Quantel Acquires Snell

Vendor consolidation in the broadcast industry continues as companies try to navigate a tough economy and the weak spending among TV stations and video production facilities that has driven profits down significantly in the past year.

The latest example is news that industry veteran Quantel has agreed to purchase the assets of Snell, a provider of signal processing, routing, master control, and other video production tools. The combined company will now boast offices in 16 locations around the globe and combined revenue of more than $170 million.

For both Quantel and Snell, moving to a Service Oriented Architecture and floating license model provides customers with the flexibility to evolve and adapt with changing business requirements.

The transition will not be easy. Both Quantel and Snell have spent considerable resources redefining their respective product lines to meet the new demands for non-proprietary, software-centric products that cost less and do more. Snell recently announced a free 15-day trial for its Alchemist OD standards converter and image processing solution. Once a hardware-based product, Alchemist OD is now a file-based, motion-compensated software product that can be purchased on-demand.

Likewise, Quantel has made its Quantel Pablo Rio color correction and finishing system and networked editing platform (Enterprise sQ and revolutionQ software services, delivering fast-turnaround workflow) available as software-only versions, allowing customers to gain access to the softwares functionality without investing in the hardware.

Under the new selling model, Alchemist OD, a technology that use to cost more than $100,000, is now available for $16,000 for a single license. Volume-based discounts are also available.

For both Quantel and Snell, moving to a Service Oriented Architecture and floating license model provides customers with the flexibility to evolve and adapt with changing business requirements. Simplicity of integration via watch folders or with Media Asset Management systems, using the open FIMS API, allows seamless global program exchange and multi-device content delivery. The combined company will continue to offer such product flexibility.

Jeremy Courtney, business leader at Snell On Demand, said, Alchemist OD offers truly exceptional media transformation and by making the technology available as a downloadable and intuitive software application, were opening up its capabilities to many more users.

In buying Snell, Quantel now adds signal routing (the former Probel inventory), high-quality standards conversion, the Kahuna 360 video production switcher and modular image processing products to its existing editing, compositing, and finishing, and advanced image manipulation portfolio. The goal going forward is to provide tools to support a variety of multi-platform delivery applications.

The acquisition enables the combined business to offer customers a complete product range to create, version and deliver high quality content efficiently across multiple platforms.

This acquisition will enable us to better serve Quantel and Snell customers around the globe, said Ray Cross, Executive Chairman and CEO, Quantel. Cross will oversee the newly combined company while Snells current CEO, Simon Derry, will leave the company to pursue other interests.

Our product ranges are entirely complementary, so the excellent Snell and Quantel brands and product ranges will continue, Cross said. More local offices across the world will enable us to build closer relationships with our customers and to offer even better support.

Paul Martin, Managing Director of the Snell TV Everywhere division and Robert Rowe, Managing Director of the Snell Live TV division, will join the Quantel board. Tim Banks, Snell Sales Director and Peter Fredericks, Snell Finance Director will also assume leading roles in the newly combined organization.

Cross added that Quantel will upgrade its headquarters in Newbury, UK to consolidate manufacturing and R&D activities for the entire Quantel and Snell product range.

LINK:	http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0110/quantel-acquires-snell/269520...
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