MONTREAL, October 30, 2018 — Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, and Gearhouse Broadcast partnered to deliver Australia's first 4K UHD live broadcast. All six hours of 4K UHD content from the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for supercars — the country's annual, premier touring car event — were broadcast live without any advertising breaks.

The 1,000-kilometer race was televised on Foxtel's newly launched channel 444, with routing and monitoring completed via FOX SPORTS Australia, and the live outside broadcast (OB) production handled by Gearhouse. Grass Valley's market leading solutions formed the heart of the live production infrastructure both at the venue and FOX SPORTS Australia's facility — which included a flexible Kahuna 9600 Production Switcher and the highly versatile NVISION Compact Router. Grass Valley was chosen for its proven ability to support the ultra-fast live production turnaround needs and to seamlessly integrate with Foxtel's own playout workflow, also built around Grass Valley systems.

"Motorsport is all about speed, and with no advertising breaks, everything had to run without a hitch from start to finish," Ben Madgwick, manager of broadcast services, Gearhouse Broadcast. "What we needed was an OB infrastructure and workflow that could seamlessly handle the sheer volume of 4K UHD signals, deliver flawless images to viewers at home, and ensure a smooth flow of files between the OB truck, FOX SPORTS Australia and Foxtel. We know from experience that Grass Valley delivers unmatched flexibility and has a proven track record in handling the huge pressures that arise with live productions in fast-paced environments like motor racing. We are very proud to have partnered with Grass Valley once again to help make Australian broadcasting history."

Grass Valley's solutions were also central to the seamless orchestration and delivery of the race's live feeds. Signals that were sent to FOX Sports Australia were switched and monitored through a Sirius 800 Series Router with MV-800 Multiviewer before being sent to Foxtel for final switching and transmission. FOX SPORTS control room features a complete 4K UHD live channel playout system with Grass Valley's Masterpiece Master Control Switcher, controlled by its scalable Morpheus Automation Solution. Channel playout was supported by Grass Valley's iTX Integrated Playout Platform, GV Node Real Time Processing and Edge Routing Platform and Kaleido-X Multiviewers for monitoring of the satellite uplink feed.

"Sports fans around the globe demand the best fan experience possible, placing broadcasters and media organizations under pressure to deliver a richer viewing experience from more camera angles, in the highest resolution possible," said Ward Hansford, vice president of sales, Oceania, Grass Valley. "As the leader in live sports production, we deliver solutions that can handle even the most challenging production requirements, with no compromise on image quality. It is an honor to see our solutions form the core of another landmark event in broadcasting history."

###

For information about Grass Valley solutions and services, please visit grassvalley.com.

About Grass Valley

Grass Valley is focused on empowering customers to create, control and connect content wherever, however and whenever it is consumed. In this ever-changing media landscape, content remains the most important element. Many of our customers are faced with the need to create and support new workflows while continuing to operate their legacy workflows, simultaneously broadcasting through traditional channels, Over-The-Top platforms, and Video-On-Demand as well as to tablets, PCs, and mobile devices.

We provide the innovative tools and expertise to help customers improve the efficiency of their operations while telling better stories to attract and keep viewers. With Grass Valley's integrated solutions that enable flexibility, efficiency, cost-effectiveness, quality and scalability, broadcasters and content creators have what they need to sustain their businesses. Headquartered in Montreal, Grass Valley has been in the broadcast business for nearly 60 years and is part of St. Louis-based Belden Inc. For more information, visit www.belden.com.

Belden, Belden Sending All The Right Signals, and the Belden logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Belden Inc. or its affiliated companies in the United States and other jurisdictions. Grass Valley products listed above are trademarks or registered trademarks of Belden Inc., GVBB Holdings S.A.R.L. or Grass Valley Canada. Belden Inc., GVBB Holdings S.A.R.L., Grass Valley Canada and other parties may also have trademark rights in other terms used herein.