SRF media archive

High Level Software Web platform

The media archive for Swiss Radio and Television SRF enables journalists to access archive material dating back to the 1950s and send the image and video material directly to the editing suite.

  • Initial situation

    People are getting more and more information online or via social media. Media companies have to prepare and broadcast their content ever more quickly in order to survive. A central tool is the media archive of all previously produced content.

  • SCS solution

    The Faro archive system archives media files with various metadata largely automatically, e.g. with speech-to-text. Journalists can search the archive and send the video and audio material directly to the editing suite.

  • Added value

    As the metadata is recorded to the second, a quote or a goal at a football match can be accessed directly. The journalists conduct their research in a modern web client with access to 1 million video and 1.6 million audio reports.

Project insights

A key working tool for radio and television journalists is the media archive of all previously produced content. For example, a quote from a member of the National Council can be reused for political reports, archive images of the relevant country for foreign reports or past exploits of a football team for sports programmes. For this purpose, SCS has developed the Faro media archive system on behalf of SRF. Faro is a customised solution for the needs of SRF. It is used to record newly produced programmes, allowing users to search the archive for content and have the content made available for reuse.

Research with the FARO archive system. As the metadata is recorded to the second, a quote or a goal from a football match can be accessed directly. Picture SRF/Oscar Alessio

The media files of newly produced programmes are largely automatically saved in the archive with various metadata. Documentalists subsequently add specific information to the archive material, such as scene descriptions, content details and usage information. This is central to archive research and the reuse of content. Automation is used wherever possible, e.g. with speech-to-text.

Users can access the content of FARO via a search interface. Various metadata can be searched for, such as people, places, events or quotes. Video and audio files can be viewed in the same way as YouTube. As the metadata is recorded to the second, a quote or the goal of a football match can be accessed directly.

The audio or video material can be sent directly from the research tool to an editing suite where it can be used for new contributions.

The archive contains 1 million video and 1.6 million audio recordings. Picture SRF/Oscar Alessio

SCS is responsible for the entire development cycle from requirements clarification, UX design and development to testing, commissioning and support. Faro is continuously developed and new functions are added.

Technically, Faro consists of a metadata database and media storage. A desktop application is used to record programmes. Journalists research and order in a modern web client with a backend consisting of several services in Kubernetes. Elasticsearch is used as the search technology.

Do you have any questions or are you looking for an archiving system for your own application? Get in touch with Jérôme Stettler!

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