SIS LIVE Awards Key Contract For XIX Commonwealth Games To ZOOM Communications LTD.

8th March 2010

SIS LIVE, has awarded a key and exclusive contract for Broadcast Services, including technical equipment and diversified Production & Coverage services for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India, to South East Asia’s largest broadcast services company, ZOOM Communications Ltd. India. SIS LIVE won the prestigious contract to provide the Production and Coverage Facilities and Services, under the Host Broadcaster Assignment for the XIX Commonwealth Games being held in New Delhi from 3-14 October 2010.

SIS LIVE is contracted to provide the production in High Definition to cover the Games, the first time the event will be produced and transmitted in HD. The multi-million dollar contract involves up to 40 Production Areas and OB kits of various sizes, over 350 HD camera channels, 100 HD long lenses, 115 EVS hard disk recorders, as well as a wide range of specialist Production and Camera equipment. SIS LIVE will utilise over 1,200 highly skilled technicians, production crew and support staff drawn from across the world during Games time.

Under the terms of the deal with ZOOM Communications Ltd. the Indian company will provide the majority of the HD equipment, to SIS LIVE. In addition, SIS LIVE will build two new fully-featured HD OB units as Fly packs to be sent to the Games, alongside at least 80 of its own HD cameras plus other production equipment.

Taking advantage of ZOOM’s vast experience and knowledge, of providing Broadcast Services for the production of live sporting events across Asia, SIS LIVE and ZOOM Communications Ltd. will share operational management of the project, in order to leave a lasting legacy in India for the production of world class sporting events.

David Meynell, Managing Director, SIS LIVE, says: “SIS LIVE and ZOOM Communications Ltd. have been working closely together for over two years and have developed a very good relationship based on mutual trust and understanding. We have absolute confidence that ZOOM’s technical expertise and production resources, combined with SIS LIVE’s experience, will produce the best ever coverage of the Commonwealth Games. SIS LIVE has over 70 years experience of outside broadcasts, while ZOOM Communications Ltd. has proven project management and engineering skills, along with a huge technological and human resource asset base in India. ZOOM Communications Ltd. has made and continues to make, long-term investments in the latest High Definition production technology and equipment, which we will be able to utilise at the Commonwealth Games.”

SIS LIVE was awarded the multi-million dollar contract to cover the XIX Commonwealth Games by Prasar Bharati, the Broadcasting Corporation of India. India’s Public Broadcaster Doordarshan (DD), a subsidiary of Prasar Bharati, is the Host Broadcaster for the Games. As part of the contract, SIS LIVE will provide HD coverage of all the 17 different sports across 12 venues and the 4 outdoor races. SIS LIVE will also capture the opening and closing ceremonies, and the worldwide coverage of the Queen’s Baton Relay, which started in London on 29^th October 2009 and travels across all 71 competing Commonwealth countries over the course of the year leading up to the start of the Games.

Phil Aspden, SIS LIVE’s Commercial Director, says: “The XIX Commonwealth Games is a huge challenge that SIS LIVE is uniquely positioned to fulfill, in close association with ZOOM Communications Ltd. We are bringing in the best talent in the world to produce the event, including over 400 technical and production crew from the UK, close to 500 from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Malaysia, and Singapore among other countries and about 300 highly skilled professionals from India including 50 from Doordarshan. We will also be using the latest and most advanced High Definition technology and plan to introduce exciting new products developed by our in-house Special Cameras division.  This combined with ZOOM’s passionate commitment towards enhancing the quality of global live sports coverage, will provide worldwide television audiences an opportunity to view the best ever television coverage of any Commonwealth Games”.