Live Media Group Acquires TNDV, Harb, Coastal Media Group To Create Production-Truck Powerhouse

The company’s fleet will have 18 midsize hybrid-production trucks

In one of the U.S. mobile-production industry’s largest acquisitions in recent memory, Live Media Group Holdings has acquired TNDV: Television, Harb Production Services, and Coastal Media Group. Joining LMG Holdings’ owned-and-operated Live Mobile Group division, the acquisition will make the company the largest U.S. full-service provider of mid-level live-production for broadcast and live events.

Live Mobile Group’s HDX10

The deal triples Live Mobile Group’s fleet of production and uplink trucks — now totaling 18 midsize hybrid-production units with additional standalone smaller production uplink units – and significantly expands the company’s business and technical staff. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Inside LMG’s HDX10

“We have seen how the market has shifted dramatically in the last five years,” says Brad Sexton, president/CEO, Live Media Group Holdings, “and we simply can’t keep up with the demand in the mid-level production-truck market. A lot of that has to do with the shift to consumers’ watching their sports and entertainment on mobile and streaming devices. With that shift, you don’t always need a giant, 53-ft. production truck, and we have seen a huge increase in clients demanding that sweet spot of the 38- to 45-ft. production units — sometimes with transmission on top. With that in mind, we’ve been seeking complementary companies to join our team and are excited to have increased this capacity.”

TNDV: Television’s Elevation

The deal is the latest development for an industry that has seen extensive consolidation in recent years. Sexton sees the newly expanded Live Mobile Group filling a hole in the market for a national full-service provider of mid-level broadcast production. He adds that the companies already work together closely and LMG has regularly used trucks from all three when its own units are booked to capacity.

“As we looked at our growth strategy as an organization, reinforced by the growing needs of many clients in the sports and entertainment verticals, it made a lot of sense for us to join forces and to roll this up into one national footprint,” he says. “Our clients are very excited because we can now deliver on a national basis. We now have more capacity, more people, and more engineering expertise, especially as the industry continues to evolve with different technology offerings.”

Live Media Group Holdings will retain the staff, facilities, and structure of each organization. Los Angeles will serve as a West Coast production and truck operation, and plans are to relocate its corporate operations to TNDV’s headquarters in Nashville. The Harb Production Services facility in Knoxville, TN, will serve as a truck operations and integration facility. In addition, each company will continue to operate under its current brand for the time being.

Inside TNDV’s Elevation

“The majority of all the staffs across the board have been with each respective organization for a long time, so the clients are very comfortable with them,” says Sexton. “They know the production trucks, and they know the client base, so that’s part of my excitement about these organizations — not just the assets but also the people that will be joining the Live Media Group Holdings family.”

TNDV is a full-service provider of 38- to 53-ft. mobile production and audio facilities, as well as production and secondary services for broadcast television, live entertainment, and AV-related productions, including entertainment, corporate, worship, and higher-education. TNDV: Television President Nic Dugger will join the Live Media Group Holdings management team and sit on its board of directors.

“We are creating a one-stop shop of media and entertainment services for live production that will fulfill client requests for more trucks, more production equipment, and more services,” says Dugger. “This brings together arguably the greatest collection of professionals and resources to form one of the industry’s most dynamic, versatile, and flexible live-production organizations. I’m really looking forward to this next chapter.”

Harb production truck

Harb Production Services supplies state-of-the-art 40- to 45-ft. single- and double-expando production trucks, equipment, and integration services to support sports, entertainment, and other live event productions. Harb Production Services President Danny Harb also will join the expanded management team and sit on the board of directors.

“Having always focused on exceptional mobile units, cost-efficient integration, and superior engineering expertise, we have serviced every client need and grown our relationships exponentially over the years,” says Harb. “By joining forces, we look forward to providing our clients with expanded services and sharing our expertise with every member of the new team. Our experience integrating 1080p and 4K into our existing fleet of trucks will prove especially valuable for combined client base.”

Inside Harb production truck

Coastal Media Group is a live-event–management–services company specializing in fiber and satellite transmission, insert studios, control rooms, and editorial facilities on the West Coast. Its clients include 24 Hours of Climate Reality, Echo Entertainment, the NFL Channel, and CBS College Sports Network. The company provides full production services with an emphasis on transmission capabilities and data-center deliverables. This includes a Network Operation Center that also provides full encoding and streaming services for many sports and entertainment partners.

“We are excited about all of these exceptional companies coming together to form one team to service our myriad of clients,” says Adler. “With the addition of all these assets and technical expertise, we will be afforded the opportunity to expand our work with our client base and service additional clients, growing our business with our 24/7 Network Operation Center.”