Part One

1.0

RESUME

I began my career at the Nigerian Television Authority, Victoria Island

Lagos in August 2006 as an intern broadcast systems engineer on a
2 year contract. Within this period, I was under the tutelage and
supervision of senior colleagues who mentored and nurtured me.

I transferred to a voluntary contract in 2008 once I had successfully

completed my bachelor in Electrical/Electronic Engineering at
Madonna University Okija.

Between 2009 and 2010, I joined the Federal Ministry of Works,

Housing and Urban development Abuja for the one year mandatory
National Youth service programme where I was the System/Network
Administrator

servicing

the

entire

complex

and

also

the

representative of the entire corps members serving in the ministry.

In 2010, I returned to the Nigerian Television Authority Lagos on

another voluntary contract as a Broadcast/IT engineer and a TV
1 | Page

presenter up until the first quarter of 2011 and within this period I
bagged my first international certification from Microsoft Corporation
as a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP).

By the second quarter of 2011, I relocated to Yola, Adamawa state

to join GOTEL COMMUNICATIONS as a Broadcast Systems/IT engineer
where I spent some years.
Gotel communications is a privately owned media organization based
in Yola, Adamawa state comprising two radio stations in the AM & FM
bands respectively and a

terrestrial TV station transmitting at

575.25MHz in the Ultra High frequency spectrum.

Within this period at Gotel communications, I carried on with

further education in 2012 by enrolling for a Post Graduate Diploma in
Management at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and also went
through the four-semester Cisco Network Academy programme

in

2013 at the American University of Nigeria training centre which I

passed in flying colours.

By the end of 2013, I left Gotel communications to join BLOOMBERG

2 | Page

TV AFRICA in Lagos as a Senior Broadcast/IT Engineer where I

currently work.

The following pages describe and detail some of the projects I have
worked on and describes the tasks I undertake as part of my job in
conjunction with other competent personnel.

1.1

Experience Summary

Project & Post Graduation Experience

August 2006-February
2009

3 | Page

Activities
Studio Camera operations

Witnessed & Supervised

Bode
Babalola
(Systems
Supervisor, NTA Lagos &

Nigerian
Television
Authority
Trainee Broadcast/IT
Engneer

Studio
Graphics
and
Character generation for
LIVE broadcast
Systems line-up, Quality
control and Transmission
operations

Computer network design,

installation
and
administration

Satellite
Television
Services monitoring &
administration

March
2009

February 2010
Federal Ministry of
Works, Housing &
Urban
Development
Abuja
Network Administrator
and Engineer (Corps
Member)

Network Administration &

Support
Hardware and Software
configuration
and
administration
Network configuration and
re-design

April 2011- November

2013
Gotel
Communications, Yola
Adamawa State.
Head
of
ICT,
Broadcast Engineer

November
2013-till
date
Bloomberg TV Africa
Lagos
Senior
Broadcast/IT
Engineer

General ICT consulting &

capacity building
Outdoor
&
Indoor
Broadcast systems set up
and configuration
LIVE & Virtual Studio
operations & management
ICT
Network
Design,
Administration
&
Management
Management of the ICT
department
Television Production &
presentation
Graphics & Non-Linear
Edit operations
Broadcast
Engineering
Research & Development
Technical Support
Social Media Management
General media Consulting
& Capacity building
Maintaining
broadcast
automation systems
Ensuring continuity for
project activities.
Designing, Setting up &
Monitoring
audiovisual
links between units in
different locations,
Troubleshoot
equipment
and/or perform scheduled
maintenance

Member,
Nigeria
Computer
Society NCS
bode_babs@yahoo.co.uk
080 3712 2160

Rotimi Salami ( Asst Director,

Engineering
Services
NTA
Abuja)
rockstimi@yahoo.com
080 3717 7559

Francis Rwang Pam ( National

Co-ordinator Society for Satellite
Professionals International SSPI
francpam@yahoo.com
080 2311 5506
Leon Aliboh ( Assistant director
ICT Services, Federal Ministry of
Works,
Housing
&
Urban
development Abuja
080 6565 9902

Otunba Sulaiman Kassim ( Head

of
Programmes,
Gotel
Communications Ltd)
kassimsule@yahoo.com
080 2344 5320
Eng
Ibrahim
Hammadikko
( Head of Engineering Services,
Gotel Communications
ibdikko@yahoo.com
080 3298 6582

