Author: PebbleAdmin

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Tanzania-based Azam Media selects Marina for Automation and Control

Posted on | by PebbleAdmin

CABSAT, Dubai, Stand H2-30, March 12th, 2019 –Pebble Beach Systems, a leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, today announced that Azam Media Ltd, a Direct-to-Home (DTH) pay TV satellite service provider in East Africa, has selected a Pebble Beach Systems Marina automation solution to control its existing playout infrastructure, along with recently installed devices for its newly added channels.
Based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and launched in 2013, Azam Media is a flagship company of the Bakhresa Group and focuses on providing entertaining and informative channels bundled with favorite international channels at an affordable cost to citizens of East African nations. Azam One features local entertainment and Premier League football. Azam Two features international entertainment, while Sinema Zetu specializes in 24/7 bongo movies.
The organisation recently expanded its channel count to 10, and selected Marina to replace its legacy automation and MAM layer. Marina controls legacy Imagine servers for ingest, shared storage and nearline storage, along with the existing Xendata archive and Versio playout devices. The playout chains for the new channels include Harmonic Channelport and servers and MediaGrid central storage.

“Azam Media selected Marina because it offered exceptional operational stability and a modern user interface designed to make their operation as efficient and simple as possible, regardless of the underlying technology being controlled,” said Samir Isbaih, VP of Sales for the Middle East and AsiaPac at CABSAT today.
“Marina is handling all media management, file transfers and playout for Azam,” he continues. “The ability to manage this functionality via a single user interface really increases efficiency for them and avoids the need for multiple databases. Managing multiple locations and multiple technologies, the solution delivers simplified, coherent content management at this key site.”

Pictured (L to R) are Samir Isbaih, Abubakar Said Bakhresa – Executive Director at Azam, Tamas Vass – CMO at Pebble Beach Systems, and Gael Lancrenon, General Director and Founder of systems integrator DV International.

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Playout Operations Upgrade for Iraq’s Dijlah TV

Posted on | by PebbleAdmin

Playout Operations Upgrade: Pebble Beach Systems, a leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, today announced that Dijlah TV, one of the most watched news channels in Iraq, has chosen Pebble Beach Systems’ Dolphin integrated channel device and Marina automation solution to upgrade its playout operations as the broadcaster brings more channels to air.
A long-time user of Stingray, Pebble Beach Systems’ powerful and compact channel in a box solution, Dijlah TV was looking to implement a fully redundant automation solution with no single point of failure, that encompasses ingest, content management and playout functionality.
Operating under the control of the Marina automation system, Dolphin delivers highly automated integrated audio, video and graphics functionality for ingest, channel branding and frame-accurate multi-channel playout. The flexible pipeline design enables the virtual output chain to be customized for each channel, specifying the order in which functions including graphics, effects, and aspect ratio conversion are handled within the system.

“As Dijlah TV continues to expand its offerings, we put in place a smooth upgrade path to support their increased playout requirements. The combined Dolphin and Marina solution gives them the option to control third party devices, maximizing their technology choices. For the operators, the transition is seamless with minimum disruption to their existing workflow,” commented Samir Isbaih, VP of Sales for Middle East and APAC at Pebble.

If you want o find out a little bit more about Pebble Beach Systems, feel free to visit out “about us” page. However, if you want to find out more about Pebble Beach Systems, and how we can help your broadcasting business succeed in a competitive marketplace, contact us now.  We are looking forward to hearing from you.
Alternatively, if you would like to see more detail on each of the products below, please click the relevant links:

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Qatar’s Al Rayyan TV updates its playout infrastructure with Marina

Posted on | by PebbleAdmin

Pebble Beach Systems, a leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, today announced that Al Rayyan TV, part of the Al Rayyan Media and Marketing Company in Qatar, has deployed a Marina automation solution at the heart of its new playout infrastructure.
Al Rayyan TV embarked on a major upgrade as part of its move to a new facility last year. This incorporated a complete technology refresh for the Qatari broadcaster, who elected to move away from the legacy single vendor solution they had originally launched with in 2011.
The new system – which offers full redundancy with no single point of failure – went on air at the end of 2018. Pebble’s Marina automation handles the playout of 3 channels and controls best-of-breed channel technology including Harmonic servers and Avid graphics. It also interfaces to a Dalet Media Asset Management system and BTS traffic,
The decision to adopt a Pebble solution followed a detailed proof of concept exercise which involved extensive evaluation by Al Rayyan’s operational and engineering staff. System integrator for the project was Salam Media Cast, who closely managed the migration and integration of all products involved.
Mohamad Naim Al Said, Engineering Department Director at Al Rayyan, confirmed:

“We are very pleased with the Marina solution, specifically its stability, redundancy and ease of operation. The migration went extremely smoothly, thanks to the friendly and supportive Pebble team. We are proud that, with assistance from all parties, we succeeded in relocating the system and launching the channels within a very short timescale”.

