NEW YORK -- Feb. 4, 2014 -- Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT), the worldwide leader in video delivery infrastructure, has been selected to provide its Harmonic(R) MediaGrid shared storage and Spectrum(TM) MediaDeck(TM) integrated media playout server systems to NBC Olympics, a division of the NBC Sports Group, during its production of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, from Feb. 6-23. The announcement was made today by David Mazza, senior vice president, NBC Olympics, and Peter Alexander, chief marketing officer at Harmonic.
NBC Olympics will use the Harmonic solution to support a "highlights factory" in which staff based at the broadcaster's Stamford, Conn., facility will very quickly access event footage captured in Russia, create highlights clips, and make them available to mobile devices and computers. This wide-area production model facilitates cost-effective content creation by allowing NBC Olympics to maintain a significant portion of its operation in the United States.
"Over the past three Olympic Games, Harmonic infrastructure has been at the center of the NBC Olympics production workflow," said Alexander. "In 2014 Harmonic media server and storage systems will once again play a critical role in NBC Olympics' content creation workflow, providing the performance and reliability essential to timely multiplatform delivery of compelling content -- an increasingly important element of high-profile sports coverage."
"It's a game changer for us," said Mazza, referring to the innovative NBC production facility in Stamford, Conn., that has been built on technologies, including the Harmonic systems, proven in past Olympics. "Everything we built for the 2012 London Olympics is being used here in Stamford every day by NBC Sports and NBC Sports Network. Throughout the 2014 Sochi Olympics, we will be able to leverage both new and existing infrastructure to establish a highly efficient and very cost-effective fast-turnaround highlights-creation workflow for multiplatform content."
During the two-week London event, NBC Olympics served up more than two billion page views, setting new records, and the "NBC Olympics Live Extra" app became one of the most downloaded in Apple(R) app store history. During the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Harmonic infrastructure and other production solutions already well-established at the Stamford facility, will operate along with systems installed at the broadcaster's Sochi headquarters to enable NBC Olympics to bring high volumes of timely content to nonlinear distribution platforms.
Harmonic MediaDeck video servers will record as many as 25 incoming venue feeds as both XDCAM-HD at 50 Mbps and H.264 low-resolution proxy. These systems also will give Stamford personnel independent control over 60 channels of local ingest. Each recording's proxy is replicated in near real-time on a 480 TB Harmonic MediaGrid storage system connected via two 10-Gigabit circuits to a second 384 TB MediaGrid installed at the Stamford facility. In less than a minute, content created on the Sochi MediaGrid system will be replicated on the Stamford MediaGrid system.
The NBC Olympics production staff in the U.S. and Russia will have direct access to content stored on either MediaGrid system through the media asset management (MAM) system, even if the event is still in progress and the files are still being received. Once recordings begin, dozens of loggers, producers, and editors in Stamford will access the material, excerpt what they need, and make highlight files. Using extensive live logs and stats, scoring, and timing information embedded as metadata, editors will be able to make shot lists that can be quickly and automatically conformed in proxy resolution for streaming along with live multiscreen services, or conformed in high resolution for use in NBC Olympics' traditional broadcast edit suites in Stamford and other U.S. facilities.
Integration of the MediaGrid into NBC's EVS workflows, with EVS IPDirector devices directly mounted on the MediaGrid, will extend and pool the storage capabilities of the EVS systems. From any IPDirector seat, NBC Olympics personnel will have immediate access to footage from any venue, from any day of competition. An LTO-5 library in Stamford will make it easy for production staff to access and use content from previous Olympic Games.
Further information about Harmonic and the company's products is available at www.harmonicinc.com.
Photo Link:www.wallstcom.com/Harmonic/Harmonic-NBCOlympics2014drawing.pdf
Photo Caption: This wide-area production model allows NBC staff in Stamford, Conn., to access event footage captured in Russia to create highlights clips.
Photo Link: www.wallstcom.com/Harmonic/Harmonic-MediaGridDown-shot.jpg
Photo Caption: Harmonic's MediaGrid shared storage system plays a critical role in NBC Olympics' content creation workflow.
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About NBC Olympics
A division of the NBC Sports Group, NBC Olympics is responsible for producing, programming, and promoting NBCUniversal's Olympic coverage. It is renowned for its unsurpassed Olympic heritage, award-winning production, and ability to aggregate the largest audiences in U.S. television history. For more information on NBC Olympics' coverage of the Sochi Olympics, please visit: http://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/.
About Harmonic
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) is the worldwide leader in video delivery infrastructure for emerging television and video services. The company's production-ready innovation enables content and service providers to efficiently create, prepare, and deliver differentiated services for television and new media video platforms. More information is available at www.harmonicinc.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements related to the anticipated capabilities and benefits of Harmonic's MediaGrid(TM), Shared Storage, and MediaDeck(TM) products. Our expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize and are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the possibility that the products may not meet some or all of their anticipated capabilities or provide some or all of their anticipated benefits, such as performance and reliability.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, such as those more fully described in Harmonic's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec.31, 2012, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Harmonic as of the date hereof, and Harmonic disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
EDITOR'S NOTE -- Product and company names used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
