Austrade media release
3 October 2010
In a Commonwealth Games first, the 2010 Delhi Games will be broadcast in high-definition, thanks to the expertise of Australian television service provider Global Television.
The Sydney-based firm won the contract - worth around $US 14.5 million - to design, install and operate the Commonwealth Games’ international broadcast centre (IBC). It is the television hub from which footage will be streamed to viewers around the world.
The IBC is the Commonwealth Games television powerhouse, holding all television networks from across the Commonwealth in India to cover the Games. Global Television is coordinating the distribution of the visual and audio coverage of all events.
Since signing the contract in February this year, Global Television has built the IBC, measuring approximately 9000 square feet. It was shipped to India as a complete working unit. A crew of around 95 people from both Australia and India, has come together to manage the process.
Global Television’s chief technical officer Andrew Quinn, said, “The tender process was lengthy and complex. We were required to qualify on both technical and financial grounds. Once we won the contract, we also had to contend with the unique challenges of the Indian business environment, such as taxation.”
Mr Quinn believes Global Television’s expertise with high definition television was a key factor in winning the contract. He said, “The Commonwealth Games in Delhi are the first Commonwealth Games to be broadcast in high definition.
Global Television has been providing high definition broadcast solutions for a number of years outside the local market, so that experience really helped us to win the contract.”
Also standing firmly in Global Television’s favour was its impressive history of involvement with big ticket events, including the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, the 2007 Melbourne World Swimming Championships and 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney.
Global Television is one of 47 Australian companies that are delivering on contracts worth over $83 million for the Games. These companies are providing a range of services such as pyrotechnics, design of Games venues, IT consultancy, logistics and coordination of the Queens Baton Relay, security and of course broadcasting.
There is an opportunity for further growth, with India preparing for other major sporting events like the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and the 2011 Formula One.
Business Club Australia is the Australian Government’s official business networking program at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. It is a platform for boosting business connections against the backdrop of the Games.
Austrade’s Senior Trade Commissioner in India, Peter Linford, said, “With 22 events over the 11 days of competition, participants have the opportunity to network with international business people and leverage this engagement to increase their profile in India.
“Led by Austrade, the program has a proven track record, engaging over 36,500 international business people at major sporting events like the Sydney and Beijing Olympics and the FIFA World Cup in South Africa,” Mr Linford said.
The introduction of Australian suppliers to international games and events has been a strategic undertaking, combining the efforts of Austrade, Industry Capability Network (ICN) and the Australian International Sporting Events Secretariat (AISES). This initiative has the support of the Australian Government’s Supplier Access to Major Projects (SAMP) program and the state governments of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
ENDS
Media contact
Purnima Ganapathy, Communications Manager, Business Club Australia
Phone: +91 88266 19052
Purnima.Ganapathy@austrade.gov.au
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