Eng Puna Adamu ( Deputy Head

of
Engineering
Gotel
Communications
adamswware@yahoo.com
070 3341 3010

Graham Bryce( Project Engineer,

Bloomberg TV Africa)
Fred Allen ( Project Engineer,
Bloomberg TV Africa)
Gary O Callaghan
(Project Manager, Bloomberg TV
Africa)

AWARD
STAFF OF EXCELLENCE

4 | Page

MD/CEO
GOTEL
COMMUNICATIONS

Applied creativity

VOLUNTARY SERVICE
Programmes & Publicity
Committee
Strategy
&
Committee

Planning

Nigerian
Society
of
Engineers,
National
Headquarters Abuja
Young Engineers Forum
of Nigeria under the
auspices of the Nigerian
Society of Engineers H/Q
Abuja

2014
2011 till date

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP & CERTIFICATIONS

Nigerian
Society
of
Engineers (NSE)
Nigeria Computer Society
(NCS)
Nigerian Institute of Safety
Professionals (NISP)
Microsoft Inc.
Cisco

5 | Page

Graduate Member (2009)

G9936

Associate Member (2014)

HSE Level II (2010)
Microsoft
Certified
Professional (MCP)
Cisco Network Academy
Graduate (2013)

7679688

Part Two
2.0 TELEVISION BROADCAST ENGINEERING
Concepts & issues
2.1

OBJECTIVE

This post graduation report is to share my experience in Broadcast

systems engineering with a focus on the challenges I have faced over
the years in a bid to implement a Tapeless broadcast workflow.

2.2

Concept & Issues

The main challenge of broadcasting today all over the world and indeed
in Nigeria is migrating from analogue to digital broadcasting. The
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has set a deadline for the
full transition to digital broadcast for 2015 and Nigeria is a signatory to
this agreement, fixing its switchover date at 31 December 2012 which is
long overdue.
Technology has grown rapidly since the analog system was introduced,
and the current analog system cannot support future development.
Broadcast engineering is the field of electrical engineering, and now to
some extent computer engineering and information technology, which
deals with radio and television broadcasting. Audio engineering and RF
6 | Page

engineering are also essential parts of broadcast engineering, being their

own subsets of electrical engineering.
Broadcast

engineering

involves

both

the studio end

and

the transmitter end (the entire air-chain), as well as remote broadcasts.

Every station has a broadcast engineer, though one may now serve an
entire station group in a city, or be a contract engineer who
essentially freelances his or her services to several stations (often in
small media markets) as needed
The nature of the work varies according to location and whether it is
based in television, radio or new media, but tasks typically involve:
maintaining specialist equipment for video production, broadcast
and satellite transmission, and interactive media;
setting up and monitoring audiovisual links between units in
different locations;
installing and testing new facilities and equipment;
setting up and operating editing facilities in post-production suites;
analyzing and rectifying technical faults on equipment and
systems;
7 | Page

 minimizing loss of service at times of equipment failure by rapidly

identifying and implementing alternative methods of service
provision;
keeping abreast of constant changes in technology by investigating
new systems, techniques and equipment - especially new internet
technologies;
setting up and operating equipment and transmission links during
outside broadcasts;
designing and installing custom audiovisual circuits;
repairing hardware, software and other broadcast technology
systems;
designing and manufacturing new circuits, hardware and systems;
developing and using awareness of best practice in health and
safety for the workplace;
interpreting and implementing instructions and requests from
producers, directors and other colleagues;
communicating effectively with members of the team and other
colleagues;

8 | Page

 keeping up to date with the industry by building and maintaining a

network of contacts.

