Tightrope Media solutions amplifies local coverage for City of Madison

The Madison City Channel has announced an agreement to use Cablecast Community Media platform and Screenweave OTT solution from Tightrope Media Systems. With this, the regional coverage can now be found in Apple TV and Roku devices.

This local channel covers all the City board news of Madison, Wisconsin. The network also presents public affairs programming featuring officials, community leaders, and candidates in local elections.

Faced with a reduction in cable television distribution and wary of the cord-cutting trend across the nation, the Madison City Channel team set out to expand their distribution to include OTT. Working with integrator Z Systems, Madison City Channel upgraded its existing Cablecast SX playout and automation server to a new Cablecast VIO model. They also added Screenweave OTT apps, which use the cloud-based Cablecast Reflect service to deliver OTT content to viewers.

In addition to making Madison City Channel accessible on Roku and Apple TV through the standard Screenweave , the City also had Tightrope create apps just for their channel. This makes it easier for local residents to find Madison City Channel directly in the App Store or Channel Store

Tanya Anderson, Digital Media Specialist, City of Madison commented the new service: ““My co-worker and I have been able to easily upload content and do all of the channel programming from home through Cablecast’s web interface,” Anderson explained. “It is also very easy to remotely switch to live programing, since Cablecast controls our SDI router. Cablecast is a straightforward, easy-to-use platform that lets us get our channel out to as many people as possible,” she summarized. “The fact that we’ve been able to essentially double our distribution methods with Screenweave is a great benefit to both our city and our channel – and it wasn’t hard to do!”