Alfacam steps up to the crease in India

If you want good evidence of sport production’s increasing globalisation, this is a good one: a Belgian OB firm (Alfacam) signing a major agreement to cover cricket (hardly a Belgian speciality) on another continent (India) using cameras (Grass Valley) from a third.

Alfacam has had several flypacks based in India since the last quarter of 2010, covering the international cricket tours including teams from Australia and New Zealand. The company is also responsible for much of the coverage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) competitions, for which it added a number of flypacks to its equipment roster in India.

Alfacam recently signed a contract with local production company Nimbus Sport to cover almost 750 cricket matches over the next three years. Each game requires between 22 and 30 cameras, which are all sourced from Grass Valley and include the LDK 8000 Elite and LDK 8300 Live Super Slo-Mo HD cameras.

“The Indian audience is passionate about sport – more than 100 million people in India watch each IPL game plus international audiences as far away as the UK and Australia,” said Gabriel Fehervari, CEO of Alfacam. “As a business we are developing our reputation globally, which means we count on our equipment to deliver the best possible pictures every time. That is why we continue to rely on Grass Valley cameras – they are the best in the industry.”

“Our congratulations go to Gabriel and his colleagues at Alfacam for winning this high profile contract,” said Jeff Rosica, Executive Vice President at Grass Valley. “Alfacam has more than 300 HD cameras in use today and we really value their feedback on how we can continue to improve our products and remain the industry leader in imaging technology and innovation. It is a very strong partnership which benefits both our companies, and we look forward to continuing to work with Alfacam in the coming years.”