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EVS/AXON evs.com / axon.tv
LIVE BROADCAST SYNERGY AS EVS ACQUIRES AXON Live video tech vendor EVS has acquired broadcast and media network infrastructure company Axon, which has development centres in the UK and the Netherlands. The company has more than 80 team members, with an international presence in the live broadcast infrastructure market and a product portfolio that complements EVS’ live production offering. In early 2020, EVS launched PLAYForward, a company growth strategy for developing a broader offering of modular and flexible IP infrastructure. It’s hoped that Axon’s product portfolio will allow EVS to offer customers an extensive live production infrastructure, with optimised resource management, greater scaleability and faster deployment for remote live operations, as well as helping customers migrate their infrastructure towards IP and remote production-based workflows.
The acquisition will help EVS provide a comprehensive media infrastructure solution that includes advanced IP processing, SDI/IP conversion, SDN- based control and monitoring, as well as UHD 4K and IP multiviewer. It’s expected that EVS’ Score Master SDN IP orchestrator and Axon’s Cerebrum control and monitoring system, the Axon Neuron IP stream processing platform and the extensive Synapse modular infrastructure platform, will provide a scaleable end-to- end solution for customers. The Axon brand will be absorbed into EVS over the coming weeks and its product portfolio will be integrated into EVS’ global solution offering. The objective is to integrate Axon team members and to further invest in their technology and market expertise. Axon generated €17.5m of revenues in 2019. The value of the transaction is set at €10.5m, plus an earn-out up to a maximum of €2.5m. The acquisition will be paid by cash and debt.
RED BEE MEDIA redbeemedia.com
GLOBECAST & OUTDOOR SPORTS CHANNEL TEAM UP BBC News Arabic television and BBC News Persian television are turning their playout operations over to UK global media services company Red Bee. As of early April, playout operations for both channels were outsourced to Red Bee’s managed services operations, which already serve significant parts of the BBC’s global news distribution. The migration cutover took place in cooperation between Red Bee and the customer, during the unusual circumstances created by the Covid-19 pandemic. The two channels reach 33 million Arabic speakers and 16 million Persian speakers respectively each week. The project and migration took place as planned and on time, with Red Bee and the customer ’s project staff cooperating remotely, and with operational staff practising social distancing with their respective control galleries. The BBC News Arabic TV channel reaches Arabic speakers in the Middle East and around the world. It launched in March 2008 and broadcasts 24 hours a day with a mix of live news and pre- recorded programming. The Persian-language channel is aimed at audiences in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and diaspora audiences around the world. It was launched in January 2009 and broadcasts 24/7 with nine hours of live content every day.
WARNERMEDIA warnermediagroup.com
WARNERMEDIA ACQUIRES THE WIDGET COMPANY TO DRIVE STREAMING A&T-owned WarnerMedia has acquired The Widget Company (TWC), ahead of its launch of the HBO Max streaming service on 27 May. TWC is an Amsterdam-based firm that also operates in Hungary and specialises in designing servers for OTT, mobile and connected TV applications. While WarnerMedia has not disclosed the financial terms of the deal, it has confirmed the acquisition will bolster the company’s OTT business in Europe and marks a further step in its commitment to driving its business in the OTT space ahead of the launch of the HBO Max streaming service.
HBO Max is a direct-to- consumer offering with 10,000 hours of premium content, boasting the entire HBO service, Warner Bros titles, as well as a handful of new original series. In a statement, WarnerMedia said, over time, TWC staff will “transition to supporting WarnerMedia’s international technology operations, bringing their expertise in creative digital and OTT solutions to current
and future projects for the international marketplace”.
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