Overview
SkyLark Newsroom is a collaborative newsroom computer system (NRCS) for managing the complete broadcast news production workflow — from story assignment and field planning to ingest, editing, approval, rundown preparation, and on-air delivery.
The platform connects journalists, editors, directors, graphics operators, teleprompter staff, video editors, ingest operators, and technical teams within a single real-time production environment. Stories, scripts, media, rundowns, approvals, and production status remain synchronized across all connected workstations.
SkyLark Newsroom integrates natively with SkyLark Capture & Ingest, iMAM, NewsCut NLE, A/B Player, Broadcast Graphics, and TelePrompter, allowing editorial and technical workflows to operate as one coordinated system. Changes to stories, scripts, graphics, or rundown order can be propagated immediately during live production.
As part of the SL NEO Media Platform, SkyLark Newsroom provides centralized control, deterministic timing, workflow automation, revision tracking, and real-time collaboration for local, regional, national, and distributed newsroom operations.
Highlights
End-to-end news production
and enabling remote or distributed newsroom teams through secure connections.
Key Features
- Editorial & Story Management
- ▸ Story assignment and performer designation
- ▸ Rundown planning and editing
- ▸ Full participant action history
- ▸ Customizable production stages to fit any newsroom’s workflow
- Ingest & Media Processing
- ▸ Support classical file and line ingest
- ▸ Watch folders with automatic transcoding of video, audio, and photo materials
- ▸ Journalists can add materials to watch folders themselves
- ▸ Creative vertical/square video processing
- ▸ Seamless integration with SkyLark I-MAM
- ▸ Linking of sources to stories
- Speech-to-Text Automation
- ▸ Batch transcription attached as metadata
- ▸ Real-time live ingest transcription
- ▸ Keyword search across media database
- ▸ Instant reuse for VO, SOT, captions, teleprompter text
- Editing & Post-Production
- ▸ Integration with professional NLE systems
- ▸ Pre-editing using proxy in NewsCut
- ▸ Instant transfer of source media directly onto the editing timeline
- ▸ Duration calculator driven by text length
- Chief Editor & Director Review and Approval
- ▸ Chief Editor final text and title approval
- ▸ Director preview in low-res web or full-HD SDI desktop output
- ▸ Automatic approval flag reset on post-approval edits
- ▸ Full revision history tracking
- A/B Player Control
- ▸ A/B and A roll operation principle
- ▸ Sequential / Parallel / Manual playback modes
- ▸ Frame-accurate next-clip preview
- ▸ Freeze-frame or pre-roll holding behavior
Newsroom Workflow
Rundown Assembly
Building the news bulletin structure, arranging stories, graphics, and SOT blocks, and synchronizing durations across all elements.
Assignment & Planning
Journalists receive tasks, performers are designated, and — if required — field crew trips and logistics are planned.
Ingest & Media Acquisition
Classical ingest of broadcast-standard files and live streams, alongside intake of video, audio, and photo materials from non-professional sources such as consumer cameras, mobile devices, social networks, and external drives.
Pre-Editing & Tagging
Fast proxy preview, segment marking by timecodes, keyframe bookmarks, and metadata entry. All markers remain synchronized with the original source files.
Text Creation & Speech-to-Text
Manual writing of VO/SOT/caption texts or use of automatic speech transcription. Readtime calculation based on the individual anchor profile.
Editing & Timeline Assembly
Video editing in NewsCut or professional NLE systems. Source files, segments, and texts are transferred directly to the timeline without manual import.
Editorial Review & Approval
Chief editor and director review video and texts, leave comments, perform real-time corrections, and the system automatically logs revisions and approval flags.
Rundown Export & On-Air Synchronization
Simultaneous generation of playlists for clip, graphics, teleprompter, and video wall operators. All workstations receive updates instantly.
Live Broadcast & Real-Time Adjustments
Playout control with the ability to change story order, texts, and graphics on-the-fly without interrupting the broadcast.
Integrated Ecosystem
SkyLark Newsroom is fully integrated with the SL NEO Media Platform — a modular, software-defined environment where specialized modules operate together in real time.
