Snell Kahuna Multiformat Switcher Circles The Globe For Gearhouse Broadcast Clients

A Snell Kahuna SD/HD multiformat production switcher is playing a starring role in production of HD sports programmes for clients of Gearhouse Broadcast, one of the UK's leading broadcasting services companies.
Since 2006, the Kahuna has circled the globe to enable live production of events including the FIFA World Cup finals, the 2008 Beijing Summer Games, Formula One racing events and the Australian Open tennis championships.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the European Federation of Football (UEFA) and the Australian broadcaster Channel 7 are some of the high-profile Gearhouse Broadcast clients that have put the Kahuna into service for sports production.
The globe-trotting switcher recently returned from a European production tour for the Masters 1000 series of tennis tournaments, in which is was used to mix HD content for live broadcasts, as well as to provide feeds for the venues' large-format video screens.
The Kahuna will soon be shipped to North America and then to China for the Association of Tennis Professionals' (ATP) upcoming coverage of professional tennis tournaments. In June 2010, the Kahuna will be deployed for the FIFA World Cup championships in South Africa, the Australian Open and the Winter Games in Vancouver.
Kevin Moorhouse, Chief Operating Officer of Gearhouse Broadcast, said: "Our clients are constantly requesting the Kahuna for their productions because of its crystal-clear HD output and its seamless ability to handle feeds from multiple SD and HD sources.
"We would make it available for our rental business if it weren't constantly bust on client projects. The unit has proved to be extremely reliable and robust even after travelling around the world multiple times, and the Snell support team has been fantastic."
In addition to sports programming, Gearhouse Broadcast relies on the Kahuna for production on major musical events such as the upcoming Oasis world tour. Moorhouse said: "The Kahuna is ideal for any large event in which a variety of multiformat feeds need to be mixed for multiple high-quality HD outputs, such as live or recorded broadcasts and large-format video screens."
(KMcA/BMcc)