Leading European broadcasters standardise on Sony XDCAM to serve millions of viewers acro the continent

Sony has continued to expand its XDCAM footprint across Europes broadcasters over the course of 2014, as world-class production teams increasingly look to combine end-to-end high definition (HD) with seamless speed-to-screen and future-proof flexibility. Industry powerhouses Al Jazeera, ITV, N1, RAI, Scottish TV and TVE, among others, have all signed deals to standardise with Sonys XDCAM family since the beginning of the year.

Available for more than a decade, the XDCAM Series of shoulder, half-shoulder and handheld camcorders has set the standard for field operations across a broad range of professional applications. Broadcasters have particularly benefited from the enhanced workflows delivered as a result of the data transfer speeds enabled by the XDCAM memory-based product family.

Ever since being introduced, the XDCAM family of broadcast camcorders and production equipment has evolved to reflect changing broadcast industry trends. Recently, for instance, XDCAM customers have been able to integrate Sonys XAVC recording format free of charge, alongside the ability to work in Sonys legacy formats DVCAM, IMX, MPEG2 HD420 and HD422. Similarly, Sony has introduced a wealth of wireless functionality, as broadcasters look for reliable file transfer from field to cloud or station.

The investment in XDCAM will help these national broadcasters maintain their leadership in the market, setting a European-wide industry benchmark for news production in 2014, said Olivier Bovis, Marketing Director AV & Media Solutions, Sony Professional Solutions Europe. We are pleased to be partnering with organisations across the continent to deliver outstanding HD news-broadcasts to viewers.

Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera selected the Sony PMW-500 and PMW-200 camcorders with supporting accessories to standardise its global news production on leading-edge HD technology. The camcorders are being distributed to Al Jazeeras news bureaus in 50 countries across six continents, where they will raise the technical quality of broadcasts on its six news channels while reducing the time taken to get news stories to air.

Paul Quinn, Head of Field Operations, Al Jazeera English Channel, said: Al Jazeera needed to identify the best-in-class newsgathering technology infrastructure so we could meet our need for a world class news operation. Sony provided the answer; a flexible, technical solution that delivers a high quality of content, at speed.

N1

N1, the exclusive affiliate of CNN in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the first channel in the region to broadcast 24-hour news in HD, is also standardising its newsgathering and live broadcast operations on Sonys XDCAM HD camcorders, studio cameras, vision switchers and digital storage.

"Ours is a unique set-up in the region said N1s Chief Technical Director, Igor Jovic. "Our newsgathering and broadcasting operations need the highest professional standards from day one, as well as co-ordination between three production centres, and that is what we get by standardising on Sony equipment."

Scottish TV

In a similar move Scottish TV has invested in Sony cameras and kit to support newsgathering workflows across its five sites. The Scottish broadcaster has purchased 25 Sony PMW-400L cameras, 25 Sony CBK-WA101 wireless adapters, eight PMW-1000 memory recording decks and four PMW-50 SxS Field Gear units. The investment also included a full suite of Sony audio products from the DWX Series.

ITV

UK commercial broadcaster ITV has invested in over 190 Sony PMW-400 and PMW-200 cameras as it moves its regional newsgathering operations to HD. Alongside these it has chosen Sonys CBK-WA101 wireless adapters, which accelerate the newsgathering workflow by enabling easy transmission of content over a wireless network from any of the companys new PMW-400s. Connecting directly to the cameras, the CBK-WA101 adapter enables the transmission of both proxy files and high-resolution content to a broadcast station, on premise server or cloud environment via 3G/4G/LTE/Wi-Fi.

Paul Stevenson, Director of Technology and Technical Operations at ITV News, commented: Sonys XDCAM workflow was one of the key factors in our final decision. By investing in this technology our teams will be able to easily ingest, edit, and export their content as data files, critical as we future-proof our newsgathering tools and processes.

TVE

Meanwhile in Spain, broadcaster TVE has also strengthened its relationship with Sony, a relationship that has continued for over 25 years. Earlier this year TVE announced the tender for a new 3-year agreement and Sony won the two lots awarded in this process. The deal sees Sony delivering equipment that includes 50 shoulder mount camcorders (PMW-500, PMW-400, PDW-700 and PDW-680), 20 handheld camcorders (PMW-150), as well as mixing decks and audio equipment.

RAI

RAI the Italian state broadcaster has invested in XDCAM HD422 tapeless rollout as it transitions to a full HD infrastructure over a three-year period. Sony has been implemented across the companys entire range of operations from newsgathering to drama and documentaries.

Andrea Lorusso Caputi, Director of RAIs Production TV department, commented: RAI is committed to moving towards HD content production and this agreement with Sony represents the first pillar in our plan to create a proper platform to migrate to HD.

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