SNTV launches HD Sports News Service

SNTV has launched its HD Sports News service in advance of several big sporting events scheduled to take place in 2012.

Sports News Television (SNTV), the joint-venture between the Associated Press (AP) and IMG Worldwide, has launched its High Definition (HD) Sports News service. The move is part of AP’s High Definition rollout which will see all news content broadcast in HD by the second quarter of 2012.

SNTV Managing Director Martin Kay said, “We are very excited to be the first sports news agency to offer High Definition in time for a huge year in sport. We start with the Australian Open, then the African Cup of Nations, Euro 2012, the London Olympics, the Ryder Cup and the T20 Cricket World Cup. This is in addition to our ongoing coverage of football, tennis, golf, U.S. sports and more – it’s set to be a glorious year for sport in HD.”

The move to High Definition is said to give sports news customers more choice in terms of how they receive content, as they can choose between Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition. Customers can receive content in either format via traditional broadcast as well as on newer digital platforms.

AP Senior Vice President and SNTV Board Director Daisy Veerasingham said, “Delivering SNTV in HD is a major milestone. The appetite in the sports industry for HD content is strong and with the major year ahead, SNTV’s customers will be getting the content they want, when, where and how they want it.”

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

The HD transformation program that AP is currently running is said to be a key part of a major transformation in the company’s video business. In the move to HD, AP is said to be changing the way it gathers, produces and distributes news to its customers. The change involves a series of upgrades, which includes the introduction of more than 200 HD cameras, upgraded mobile satellite trucks and enhanced backhaul capabilities to handle the new HD signal.

The Associated Press also says that video news bureaus around the world have also been upgraded to the latest generation of video editing, compression and transmission technologies. The firm says that state-of-the-art HD Master Control Rooms (MCR) are also being constructed in more than 20 locations including London, New York and Washington, D.C. As part of the upgrade a new HD production system will be installed in London, which will allow journalists to create HD content on their desktops, The AP’s video archive is also being transformed to accommodate HD with customers able to download broadcast quality and HD footage from its website.