NDR has adopted EVS’s MediaCeption content management to customise end-to-end news production workflows and editorial collaboration for tagesschau, Germany’s top news program.
Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) is one of Germany’s key public television networks within the ARD group, and is also producer of tagesschau, Germany’s most-watched news program. ARD-aktuell produces tagesschau alongside the news magazine tagesthemen, 24/7 news channel tagesschau24, the homepage tagesschau.de and various social-media video players.
As ARD-aktuell’s existing legacy news production system reaches the end of its lifecycle, as well as replacing it, plans were made to simplify and enhance news production workflows at NDR. Installation of an EVS MediaCeption content management system is now underway and is scheduled to go on air during 2026.
News Production Environment at NDR
Built around the VIA Media Asset Management Platform (VIA MAP), MediaCeption will serve as an end-to-end news production environment for managing and editing live and near-live news content for tagesschau. It includes AI-driven workflows that will extend the programme’s newsroom operations and resources further.
The VIA MAP platform connects live productions with editorial users, controlling the use of resources and content to support downstream distribution and monetization requirements. XS-VIA servers will be operating alongside VIA MAP for ingest and playout operations. XS-VIA allows productions to extend to a high density of UHD- 4K and 1080p operations and can be deployed simultaneously in both IP-connected and SDI environments.
Covering the complete operation, EVS will also supply integrated, nearline shared storage based on X Store. To improve security, disaster recovery workflows are in place using the familiar IPDirector live production asset management suite, LSM-VIA live slow-motion replay system and Xnet-VIA, a new media sharing network for live production.
VIA MAP – Open Architecture, Web-based Apps
VIA MAP is built on an open architecture – with a full REST API catalogue – in order to integrate with both EVS systems and the team’s third-party tools. The VIA Flow workflow engine is also integrated for creating and updating import, publishing, conversion, delivery and archiving workflows as their requirements change over time.
The platform’s apps are web-based, so that production and editorial teams can produce, manage, edit, distribute and archive content from any devices, at any location. Further to this, the platform itself is fully virtualized and software-based on containerised microservices, which means that VIA MAP is deployable in varied environments and scalable, secured across highly available clusters.
As well as the production tools, VIA MAP has metadata enrichment features, AI tools and search functionality with user rights management, used to locate and take the best advantage of content. Certified integrations with technology partners including OpenMedia NRCS and Viz Mosart Automation, result in a cohesive workflow, connecting the cross media tagesschau newsroom with industry-standard tools for greater efficiency.
Prepared for Live
NDR’s full MediaCeption solution is tuned for faster content turnaround, reliability, complete editing capabilities and direct collaboration across teams. VIA MAP’s web-based interface, flexible deployment options and scalable architecture, prepare NDR’s teams for the demands of live news production, including high-pressure breaking news coverage.
Marcus Bornheim, Chief Editor ARD-aktuell, noted, “News is always a matter of speed. We are pleased to have found a solution together with EVS that supports our crossmedia workflows in the newsroom and will also take us into a new phase when it comes to artificial intelligence. The EVS team gives us the confidence that our partnership will enable our newsroom teams to focus on storytelling while knowing the technology will always deliver.” evs.com