Electronic News Production System (ENPS) is a software application developed by the Associated Press's Broadcast Technology division for producing, editing, timing, organizing and running news broadcasts. The system is scalable and flexible enough to handle anything from the local news at a small-market station to large organizations spanning remote bureaus in multiple countries.
ENPS was developed for the BBC in 1996 and debuted in the U.S. market in 1997.
Features edit
The basic organization of each news broadcast is called a "rundown" (US) or "running order" (UK). The run-down is a grid listing scripts, video, audio, character generator data, teleprompter control, director notations, camera operator cues, and timing estimates for each section of the broadcast.
ENPS integrates scripts, wire feeds, device control, and production information in a server/client environment. On the server side, ENPS runs an identical backup server (called a "buddy") at all times as a fail-safe. If the primary server fails, all users are redirected to the buddy server until such time as the primary comes back on-line. All document changes are queued on the buddy and copied back to the primary automatically when it returns to production. Note that this is not a mirror server as the changed data is copied to the buddy, but there is no direct replication inherent within the intercommunications between the servers, so if the data is corrupted due to hardware failure on one server, this corruption will not be replicated to the "buddy".
Device control can be managed either through a serial interface, or the MOS (Media Object Server) protocol. MOS functionality is included in the base ENPS license, but may be an extra add-on for the device that needs to interface with ENPS. MOS items such as video or audio clips can be added directly to scripts, and then used by third-party software and devices during the broadcast. Many broadcast media systems support the MOS protocol to a greater or lesser degree by implementing any of the seven MOS Protocol 'profiles'.
The ENPS client utilizes the .NET framework and other Windows-only technologies. The client, therefore, will only run in the Microsoft Windows operating system.
History edit
ENPS was originally developed by the Associated Press for use at the BBC in the United Kingdom as a replacement for the text mode system BASYS (which developed into Avid iNEWS), and the corporation had the largest installation of the system with over 12,000 users[1] in 300 different locations. The BBC received bids from 27 different companies to develop ENPS,[2] selecting the Associated Press in 1996.[3] The system had issues at rollout; BASYS was used when BBC News 24 was launched, as ENPS and the digital OmniBus system also adopted by the BBC at the time were causing technical issues that angered staff, and by October 1997 just 1,800 of 7,000 staff in BBC News were onboarded to ENPS.[4] In September 1998, radio journalists threatened to strike in part because of glitches in ENPS stemming from BBC Radio's move out of Broadcasting House.[5] The system also needed updates to recognize the grammar of the Welsh language, which was said to cause the system to overload and cause problems at the BBC's news centres in Cardiff and Bangor.[6] By 2002, ENPS was offered in over 40 languages and used at 389 newsrooms in 39 countries.[7]
AP introduced ENPS to the American market at the 1997 Radio-Television News Directors Association conference in New Orleans.[8] The first U.S. broadcaster to use the system was ESPN, which signed an agreement to adopt ENPS in 1998,[9] shortly followed by several other major companies: ITN, CBS News,[10] NPR,[11] and Tribune Broadcasting.[12] CBS and NPR had been test customers for ENPS.[8] By 2006, ENPS and the competing iNews system from Avid Technology accounted for "the lion's share" of computerized newsrooms in the United States;[13] ENPS had 60 percent market share in the U.S. by 2014.[14]
In response to the rise of new media and news delivery methods, AP overhauled ENPS between 2009 and 2010 to shift from a rundown-centric to a story-centric publishing model allowing one story to exist in multiple versions.[15]
It was announced in 2015 that the BBC were to cease using ENPS.[16]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "BBC marks 10 years with ENPS". TV Tech. 20 September 2006. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
- ^ Franklin, Carl (10 November 1995). "NEWSGATHERING: Newsworthy technolology [sic]". Broadcast. p. 24. ProQuest 1705026767.
- ^ Dickson, Glen (September 9, 1996). "BBC taps AP in huge newsroom deal". Broadcasting & Cable. p. 59. ProQuest 225362694.
- ^ Gibson, Janine (17 October 1997). "BBC goes back to Basys for News 24". Broadcast. p. 6. ProQuest 1704996641.
- ^ Smith, Geraint (18 September 1998). "Journalists in strike threat as computer bugs hit BBC radio". The Evening Standard. p. 15. ProQuest 329185759.
- ^ "BBC to refine ENPS to cope with Welsh grammar". Broadcast. 27 March 1998. p. 6. ProQuest 1674216383.
- ^ Nelson, Kristi (April 8, 2002). "AP's ENPS breaks language barrier". Electronic Media. EBSCOhost 6626629.
- ^ a b Dickson, Glen (September 15, 1997). "Special Report: Newsroom Systems: Associated Press". Broadcasting & Cable. pp. 89–90. ProQuest 1016952237.
- ^ Dickson, Glen (April 6, 1998). "ESPN goes with ENPS". Broadcasting & Cable. p. 120. ProQuest 1014770012.
- ^ "APTV wins contract to install ENPS at ITN". Broadcast. April 10, 1998. p. 6. ProQuest 1674215216.
- ^ Anderson, Karen; Dickson, Glen (October 12, 1998). "NPR upgrades newsroom with AP". Broadcasting & Cable. p. 70. ProQuest 225342091.
- ^ Dickson, Glen (November 2, 1998). "Tribune taps AP for newsrooms". Broadcasting & Cable. p. 45. ProQuest 225342100.
- ^ Dickson, Glen (August 7, 2006). "What's New in the Newsroom". Broadcasting & Cable. pp. 12–14. ProQuest 225328180.
- ^ Winslow, George (June 16, 2014). "In the Newsroom, It's Clouds and Crowds". Broadcasting & Cable. p. 22. ProQuest 1537385752.
- ^ Dickson, Glen (June 1, 2009). "AP's Multi-Platform Shift". Broadcasting & Cable. p. 14. ProQuest 225321925.
- ^ "BBC replaces ENPS with Annova's OpenMedia". Radio Today. 26 February 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
External links edit