Samir Isbaih, Pebble’s VP of Sales for the Middle East & APAC, confirmed:

“Al Rayyan went through a thorough evaluation of the possible technologies and we are delighted that they chose to partner with Pebble for the playout solution. Our Marina automation emerged from the selection process as the best technical solution for their needs, and we look forward to continuing to work with Al Rayyan as their operations evolve and grow.”

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Pebble Beach Systems Introduces New Leadership Team

Posted on | by PebbleAdmin

Pebble Beach Systems Ltd, a leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, today announced the appointment of several new senior executives, including Miroslav Jeras as Chief Technology Officer, Tamas Vass as Chief Marketing Officer, Jim Reid as Chief Operating Officer and Justyna Munnich as Group Financial Controller.
Having previously served as Pebble’s Head of Software Architecture, Miroslav Jeras’ new role as CTO gives him overall responsibility for the technology which will underpin the solutions our customers need as they transition from traditional broadcast infrastructures to more flexible IP-based technologies. Miroslav is an active participant in technology working groups focused on the development of new standards, including AMWA, and has most recently been closely involved in the development of the IS-07 standard. He previously served as BroadStream’s Senior Vice President of Research and Development.
Following his successful tenure as Pebble’s Vice President of Global Sales, Tamas Vass moves in to the role of Chief Marketing Officer with overall responsibility for strategic marketing and global sales. With degrees in Marketing and Electrical Engineering and over two decades’ experience in the broadcast industry—having held key account, partner management and strategic marketing roles at resellers and vendors including Vitec Videocom, Amberfin, Harris and Leitch— Tamas brings the customer and market perspectives to the company’s strategic planning process as the industry transforms.
With over 30 years’ experience in business management and administration, Jim Reid has taken on the role of Chief Operating Officer. Since joining Pebble last year, he has overseen the creation of both the Customer Fulfilment and Solutions Architecture teams, with the overall goal of continuously improving customers’ journey from initial engagement through to ongoing support. Jim has over two decades’ experience as a consultant working with a variety of companies helping with strategic positioning, turnaround strategies and cultural change.
Justyna Munnich is an experienced finance professional with a proven track record of driving business performance through business partnering and insightful financial analysis and reporting. Before Joining Pebble, Justyna held a senior finance role at Walgreens Boots Alliance.

“These appointments demonstrate the depth of talent within the Pebble Beach Systems organisation, with Miroslav, Tamas and Jim having been part of the management team which was responsible for the improvements made throughout 2018 resulting in significant improvements in the company’s profitability. Thanks to this team, the talent of our employees worldwide, and our new corporate structure, we are ideally placed to continue to serve our extensive customer base whilst working on solutions that will see our customers through this period of transition, and help them embrace the latest technologies and workflow opportunities ahead,” said Peter Mayhead, CEO at Pebble Beach Systems.

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Visit the Leadership Team page for more info

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Pakistan’s Dunya News Chooses Pebble Beach Systems To Upgrade UI

Posted on | by PebbleAdmin

Pebble Beach Systems, a leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, today announced that Dunya News, one of Pakistan’s preeminent TV channels, has chosen Pebble Beach Systems to upgrade its state-of-the-art playout facility.
Headquartered in Lahore, Pakistan, Dunya News provides news and current affairs programming in Urdu to audiences throughout Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and the United States.
The channel prides itself on using state-of-the-art technology. A long-time user of Pebble Beach Systems’ Neptune automation system, Dunya News has now upgraded its playout operations with Pebble’s flagship Marina automation. The solution is fully redundant with no single point of failure, and encompasses ingest, content management and playout functionality. The system slots into the existing device infrastructure but offers enhanced workflow and automation tools to the broadcaster.

Things happen fast in news and current affairs, and change is a constant. We needed an experienced technology partner who could deliver a flexible solution, work with us to solve our problems efficiently, and adapt with us as our business grows. After 10 years of working with Pebble and its Neptune automation system, it made sense for us to go to them for our upgrade,” said Zubair Rasheed, Head of Technical Operations and Dunya Media Group.

“In selecting Marina, Dunya has a future-proof solution for its ingest, content management and playout automation workflows, and we are proud to have completed the migration from their Neptune solution with minimum disruption to their operations,” commented Samir Isbaih, VP of Sales for the Middle East and APAC at Pebble Beach Systems.