Sky News Australia combines fast, collaborative browser-based editing, remote production and scalable playout on Grass Valley’s AMPP to deliver multi-platform news round the clock.
Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has given its newsroom production operations a major upgrade as part of the relocation of its national headquarters. ANC deployed the AMPP ecosystem, a substantial transition that meant replacing their long-standing legacy Quantel sQ system with a cloud-based production architecture.
Rather than focussing on the facility or its hardware, the new operations enable more than 250 journalists, editors and producers to collaborate as a team through browser-based workflows. The platform now supports the delivery of over 1,500 hours of content each week via broadcast channels and subscribers’ digital devices.
Newsroom Operations Beyond the Newsroom
“This transformation has fundamentally changed how we operate as a newsroom,” said Jesse Hicks, Deputy Head of Operations and Innovation, Sky News Australia. “Our teams can access editing tools from anywhere, collaborate in real time and turn around content faster without compromising quality. It gives us the flexibility needed for modern news production while maintaining the reliability required for a 24/7 environment.”
Their original Quantel sQ news production system was based on video servers, built for fast turnaround productions for sports and news broadcasts. Their new Grass Valley solution includes Framelight X for browser-based editing, Playout X for cloud playout, and integrated asset management, ingest and storage services. Journalists can now create and edit content directly in a web browser, removing reliance on physical workstations and accelerating production workflows.
Complex Playout for OTT, FAST and Broadcast
Playout X simplifies control and management, making it useful for handling complex playout workflows destined for OTT, FAST and traditional broadcast channels. It combines Grass Valley’s playout technology with architecture that is more scalable due to its ability to deploy channels on-premises, in private or public clouds or in hybrid setups.
Providers can use Playout X to adapt their playout configuration based on the particular distribution requirements of each channel – compressed IP streams, uncompressed IP formats or SDI. Then, AMPP’s centralised orchestration gives Playout X direct control of these diverse channel deployments from the single GV.UI interface. Through GV.UI, multiple dashboards can be configured to monitor AMPP applications and manage channels from a secure browser interface.
Playout X’s integrated support for Framelight X asset management means that media assets are organised, accessible and ready for playout at all times. As content is registered, operators can drag-and-drop it directly into Playout X channels without leaving the AMPP platform, making it faster and simpler to prepare and schedule content.
More Options – MAM, Editorial and Collaboration
As well as the MAM tools, Framelight X has functionality for basic editing tasks directly within the platform, such as rough cuts, sequence arrangement, transitions and so on without needing to switch between multiple tools. Also, because Framelight X integrates with GV EDIUS and Adobe Premiere, editors can get started in Framelight X and continue with a specialised NLE at a later time, to make their workflow more efficient.
As an example of how an editorial team could take advantage of these integrations, editors have continuous access to media and applications like voiceover recording and text-driven editing wherever they are and in real time – including periods when editors, journalists and producers need to work collaboratively from different locations. Distributed teams of this kind can produce content quickly, without waiting to arrive at a specific location where specific tools are installed.
In short, the new AMPP workflow’s centralised nature is a key aspect for ANC, supporting fully distributed production whereby teams avoid isolation and work across the newsroom, various field locations and remote environments. By simplifying processes and reducing manual tasks, ANC can redirect more of their time back toward content creation.
“Undertaking a full newsroom transformation alongside a headquarters relocation is a complex challenge,” said Jon Wilson, CEO, Grass Valley. “ANC took a strategic approach – moving to an integrated software defined model that delivers greater flexibility, scalability and resilience across its operations.”
Since going live in November 2025, the platform has delivered continuous 24/7 operation without downtime, indicating the reliability of cloud-based production at scale. As an early adopter of AMPP for newsroom workflows, ANC continues to work with Grass Valley, making operational feedback available that informs ongoing platform development. www.grassvalley.com
