Masstech's DR solution provides broadcasters, programmers and MVPDs with a fully-automated content replication and playout platform for their secondary playout site. The package includes the MassStore software for communication and synchronization with the primary playout facility; an integrated automation and playout system; and nearline storage to keep multiple days' worth of content ready for playback.

"The breadth and frequency of threats to media companies' operational continuity are constantly increasing, while the financial, viewership and brand reputation impact can be much deeper and longer-lasting than ever before," said Steve Hutchinson, Product Manager at Masstech. "DR solutions must be extremely sophisticated to meet the demands of today's file-based operations, limited viewer loyalty and hyper-connected media landscape. Our advanced platform addresses these challenges while making fully-synchronized disaster recovery simple, practical and more affordable."

He says that while rudimentary DR solutions depend on replays of generic, 'evergreen' content to keep channels on-air or online, such approaches fail to meet stations' obligations to their advertisers and content license holders, and such programming will not hold viewers' attention.

“In contrast, the Masstech DR system automatically synchronizes the latest program content, advertising spots and playlists from the primary playout facility, continually keeping the backup playout environment as up-to-date as possible,” says Hutchinson.

MassStore's transcoding engine can optionally reduce the bit rates of media files, enabling programs and ads to be replicated more efficiently even on bandwidth-constrained network links, the firm states.

“Evergreen material can be automatically inserted into playlists as a last resort to replace content that wasn't yet transferred to the alternate site, and for news-producing channels, the solution can automatically play an archive of the most recent news broadcast if an outage occurs during a live newscast.