How TVL launched its channel with integrated cloud planning and playout

Preparing the schedule, getting programmes on air and presenting live interviews: when TVL launched, these responsibilities overlapped. The new Norwegian channel needed an installation that its small team could learn and operate alongside making programmes. Working with Norwegian systems integrator Mediability, we supplied PROVYS for programme planning and Stream Circle for playout as part of a connected cloud installation. Together with Mimir for media asset management and Sienna for contribution, distribution and monitoring, the systems supported the channel’s launch in 2022 with both scheduled programmes and live studio interviews.

A new channel, built from the ground up

TVL launched as a Norwegian television channel with a Christian editorial focus. When the project began, it was preparing to broadcast for the first time. The installation would become the foundation for one linear channel, bringing together the tools needed to prepare content, build the broadcast schedule and deliver the programme output.

The project started with a small team on the customer’s side. The intention was to make the channel as straightforward to operate as possible, with a minimum of people involved in day-to-day operation. That requirement shaped the value of the combined solution: each part had a specific job, but the people using it needed to work across several of those jobs.

Building an operation for a small team

TVL’s requirements extended from handling media to broadcasting live from its studio. Recorded material had to be available for planning, included in a schedule and delivered to playout. Live interviews also needed a route from the studio into the broadcast output. These were connected operational tasks, even though different products would handle them.

For a small team, usability mattered across the whole installation. The person preparing a schedule also needed to understand how media became available and how the programme reached the output. The scope extended from the technical operation to content preparation and presenting programmes on screen.

The challenge was therefore to establish an operation that TVL’s team could learn and use alongside its programme-making responsibilities. Selecting a playout system was one part of that task. Connecting it to planning, media asset management and the surrounding signal infrastructure was equally important.

An existing connection between planning and playout

Mediability already had a working relationship with PROVYS. Through that relationship, it learned that cloud playout was available alongside the planning system. For TVL, this offered an established connection between PROVYS planning and Stream Circle playout.

The Stream Circle team identified that connection as an important reason the combination appealed to Mediability. The partner could incorporate an already integrated planning and playout system into the project, reducing the integration work needed between those two products. The wider installation still involved other systems and their interfaces, but the link between the schedule and its execution was already established.

The deployment uses two cloud environments. Stream Circle runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS), as requested for the installation, while PROVYS runs on Oracle Cloud. The two systems exchange the broadcast data (schedules, as runs,…) across those environments.

How media moved from preparation to transmission

Mimir, a cloud-native MAM, provided the cloud media asset management system. It supplied information about available media to both PROVYS and Stream Circle. This gave the planning side information about the content available to schedule and connected the playout side to the media it would need for transmission.

The operator created the broadcast schedule in PROVYS. Once material was selected and placed in the schedule, PROVYS sent the playlist to Stream Circle. That playlist told the playout system which media to play. Stream Circle obtained the required files through Mimir and used them to produce the scheduled channel output.

The distinction between those exchanges was important: the playlist carried the broadcast plan, while the media files supplied the material to be played. The installation connected both, so the programming decisions made in PROVYS could be carried through to transmission by Stream Circle.

Stream Circle then delivered the continuous programme output to Sienna ND infrastructure. Sienna’s role in the installation covered contribution, distribution and monitoring, with NDI used for signal exchange. The output leaving Stream Circle was the running programme, ready for the distribution side of the system to handle.

Live broadcasting is also part of the installation. TVL produces studio interviews, and the live studio signal reaches Stream Circle for transmission. The same channel can therefore carry scheduled media and live programming. The installation also includes on-air graphics. For TVL’s team, preparing the channel involves both selecting recorded content for the schedule and producing programmes for live broadcast.

Implementation coordinated by Mediability

Mediability led the project and carried overall responsibility for the installation. It set out the requirements and coordinated the suppliers, with our PROVYS and Stream Circle teams providing their respective systems through it. This kept the integrator’s role central throughout the delivery.

When a question required input from several parts of the project, Mediability brought the relevant people together. Those discussions included the TVL representative and specialists from PROVYS and Stream Circle. Four people contributed on the Stream Circle side, as part of the broader effort involving Mediability and the PROVYS team.

Our Stream Circle project records place the first discussions and quotation work in January 2022. The purchase order followed on 14 February, and the first on-air date was 1 May. Less than three months separated the order and broadcast launch.

What the launch demonstrated

TVL began broadcasting with connected planning, media management and playout, supporting scheduled programmes and live interviews. The installation provided a route from available content through the broadcast schedule to the programme output.

One recollection from our Stream Circle project team captures the demands of the launch. A single person at TVL coordinated technical matters, learned to operate the systems, prepared content and also presented interviews. That combination of responsibilities shows why ease of operation mattered during the launch.

TVL’s launch shows why the connections between planning, media management and playout mattered to this project. PROVYS and Stream Circle supplied an established link between the schedule and transmission; Mediability brought that link into the wider installation. Together, these systems supported a team whose responsibilities ranged from preparing the broadcast schedule to appearing on screen.

Project facts