A broadcast engineer works with hardware and broadcast systems that

are used across television, radio and new media. They make sure that
programmes are broadcast on time and to the highest possible level of
quality. As well as operating and maintaining the systems, they also carry
out updates and repairs.
Broadcast engineers work in a range of locations and situations. They
may carry out studio or set work or post-production operations. They
could also be involved in outside broadcasts, where sound and images
are relayed live back to a studio or straight to the network.
They work with a range of people including producers, studio managers,
presenters and other technical staff
Modern duties of a broadcast engineer include maintaining broadcast
automation systems

for

the

studio

and automatic

transmission

systems for the transmitter plant. There are also important duties
regarding radio
9 | Page

towers,

which

must

be maintained with

proper lighting and painting. Occasionally a station's engineer must deal

with complaints of RF interference, particularly after a station has made
changes to its transmission facilities
Broadcast engineers may have varying titles depending on their level
of expertise and field specialty. Some widely used titles include:
Broadcast design engineer
Broadcast systems engineer
Broadcast IT engineer
Broadcast IT systems engineer
Broadcast network engineer
Broadcast maintenance engineer
Video broadcast engineer
TV studio broadcast engineer
Outside broadcast engineer

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 Remote broadcast engineer

Broadcast engineers may need to possess some or all of the

following degrees, depending on the broadcast technical environment. If
one of the formal qualifications is not present, a related degree or
equivalent professional experience is desirable.
Degree in electrical engineering
Degree in electronic engineering
Degree in telecommunications engineering
Degree in computer engineering
Degree in management information system
Degree in broadcast technology
Broadcast engineers are generally required to have knowledge in the
following areas, from conventional video broadcast systems to modern
Information Technology:

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 Conventional broadcast
Audio/Video instrumentation measurement
Baseband video standard / high-definition
Broadcast studio acoustics
Television

studios -

broadcast video

cameras and camera

lenses
Production switcher (Video mixer)
Audio mixer
Broadcast IT
Video compression - DV25, MPEG, DVB or ATSC (or ISDB)
Digital server playout technologies. - VDCP, Louth, Harris,
control protocols
Broadcast automation
Disk storage RAID / NAS / SAN technologies.
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 Archives Tape archives or grid storage technologies.

Computer networking
Operating

systems Microsoft

Windows / Mac

OS / Linux / RTOS
Post

production video

capture and non-linear

editing

systems (NLEs).
RF
RF satellite uplinking High-powered amplifiers (HPA)
RF communications

satellite downlinking

Band

detection, carrier detection and IRD tuning, etc.

RF transmitter maintenance - IOT UHF transmitters, solid
state VHF transmitters, solid state MF transmitters (AM
radio), tube type VHF and MF transmitters. antennas,
transmission line, high power filters, digital modulators,
towers, tower lighting systems, backup generators.
Health and safety
13 | P a g e

 Occupational safety and health

Fire suppression systems like FM 200.
Basic structural engineering
RF hazard mitigation
Above mentioned requirements vary from station to station.
The conversion to digital broadcasting means broadcast engineers must
now be well-versed in digital television and digital radio, in addition
to analogue principles. New equipment from the transmitter to the radio
antenna to the receiver may be encountered by engineers new to the
field. Furthermore, modern techniques place a greater demand on an
engineer's

expertise,

such

as sharing broadcast

towers or radio

antennas among different stations (diplexing).

Digital audio and digital video have revolutionized broadcast engineering
in many respects. Broadcast studios and control rooms are now already
digital

in

large

part,

using non-linear

editing and digital

signal

processing for what used to take a great deal of time or money, if it was
even

possible

14 | P a g e

at

all. Mixing

consoles for

both audio and video are

continuing to become more digital in the 2000s, as is the computer

storage used to keep digital media libraries. Effects processing and TV
graphics can now be realized much more easily and professionally as
well.
Other

devices

used

in

broadcast

engineering

are telephone

hybrids, broadcast delays, and dead air alarms. See the glossary of
broadcast engineering terms for further explanations.
Broadcast stations often call upon outside engineering services for
certain needs. For example, because structural engineering is generally
not

direct

part

of

broadcast

engineering, tower companies

usually design broadcast towers.

Broadcast and sound engineers install, test, operate and repair
electronic equipment that is used to transmit radio, television, and cable
programs. Broadcast engineers also produce soundtracks for motion
pictures, operate sound for live events and concerts, and record music in
recording studios. Included in the larger field of electrical engineering,
broadcast

engineers

must

have

working

knowledge

of audio

engineering, computer engineering and radio frequency engineering.

15 | P a g e

Other companies specialize in both broadcast engineering and broadcast

law, which are both essential when making an application to a
national broadcasting authority for a construction permit or broadcast
license. This is especially critical in North America, where stations bear
the entire burden of proving that their proposed facilities will not cause
interference and are the best use of the radio spectrum. Such companies
now

have

special software that

can

map

projected radio

propagation and terrain shielding, as well as lawyers that will defend the
applications

before

the

U.S. Federal

Communications

Commission (FCC), Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications

Commission (CRTC), or the equivalent authorities in some other
countries.

