MEDIAPRO chooses SAM’s Kahuna for first 4K production of El Clásico soccer match

SAM supplied its Kahuna 9600 enterprise level production switcher, along with the Maverik modular control panel. Kahuna’s unique FormatFusion3 technology enables multi-format operations, supporting any combination of SD, HD, 1080p (level A & B) and 4K. MEDIAPRO had complete confidence that it could handle any formats without the need for external conversion. This meant not only cost savings but also faster set up times.

Sitting at the heart of the dedicated 4K mobile production unit, the Kahuna handled 4K signals from 10 Panasonic AK-UC3000 cameras, which supplied 4K and HD signals simultaneously. It integrated seamlessly with five EVS XT3 servers, an XFile 3 system for file transcoding, a Sony PWS-4400 AV storage unit and a For-A FT-ONE for Super Slow Motion as well as graphics systems from Vizrt, which was controlled by SportStat CG application from WTVision.

Francisco José De la Fuente CEO of MEDIAPRO Portugal and responsible for the entire fleet of MEDIAPRO Group OB vans, said, “The Kahuna switcher combined with the Maverik panel is one of the most comprehensive solutions available on the market and it really came in to its own during this project. It was able to handle any and all formats that we needed so we had complete confidence during the live production process.”

Neil Maycock, EVP Marketing at SAM, said, “Sports is where we’re likely to see the strongest initial traction for live 4K production – recent activity in the US market echoes that - and Kahuna provides exactly the level of reliability that our customers need in this type of high pressure environment. There are challenges with 4K but our technology and experience is here to help our customers make a smooth transition.”

The 4K feed was made available worldwide via the Hispasat 1D satellite using MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) encoding. Movistar+ was among those providing 4K match coverage, delivered to its fiber pay-TV customers using the new HEVC (H.265) compression standard. The HD signal was distributed to 170 countries and an estimated audience of 600 million viewers.

About SAM
Formed from the fusion of Quantel and Snell, SAM is a new company with a unique mix of experience and energy.  We have the vision to deliver business-transforming solutions across the media production ecosystem. Our future-ready systems enable broadcasters, content owners and service providers to evolve their business models to succeed in the consumer-driven era. We understand that it’s not only about the future – to get there, today’s needs are also paramount; our smart, agile technology maximizes efficiency and productivity in today’s rapidly changing media landscape.