News Channel Nebraska (NCN), an independent television and radio network serving Nebraska state and Sioux City, is the latest addition to the rapidly expanding number of broadcasters choosing Octopus as the core of their newsroom operations. Operated by Flood Communications LLC, NCN comprises six TV stations transmitting across eastern Nebraska and parts of Siouxland. The program output includes local news, live sports and live events. The Telemundo Spanish-language network was added to the cluster in 2017.
"We needed a reliable, flexible and operator-friendly newsroom computer system to coordinate the news production activity across our various sites,\" comments network founder and owner Michael Flood. "The stations had outgrown the NRCS we used for the first two years to the point where it was really holding us back. The Octopus solution met our requirements much more closely. Our studio-based news teams and mobile reporters find it a pleasure to work with, putting all the tools they need for each project within easy reach and allowing very fast searching of archived clips. Cross-platform compatibility was also a major advantage. Octopus gives us the ability to integrate freely with systems from other manufacturers and software developers. In terms of features, it provides a lot of value for its price."
"The system we have integrated into NCN includes an Octopus server, 15 user client licenses and 10 Octopus Mobile Journalist licenses,\" adds Gene Sudduth, Octopus Newsroom's national sales director for North America. "We also provided and configured a MOS module, an agency wires module, an email module, an RSS module and social media integration. Onsite professional services were included to ensure a smooth and successful launch."
Designed for use by television, radio, sport and eSport broadcasters, the Octopus newsroom computer system facilitates editorial collaboration between news team members at every stage of the newscast production process, from initial receipt of task notification to complete and advanced rundown management. Octopus gives newsroom staff the ability to ingest all incoming audio, video and still-image files, news agency wires, RSS feeds, emails, SMS messages and even faxes. All content relating to a specific task can be seen in a single view. Octopus goes even beyond by providing the tools to publish content to web and social media channels from a single platform.
Suitable for all types and levels of operation, from a single channel with just a few bulletins per day to full-scale 24/7 news networks, Octopus newsroom software runs natively on Linux, Microsoft Windows and Apple OS X. Mobile apps are available for Google Android and Apple iOS tablets as well as smartphones. Octopus can be integrated into any MOS-compliant environment or workflow.
Established in 2015, NCN (www.us92.com) provides a rich mix of local news, state news, national news and world news. Its content coverage also includes business, politics, health, music and general entertainment. Programs are broadcast as a PSIP terrestrial digital stream from 15 kilowatt transmitters in Beatrice, Hastings, Norfolk, South Sioux City and Grand Island, as well as Columbus (12 kW) and Lincoln (5 kW). NCN's parent company, Flood Communications, was established in 2002.
Founded in 1998, Octopus Newsroom (www.octopus-news.com) is today the world's leading producer of newsroom computer systems with more than 50 MOS partners. Octopus advocates an open ecosystem using the MOS protocol which enables operators to choose freely among high-quality providers of graphics, playout, MAM, prompters, traffic-handing and advertising solutions. Octopus Newsroom has successfully installed systems into more than 300 channels around the world. Based on Unicode, Octopus Newsroom products support all major character sets including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Vietnamese.
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