Finland's MTV Oy implements second installation of SGL FlashNet

Southampton, UK
13th February 2007

Software Generation Limited (SGL), a leading provider of content archive and storage management software for media and entertainment, has been selected by Finnish broadcaster MTV Oy to provide SGL FlashNet as a key element in its major newsroom archive upgrade. Mediatrade, SGL's Finnish partner, is providing sales and first line support.

This announcement follows MTV Oy's successful installation of SGL FlashNet as a significant part of its digital upgrade project in December 2004. The new newsroom system featuring SGL FlashNet interfaces with a StorageTek tape library and uses Omnibus automation to run Leitch video servers. News feeds from a number of sources are stored in the system, with defined rules implemented for every type of content. MTV Oy's news editors then edit news stories in the running order and compile them in the Leitch video servers ready for playout.

Antero Hoffman, MTV Oy's Vice President Technical Operations, commented: "We have been impressed with the extensive capabilities of SGL FlashNet following our initial installation two years ago. From the beginning, the plan included our playout operations as well as the news area. We started by implementing the system for advertisement storage. This meant that short advertisements could be stored over a long period of time allowing clients to rerun ad campaigns years after the original campaign had aired. As the system proved to perform as expected, we continued with long-form programming, which naturally makes up most of the content stored in the system. Based on the project success so far, SGL was a natural choice."

Bernie Walsh, SGL's Sales Director added: "We are delighted to be working with MTV Oy following our previous successful partnership. Broadcasters like MTV Oy are finding new ways to utilise technology to ensure their storage requirements fulfil the needs of all departments from News to Transmission. SGL are pleased to be at the forefront of this transformation."

The Finnish network, based in Helsinki, broadcasts six channels including MTV3, the leading channel in Finland, which boasts 40 per cent prime time viewer share. MTV3 broadcasts breakfast television programmes, news, sports, series and films in both terrestrial analogue and digital formats. Subtv is MTV Oy's digital terrestrial and analogue cable channel directed at a younger demographic. The number of channels is growing rapidly. MTV recently launched four new pay-TV channels for terrestrial and cable distribution and also plays out TV4 Fakta for Sweden.

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Software Generation Limited is a privately held archive management software company headquartered in Southampton, England. SGL has been in business since 1989 and its flagship FlashNet product is installed in over 4500 customer sites around the world. More information can be found at www.sgluk.com.