BSE, CEV Sign On as Authorized Grass Valley Resellers in Canada

Grass Valley has announced that Broadcast Systems & Equipment (BSE) and CEV have joined the company’s network of authorized resellers handling Grass Valley equipment and systems in Canada. BSE is a supplier/systems integrator to the broadcast, telco, and cable industries in Canada. CEV is a Montreal, Québec-based company specializing in the sale, rental, custom design, installation, integration, servicing, and product training of products and systems for audio and video production and distribution.

BSE
BSE has signed on to become a dealer of Grass Valley’s portfolio for customers across Canada and will handle the entire Grass Valley product line, including cameras, production switchers, video servers, as well as the entire line of shrink-wrapped Professional AV products (including the ADVC video converters for Macintosh or Windows platforms, and MEDIAEDGE video distribution system).

“We like the depth of the Grass Valley product line and the company’s strength in broadcast servers, cameras, and news editing products and we think that our customers will benefit from all that Grass Valley has to offer,” says Joe Scrivo, President at BSE. “The camera and server markets are two key areas that this new agreement will help us penetrate to a much larger extent than we have previously. It adds a whole new dimension to our business.”

“Our resellers are an integral part of our company’s on-going strategy to support our customers and their wide-ranging needs at the local level,” said Jeff Rosica, Executive Vice President for Grass Valley. “Our goal is to provide customers throughout the world with easy access and the best available support for our products and systems in the specific markets where they work. BSE is a leader in its market and provides the expertise and understanding of production workflows that our customers need to make informed buying decisions. We’re pleased to welcome them to our valued reseller family.”

With offices coast-to-coast, the company is based in Scarborough, ON and has been doing business as BSE since 1999 (with a long history of radio-based products before that). BSE offers a full range of equipment sales and rentals, as well as comprehensive system integration and design services. Recent large-scale projects that used BSE’s equipment and expertise include last year’s Winter Games in Vancouver for the BBC and CTV, Foxtel and APTN, and the XIX Commonwealth Games 2010 in New Delhi India for the BBC.

CEV
In business since 1974, CEV’s professional customers include many of Canada’s top television broadcasters, production and post-production houses, music studios, corporations, government, medical, educational, and financial institutions.

“A great many of our clients use Grass Valley production switchers and servers, so we were excited to be selected as a reseller for Canada,” says Jean Meunier, President, CEV. “Grass Valley has a great track record within the production community of building reliable products that provide 24/7 operation and the best quality video.”

CEV designs, builds, and supports production studios, mobile production trucks, post-production environments, and flyaway kits for a variety of applications. One of the company’s recent projects was helping to design and install a full HD production studio and control room inside the Bell Center, home of the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens.

“Supporting our customers where they live and work is vitally important and is a key aspect of our go to market strategy, as we continue to make Grass Valley technology available in the most efficient way,” says Rosica. “CEV is best equipped to provide this type of five-star service to Canadian production professionals and we look forward to working together to make CEV’s business even more successful.”

CEV’s first priority was to appoint Alain Leblanc as product specialist for Grass Valley products. With 31 years of experience in the broadcast field, Leblanc has already completed technical training on the K2 Summit media server family and is scheduled to attend Kayenne Video Production Center switcher training in March.

CEV has also hired a new Business Development Manager, Steve Broom—a 20-year veteran of the broadcast industry—to handle the Grass Valley account. The company also has a workforce of over 65 permanent employees in Eastern Canada, including six product engineers to provide customer support. CEV’s main headquarters is located in Montréal and operates offices in Québec City, and Halifax Nova Scotia