Commonwealth Games in India Take HD Leap

The 2010 Commonwealth Games in India will be the first time the event has been televised in high definition. The bulk of the HD equipment will be supplied by ZOOM Communications, India’s biggest broadcast services supplier, which has been contracted by the main facilities contractor for the Games, OB and uplinking company SIS LIVE.

The XIX Games take place in New Delhi in October and, in conjunction with SIS LIVE and ZOOM Communications, host broadcaster Doordarshan, a subsidiary of Prasar Bharati (the Broadcasting Corporation of India), will provide approximately 40 production areas and OB packages, in excess of 350 HD camera channels, 100 HD long lenses and 115 EVS server channels, amongst other equipment.

SIS LIVE is building two new flyaway OB units for the Games and will also send up to 80 HD cameras from its own stock to India, along with assorted production gear. More than 1,200 technicians, production crew and support staff, recruited from around the world, will work on the coverage.

ZOOM Communications provides facilities for coverage of Indian Premier League cricket and BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) games, as well as other sports including tennis, hockey, football, gold and athletics. The company was the first broadcast services supplier in South East Asia to adopt HD, taking its first units four years ago.

SIS LIVE’s managing director, David Meynell, comments, “We have absolute confidence that ZOOM Communication’s technical expertise and production resources, combined with SIS LIVE’s experience, will produce the best coverage of the Commonwealth Games. ZOOM has made, and continues to make, long-term investments in the latest HD production technology and equipment, which we will be able to utilise at the Games.”