Frontline Communications and Parliament Coach Receive Broadcast Engineering Award of Excellence Recognition for the CNN Express Coach

Frontline Communications and Parliament Coach Receive Broadcast Engineering Award of Excellence Recognition for the CNN Express Coach

CLEARWATER, Fla., May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Frontline Communications and Parliament Coach have been awarded 2nd place in the Newsroom Technology category by Broadcast Engineering, in a recent ceremony in Las Vegas, NV. It was the Broadcast Engineering 7th Annual Excellence Awards Competition.

"We are delighted to receive recognition from the highest panel in the industry," said Steve Mitchell, Parliament president. "Those who voted on the CNN Express Coach we built jointly with Frontline Communications were industry professionals. It's an honor to receive their accolades."

Frontline Communications and Parliament Coach constructed a Prevost shell in their respective facilities in Clearwater, FL. The coach was delivered to CNN in July of 2007 and has been used throughout the 2008 Presidential Election primary season. The coach has been used in many locations across the United States.

CNN first used a mobile news bureau to cover the presidential campaign in 2004, which was a 1980 tour coach. Though crude in design, with folding tables and virtually no connectivity, its potential for much more was obvious. In 2005, CNN decided that a fully customized conversion could provide a premier workspace and give the connectivity that had been missing from the previous coach.

David Bohrman, CNN's Washington bureau chief and senior VP, wanted to create a multiuse platform that would provide a combination HD studio, satellite transmission center and newsroom with an editing suite. The project required contributions across several disciplines. Frontline, a builder of satellite transmission trucks, provided overall project management and installation of the broadcast electronics. Parliament Motor Coach provided coach interior outfitting and chassis modifications.

The interior was divided into two distinct sections. The front area provides space for the combination newsroom and studio. It features 18 workstation positions capable of providing power, Internet access and communications for each correspondent or producer. When needed, the workstations can be stowed, making way for the interview studio. An integrated makeup space is adjacent to the Final Cut HD edit station. The edit suite houses multiformat ingest VTRs and is integrated with a 17TB, multichannel XSAN for clip storage and playout. Eleven HD monitors provide access to the onboard CATV system, DSS system, off-air signals or the HD router. A 5.1 surround-sound system is also available.

The rear houses five equipment racks for the broadcast transmission center. The broadcast systems comprise a four-path HD digital transmission infrastructure, a 128-port intercom system, several audio mixers and a variety of terminal equipment and patching. The IT data switching system can connect via satellite, or in a variety of different hard-line configurations. The large I/O panels on both the street and curbside allow the system to connect via DS1, DS3 or ADSL. WiFi distribution is available inside and outside the coach.

When completed, the bus was first deployed in July 2007 to Charlestown, SC, where it played a major role in the CNN/YouTube debate. The newsroom and editing facilities were the focus of activity as producers and anchor Anderson Cooper selected video questions submitted by YouTube users. During the debate, the video questions were played off the bus' server system while the satellite dish fed the program back to CNN in Atlanta.

CNN's willingness to think outside the norm in broadcast vehicle design illustrates its commitment to deliver the highest quality news reporting to its affiliates and viewers.

"Working with Parliament Coach on this project was a mutually satisfying experience," noted Jeff Steele, Frontline's Systems Engineering Manager. "From all reports, CNN has been very satisfied with the results of our cooperative efforts."

Entries were solicited from the industry and then published in Broadcast Engineering's December issue, the Digital Reference Guide. Readers then voted for their favorite entries online at Broadcast Engineering's website (www.broadcastengineering.com) . The winners were recognized at the 2008 NAB show and in the special March NAB Preview issue.

"Excellence Award winners are selected, not by publishers or our magazine staff, but by our readers who are professionals working in the broadcast, post-production, network and satellite industries," said Brad Dick, editorial director of Broadcast Engineering.

Parliament Coach, located in Clearwater, FL, is a leading converter of Prevost conversions to the custom luxury coach marketplace. The firm houses production, service, collision repair and paint facilities, refurbishment and sales and administration in a single location in Clearwater.

For more information contact:
Ken Robertson, Parliament General Manager
ken@parliamentcoach.com
(727) 420-9276

The CNN Express, built by Parliament Coach was introduced earlier this
year. Read about it here:

http://www.prevost-stuff.com/parliament_builds_the_cnn_express-prevost-

bus.htm (due to URL length, please copy and paste into browser)

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Parliament Coach

CONTACT: Ken Robertson, Parliament General Manager, +1-727-420-9276,
ken@parliamentcoach.com

Web site:

http://www.parliamentcoach.com/
http://www.broadcastengineering.com/

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