IMG Premier League Productions, which distributes Premier League coverage throughout the world, is upgrading its existing system based on the Ericsson Content Distribution Solution.
An essential part of the upgrade is the the ability to distribute the content in its origination color format (4:2:2 chroma) to ensure the highest quality source for all subsequent live production and delivery stages, enabling operators and broadcasters to provide to consumers Premier League matches at the highest quality.
“Viewers all over the world are captivated by the varying fortunes of the 20 Premier League football clubs, so our customers demand a high quality, reliable service, to ensure these sports fans do not miss a single second of their match day experience,” said Ollie Scott, director of business development, Technical Services, IMG. “Equally, the popularity of this content means it is imperative we protect its value from piracy. We had no hesitation in investing in the upgrade of our existing system; the Ericsson solution offers a robust, high quality service which safeguards against theft and unauthorised viewing, while also future-proofing our content distribution needs.”
The Ericsson solution includes the AVP 4000 System Encoder and the RX8200 Advanced Modular Receiver, offering delivery of video in all formats (from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 AVC, from SD to HD) and total connectivity for all transmission mediums (including IP and satellite). Control and management is provided by nCompass Director, a critical component in managing a large distributed population of receivers, control content rights and robust conditional access (CA).
“We are the market leader in content acquisition, exchange and distribution solutions and have a long history of delivering top sports events such as the Premier League,” said Dr Giles Wilson, Head of TV compression, Ericsson. “With this upgrade, IMG will be able to retain pristine high quality video throughout the production process, while also enhancing the clarity and color of the pictures it sends out via its service providers to the hundreds of millions of football supporters across the world.”
The league is broadcast in 212 territories by 80 different broadcasters in both standard definition and high definition formats.
