Thomson announce completion of multi-million euro Nigeria deal

Thomson have announced the completion of a multi-million euro order from the Comité d’Organisation des Jeux Africain (COJA) in Nigeria.
The contract is for the COJA International Broadcasting Centre and three production outside broadcast (OB) vans.
The order included 42 Grass Valley camera and camcorder systems, as well as multiple Grass Valley vision mixers, routing switchers, and interface devices.
The production and transmission facility, which was designed, built, and installed by the Systems Group of Thomson Broadcast & Media Solutions in only eight weeks, is fully equipped with Grass Valley brand broadcast equipment. This new installation was used by NTA, the national broadcaster of Nigeria, to provide production facilities for the 8th All Africa Games, which were held during October in Abuja.
“We have worked successfully with the Systems Group from Thomson for many years on differing projects and believe that they deliver the level of expertise, support, and consultancy required to maximise the production requirements for this internationally renowned event,” said Dr Amos Adamu, executive director of COJA. “Thomson’s cameras and production equipment ensure the best quality coverage for this event is transmitted around the globe.”
Each of the new OB vans includes one Grass Valley LDK 23HS mk II slow-motion camera, a Grass Valley 9200 vision mixer, a 16x16 Triton routing switcher, two DCR 655 DVCPRO VTRs, and two LDK 1707 cameras.
As part of the contract, Thomson also transferred the International Broadcasting Centre, originally installed in Lagos, to Abuja and refurbished eight existing production OB vans (originally purchased by the NTA from Thomson to cover the FIFA Youth World Cup in 1999).
The refurbishments, also completed by the Systems Group of Thomson Broadcast & Media Solutions, includes three DCR SD 955 DVCPRO VTRs, three DCR 655 DVCPRO VTRs, and three Grass Valley TTV 1657 cameras for each van, bringing the number of cameras in each van to 11.
“The whole project has been completed in a very short time and has allowed the successful broadcasting of this major event,” said Marc Valentin, president of Thomson Broadcast & Media Solutions. “Our equipment is ideally suited for sports coverage as we have a product lineup that is second to none, from acquisition to production through to routing and distribution. Additionally, our Systems Group has been a key driver in this order, as they bring together an abundance of knowledge to ensure the success of its mission-critical applications.”
Thomson also provided equipment for specific uses for these All Africa Games, including underwater and remote-controlled cameras for swimming competitions, remote-controlled cameras on rails for the athletics and the pole jump, helicopter-mounted links for the marathon coverage, wireless cameras, high-frequency transmission devices for road races and marathon coverage, steady cams, cranes, and specific software for the results boards.
(GB)