LOS ANGELES: Broadcast Facilities Inc. is buying the satellite division of Crawford Communications, the Atlanta-based content distributor. The acquisition includes all of Crawford’s television network origination, Teleport, satellite uplink trucks, Internet, production and government services portions of the business. BFI did not disclose the value of the all-stock deal, but The New York Times DealBook puts it north of $100 million.
Crawford has been providing turnkey broadcast services since 1984. The company performs over 40,000 feeds per year, originates/turns more than 200 full-time networks and provides satellite services to hundreds of clients in various industries, BFI said.
Crawford’s broadcast clients include ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX and NBC. The company also delivers content for DirecTV Sports Networks, ESPN, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball League, NASCAR and the NFL Network. It does disaster recovery for BET, Discovery, Scripps Networks and The Weather Channel. Government clients include the military, NASA and the Centers for Disease Control.
Crawford’s 110,000-square-foot origination facility is one of the largest in the country. The company employs 335 people and operates 24/7. Crawford’s services include network origination/playback; central casting; disaster recovery; satellite and fiber transmissions; satellite uplink and production trucks; IP-media; IP via satellite; emergency communications; governmental SATCOM; Webcasting; and studios and remote video production.
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