LONDON — An estimated two billion people worldwide watched “The Royal Wedding” of Britain’s Prince Harry and American Meghan Markle, which was broadcast live, on Saturday, May 19, from St. George’s Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
During the historic weekend, The Switch — a provider of video switching, satellite and local fiber circuit services — worked behind the scenes to transmit over 200 hours of news and entertainment coverage on behalf of its broadcast customers covering the event.
These broadcasters were given access to a fully-manned stand-up position that The Switch set-up at Windsor Castle, in partnership with ITN. From this location, members of the media could hand off live and replay feeds for distribution by The Switch’s London facilities.
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The Switch then delivered these feeds to multiple distribution outlets across the United Kingdom, as well as internationally to the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia for both linear distribution and over-the-top platforms.
The Switch’s London studios were also utilized for live shots supporting the event.
And, leveraging its ties with the British broadcast community, The Switch also provided The Royal Wedding International clean feed to news organizations that had licensed the event.
“Utilizing The Switch to aid in the distribution of our news coverage allowed us to simplify one piece of a complex event,” said Tami Hoffman, Head of News at ITN Productions. “As one of the three host broadcasters, we appreciate the quality and ease of delivering news coverage to The Switch on a day of record output.”
