BBC Outside Broadcasts supports
Premier League All Stars -
live HD and 5.1

September 2007: BBC Outside Broadcasts is supporting Premier League All Stars, the new major live football event series produced by North One Television for Sky One. The show will bring together Premier League legends, celebrities and fans representing all 20 Premier League Clubs playing in their kits and competing for a charity prize fund which will be donated to a charity of the winning club’s choice.

BBC Outside Broadcasts is recording and transmitting the tournament live in high definition and 5.1 sound. With over 35 HD cameras it is the largest HD multi-cam operation in the UK to date . All the action takes place over eight consecutive days between 23 and 30 September at a state of the art indoor facility in London, with Sky One screening a live two-hour programme each evening.

BBC Outside Broadcasts is using it’s Unit 10 and Unit 12 HD trucks to capture the show and has installed Bluefin upgrade to its Calrec Sigma sound desks, to enable surround sound mixing. In addition it is supporting North One with full event management services.

This television collaboration is the first of its kind for the Premier League, having previously only agreed deals with broadcasters for the rights to Premiership football. The event runs in conjunction with the Premier League’s new charity initiative, Creating Chances Week of Action, which showcases the Premier League and its Clubs contributions to local communities and charities.

Each team will be comprised of heroes returning once again to wear their Club’s strip, celebrities playing for the team they support and fans who normally watch from the stands will have an opportunity to be part of their team. A nationwide talent search will find undiscovered players amongst the fans, following a selection process to be launched this summer.

Neil Duncanson, CEO, North One Television commented: “It’s the first time the Premier League has allowed its name and its Clubs to take part in a new competition. We were tasked by Sky One to come up with something big and something imaginative. It’s going to be a little futuristic too and promises to be one hell of an event. ”

Phil Aspden, Head of Commercial, BBC Outside Broadcasts says: “This is the largest HD multi-camera operation BBC Outside Broadcasts has supported to date. Plus we have the extra complexity of delivering 5.1 sound. It is a challenge, but the coverage should be fantastic.”  

-ENDS-

About BBC Resources
BBC Resources Ltd is one of the largest production facilities in the UK. The company consists of three core businesses, BBC Studios, BBC Outside Broadcasts and BBC Post Production. The size and depth of the company’s resources enables it to handle even the largest-scale projects. Major broadcast events BBC Resources has facilitated include Wimbledon, Children In Need, The FIFA World Cup, Glastonbury and the Winter Olympics. With a focus on innovation, BBC Resources continually looks to produce technological ‘firsts’ from ground-breaking cricket stump cameras and the world’s first ‘HD Plunge Cam’ to virtual reality capability and real-time HD media transfer between remote sites.

The sale process for BBC Resources Ltd has begun. This comes as a result of the BBC’s commercial review (December 2004), which concluded it should only own commercial businesses that export or exploit the BBC brand and content – BBC Resources is a facilities and services provider so doesn’t fit this profile. The BBC believes that under new ownership – as with the successful sales of BBC Technology to Siemens and BBC Broadcast to Macquarie – BBC Resources has opportunities that have not been available whilst owned by the Corporation; it will also retain the stability of on-going contracts with the BBC.
www.bbcresources.com



About BBC Outside Broadcasts
With a fleet of over 90 SD and HD vehicles, BBC Outside Broadcasts, a division of BBC Resources Ltd, caters for small and large scale productions across all genres, covering everything from international sporting events like the World Cup to major festivals like Glastonbury. Location crews are multi-talented. OBs have unrivalled experience in bringing sound and pictures home from across the world, using the latest technology, often in bespoke and innovative ways. The Special Cameras team excel in the capture of digital video content from extreme situations, frequently designing the technical solution from the ground up. Key clients include BBC Sport and independents such as North One, TWI and Sunset & Vine.
www.bbcresources.com/ob

For further information, please contact:
Georgie Hollett , PR and Communications Manager, BBC Resources
Tel: +44 (0)20 8576 2250
Mobile : +44 (0) 783484 5612
Email : georgie.hollett@bbc.co.uk