 national channels by year-end.

This prestigious and groundbreaking project involves 80 fully redundant HD playout channels and includes HD ingest and advanced integration with DIRECTV's business and control systems. The solution makes extensive use of the new Dolby® Digital surround sound capabilities available in iTX and is deployed entirely on industry-standard HP ProLiant and BladeSystem servers. OmniBus has teamed with Accenture for professional services on the HD CONUS project.

"iTX takes a dramatically different approach to content management, advertisement insertion and transmission by exclusively using standard IT server and storage technologies," said Tim Mendoza, OmniBus Systems' executive vice president and business unit manager for the Americas. "The result is a highly scalable software solution that transforms traditional proprietary broadcast operations into highly effective open platforms. iTX's customers can not only leverage the massive processing power that is current in today's off-the-shelf servers, but also migrate, as required, to ever more powerful future IT technologies."

iTX has revolutionized the television and video production/distribution industries. This unique integrated, software-based solution from OmniBus Systems incorporates key broadcast components such as automation, master control, digital video effects, branding, video ingest and HD/SD/IP outputs to enable simpler, more cost-effective operation of broadcast and IP channels and services.

"This is a significant milestone in the history of this industry," said Ian Fletcher, OmniBus Systems' chief technology officer. "Until now the transition to software-based playout solutions has been traditionally limited to small, specialist channels. The power of iTX and the vision of DIRECTV have together demonstrated that such enterprise-class solutions are now not only viable, but in fact the most logical choice. Any broadcaster looking to build a playout center has to look carefully at the huge financial and technical advantages of adopting this approach."

Visit OmniBus at www.omnibus.tv