India TV Chooses Snell Kahuna Production Switchers For Multi-Channel Operations

Snell has announced that India TV has ordered five Kahuna HD/SD multi-format production switchers to support its 24/7 live news operation.
The Kahuna switchers, three of which have already been installed, are a central component in India TV's new 125,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art broadcast centre in Nolda, India, replacing previously rented equipment and enhancing production capacity as the broadcaster expands to multi-channel operations.
Vinod Kala, Vice President (Technical) for India TV, said: "News is very important for Indian television viewers and they demand round-the-clock access to the latest developments in current and breaking news. Therefore, it is extremely important that our operation be run with only the most reliable equipment.
"When we began evaluating production switchers to support our programming expansion, Kahuna was an obvious choice. The switcher has an outstanding reputation for flexibility and reliability and Snell's support and service is one of the best in the industry."
India TV is currently on air with a single Hindi-language channel, but it will shortly add an additional three channels to its line-up. When the time came to make a capital investment in switching technology, India TV choose Snell Kahunas based on their built-in features for redundancy as well as their ability to handle many functions, such as stills stores and RAM recorders, which typically require the purchase of peripheral equipment.
During live news production, India TV producers can easily add complex, multi-layered effects that might otherwise have required expensive post-production work. Kahuna's multi-format capabilities for seamless mixing of SD sources into HD broadcasts will provide a smooth migration path to HD for the broadcaster in the future.
Naresh Subherwal, President, Asia Pacific at Snell, said: "We're pleased that India TV selected when it came time to invest in their own production switchers. Kahuna's bullet-proof reliability and great versatility for 24/7 live operations, together with its future-proof ability to support new channels and new formats such as HD, make the switcher the perfect choice for dynamic and growing news operations such as India TV."
(KMcA)