ABC News implemented a new digital network called BureauNET to streamline its news gathering workflow. BureauNET replaced expensive satellite uplinks with internet-based technology, allowing ABC to transmit live video and files over a single managed network connection. This reduced operating costs by over $1.5 million per year. Partners Level(3) Communications and Pathfire provided the network and video transmission software. The new system significantly increased content sharing between bureaus and eased the process of delivering video from remote locations.

1. CASE STUDY
BureauNET: The Next Generation Platform for News Gathering
By David Christophersen
Project Manager – Broadcast Operations and Engineering
ABC Television Networks Inc.
“ABC News has
benefited
significantly from
the migration to
digital news
gathering”
John Arrowsmith, Senior
Operations Producer, ABC
News
Overview
Challenge
Transform the news gathering workflow by replacing expensive satellite
uplinks with Internet based technology. Provide web access, private
Ethernet and live video services over a common managed network.
Provide 24/7 monitoring and maintenance of all equipment.
Solution
ABC Television partners with Level(3) Communications and Pathfire to
implement a completely digital network capable of delivering live video
and file-based media over a standard DS-3 connection. Cisco Professional
Services provides an outsourced management contract for remote
equipment.
Results
Reduced operating costs by over $1.5 million a year. Streamlined the
process of delivering video from remote locations. Significantly increased
the volume of content being moved between bureaus.
Knowledge Areas
▪ Telecommunications
▪ Business Process Change
▪ Strategic Outsourcing

2. CASE STUDY
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News coverage in an increasingly crowded
market
ABC News, the award winning producer of programs
such as Good Morning America, Nightline and World
News Tonight with Charles Gibson, faces an ongoing
challenge to create compelling news content in an
increasingly crowded market. Continual pressure to cut
costs while maintaining the highest journalistic
standards has motivated ABC News to find new and
innovative ways to cover breaking stories in the field.
Most news organizations today rely on expensive
satellite uplinks for transmitting video footage from the
field. ABC News was seeking a more efficient and cost-
effective platform to connect its regional bureaus to the
New York headquarters of ABC Television.
The ideal solution would need to provide both live video
and IP data services over a common, managed network.
Historically ABC News maintained analog circuits in the
Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, New York and
Washington D.C. bureaus for transmitting video.
Separate T1 or DS-3 circuits were installed for Internet
access. (see Figure 1) The opportunity to consolidate
everything onto a single circuit made good financial
sense but proved to be a major technical challenge.
Adding to the complexity was the need to also provide a
global, private Ethernet network for ABC NewsOne, the
affiliate news service supporting over two-hundred
subscribers worldwide. NewsOne maintains media
servers in the regional bureaus that must communicate
with the central hub in New York. Says Chris Myers,
Director of Operations, NewsOne, “Security and
bandwidth are so vital that only a private Ethernet
network is acceptable.”
Moving video as digital files
Starting in 2003 ABC News began testing devices that
encode video as files such as Telestream ClipMail. The
goal was to determine if the Internet could be used to
transfer broadcast quality video from remote locations
in a reasonable amount of time. The results were
promising however the overall complexities of the
encoding and transmission process made it impractical
for daily use.
Pathfire introduces “Direct”
In 2005 Pathfire, the content distribution partner for
ABC NewsOne, announced a new product designed to
simplify the encoding and transmission of media over IP
networks. The new system dubbed “Pathfire Direct” has
the ability to encode and play video files as well as
transfer files to other units over the Internet. Direct uses
a P2P file transfer mechanism similar to FTP. Most
importantly the Pathfire Direct system makes it possible
to automatically track the movement of content by
using standard email alerts. Pathfire Direct proved to be
very easy to use and capable of transferring video clips
faster than real time.
The final piece of the puzzle
The final challenge was to find a global telecom provider
with a network capable of handling video and data
traffic simultaneously. After extensive research into
telecommunications carriers Level(3) was chosen due to
their recent deployment of a new technology called
DTM (Dynamic Transfer Mode). DTM makes it possible
to carry packet switched data and live video streams

3. CASE STUDY
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over the same network infrastructure. Using the Nimbra
340 product from NetInsight it is possible to multiplex IP
and ASI over DS-3, OC-3 or OC-12 local loops directly
into the Level(3) DTM network. Tandberg MPEG-2
encoders were used to compress the live video into an
ASI payload.
Level(3) in conjunction with Cisco, developed a method
using VLANs to provide both Internet access and private
Ethernet connectivity within the same router. (see
Figure 2). Says Angela Frost, Sales Engineer, Level(3),
“Solving these types of complex problems for
broadcasters is where DTM really shines”. The VLAN
concept allows ABC to add additional network services
quickly and efficiently.
Ease of use translates to rapid adoption
By the beginning of 2006 an enhanced platform had
been installed and tested in Los Angeles, Chicago, New
York, Atlanta, Boston and New York. Throughout the
year the amount of traffic on BureauNET steadily
increased, roughly doubling each quarter. The key
reason for such rapid adoption was due to the overall
ease of use of the technology. Prior to the installation of
the new system it would typically require as many as
four people to manage the transmission of video from a
remote location. The BureauNET system makes it
possible for a single operator with basic computers skills
to handle the feed process with much greater efficiency.
Cost Tracking and Reporting
A key requirement for the project was the ability to
provide real-time dashboards of traffic volume and
operating costs. After evaluating numerous third-party
reporting systems the QuickBase product from Intuit
(http://www.quickbase.com) was chosen due to its ease
of use and outsourced hosting model.
Conclusion
The transition to a fully digital news gathering network
was successful and resulted in a cost savings of over
$1.5 million dollars compared to older satellite feeds.
Traffic Increases Significantly Each Year
Real-time Cost Tracking with QuickBase

4. CASE STUDY
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Figure 1 – Typical Remote Configuration (Redundant local loops)

5. CASE STUDY
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Figure 2 – Improved Architecture (Consolidated Services)