Broadcast Buyers Guide - Grass Valley Supplies HD Playout Center for German Broadcaster

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Grass Valley Supplies HD Playout Center for German Broadcaster

Paris, France/Nevada City, Calif., April 15, 2009 – As part of its preparations for high-definition (HD) broadcasts of its prime channel Das Erste, German public broadcaster ARD has ordered a new automated HD Playout Center from Grass Valley™. The order was placed by Hessischer Rundfunk on behalf of ARD and includes system design, implementation, installation, commissioning, training, and a continuing five years plus service level agreement.

ARD, the national broadcaster of Germany, is a federal organization with individual broadcasters in each state, but with a national Playout center (ARD-Sternpunkte) located on the premises of Hessischer Rundfunk in Frankfurt. Grass Valley supplied the standard- definition (SD) transmission system for ARD-Sternpunkte in 2004, and has now won the order to build the HD system.

Grass Valley K2 media clients provide the heart of the system, with HD Trinix™ routers and Maestro™ master control switchers. The playout automation system is from Aveco, with other key parts of the system from Miranda (multi-viewers and branding graphics), Dolby, and Tektronix. System design and integration is handled by the Grass Valley systems integration business unit at Thomson Systems Germany in Weiterstadt.

The new HD Playout Center will first be used for transmissions from the 12th IAAF /World Championships// /in/ //Athletics// /in Berlin in August 2009. ARD will cover the event entirely in HD. Test transmissions of the championships in HD will be hosted from the new facilities at ARD-Sternpunkte. Full HD programming on ARD’s prime channel Das Erste will start in February 2010 with coverage of the Games* from Vancouver, Canada.

“As a public broadcaster, we are expected to lead the way in HD especially in respect to the quality in program distribution, but also do it in a controlled and cost-effective manner,” said Stephen Wagner, head of ARD-Sternpunkte. “Based on an EU-tender process we have done a selection between a number of systems integrators, decisive for our decision in favor of Grass Valley was the convincing offer, but also our familiarity with the Grass Valley team from previous projects and their proven track record in continuing support.”

“Major broadcasters like ARD need continuity in their systems, as well as innovative and affordable solutions,” said Jeff Rosica, Senior Vice President of Grass Valley. “By collaborating with other industry leading vendors, we can put together a solution which excels in every aspect. At the same time, they have the security of systems integration from Grass Valley, together with our reputation for delivering on time, even on a project as tight as this.”

The order for this project was signed in mid-February 2009 and within a few of days the project team had started work. The timescale for completion of installation, testing and the system training is under six months, with the system on air on August 15 for the athletics championships.

*Disclaimer: Thomson is not an official sponsor of the 2009 Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada, nor is it affiliated in any way with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), United States Olympic Committee (USOC) nor any other National Olympic Committee (NOC) or Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG).

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