Article Overview

GlobeCast Announces Banner Year in 2010

Number of Channels Played Out Has Exploded; New MAM Deals, New Fiber PoPs, a Leading Ranking From the World Teleport Association

GlobeCast CEO Olivier Barberot has announced that GlobeCast had a banner year in 2010, most notably in playout services, event coverage, and international content delivery. The year also saw GlobeCast land its first major deals for Media Asset Management (MAM), in conjunction with its subsidiary NETIA.

Key Figures

• Over 85 percent increase in number of channels played out worldwide (54 as of today).
• 17,000 miles (27,000 km) of fiber added in 2010 to the GlobeCast Backbone Network, which now contains 120,000 miles of fiber.
• Five new fiber PoPs added, notably in Eastern Europe, South America, and South Africa, for a total of 31.
• On the World Teleport Association ranking, GlobeCast is the leading broadcast services company on the Independent Top Twenty and the Global Top Twenty, ranking number two and number eight respectively, just behind satellite operators and ahead of other service providers.

Transport, Manage, and Play was the theme of 2010, with GlobeCast aiming to add more value to its service offering across the value chain.

Transport

The company saw an increase in channel distribution activities around the world, and grew its infrastructure to accommodate this increase. New Points-of-Presence (PoPs) were added in Betzdorf (Luxemburg), Warsaw, Moscow, São Paulo, Buenos Aires and Johannesburg.

Notable channel distribution business included the launch of Russia Today in Spanish to Europe and the Americas, the expansion of France 24's American coverage, the launch of Vintage TV in the U.K., and the expansion of Fashion One HD in Asia.

On the sports contribution side, 2010 was a year filled with major sporting events — GlobeCast was present to deliver thousands of hours of content in HD at such events as the FIFA World Cup™ and the Vancouver Olympics. In November at the Asian Games, GlobeCast delivered over 2,500 hours of content to a potential audience of billions.

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Manage

GlobeCast grew its MAM activities significantly in 2010, thanks to continuing integration of its subsidiary NETIA. GlobeCast was selected in April to ingest 22,000 hours of tape-based content into a tapeless workflow for leading Bollywood broadcaster B4U. All of B4U's content is managed and delivered through GlobeCast. In France, GlobeCast now handles five video-on-demand/catch-up TV channels for Orange TV, the country's leading IPTV, mobile TV, and web TV bouquet with over 4,000 pieces of content managed every month.

At IBC2010, GlobeCast announced the creation of a Digital Ecosystem, through agreements with several post-production and digital media service companies in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The Digital Ecosystem allows existing and future clients to connect the post-production aspect of their workflows with GlobeCast's MAM and delivery services, helping them to streamline operations, saving time and money all across the value chain.

Play

This year GlobeCast interconnected its playout and origination centers in London, Paris, Miami, and Singapore, and saw a startling increase of 86 percent in the number of channels played out at these facilities over the course of the year.

In Singapore, a deal with Technicolor saw GlobeCast acquire a new HD playout facility and add a staff of creative services professionals. In London, playout equipment was upgraded and optimized, increasing the efficiency and capacity of GlobeCast's playout capabilities. Most recently, the company's central London facility on Grays Inn Road upgraded to an OmniBus iTX system. In the Americas, Argentine broadcasting giant Pramer decided to originate five of its channels from GlobeCast's state-of-the-art facility in Sunrise, near Miami.

In 2011, GlobeCast looks forward to further development of the company's MAM and global playout activities, with new deals soon to be announced, as well as live demonstrations at key trade shows in every region of the world including CSTB in Moscow, CABSAT in Dubai, and NAB in Las Vegas.

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About GlobeCast

A subsidiary of France Telecom/Orange, GlobeCast is a leading provider of media management and global content delivery services for broadcasters and content creators. With a secure fiber and satellite network connected to 12 teleports and technical operations centers worldwide, GlobeCast manages and transports an estimated 10 million hours of video and other rich media each year. An integrator of audiovisual technology and a full service provider, GlobeCast works with all the actors in the audiovisual chain from production companies to broadcasters, retail organizations, cinema chains, and more. The company provides on-site service from major news and sporting events for coverage in SD, HD, or even 3D. Present in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and Australia, GlobeCast is also an expert in international television markets, and works with new and established broadcasters to reach and secure coverage with leading pay TV operators around the world.

GlobeCast

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