ATP Media appoints Liquid Media Hub to serve as content services provider

Liquid Media Hub’s newly acquired Indelt TC-Matic Betacam tape cleaner

Media services specialist Liquid Media Hub has been appointed as a partner by ATP Media, the global sales, broadcast production and distribution arm of the ATP World Tour. ATP Media has approved Liquid Media Hub to supply a full range of content services, including ingest and digitisation of a large archive of historical footage, as well as file-based content services such as QC and standards conversion, with the potential to include VOD processing and international deliveries.

Liquid Media Hub Managing Director Gary Edwards said: “We are delighted to be working with ATP Media. Liquid Media Hub’s wealth of experience in the full gamut of media services means that we are a great fit for ATP Media’s content services requirements. In partnership with ATP Media, we have devised a multifaceted workflow with a strong quality control ethos. This will allow us to deliver a robust supply chain that maximises the potential of ATP’s huge archive of premium content.”

Shane Warden, director of broadcast and technology for ATP Media, commented: “We are looking forward to working with Liquid Media Hub, who understand our commitment to preserving the heritage of the ATP World Tour, and are able to meet our high standards relating to handling and ingesting some of the oldest assets in the ATP archive, using their state-of-the-art facilities.”

The ATP World Tour has amassed a vast archive of historical tennis footage and ATP Media already has a market-leading digital archive site, www.atpworldtourarchive.com, which makes available match and non-match action to rights-holders and third parties.

The first project Liquid Media Hub is to undertake will be the preparation, ingest and digitisation of additional match action dating back to 1990, which will add an additional 400 hours of content to the archive site.  This includes tennis legends such as Andre Agassi, Boris Becker and John McEnroe, as well as action of the current top players first breaking onto the ATP World Tour. 

Liquid Media Hub recently upgraded its tape-cleaning capabilities with the purchase of a new Indelt TC-Matic Betacam tape cleaner, which has been put into immediate use for cleaning the first batch of tapes from ATP Media’s archive. The machine identifies physical defects on the tape surface, and also cleans the tape with the aim of removing as many flaws as possible prior to ingest.

“The TC-Matic is one of the leading machines of its kind and is a key component in ensuring that the final digitised files are of an optimum quality, by reconditioning and rigorously cleaning the tape prior to ingest,” explained Edwards. “Acquiring it further enhances the restoration and ingest services Liquid Media Hub is able to offer to ATP Media and to all of our clients.”