16 | P a g e

Part Three
3.1

Tapeless Broadcast Systems & Workflows

3.2

Background

In

the

professional broadcast world,

an

end-to-end

workflow

(from ingest to playout) is called tapeless when part, or all of it, is

made without any tape; video and audio sources being ingested,
recorded, edited and played out on digital systems.
To illustrate the differences, we can take the analogy with a
classic video recorder and a hard disk recorder. With the tape based
system, you need to wait for some mechanical operations such as
forward, rewind, eject, copy, etc. In the other case, tapeless one, you
instantly and directly go to the selected part of the media.
These advantages are the same in professional workflows and can be
added to reach easiest, fastest and more secure systems.
The tapeless advantages are the following:

17 | P a g e

 Direct and instant access to a precise time code

No mechanical wear
No waiting time : forward, rewind does not exist
Easiest and fastest editing : insert, delete, copy,
Edit requiring less machines (with a tape-based workflow, you need
at least two machines, one player and one recorder)
Easy adding of metadata (thumbnails, timecode, remarks, rating)
Researches on media are easy with those metadata
Costless storages
No tape wear
Tapeless systems have become popular and efficient together with
the IT world, video servers and efficient codecs .

Over the past 8 years, I have been exposed to various numbers of

Broadcast Engineering systems, works and projects that have broadened
my experience and expertise in the sector.
18 | P a g e

started

with

simple

studio

operations

like

floor

managing,

teleprompting, graphics operation, camera operation and have now

progressed through the training and on-the-job exposures I have
received to becoming a Producer, director and even a presenter
as well and this has aided me in becoming a better and more
competent broadcast systems/it engineer.

I have learned and still have a lot to learn from my colleagues and over
the past years they have given me great support and knowledge of the
broadcast services industry globally.

The following pages in this chapter briefly chronicle my post

graduation

experience

in

the

Broadcast

Media

services

industry.

3.3 NTA2 CHANNEL 5 VICTORIA ISLAND LAGOS

3.31

Background

The NTA2 Channel 5 Lagos was a traditional broadcast establishment. By

this I mean that the set-up and workflow was purely analogue. The NTA
Lagos transmitted in the Very High Frequency spectrum of 175.25MHz to
19 | P a g e

residents within Lagos with spill-over signal to neighboring state like

Ogun state.

By the word Traditional establishment, I mean that between years

2006-2009, the source of media content distribution was TAPE. Minidigital video (mini-DV) tapes were used for recording/capturing,
ingesting, post-production and final transmission of video materials.
Often times, vintage footages were transmitted using legacy equipments
like Video Cassette players and recorders (VCR). There was no alternate
means of content acquisition and distribution.

3.32

JOB ROLE

I was the assistant duty engineer and often times I would man the
master control room and supervise any studio productions that was
to take place. Typically in a control room, you should find an
Operations director who has been provided the schedule of
programmes to be broadcast for that day or period and an engineer
who handles cueing of tape materials and play out alongside
resolving any technicalities that may arise with the transmitted
material like poor video and audio quality etc.
20 | P a g e

As the duty engineer ,I ensure that there is regular power supply to

the studio and its environs which often involves changing over to a
Generator if there is a power failure. I utilize monitoring tools and
equipment like a wave form monitor to ensure the integrity of the
transmitted signal is acceptable by all standards.

I also patch equipments for recording to tape. In the process of

carrying out these duties, timing and efficiency are of great
importance since there is a schedule which must be followed to the
latter to avoid litigation from clients who have paid for their
commercials or programmes to be aired.
Based on my research , I realized some of the downsides to this
traditional set up included :
3.32.1

The Challenges
1. Down time as a result of inserting tape for playout
2. Wear and tear of tape machine mechanisms
3. Unreliability of some tapes resulting in poor picture
quality
4. Inability to wholly preview the content of a material

