SIS LIVE Supplies 70 Uplinks for Election Night 2010
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All the main UK news providers, including the BBC, ITV, Sky News, ITN, Five and GMTV, take advantage of SIS LIVE’s huge uplinking capacity
David Meynell, Managing Director, SIS LIVE, says: “The scale of the SIS LIVE news operation in the UK is quite staggering and we provided approximately 70 live satellite links from across the country utilising our contract and ad-hoc SNG truck fleet, along with a number of IP vehicles operating to our iDirect satellite Hub in Milton Keynes. We also provided the UK broadcast industry with 500 MHz of satellite capacity, some permanently contracted to the BBC, Sky, ITV, ITN and Channel Five, with a significant amount supplied from our large pool of ad-hoc capacity. No other provider in Europe could get anywhere close to the service that we can now provide and it is a testament to the quality of our equipment and the dedication of our staff that SIS LIVE can offer coverage on such a scale and subsequently receive tremendous feedback from our customers.”
Among the 70 uplinks supplied, SIS LIVE provided contract trucks for ITN, Sky News, ITV and the BBC, part of long-running contracts to supply the broadcasters with live news coverage. Many of these uplinks used SIS LIVE’s innovative uPod Micro portable uplink system. uPods were also supplied to GMTV and BBC Wales.
Jackie Faulkner, Head of Operations, Sky News, says: “SIS LIVE offered us a great service with our contract trucks, additional trucks and double crewing which enabled us to offer the first ever UK election coverage in HD. We brought viewers all the important action and results as they happened from all corners of the UK”
Sky Italia’s Mini Micro also transmitted LIVE news feeds to Italy. The Mini’s small ‘footprint’ made parking in a narrow side street easy and the fully automated uPod Micro satellite uplink allowed transmissions at the push of a button.
Paul Stevenson, Director of Technical Operations and Technology for News Operations at ITV, says: “Our teams worked with SIS LIVE to bring our viewers unprecedented coverage of the election from across the UK, with uPod uplinks relaying reports back for the best UK regional coverage and inserts into the national news.”
Two SIS LIVE OB trucks and numerous uplink vehicles have been positioned outside Buckingham Palace ready to cover the new Prime Minster arriving to meet the Queen, whenever that may be!
About SIS LIVE
SIS is one of the world’s leading companies in the television broadcasting industry. It is the foremost supplier of television programming and data services to the UK and Ireland betting industry. The company’s broadcast business, SIS LIVE, has the largest satellite uplink fleet in Europe and is the largest outside broadcast provider in the UK. It offers a complete broadcasting solution from onsite outside broadcast facilities through to global distribution and IP provision. The company covers 100,000 hours of live events worldwide each year, including Formula One, The Wimbledon Championships, UEFA Champions League football and European Tour Golf, and delivers approximately 80% of live news feeds across the UK.