Grass Valley Supports New TV Channel In Ghana

As part of its on-going development in Africa, Grass Valley is supplying a turnkey high-definition TV production studio, complete with cameras, video production switcher, routers and a shared-storage editing environment to Multimedia Group (MGL), operators of Multi TV (a new digital satellite multi-channel TV station) based in Ghana.
This new multi-faceted project (Phase II) will expand the existing radio studio production and news editing room facilities with two additional TV studios that will feature Grass Valley LDK 300 HD cameras, a Kayak HD switcher, Acappella router and a variety of Grass Valley GeckoFlex signal processing modules.
For its collaborative news editing and production activities. Multi TV has installed ten Grass Valley EDIUS workstations connected to existing K2 media servers - installed last year and now configured in a shared storage network.
Kwasj Twum, CEO, Multimedia Group, said: "We have had a lot of success with the Grass Valley servers we have been using for the past year and wanted to expand our capabilities to include producing our own shows. Our new TV channels have received great response from our viewers and we give credit to Grass Valley for their equipment and technical support that helps make it all possible."
Jeff Rosica, Senior Vice President of Grass Valley, said: "Broadcasters of all sizes need a cost-effective way to launch new services in the shortest amount of time and we're helping them do that with our flexible technology, affordable products, and a full range of locally-based engineering and system integration services.
"Multimedia Group is proving to be very successful at attracting a new audience with quality programming. Grass Valley is pleased to be helping them achieve their goals."
Once completely installed this month, the new Grass Valley technologies and systems will help Multi TV improve the quality of its programming in and consequently increase its audience in Ghana.
The significant new contract, which was signed at NAB in Las Vegas, also includes system design and integration by Grass Valley engineers, as well as supplying local system support going forward.
FitzRoy Brown, Managing Director of Broadcast Solutions Africa and local representatives of Grass Valley, stated: "Working with Grass Valley on this project has been phenomenal and using Grass Valley's technology, skills and tools have resulted in a professional system that compares to standards at CNN and Al Jazeera. We hope to bring our experience and expertise to bear in similar projects for the Nation's broadcaster GBC and other private broadcasters."
Multimedia Group owns and operates Joy 99.7 FM and five other radio stations in Ghana and obtained a TV broadcast license in 2008, going on-air with an automated playout system based on Grass Valley K2 media servers in the summer of 2009.
The Grass Valley LDK 3000 Value-Priced High-Definition (HD) camera is a multi-format system combining flexibility and high picture quality at a reasonable cost. Meeting a range of production requirements worldwide, the LDK 3000 camera supports 1080i50/60 and 720p50/60. The camera was built using three 2/3-inch, 2.4 million pixel Xensium CMOS imagers, specially developed for demanding broadcast applications.
(KMcA)