ABS Chosen As UK Playout Centre For Set Asia

Sony Entertainment Television Asia has chosen Advanced Broadcast Services (ABS) as the UK-based playout hub for its SET-Asia channel. The contract was won following competitive tender and sees the relocation of SET-Asia UK playout from a former Soho facility to the ABS premises at Park Royal.
"Sony Entertainment Television is one of the most popular broadcast channels from the Indian subcontinent and is distributed in over 100 countries," comments ABS Managing Director Sass Jahani. "SET-Asia comprises a series of international feeds produced at Sony's playout facility in Singapore. It caters for South Asian audiences in Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, Africa and Australasia. Two SET-Asia channels are produced, a version for India and another one specific for international territories. We receive the international feed via satellite, We section it, perform Ofcom compliance, create promotional interstitials, insert local commercials and news, and then rebuild the channel for the various DTH and cable platforms in the UK and rest of Europe."
"Relocating to ABS from central London has greatly improved our operational efficiency and made our technical infrastructure more cost-efficient as well," adds Rajan Singh, Executive Vice President of International Business at Sony Entertainment Television Asia. "The facilities are of the highest standard, including flexible and reliable server-based playout. We were also impressed by ABS's ability to accommodate us within a tight deadline."
Sony Entertainment Television (www.setasia.tv) was launched in India in October 1995 to serve the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East. The channel is a partnership between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Argos Communications Enterprises, a Singapore based entertainment company specialising in South Asian programme production and media services. The channel has consistently attained high audience ratings for a variety of its regular and special programmes.
Located at Park Royal, West London, Advanced Broadcast Services (www.abs.tv) has been involved in the satellite TV sector since 1991. The company is Britain's leading low-cost fully-managed provider of playout, transmission and broadcast facilities. The playout operations centre currently supports 40 television channels, staffed by a team of fully qualified technical and operational personnel using ultra-modern equipment and facilities.
(DS)