Kuwait TV in a major upgrade of their News and Sports facilities have chosen Sony and the local Sony agent, SSW, to provide them the latest digital studio and field acquisition equipment
Kuwait – 1st June 2004
News and sports are big business in today’s broadcast world and most broadcasters are gearing themselves up to maintain their market share of home viewers in these two areas.
Consequently, in a significant move to upgrade their sports and news coverage operations Kuwait TV chose Sony to provide them the latest state of the art digital broadcast facilities, firstly with a complete turnkey live on-air all digital Sports Production Studio, and secondly with large purchase of DVCAM camcorders and studio VTR’s news acquisition and production.
The new Sports Production Studio enables Kuwait TV to produce a high quality live sports program covering local and international sports events such as soccer and basketball, with live comment and interviews in the studio with sports stars and experts.
Eng. Salah Al-Siddiqi, Director of Studios and OB Kuwait TV comments, “We’re committed to delivering to our viewers a very high standard of program entertainment and sports coverage is a major part of most broadcasters’ program portfolio. The Kuwaitis are keen sports fans and therefore our sports channel had to ensure the highest quality in terms of production technique and system reliability. These were the key deliverables upon which we based the decision to choose Sony”
The Sports Production Studio provides the main local programming material for Kuwait TV’s dedicated sports channel. Broadcasting 12 hours each day with a mixture of live and pre-recorded program material it was important not only to have system reliability but also dedicated local support. Sony’s local dealer Supplying Stores WLL (SSW) based in Kuwait City provides a key role in supporting the system and ensuring program continuity.
Adel Mohammed Divisional Manager SSW said, “Kuwait TV and SSW have a very long and successful business relationship. They know SSW to provide high caliber support for local systems and also the quality of Sony products and in both there is a strong track record of reliability. This was crucial to winning this prestigious business.”
At the heart of the complete digital studio is Sony’s DVS-9000C Live Production Video Switcher taking a feeds from a multiple of sources, firstly live camera feeds from inside the studio floor where 4 x Sony BVP-E10 cameras (1 remote controlled from studio wall), secondly from the 5 VTR’s (4x Digital Betacam & 1 x IMX) and externally from live OB coverage. Finally Sony’s MAV-555 (Multi Channel Disk Recorder) provides commercial inserts and logos. Audio is handled by Sony’s DMX-R100 Digital Audio Mixer.
The first major event for the Sports Production Studio was the Gulf Soccer Tournament held in Kuwait during November 2003 broadcast to the entire Middle East region. Besides sports, news broadcasting is also a major part of a broadcaster’s air time, and now with so many new dedicated regional satellite channels national broadcasters are having to upgrade their existing infrastructure to compete for viewers.
Kuwait TV have therefore made a significant investment in the acquisition and program production stages of their news operation with the purchase of 10 x DVCAM Camcorders (DSR-570WSPL/390PL) and 20 x DVCAM VTR’s (DSR-1500AP/1800P/2000P). Coupled with the camcorders are the latest “AVIT” type products – Sony’s portable DVCAM hard disk recorder the DSR-DU1. This unit sits on the back of the camcorder allowing 3hrs of DVCAM recording on hard disk. The benefits of this being speed of operation enabling field editing, random access to material, speed of transfer to NLE systems, and cache recording so as not miss vital news action.
Hussein Al-Ashwak, Head of News Kuwait TV comments, “The importance of high quality news programming cannot be ignored and is an important role for any national broadcaster. With the growing demand for improved news services we needed a broadcast quality yet cost effective solution for expanding our news operation. Sony’s DVCAM had the range and quality of product we were looking for and with so many other broadcasters using it this gave us the confidence to go ahead with the format”.
Sony Business’ Sales Manager for Kuwait, Vivian Saldanah added, “DVCAM’s worldwide recognition amongst broadcasters for news application made the task of convincing the customer that much easier. The format almost sold itself on its reputation.”
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About Sony Professional Services
Sony Professional Services is the broadcast and professional systems division of Sony Business Europe and were responsible for the design, installation and management of this project. If you want to learn more of have need of systems integration services then please don’t hesitate to contact us.
About Sony Business Middle East & Africa
Sony Business Middle East & Africa, based at Dubai Media City (DMC), has had a presence in the Middle East for over 18 years, with the establishment of its first office in the region, in Dubai. Since then Sony B&P MEA, has invested heavily in its operation in the region, with 50 dedicated specialist staff serving the rapidly evolving broadcast and editing needs of the local market.
Sony Business MEA is a leading supplier of broadcast and professional video and audio systems to the Middle East and African regions. In the broadcast arena Sony is best known for the industry standard Betacam range of products, whilst in the professional products division it has an extensive portfolio of state of the art A/V products that address the needs of the private industry, professional users, government bodies, military, educational and medical institutions - (eg. Digital Camcorders, VTR’s, NLE’s, Data Management & Storage, Displays Systems, CCTV, Medical, Video Conference, etc)
The company is also unique in these sectors by offering comprehensive and vital support services which allow customers to obtain complete solutions from one supplier throughout the region. This includes technical consultation, system design, build and installation as well as a full range of maintenance support and training programs.
Sony Business MEA is located at Dubai Media City and covers the following countries: United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Djibouti, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran and all of Africa.
For further information please contact:
Mr. Karl Hijazi
Tel: +971-4-3918400
Email: karl.hijazi@eu.sony.com
Address:
Sony Business MEA,
Professional Services,
Dubai Media City,
Dubai.
Media Contact:
Ms Sawsan Ghanem,
PR Consultant,
Active PR
Tel: +9714-3900228
Fax: +9714-3904656
E-mail: activepr@emirates.net.ae
Address: P.O. Box 502152,
Dubai,
UAE
© Press Release 2004
