Snell at the Winter Olympics 2014 with Sirius and Kahuna 360

During the games and other high-profile sports events in Sochi, Snell systems installed across a fleet of OB vans will support delivery of a national HD signal to millions of viewers across Russia. The system integrator for the ANO/Panorama project is CJSC "Sony Electronics," which is providing a turn-key solution comprising 12 OB vans (five 10-cam OBs, four 16-cam OBs, and three 24-cam OB vehicles).

"Our most important supplier prerequisites were that the equipment be the state of the art and capable of staying abreast of the very latest developments in broadcast technology," said Sergey Revin, deputy CTO at Panorama. "Both the Sirius and Kahuna product families meet these requirements, and we expect that the systems will also provide the reliability and flexibility critical for large-scale high-visibility events, such as the 2014 Winter Games. Furthermore, the Snell systems' versatility and continued refinement will assure the ongoing value and utility of our investment."

Snell has been selected by ANO Sports Broadcasting (Panorama), an autonomous non-profit organization founded by OJSC Channel One, FGUP VGTRK, OJSC NTV-PLUS, and the RIA Novosti news agency to provide Sirius routers and Kahuna 360 production switchers for all OB vehicles tendered for the 2014 Winter Games. The seven Snell Sirius 840 routers installed in 16- and 24-camera OB vans offer a wide range of powerful features in a compact footprint (a 576x576 frame in a 26U format) ideal for mobile production applications, while the Kahuna 360 production switchers depart from the model of fixed M/Es, resources, and formats to support multiple simultaneous productions. Together, these Snell systems will enable Panorama to deliver high-quality HD broadcasts to audiences in Russia and worldwide.

"Panorama is approaching the challenge of establishing a modern broadcast facility with a highly professional long-term view," said Norman Rouse, vice president of global marketing and PR at Snell. "We are confident that this implementation of advanced production and broadcast systems will become a template for future projects of this type, and we're delighted to be among the select contributors to this exciting project."