21 | P a g e

on tape because it proves to be very time consuming

5. Low shelf life of tapes of less than 10yrs

3.32.1

The Solution

Having observed and experienced these challenges, I embarked on a

research in collaboration with the Systems Supervisor, Bode Babalola, on
how they could be overcome. It was then in 2009 that we proposed the
concept of Tapeless Broadcasting which involved the installation and
configuration of a file sharing system using a Network attached storage.
The idea of Tapeless broadcast workflows was proposed to the
Management and eventually this was implemented at the headquarters in
Abuja and now most other state zones of the NTA have adopted the
concept.
I actively participated in the setting up of a Newsroom network system
that allowed File sharing between members of the news department to
increase efficiency and productivity.
3.23

Observations

Bureaucracy : It took several years before the NTA came on board with
the idea of Tapeless Broadcast systems when some other privately owned
TV stations had started.
22 | P a g e

3.40

GOTEL COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED, YOLA ADAMAWA STATE

3.41

Background

I was the Head of the ICT department and a Broadcast Engineer on this
project working to produce designs for a converged network and
oversee the installation and configuration of a Tapeless Broadcast
Workflow. TV Gotel transmits terrestrially on the UHF band of 575.25MHz
within Yola. It has 2 LIVE set recording studios and one virtual studio
running the Harris Monarch Virtuoso software. The studios were physically
apart by a distance of at least 30meters and the set up is entirely Tapebased from ingest to transmission. Archiving was also done based on tapes
and sometimes on external hard drives.
A typical workflow in Gotel look liked the figure below :

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TRANSMISSIO
N ROOM

INGEST

By foot
From tape-based
Camera

by foot

POSTPRODUCTI
ON

by foot

By foot

LIBRARY
Fig 1.0 A block diagram of a typical workflow in Gotel communications Ltd

I joined Gotel Communications as a Broadcast Engineer in April

2011 and in the space of three years , I rose to become the
youngest Head of department and most decorated engineer in the
department.

One of the first things I did upon joining the company was to
24 | P a g e

carry out a research

into the existing workflow shown above

which had a lot of challenges some of which are listed below :

3.42

CHALLENGES
1. Significant amount of time was wasted in
ingesting as the materials had to be transferred
from a tape machine to the edit system
2. Time was wasted in the physical transfer of
tapes from the various units as they were
physically distinct by location.
3. Time and Manpower was wasted in transferring
the edited material back to tape.
4. Time was wasted in physically moving the tape
from the post production facility to the control
room where it was to be used for transmission.
5. Significant time was wasted in moving video
materials between the LIVE studios as they
were physically far apart.

25 | P a g e

6. Financial resources were wasted daily on

acquiring paper for the newsroom routine
operations like scripting.
7. News bulletins almost always started behind
schedule as a result of this time wasting
8. The ingest machines suffered routinely from
wear and tear
9. High cost of repairing the tape machines and
cameras as they had to be taken to Lagos for
fixing
10.

Cameras also suffered mechanical wear

and tear
11.

The Edit systems often failed as a result

of misuse and virus infections and as a result

vital footages were lost.
12.

The Edit systems were often backed up to

external hard drives and tapes which often

failed due to physical damage or software
corruption and this led to loss of archive
materials.
26 | P a g e

13.

There was no form of redundancy in the

archive set-up since it was to an external hard

disk drives.
14.

Financial constraints as a result of

duplication of content on Tapes and hard drives

15.

There was no form of convergence on the

existing local area network

3.43

The Solution

Given the few challenges mentioned above, I carried out a gap

analysis and ultimately designed a converged network and
proffered a roadmap to Tapeless Broadcast with these new
designs.

INGEST

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TRANSMISSION

BACK-UP
SERVER
Via network
From tapeless
Camera SD card

CENTRALIZED
FILE SERVER
FOR ACTIVE
DIRECTORY

Via network

POSTPRODUCTION

Fig 2.0

via network

via network

NETWORK
ATTACHED
STORAGE (NAS)

via network

LIBRARY/ARCHIV
E

Design for Tapeless Roadmap in Gotel Communications

This project required me carrying out the following:

Survey of existing Post production rooms, Newsroom and Programmes

department
Research into the existing workflow of these various units by observing meeting each
unit head.
Gap analysis of the situation.
Design of the tapeless workflow for Scalability and redundancy
Layout and Specification of required hardware.
Design of a converged network
Capacity building for members of staff and technical support
Below is a copy of my 9 paged report and recommendation to the Management of
Gotel Communications in June 2011 after a 2 month research.