Native interoperability between SkyLark components enables a complete end-to-end solution:
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
SYSTEM
| Chassis | 1U — 4U, dual hot-swap power supplies |
| CPU | 1 or 2 x Intel Xeon or AMD Epyc Series |
| Memory | 48 / 96 GB DDR4 |
| System Drive | SSD for OS |
| Network | 2 x onboard 1GbE |
| Storage | Built-in RAID-10, 4 or 8 x SAS 3.5″ RE drives (4 or 8 TB), useful capacity |
| OS | Windows Server |
File Containers
| Category | Supported |
| MXF | OP-1A, OP-1B, D10, Avid OP-Atom |
| Sony | XDCAM HD/422, XAVC (50…480, Long GOP) |
| Panasonic | P2 AVC-Ultra (50…480, Long GOP) |
| General | AVI, MPEG PS/TS, MOV, DV DIFF, MP4, MPG, GXF |
| Other | Non-standard video, audio and photo files from non-professional sources such as consumer cameras, mobile devices, and social networks |
Video Formats & Color Spaces
| Formats | 625i/525i, 720p, 1080i/p, 2K 2048×1080p, 2160p |
| Frame Rates | 25 / 29.97 / 50 / 59.94 / 60 fps |
| Color Spaces | BT.601 / BT.709 / BT.2020, HDR: SMPTE ST 2084, ARIB STD-B67 |
Video / Audio Codecs
SD / HD
| Codecs | DV25 DVCPRO25/50/HD100 HDV IMX 30/40/50 XDCAM EX SP/HQ XDCAM HD LP/SP/HQ/422 DNxHD 120/145/180/220 AVCHD XAVC 50/100/200 XAVC Long GOP AVC-Ultra 50/100/200 AVC-Ultra Long GOP ProRes HQ/SD/LT MPEG-2 I-Frame/Long GOP H.264 I-Frame/Long GOP H.265 AV1 and other* |
Ultra HD
| Codecs | XAVC 300/480 XAVC Long GOP AVC-Ultra 300/480 AVC-Ultra Long GOP ProRes SQ/HQ DNxHR SQ/HQ H.264 AVC 8/10-bit H.265 HEVC 8/10-bit AV1 and other** |
Audio
| Codecs | ADPCM, MPEG-1 L-I/II, AAC, AC3, E-AC3, WMA, FLAC, ALAC and other** |
I/O Streams: Interfaces, Protocols, Codecs
| SDI | SDI 1.5G to 12G, embedded audio |
| IP (Broadcast) | SMPTE ST 210, SMPTE ST 2022−7 |
| IP (Streaming) | NDI, HLS, RTMP, UDP, RTP, SRT, Zixi, RIST, MPEG-DASH |
| DVB / ATSC ASI | SPTS / MPTS |
| Audio | 48 kHz / 16−24 bit PCM (SMPTE-302M), MPEG-1 L-I/II, AAC, AC3, AC3 and E-AC3 Pass-Through |
Input Ancillary & MPEG-TS Data
| Teletext / CC | OP-42 / OP-47 WST Teletext, Closed Captions |
| Closed Captions | CEA-608 / CEA-708, SRT, STL, EBU-XML |
| Subtitles / EPG | DVB / ATSC Subtitles, EPG |
| Markers | SCTE-104 / SCTE-35 with metadata |
Protocols & Device Support
| Logging & Monitoring | REC Logs, As-Run Logs, Technical Logs, SNMP Monitoring |
| Hardware Panels | X-KEYS XK Series |
| Automation | REST API, Router & GPI control, Schedule, SCTE-35/104, VDCP, CLI, TLSU UMD |
Newsroom Environments
| Deployment Options | On-Premises, Hybrid, Cloud, Modular or Full Suite Integration |
| Control Interfaces | Desktop client, Web UI, API |
| Audio Processing | EBU-R128 loudness, Loudness normalization, Audio level control |
| Synchronization | LTC, NTP, Black-Burst, Tri-Level |
* For information on specific codec support, please contact us.
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