Bangladesh’s Independent Television raises the technical bar

Rebecca Hawkes ©RapidTVNews | 06-12-2011

Independent Television (ITV), the 24 hour satellite news channel which launched from Dhaka in August, has selected studio technology to enable it to migrate from standard to high definition (HD) when the time is right.
The Bangladeshi station, owned by Beximco Group, has installed two Snell Kahuna SD/HD multi-format production switchers, one for news programmes and the other to enable live-audience studio productions at its headquarters in the Tejgaon area of the capital.
"When we designed the ITV broadcast centre, we had an opportunity to install the state of the art in live production technology. We placed a high priority on systems that are highly reliable, simple to operate, and allow for a convenient upgrade to HD," said Jay Chauhan, vice president of technology, NDTV Worldwide - ITV's media consultants.
Anowarul Azim, head of technology, ITV added: "Kahuna was by far the best choice, with an architecture that has been field-tested in live news productions all over the world. Also, although we are sometime away from launching HD operations, Kahuna's multi-format capabilities mean we'll be able to make a smooth transition from SD to HD when the time comes."
The contract represented Snell's first in Bangladesh.
Vanessa Ching, Snell's vice president, channel marketing and communications, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, said: "ITV is filling a very important niche in the Bangladesh media market as the country's first international standard 24/7 news channel."
ITV was awarded a broadcast license from the Bangladesh Government in March 2010.