28 | P a g e

To: GM/CEO
Thru : Head of Engineering
Date: June 2011

Research Report and

Recommendation

June 2011

29 | P a g e

It is unarguably true that modern day business environment is

increasingly becoming ICT driven and top Executives are asking this
One million dollar question, How do we leverage on ICT to cut cost,
increase efficiency and improve productivity?
This research paper aims to show the path using TV Gotel as a case
study.
As is obtainable anywhere else in the world, proper and effective
restructuring cannot be undertaken without conducting a Gap
analysis. This gives an insight into your current status( The Now)
and

your

expected

end

point

( The Then) and the solutions, strategies, ideas and concepts that
will pave the way to getting there.
The same was conducted in TV Gotel and below is the result
accompanied by a recommendation.

Charles Emuze
Sectional Head, ICT
Engineer Dept.

30 | P a g e

Gap Analysis ( The Now)

Our network system, exclusive of the Internet Service
Providers premise equipment, includes the following items:
1.

A redundant Domain Controller (running windows server

2008 standard edition) with active directory which also
functions as a DHCP and DNS server

2.

Local Area Network (LAN 100Mbps) for internet

connectivity

3.

Workstations (Desktops and Laptops)

4.

External Storage devices and

5.

Printers and scanners

There are a number of Hp workstations running windows 7

professional operating system. The workstations are connected
directly

to

the

LAN

while

printers

are

connected

to

the

workstations.
Stated below are some observations regarding workflow, network
31 | P a g e

resource utilization amongst others.

i.

Currently, data (audio/video materials) is stored on a

combination of internal hard drives and direct-attached
external drives. This implies duplication of data on DVDs and
tapes whenever it is required in another location and thus
proves to be cost-ineffective in the long term. Also the
amount of time and energy expended to move to and fro one
point of use to another could be channeled into other
productive areas.

ii.

Data is stored locally on each of the workstations

therefore any one system failure may lead to a loss of nonrecoverable valuable data.

iii.

The absence of shared network resources like printers

causes users ( in this case members of staff) to expend
valuable time in duplicating paperwork and documents on
flash drives, waste printing papers upon editing and reediting of these documents while they barely have access to
printers. This does not prove to be cost effective in the long
term.

iv.

In most offices, the number of internet sockets (points) do

not suffice for the number of computers. As a result, users
often connect on a turn by turn basis which exposes the
internet points to mechanical failures as it is usually not
handled properly.

v.
32 | P a g e

Summarily, TV Gotel is yet to harness the full potential of

its network

facilities hence a robust computer systems

administration cannot be achieved.

The Then
With cost effective and carefully orchestrated modifications, TV
Gotel can leverage on the benefits of Information Technology to
cut overall cost, improve efficiency and increase productivity.
Below is a 2-phase road map to an effective utilization of our ICT
resources to better our lot and cause us to stand-out as a modern
day broadcast outfit with cutting-edge concepts and technologies.

ACTIVE
DIRECTORY
DATABASE
CONFIGURATIO
N

Phase 1a

FILE SERVER
33 | P a g e

INSTALLATION

PLAYOUT
AUTOMATION

Phase 1c
Phase 1b
DIGITAL VIDEO
ARCHIVING
SYSTEM

LOCAL

& Digital Asset

Management
Phase

IPTV

1d

Phase Id

DEPLOYMENT

Phase 2a

DIGITAL
SIGNAGE
SYSTEM

Phase 2b.
Fig 4.0 phased roadmap for the effective utilization of TV Gotels
ICT resources
It is upon this premise that I make this humble recommendations
stated below in phases.
PHASE 1a:
That management allows for the configuration and ensures the
34 | P a g e

utilization of the Active directory to guarantee a centralized way of

managing all network computers, users and resources and also
enhance the security of network resources.
The Active directory which is a database that keeps track of all
activities in the network also provides a centralized way of
managing users and groups, services, computers and other
network resources like printers etc
The In-house Engineering unit of TV Gotel can and will handle this
project should management give the directive and avail the
wherewithal.

PHASE 1b.
The installation of a File Server system establishes a centralized
file-based

system

where

audio/video

materials

and

other

documents can be distributed over the network. This drastically

eradicates the need for tapes, paper and content duplication as
these materials are readily available on the network and can be
readily accessed anywhere on the network by authorized users.

