Grass Valley Delivers for Big Ten Network

Grass Valley announced that Big Ten Network, based in Chicago, has purchased the company’s 300th K2 Dyno Replay System, to handle 720p replays during live game telecasts.

Since its introduction in early 2009, the K2 Dyno Replay System has become one of Grass Valley’s most successful server products, having been embraced by a wide variety of customers worldwide, including numerous professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues, that have seamlessly incorporated the system into their file-based workflows.

A joint venture between the Big Ten Conference and Fox Networks, BTN (launched on Aug. 30, 2007) is the first internationally distributed television network dedicated to covering one of America’s premier collegiate conferences. With more than 800 events, all in HD, the 24/7 network is the ultimate destination for Big Ten fans and alumni across the country, allowing them to see their favorite teams, regardless of where they live. It is now available to an estimated 80 million households through agreements with more than 300 cable, satellite, and telco affiliates in all 50 states and Canada.

This year’s schedule features more than 40 football games as well as extensive pre-game, halftime and post-game coverage, more than 150 regular season men’s and women’s basketball games and Big Ten Tournament games, as well as hundreds of additional Olympic sporting events, and dozens of Big Ten championship events.

“We looked at a number of replay systems and found the Grass Valley K2 Dyno to be very cost-effective and full of the features we needed most,” said Mike Wilken, BTN chief engineer.

The Grass Valley K2 Dyno Replay Controller coupled with the K2 Summit production client makes up the K2 Dyno Replay System and is designed to help sports producers and other professionals capture live events in crystal-clear HD resolutions and instantly play them out at variable speeds for critical analysis during fast-paced events. It is ideally suited for HD sports production trucks and shared storage production facilities like those at BTN.

“This is yet another milestone in the K2 Dyno Replay System’s impressive showing as the most flexible and cost-effective HD replay system on the market,” said Jeff Rosica, executive vice president of Grass Valley. “With its wide variety of programming, BTN is really making a name for itself as one of the premiere sports networks in the country and we congratulate them on purchasing the 300th K2 Dyno Replay System. It validates our belief that customers need a modern, file-based, high-quality replay system at a reasonable price point.”

The network’s facilities also feature a Grass Valley Kayak production switcher as its live events control room switcher.