8th October 2012
mipcom, Cannes, France. Stand G3.20
Vision247 helps GEM Group bring live uncensored Olympic coverage to Iranian sports fans
- Live Olympics broadcasts break down the walls of Iranian censorship
- First time female sports broadcast into Iranian homes
(Virtual Press Office) During the London 2012 Olympics, broadcast specialists Vision247 and Farsi broadcaster GEM Group delivered the first live, uncensored coverage from the Games to Iran where audiences faced political and religious viewing restrictions on many of the sports, especially those featuring women.
GEM delivered two 24/7 live HD Sports channels during the 2012 London Olympics, with the license to broadcast approved and the technical information required for the set-up arriving just three weeks before the opening ceremony.
Parviz Alaei, Broadcast Manager, GEMGroup, says: "We were faced with a lot of obstacles and issues given the tight time frame." Long term partner Vision247 was able to come in at the last minute and provide both the studio and playout facilities necessary to support the GEM Sport broadcasts.
John Mills, CEO of Vision247, said: "GEM really gave us an Olympian challenge. We were able to deliver the entire two studio set up, arrange downlinks and signal delivery to the uplink site all within just six days. It is a great example of the way Vision247 is able to rapidly react to a customer's end to end broadcast needs."
2012 proved to be Iran's most successful Olympic campaign to date, including the country's first ever gold medals, and GEM Sports HD were the only channels broadcasting all of the 2012 Olympic sports into Iran. "The audience response has been brilliant," says Alaei. "The viewers have really appreciated the programming, especially women's sport and in particular gymnastics and swimming. These are an example of the numerous sports that haven't been seen in Iran before."
Ends
About Gem Group
Located in London, GEM Group delivers high quality broadcast media to millions of viewers especially throughout the Middle East. Broadcasting as GEMTV and GEMME on frequency 11,137 and 10,723 on the Hot Bird 6 satellite and also Galaxy 19 in the USA, the company is best known for its diverse entertainment programming including TV Series, music, movies, and commercial shows delivered for the Iranian population.
Visit: http://www.gemsports.tv/
About Vision247
First to market in the provision of functional internet delivered broadcast, Vision247 provides a complete solution to clients wanting to create compelling TV and video services for connected audiences worldwide. The Vision IPTV platform can be customised for clients and supports all current commercial models from subscription, pay-as-you-go to PPV and advertiser funded. www.vision247.com
Media contact:
Cannes:
Tanya Vidmar
Vision247
Tel. +44 (0)7960 040484
Email: Tanya@vision247.com
London:
Gary Marshall
XL Communications Ltd
Tel. + 44 (0)77 3322 4654
Email: gary@xl-comms.com