This is a scalable solution that would prove to be cost effective in

the long term.
It will provide resilience to hardware failures e.g. hard disk.
The solution will be based upon Hp hardware.
Provide centralized file server capable of file transfers up to
35 | P a g e

several
Gigabytes in size.
Provide centralized backup solution.
Share and manage printers and print queues.

36 | P a g e

3.44

BILL OF ENGINEERING MEASUREMENT AND

EVALUATION
S/

Item

Qty

Unit

Cost

Price

(Nair
a)

Hp Server 2GHz,

2 X 60GB HDD,

120,0

120,0

00

00

30,00

180,0

00

30,00

30,00

25,00

25,00

1GB RAM
Gigabit Enabled
2

500GB SATA HDD

RAID Controller

4 GB DDR

Random Access
Memory for
FileServer
5

Active Directory

50,00

50,00

& Server

Configuration

200,0

200,0

00

00

50,00

50,00

8,000

40,00

,Backup
configuration,
Client and printer
configuration tool
6

Windows Server

2008 Operating
system
7

Gigabit switch

5 port Ethernet
Switch

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9.

Carton of Cat 5e
Ethernet cable

20,00

20,00

Total

715,0
00

Detailed Hardware Specification

Hp Fileserver
Dual 2GHz PowerPC G5 512k L2 cache

1 GB DDR400 EEC SDRAM leaving 6

slots free for expansion

2 x 60GB SATA Drive Modules

.
6 x 500GB SATA HDD RAID
configured to provide 1.5TB resilience to
disk failure

1Gb/s Ethernet connection

CD-ROM Drive
.
Windows Server 2008 standard
edition
The Fileserver Raid system will provide up to 1.5TB of resilient
(RAID) storage to the file server using 100Mbps Ethernet
channel connections. It can also be scaled upwards for more
resilient RAID storage.
Phase Ic
It is unarguably true that File based workflows are now
becoming the norm in post production and broadcast as more
and more companies move away from traditional tape based
environments to an IT centric infrastructure.
Many companies are under financial pressure to reduce costs
as program and equipment budgets are squeezed, yet at the
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same time need to be more efficient in their production, post

production and distribution/broadcast environments.
Content archiving has proven to be a major challenge due to
the proliferation of video formats. It is on this premise that I
submit this report with the hope that I shall be given the
opportunity to contribute my quota to the continued growth of
this organization.
Having submitted this report and recommendation, the Management
approved it and the first phase was initiated and concluded. With the
new design, there was a significant improvement on the efficiency
and effectiveness of the workflow, communications between members
of staff was done through the centralized server rather than on paper,
video materials were archived on the Network attached storage.
Some of the challenges encountered during and after this project
included :
3.45

PROJECT CHALLENGES & SOLUTIONS

1. Computer illiteracy of most colleagues
2. Timescale not being met due to transport logistics of
delivering parts from Lagos to yola
3. Under utilization of the service by members of staff who
had a preference for the status quo.

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4. Everyone had access to the Network storage and file server

and as a result began to use it for storing non-work related
materials

To overcome some of these challenges, I did the following :

1. Regularly embarked on an intensive ICT sensitization campaign
for members of staff with a view to enlightening them on the
benefits of the integration of ICT into broadcast workflows as is
obtainable in modern media outfits and by global best practices.
2. Liaised with Heads of other departments to enforce the ICT
policy for workflows
3. Routine monitoring of the system and workflow with a view to
assisting those who may have challenges with its usage
4. Selected and trained a team of junior staffs to also provide
technical support to the general members of staff.
5. Created an Active directory database on the Windows server
2008 operating system for users who were assigned privileges
based on their job roles. This prevented unauthorized access to
the network attached storage and file server and also ensured
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smooth administration of the entire computers on the network.

Also in the course of my work years at Gotel communications, I

was on board several committees as a result of my exposure and
experience in modern day broadcast techniques. I designed a
converged network for the organization alongside being a TV
presenter/talk show host.

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Part Four
4.10

Conclusion

With the transition to digital broadcast being around the corner,

television and radio stations are embracing ICT-driven techniques to
leverage on modern broadcast opportunities.
Tapeless workflows have re-defined broadcasting across the globe
and it would be a wise choice for media organizations in Nigeria to
follow the trend.

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APPENDICES

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