ITN Chooses BT Media Live for High Quality, Ultra Portable Live News Across London
BT today announced a new multi-year contract with ITN, one of the world's leading news and multimedia content companies, to provide its location news teams with cutting-edge wireless transmission technology across London.
BT today announced a new multi-year contract with ITN, one of the world's leading news and multimedia content companies, to provide its location news teams with cutting-edge wireless transmission technology across London.
The new camera-mounted system, called BT Media Live, will allow ITN camera crews to broadcast live or transfer footage wirelessly to its studios from locations throughout the capital – including the top ten most filmed sites in Londoni - without the need to deploy traditional satellite trucks.
Delivered by BT’s Media and Broadcast arm, the service will give the broadcaster a faster, more flexible coverage footprint for its mobile camera transmissions – improving its ability to respond to fast-developing news items throughout the city.
BT Media Live is a radio frequency based video transmission solution. Footage can be transmitted instantly to a number of receive sites across London, including the iconic BT Tower, where it can then be distributed to a broadcaster’s location. It can also be easily distributed from the BT Tower to multiple UK and international news agencies and broadcasters via BT’s Global Media Network.
Mark Wilson-Dunn, Vice President of BT Media & Broadcast said, “There are so many news stories in our cities, but covering them can be a logistical headache when you have to secure a connection, find somewhere to park the truck and book satellite space. Add the costs of maintaining your own receive sites and the challenge for broadcasters is clear.
“BT Media Live offers a fully managed service which can eliminate the need to find connectivity or carry bulky equipment during outside broadcasts. It enables news teams to concentrate on what they do best - getting to the heart of their story and being the first to cover it.”
Bevan Gibson, CTO, ITN said, “BT’s Media Live service is a significant development for our newsgathering at ITN, adding a fast and flexible option for live reporting which is not undermined by contended transmission networks or challenging logistics. This new solution gives our news teams another option to facilitate our core strength which is producing timely, excellent news content for programmes including ITV News, Channel 4 News and 5 News. The efficiencies that BT Media Live provides mean we can cover more ground and more breaking news, all the while being more efficient in the way we work.”
The BT Tower London hub is the first of a number of BT Media Live hub locations to cover major cities across the UK, with hubs in Birmingham, Manchester and Cardiff planned for the near future.
Ends
Notes to editors
iBT and ITN also revealed today that the top 10 most filmed areas of London for news stories include:
Whitehall / King Charles St (FCO)
Horse Guards Parade
The Ministry of Defence
Scotland Yard
Trafalgar Square
Jubilee Gardens
The Royal Courts of Justice
Leicester Square
The Old Bailey
and The Bank of England
For more information, contact the BT newsroom on 020 7356 6720 / newsroom@bt.com
For ITN press enquiries, contact Laura Roberts, ITN Head of Press – 020 7430 4825 / laura.roberts@itn.co.uk
Technology
BT Media Live employs state-of-the-art, multi-diversity Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM) technology to receive the signal. It will use specialist transport stream switches to receive multiple inputs and to ensure seamless service across the coverage area.
About BT Media & Broadcast
BT Media & Broadcast (M&B) is the digital media and broadcast services arm of BT Wholesale. All of the UK’s digital terrestrial TV is underpinned by M&B’s specialist media network, whilst it is also responsible for delivering outside broadcast services from over 150 sports and news locations around the UK. M&B’s global media network links every major location around the world where broadcast or film content is created or distributed.
About ITN
ITN is one of the world’s leading news and multimedia content companies creating, aggregating, packaging and distributing news, entertainment and lifestyle content on multiple platforms to a wide range of customers around the globe. ITN has built a world-class reputation as the leading provider of independent broadcast news delivering powerful, authoritative, award-winning coverage. ITN produces news for the two largest free-to-air commercial broadcasters in the UK, ITV and Channel 4. ITN’s news bulletins are watched by nearly 10 million viewers daily in the UK with millions more worldwide through partnerships with news outlets such as CNN, NBC and Channel 9 (Australia).
