Avid awarded major Olympics contract

UK: In one of the coyest press releases of recent times, Avid has announced that it has been awarded a significant contract by ‘a third-party technology supplier’ to supply production and distribution kit and expertise to contribute to the broadcast of ‘a major sporting event’ in London next year. It’s a reasonably safe bet to fill in the gaps with the names OBS and the Olympics, but on the record or not, either way it will be the largest Avid Interplay Production Asset Management the company has yet delivered.

“Over the next year, Avid Professional Services, the workflow consultancy and delivery division of Avid, will collaborate with a third-party technology supplier to provide a core broadcast service and onsite support. Avid was awarded the contract because of its workflow integration capability and ability to offer customers a complete ‘managed service’, ensuring full system uptime as well as operational assistance and support,” runs the statement.

At the heart of the workflow set-up is Avid Interplay Production Asset Management, which will apparently be the largest such system Avid has delivered to date. Capable of storing up to 5000 hours of HD data online, the core system will also have the capacity to handle at least 76 incoming simultaneous HD file-based recordings, as well as contributions from remote venues. The system will provide facilities for the rights holders to directly access all events media and operational facilities such as editing, playout and web publishing. The system also includes the use of Avid iNEWS Command and Avid AirSpeed Multi Stream for programme distribution.

Paul Hennessy, vice president of sales EMEA, commented: “We’re extremely excited to have our solutions contribute to such a prestigious sporting event. As a preferred technology vendor, it’s a fantastic opportunity for Avid – and will really showcase the strength and capabilities of our solutions as well as our support expertise.”