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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12.C. Authorization to Purchase a Tightrope Channel Automation System ________u_.____ _.__ ._.___~____ City of Shakopee /~t C/ Memorandum TO: Mayor and City Council Mark McNeill, City Administrator FROM: John Peterson, Telecommunications Coordinator SUBJECT: Authorization to Purchase a Tightrope Channel Automation System DATE: March 16, 2006 Introduction One of the major purchases budgeted for 2006 for our public and government access television channels is a new Channel Automation System, otherwise known as an automated playback or digital playback system. On February 21, the Council authorized staff to seek bids for the system and a bid opening was held on March 14,2006. The resulting bids have been reviewed by the Telecommunications Advisory Commission and they have recommended that the Council authorize the purchase of the Tightrope Channel Automation System bid by Alpha Video for a cost not to exceed $54,000. Background A channel automation system allows television programming to air at the scheduled time without having staff present to operate the system. The current system used to operate our public and government access channels involves a combination of computers, VCRs and DVD players, and other equipment, that requires staff to visit two different control rooms (one in the Council chambers and one at the Community Center) twice daily in order to load and unload tapes and DVDs. Due to the limitations of the current system we currently air only six programs per day, on average, and air the exact same schedule of programs every Friday, Saturday and Sunday because we do not have staff available seven days a week. A new channel automation system will store all of our programming on a computer server. Staff will be able to enter a full schedule and program the system once a week and it will automatically open the video files and play them at the scheduled time. Staff will also be able to access the system from any computer with Internet access, thereby making last minute or weekend changes possible without driving to the Community Center. Other advantages of the proposed system include: . It will improve the overall audio and video quality on our channels and will allow us to meet new standards for digital, rather than analog, broadcasting. . It has its own internal bulletin board graphic creation ability. Every graphic created is scheduled on a timeline unless staff identifies otherwise. For example, when staff posts a city job opening on the channel bulletin boards, it can be scheduled to automatically stop running on the day ofthe application deadline. . Bulletin board announcements that need to be displayed on both our government and public access channels will only have to be created once and simply tagged for playing on both channels. . This graphic system also allows for manual override for broadcast of live meetings or emergency alerts. . It can air programming with closed captioning. We will need to consider additional technology (possibly in the 2007 budget) to make the programs we produce, such as City Council meetings, available with closed captioning. But the system is closed caption compatible for those programs submitted to us with closed captioning. Overall, once the system has been installed and staffhas learned how to use its various features, I expect it to reduce the amount of time I spend on these tasks from roughly 15 hours to less than 5 hours per week. Product Details We received two bids for this system. The low-bidder was Alpha Video, a 35 year old company located in Edina that sells and services a variety of audio and video equipment. The City has made several purchases from them over the years. The system that Alpha Video bid is made by Tightrope Media Systems, which was founded by individuals that used to work for Bloomington Public Access who created a product good enough to offer commercially. Tightrope Media Systems is located in St. Paul and has been in business since 1997. The system bid by Alpha Video closely matched our specificiations. There is one item in the bid that the Telecommunications Commission is not recommending at this time and that is an additional server that would allow us to stream the channel on our website. Video streaming is something the Commission is very interested in pursing, but we have not had time to consider other alternative streaming products and can always add the Tightrope streaming system at a later date. Removing the live streaming server reduces the price from $57,621.17 to $53,886.23. Budget Impact The 2006 Telecommunications Fund budget originally included $45,000 for this purchase. In order to fully fund the recommended system, staffrecommended that the planned purchase of a staff editing suite, budgeted at $18,000, be deferred for now. Depending on the final costs of other planned purchases and the receipt of the franchise fee settlement from Time Warner; we may still be able to afford the staff edit suite in late 2006. Otherwise it could be deferred to 2007. The Commission agreed with this recommendation. Recommendation The Telecommunications Advisory Commission recommends that City Council approve the purchase ofthe Tightrope@ Channel Automation System quoted by Alpha Video, minus the live streaming server, for a cost not to exceed $54,000. Action Requested If Council concurs it should offer a motion to authorize the purchase of a Tightrope@ Channel Automation System from Alpha Video, at a cost not to exceed $54,000, including installation and training.