READING, U.K. — Oct. 6, 2009 — PWCS-TV, the dedicated television channel of the Prince William County School Division (District) based in Manassas, Va., has built its new digital broadcasting facility around Snell's state-of-the-art routing, automation, and master control solutions. The Snell equipment, including a Sirius router, the Morpheus automation system, and a Masterpiece master control switcher, provides a seamless routing, control, and playout infrastructure that has greatly improved the station's quality levels.

Broadcasting 24/7 on Comcast channel 18 and Verizon FIOS channel 36, PWCS-TV targets a diverse audience of parents, students, and employees throughout Prince William County, with a variety of locally produced programming as well as live satellite feeds and other content. When the school district recently moved to a new administration building, PWCS-TV used the opportunity to build a new broadcasting facility from the ground up to facilitate its transition from analog to digital operations. The station worked with Snell reseller The Whitlock Group to evaluate solutions and choose a suite of Snell products that would integrate easily with its Omneon media server and other components in the new digital infrastructure. 

At the heart of PWCS-TV's new digital operation is a 256x256 Snell Sirius router, which handles both HD and SD signals with embedded audio. The Snell Morpheus automation system provides seamless playout of all content elements for both PWCS-TV channels. In addition, PWCS-TV has implemented a Snell Masterpiece master control switcher and several modules from Snell's Vistek modular infrastructure range, which handle a variety of tasks such as analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion, audio processing, up- and down-conversion, and video processing.

"We are very satisfied with our decision to build our new facility around Snell routing and control solutions. The equipment was very easy to implement and the learning curve has been minimal — but most importantly, our failure rate has dropped to near zero. We're also experiencing quality levels that are at least three times higher than with our old analog operation," said Richard Shahan, administrative coordinator at PWCS-TV. 

"PWCS-TV is a good example of the types of challenges our broadcasting customers face as they transition to digital operations. The station needed a one-stop shop that could offer a comprehensive solution set for routing and control, that would be interoperable with other critical master control elements," said Neil Maycock, chief marketing officer for Snell. "No other vendor is better positioned to meet these types of requirements than Snell."

More information about Snell products is available at www.snellgroup.com.   

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About PWCS-TV:
PWCS-TV, Prince William County Public Schools' dedicated television channel, can be found on Channel 18 on the Comcast Cable System and on Channel 36 in the Verizon FiOS line-up, and is streamed live from www.pwcstv.com. The station offers a wide variety of educational and entertainment programming that targets the entire community of learners in Prince William County, Va. - students, teachers, parents, and school division staff. Tune in for Distance Learning programs such as NASA Connect and The Performing Arts Series; take part in Electronic Field Trips produced by Ball State University's E3, the Prince William Network, and Colonial Williamsburg; or watch informational programs designed especially for students and parents including Teen/Kid News and Education News Parents Can Use.

PWCS-TV is also an excellent resource for information about the Prince William County Public Schools. Produced by the school division, programs such as School Focus and Inside Education highlight initiatives, programs, and award-winning staff and students from across the county. You will also find the most up-to-date information on activities, emergency announcements, events, and school closings on the electronic bulletin board airing throughout the day. And tune-in to watch live school board meetings or re-airs of the most current meeting throughout the week. PWCS-TV is programmed and operated by Prince William County Public Schools Office of Media Production Services.  

About Snell:
Established in 2009 through the merger of Pro-Bel and Snell & Wilcox, Snell is a market-leading player in the global film and broadcast market. The company provides customers with a comprehensive range of solutions for the creation, management, and distribution of content, as well as the tools necessary to transition seamlessly and cost-effectively to digital, HDTV, and beyond. Headquartered in the U.K., the company serves more than 2,000 active customers in more than 100 countries through a worldwide team of sales and support personnel. For more information, visit www.snellgroup.com.           

All trademarks mentioned herein are acknowledged as property of their respective owners.  

ENDS