New CNN affiliate in Albania implements state-of-the-art news production system with Avid

MediaCentral, Maestro graphics solutions and Nexis servers are part of CNN's new 24/7 news production facility at Abania based in Tirana.

Gener 2, one of the largest construction and civil engineering companies in Albania, has selected a wide set of solutions Avid to launch his first television channel, A2 TV, in collaboration with CNN. The channel will be a exclusive CNN affiliate based in Tirana.

A2 TV's 24-hour news service will cover Albania and reach millions more outside the country. The new channel needed a reliable end-to-end solution to support news coverage and provide journalists and users with the most advanced broadcast news workflow. Powered by MediaCentral, Avid's workflow will bring next-generation news production to A2 TV, which is expected to begin broadcasting later this year. The solution was installed by broadcast technology specialist and Avid partner, Teratek.

Andri Kasneci, CEO of A2, believes that "given CNN's reputation and international standards, and Gener 2's position in the Albanian market, it is extremely important that A2 TV offers the best technology. With our new channel, we want to set new milestones in Albanian media, and Avid solutions are essential to achieve this."

A wide range of Avid news solutions are equipping the new facility. MediaCentral Newsroom Management will serve as the dynamic nerve center of A2 TV's advanced news creation, management and distribution, while MediaCentral Production Management It will speed up the entire production workflow, boosting collaboration to get projects done faster. The integration of shared storage Avid Nexus will accelerate the demand for continuous 24/7 news with true virtualization, scalability and storage power. With Avid Media Composer, A2 editors will have software for agile video editing.

The complete set of graphics solutions Maestro will offer 2D and 3D graphics capabilities and includes Maestro News as video and graphics controller, Maestro TX for graphics and channel playout and Maestro PowerWall for innovative control of a touch video wall in the studio. AirSpeed It will pair perfectly with A2 TV's Maestro solutions for versatile media ingest and output.

Tom Cordiner, Senior Vice President of Global Sales at Avid, said: "This is an exciting opportunity to help design a system from the ground up and see some of Avid's latest innovations in action. We are confident that the A2 will realize its ambitions and we can't wait to see the results."