SABC upgrades studios with CGI dira!

CGI has announced the successful rollout of its dira! solution across eight of the South African Broadcasting Corp.’s 19 radio stations. The rollout to the remaining radio stations continues in 2022.

According to the company, the contract, won via a tender process, has seen the SABC invest in CGI’s full dira! Solution Suite, including Onair Player, Highlander, Scheduler, Startrack, Orion and Broadcast Report.

“The dira! solution provides complete integration to our music, sales and news systems, allowing users to work on an integrated platform from a single screen or workstation,” explained Nada Wotshela, group executive for SABC Radio. Of particular benefit is the installation of a Commercial Player, which plays radio advertisements promptly within the specified window of the booked time. This will assist with accurate reporting and ensure that skipping of advertisements which leads to revenue losses is a thing of the past.”

[Read more RedTech news items here]

Established in 1936, the SABC provides a range of distinctive programs in all 11 official languages across its radio and television portfolio. The broadcaster pointed out that the recent rollout of the dira! solution has helped it continue to achieve its mission to be a digitized national public broadcaster that provides “compelling, informative, educational and entertaining” content via all platforms. 

“The current digital revolution phase of broadcasting is characterized by the transition to a unified working environment, where users can access all the applications that they need, in one place,” said Michael Thielen, V.P. – Radio Solutions, CGI. “We’re thrilled to be supporting the SABC’s full portfolio of radio stations with production workflow and visual radio solutions.”