SKY Network Television (SKY), a major direct-to-home satellite television company, has selected Grass Valley's systems integration division for a major upgrade project at two of its broadcast centers in New Zealand. The goal is to create a tapeless environment that will provide a number of operational efficiencies, transforming a 15-year-old television station to a digital, server-based architecture. It will include a variety of Grass Valley systems as well as technology from a number of third-party vendors as well.
When finished, the project will transform aging equipment into new digital facilities at two locations: SKY's current base at Panorama Road, Mt. Wellington, and at the recently acquired Prime Television site in Albany, which will also provide a secondary broadcast center in the event that services from their main site are lost.
SKY delivers multichannel television by satellite to more than 600,000 subscribers, more than 40 percent of all New Zealand homes. The current transmission facilities had been developed on an incremental basis over the years with additional capacity being linked as new channels were added to the service.
In developing the detailed designs for the project, Grass Valley and SKY will establish workflow specifications that are influenced by both current practices and state-of-the-art operational concepts. Cost savings and operational benefits will be realized using digital production, transmission and asset management products.
Grass Valley will also provide additional sub-systems integration and project management services for integration and commissioning over the period of the entire transformation.
For information, visit www.thomsongrassvalley.com.
