The Russian city of St. Petersburg welcomed the long-awaited premiere of “City Lights,” an original ice show based on the famous 1931 Charlie Chaplin film. Produced by Russian ice dancer Ilya Averbukh, “City Lights” is a grand production that features stunning Martin lighting effects and no less than seven Olympic and eleven world figure skating champions.

Dutch classical superstar Andre Rieu, affectionately known as the 'King Of Waltz', is one of the top-grossing touring artists in the world this year. As usual, the highlight of his live performance calendar is the series of concerts he gives in his home town of Maastricht in the Netherlands, but this year was special – the 25th anniversary of Andre and his Johann Strauss Orchestra performing together. Fans flew in from all over the world to fill the Vrijthof Square for these summer evening concerts, and demand was such that the shows were filmed for DVD and live broadcast to cinemas worldwide.

On the 27th of July when the Summer Games open in London, SALZBRENNER STAGETEC MEDIAGROUP systems will once again be a part of it. Today, when most big events (and sports events in particular) are broadcast by so many stations, there is always a fleet of OB trucks and portable systems on site incorporating MEDIAGROUP products. For example, from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) which has hired equipment from the MEDIAGROUP for its Olympics production setup.

Dynamics specialist Jünger Audio will focus on controlling audio loudness in the broadcast chain at this year’s BIRTV convention in China (August 22nd – 25th. Booth 8.B30). On show for the first time will be M*AP, the latest addition to Jünger Audio’s Award-winning *AP family of audio loudness processors.

AJA Video Systems released AJA SRExpress software to control the fast transfer of files from Sony SR-R1 digital recorders to RAID storage connected to a Mac computer, with PC support coming soon. An AJA KONA 3G card, or an Io XT for Thunderbolt-equipped Macs, serves as the intermediary device for file transfer between the recorder and the computer with RAID storage. Once transferred, the files can easily be edited in many editing systems.

Working together with The Shop Ibiza & IMS, XL Video provided two Barco O-Lite 510 curved LED screens which greeted delegates in the reception of Ibiza Gran Hotel, Marina Botafoch, as they arrived for the conference.

HARMAN’s Soundcraft has updated the Soundcraft ViSi Remote iPad app to allow control of the Vi Series range of consoles in addition to the Si Compact range released last month. The new version of the app is available free of charge on the iTunes store. ViSi Remote enables a single iPad to control multiple consoles from the Soundcraft Vi Series or Si Compact range on a single wireless network.

ERR, the Estonian public broadcaster, will telecast  this year’s international sporting events with remote coverage from London, as well as its production studio in Estonia's capital of Tallinn, using its own production facilities supplied as a complete package from Grass Valley™.

Following the successful delivery of the transmission services for the 31 Matches of UEFA EURO 2012, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and Eurovision announced today an exclusive, multiyear partnership for live, global audiovisual transmission services.

ARCTEK HD, a Minneapolis-based company fielding four remote satellite trucks covering more than 500 events each year, recently acquired a Studio Technologies Live-Link Jr. Remote Camera Interface System to streamline the setup and operation of its remote cameras.

At this year’s IBC, EVS will help the broadcast industry prepare for the future with its new production systems and solutions. From meeting the needs of newsroom operations, shaping the future of sports broadcasting and helping to turn around TV productions, EVS’ solutions are designed to boost performance through flexibility, speed of delivery, and reliability.

The House of Blues (HOB) has 13 venues throughout the United States and is dedicated to offering the best in music and entertainment. As part of this commitment, HOB has contracted Sound Image of Escondido to upgrade its front-of house mixing facilities with a combination of HARMAN’s Soundcraft Vi4 and Vi6 digital mixing consoles in its New Orleans and Anaheim locations, and a Vi1 console in use at the HOB Mandalay Bay venue in Las Vegas.

Digital Rapids and Nederlandse Publieke Omroep (NPO) - the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system - announced that NPO has expanded their streaming operations with the purchase of 10 dual-channel Digital Rapids encoding systems.

Traffic Sports International, a rights-holder for several high-profile Brazilian soccer (football) clubs, has chosen GlobeCast to provide satellite contribution services for delivery of several high-profile Latin American soccer championships to fans in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Outside Broadcast, satellite uplink and product design specialist SIS LIVE announces a strategic partnership with international media solutions company BT Media and Broadcast.