Grass Valley Switches to the World's Biggest Television Audience
San Francisco, Calif., May 16, 2011 — At least two billion people worldwide watched the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton on Friday, April 29 — with the most important pictures relying on Grass Valley™ production switchers, all of which performed beautifully and flawlessly.
Coverage of the wedding ceremony itself, in Westminster Abbey, was provided by NEP Visions' OB van, HD4. The van captured the majesty, the solemnity, and the beauty of the marriage ceremony held in front of more than 1,000 guests. HD4, which had been on-site for more than a week for preparation, is outfitted with a Grass Valley Kalypso™ 4 M/E HD production switcher and Trinix™ NXT routing switcher.
The wedding and the celebrations around it were beamed to television broadcasters around the world. The coverage from inside the Abbey was shared with all broadcasters, but outside the international broadcast community each sought to stamp their own mark on the occasion. NEP Visions had three more Grass Valley-equipped OB vans on duty that day, providing coverage of the route between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace for UK news provider ITN, and mastering coverage for Canadian and US broadcasters.
Estimates are that the royal wedding will have been enjoyed by the largest global television audience ever — a proof point that "when the world is watching, Grass Valley is there."
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With a rich history serving the broadcast and professional video industries, the Grass Valley name is synonymous with innovation, leadership, and performance. With a full range of products and services supporting many of the world's most high-profile television events, Grass Valley offers the most comprehensive portfolio of flexible and cost-effective digital technologies and systems available. Customers deploying Grass Valley solutions include most of the world's leading broadcast and teleproduction facilities, independent video professionals, as well as emerging content creators and distributors providing broadband, telecommunications, and transmission services. When you're watching news, sports, or entertainment programming, whether on a TV, the Web, or a mobile phone, you're watching Grass Valley at work.
For information about Grass Valley products, please visit www.grassvalley.com
