Football's most famous programme, Match of the Day, will be broadcast using coverage
from a Sheffield company for the 2007/8 season, thanks to its state-of-the-art
high-definition facilities.
Televideo Ltd, based at the Riverside on Furnival Road, is providing BBC Sport
with footage for Premiership and FA cup matches throughout the season, which will
take them to just about every Premiership ground in the country. The footage provided
by Televideo will not only be beamed into the lounges of every football fan in
the UK, but will also be broadcast worldwide.
The company was given the work after buying two custom-built HD outside broadcast
vehicles, with support from Business Link South Yorkshire and Objective 1.
"HD1 - our first HD unit, which we started using in November last year - is a
huge articulated truck with the capacity to mix footage from 30 cameras," said
Paul Scivill, managing director of Televideo. "That means we can use it for the
really big events - even the FA Cup final doesn't need as many as 30 cameras to
cover the game.
"So far we have used HD1 to cover the Sky Netball Superleague, British Superbikes
for ITV, motorbike race North West 200 and the Kaiser Chiefs' gig at the Doncaster
Dome, which was shown on BBC television. But the highest profile work we've secured
so far has been Match of the Day. Our first two broadcasts were the Chelsea v
Portsmouth and Arsenal v Man City games on the 25th of August - two great fixtures to start off with. We are also scheduled in to
cover the FA Cup quarter finals, which will be broadcast live, so it'll be a fantastic
experience."
This is not the first time Televideo has covered top-flight football. The company
was established 30 years ago, and originally provided small outside broadcast
units for top division football clubs including Sheffield United, Manchester United,
Aston Villa, Tottenham, Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle, and adhoc news coverage
for companies like TVAM.
"When Premier League football coverage was undertaken solely by the broadcasters,
we looked into other markets. As a result, we landed big contracts with the British
Superbikes and horse racing," said Paul. "But it's our new HD facilities that
have made the major difference when it comes to opening up our potential market."
HD2, which should be on the road by the beginning of September, is a much smaller
unit with the capacity for eight cameras, so it is more compact, easier to park
and less expensive to run. "Because HD2 isn't an HGV, we don't need an HGV-licensed
driver, which cuts costs, and it's cheaper on fuel. The smaller size is really
important when it comes to covering events where there is restricted space."
"HD2 has proved itself a sound investment already," said Nicola Davies, Business
Link South Yorkshire adviser. "It has already helped Televideo win a contract
for the UK's Elite League ice-hockey coverage and for the Premier League Superfeed,
which involves packaging Premier League footage with post-match interviews that
are tailor-made for individual countries all around the world. In the near future,
Paul hopes to secure more commissions from BBC Current Affairs and other smaller
sporting events too."
"Nicola has been great, really championing our cause," said Paul. "Not only has
she helped us apply for funding, she's also helped with financial forecasts, referred
us to other organisations for further funding and given us general support and
advice too. We honestly couldn't have got this far without the help of Business
Link South Yorkshire.
"All in all, our HD trucks have transformed the business. They have opened up
the market, helped us move more towards programme production rather than just
supplying the footage, and have really reinvigorated the company.
"We have taken on seven new members of staff and since HD1 our turnover has increased
by 50%. We predict that we will easily achieve our goal of increasing turnover
by 100% within five years once HD2 is up and running."
ENDS
