Ascent Media Group has signed a six-year deal with A&E Television Networks (AETN) to set up network origination, post-production and satellite uplink services.
The agreement renews the continued relationship between the two companies and will lay the groundwork for AETN--a joint venture of The Hearst Corp., ABC Inc. and NBC Universal--to launch an HD channel later this year.
"A&E Television Networks has been a highly valued customer of Ascent Media's comprehensive network origination services for over 20 years. We are very pleased that they have not only chosen to continue their trust in Ascent, but are enabling us to take them to the next level of broadcast management technology," said Scott Davis, president of Ascent Media Network Services, a unit of AMG.
Ascent has agreed to design and build a comprehensive, file-based network origination platform that includes HD/SD ingest, proxy generation, data archive, integrated non-linear editing, transcoding and redundant origination facilities.
Ascent will also be responsible for staff training, rehearsals and the migration to the new platform in October.
