Snell Innovation Drives News Express TV, India's First All-HD News Channel

"In launching India's first HD news channel, we placed a top priority on technologies that could provide 24/7 reliability and built-in features for redundancy. We also required the ability to handle many different functions, such as still stores and RAM recorders, but we looked for systems that could provide these capabilities without requiring us to purchase peripheral equipment," said News Express TV's head of technology and operations, S.K. Salvi, who designed and implemented the first-of-its-kind news channel in record time. "The Snell Kahuna switcher, working in tandem with the IQ Modular components and Pyxis router, delivers all of the advanced functionality of a broadcast-quality switcher in a highly flexible and extremely easy-to-use system."

With the Kahuna switcher, News Express TV producers can easily add complex, multi-layered effects that might otherwise have required expensive postproduction work. Kahuna's multi-format capabilities powered by FormatFusion technology enable seamless mixing of SD and HD broadcasts and provide a smooth change of format. The graphical user interface and the ability to record and reuse macros helps staff members whose backgrounds are less technical. Kahuna brings a great deal of flexibility to the operation by enabling the engineer to map specific keyers to specific M/E outputs.

In addition, News Express TV has deployed more than 40 modules from the Snell IQ Modular broadcast infrastructure line to support master control and playout functions. Snell's RollCall network management system provides integrated monitoring and control capabilities for all Snell products as well as third-party IT and broadcast equipment, enabling News Express TV engineers to perform comprehensive monitoring of the entire network from a single PC. The Pyxis 72 x 72 router enables reliable signal distribution prior to transmission from the playout facility.

"Express News TV plays a critical role in the Indian broadcast landscape by meeting viewers' demand for around-the-clock access to the latest developments in current and breaking news," said Naresh Subherwal, president, Asia-Pacific and Middle East, at Snell. "With Snell's advanced switching, routing, and monitoring systems supporting HD operations, News Express is well-positioned to maintain its leadership in a competitive environment."

About News Express TV:
A member of the Sai Prasad group of companies, News Express TV is India's first true high-definition national news channel. Broadcast in the Hindi language from the city of Noida, News Express TV also publishes a weekly newspaper, Compatriot, and has produced two feature films. News Express TV features a staff of highly trained journalists who are committed to bringing viewers the latest news and current affairs reporting.

Snell is a leading innovator in digital media technology, providing broadcasters and global media companies with a comprehensive range of solutions for creating, managing, and streamlining the distribution of content for today's multi-screen world. Specializing in TV Everywhere and Live TV applications, Snell provides the necessary tools to transition seamlessly and cost-effectively to 4K UHDTV, file-based, and 3Gbps operations, while enabling broadcasters to monetize and deliver their media assets across multiple distribution platforms. Headquartered in the U.K., Snell serves more than 2,000 broadcasters, post facilities, and global media companies in more than 100 countries through its worldwide team of sales and support personnel.