CNN's exclusive regional news partner, N1 broadcasts via cable, direct-to-home satellite and on the Net TV Plus OTT platform. The project was commissioned via PlayBox Neo distribution partner PBT Adria which supervised the design, installation and operator training.

"The time had come to modernise the playout facilities for our three regional channels," says N1 CTO Vladimir Ilic. "Following a careful study of the various solutions on the market, we opted for AirBox Neo-20 servers as being the most efficient to operate and maintain. They provide all the facilities needed for prescheduling and automated playout while retaining the flexibility we need to support near-to-airtime changes or live inserts. Everything is controlled from a unified interface which simplifies staff training and allows our operators to work with maximum confidence. The PlayBox Neo Channel-in-a-Box approach also allows us to accommodate extra servers easily if we need to expand our workflow."

"Although CNN's exclusive news partner in the region, the three Balkan channels create a great deal of content specific to their regions, setting commendably high engineering and creative standards in the process," adds PBT Adria's General Manager Vladimir Stanić. "We are very proud to have been selected as a technology partner. After detailed discussions with the N1 engineering team, we recommended a solution comprising seven AirBox Neo-20 playout servers plus a PlayBox Neo Multi Backup Manager. We have equipped the N1 facilities with PlayBox Neo servers in 1+1 main and backup configuration and they will broadcast to Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina regions. All N1 production and transmission are in HD, supplemented by a downconverted feed for SD delivery. As part of the system, we also integrated PBT Adria Traffic Box traffic management software which is used for program rights handling, scheduling and EPG deployment."

"Our CIAB approach, based around the AirBox Neo server and its wide range of supporting software, continues to enjoy a high level of popularity among broadcasters and playout service providers," comments PlayBox Neo CEO Pavlin Rahnev. "Our latest Neo-20 updates have made AirBox Neo more powerful than ever, including new interface architecture and an integrated browser-based multiviewer. Our strategy is to offer CIAB, cloud-based and server/cloud hybrid solutions so that our customers have the greatest possible flexibility in their choice of workflow patterns and in the scale of their operations."