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Viacom Local Networks (VLN) Leverages Zope4Media (Z4M) Product

Zope® Corporation (ZC) implemented and hosts multiple Internet sites for many Viacom local television and radio web properties. ZC rapidly built and deployed a rich web content management system, speeding creation and publication for a number of the media giant's New York local web sites. In close collaboration with Viacom (VLN), ZC developed production tools that enable the secure distribution of content, managed through the Web. Information is added, updated and indexed on a real-time basis, crucial in the news and media industry.

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) is one of the world's largest media companies, spanning movies, television, radio, and the Internet. It owns BET (Black Entertainment Television), CBS, Paramount Pictures, the United Paramount Network (UPN), MTV Networks (MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon), Showtime Networks, and Comedy Central (50%). Viacom also owns 39 TV stations, publisher Simon & Schuster, 81% of Blockbuster Video, Internet properties, and Infinity Broadcasting.

VLN Relies on Zope4Media (Z4M)

VLN partnered with Zope Corporation to deploy a scalable Web solution to allow a small production staff to manage and produce content for a large number of broadcast media Web sites. These sites include market-leading high-traffic TV and radio news properties such as www.1010wins.com , www.cbsnewyork.com and www.wcbs880.com .

Zope Corporation's Z4M platform allowed VLN to deliver a scalable, comprehensive Web site management and production environment to its growing number of local media affiliates. The Z4M system provides Web-based tools for business-focused content producers plus advanced syndication tools that enable powerful content sharing and repurposing among media properties.

Fast-Track Content Production

The VLN solution features a Web-based production environment that allows non-technical content producers to publish content quickly and easily. Time is of the essence in the media world, and VLN required a solution to support the fast pace of its TV and radio news stations.

Z4M allows local and national producers to create and publish news stories in a matter of minutes. Stories and revisions can be published to a single site or across the network in a few clicks. Local producers can create their own content, draw from syndicated content produced by others, or create the perfect blend by "customizing" syndicated content with local changes. All of this is done through the Web, and requires no special Web technology expertise.

The Z4M solution gives producers a wide variety of standard content types such as articles, news stories, talent bios and images. Each of these content types supports rich metadata to enable unparalleled site search capabilities. The Z4M platform also allows producers to easily create and publish "interactive" content such as polls and surveys.

To keep up with the lightning pace and changing needs of the Web media world, Z4M provides extension points that make it easy to seamlessly integrate new capabilities into the production environment. VLN took advantage of this flexibility to integrate ZRoster, a Zope component that provides support for online contests, surveys and other initiatives that involve the collection of audience and demographic information.

Leveraging Syndication

The powerful content syndication features provided by the Z4M platform allow a relatively small production support staff to produce content that can be used by multiple affiliate station sites. Individual stations can also use these tools to build content partnerships and syndication networks with other stations.

To take advantage of these syndication features, local producers can choose to select and place syndicated content by hand or use the unique Z4M "subscription" feature. Subscriptions allow producers to automatically aggregate both local and syndicated content using sophisticated search queries. A producer can thus set up site sections that require no local production effort at all.

The Bottom Line

As a hosted solution, VLN and the Z4M platform provide affiliate stations a professional, scalable production environment backed by first class production and operational support at a price unmatched in the industry.

The Z4M platform will continue to provide benefits into the future as VLN continues to innovate with its affiliate partners.

Viacom Television Group

Zope Corporation delivers on a managed hosting basis, content management services to Viacom's entire broadcast television network. This list of affiliates is shown in the table below. The network includes all UPN TV stations, the CBS TV stations group, and six (6) Infinity radio stations. Each station leverages a centrally managed look-and-feel with local customization permitted, and shares a single metadata-based content repository along with similar workflow configurations.

Challenges

  • Manage and provide production support for a large number of television and radio station properties
  • Provide professional, efficient production environment for business-focused local and national staff
  • Provide high-quality, compelling and up-to-date Web presence for numerous stations with varying levels of in-house technical and production support
  • Offer state-of-the-art feature set at superior price

Approach

  • Use Z4M platform, customized to VLN and its affiliate stations' specific needs
  • Easy content authoring interfaces for editorially-focused producers
  • Content published to "syndication domains" enables content reuse and repurposing across federated stations and markets
  • Advanced search engine for aggregating local and syndicated content, using query-basd subscriptions
  • Large-scale hosted deployment delivers economies of scale for operational and production support

Benefits

  • Solution allows a small production staff to manage a large and growing number of station sites, without sacrificing local control
  • Station sites leverage centrally produced content and build syndication relationships with other stations reducing production costs.
  • Station sites get a powerful hosted solution with high availability, failover and state-of-the-art features at a superior price

We're betting our company on Python and Zope, that's how good we feel about the technology.
- Ian Prince, Developer, inextenso (Internet and environment system integrators, Switzerland)