Intelsat, Ltd., the world’s leading provider of fixed satellite services, announced that World Baseball Classic Inc. (WBCI) utilized Intelsat’s satellite, fiber and teleport infrastructure to transmit the world feed coverage of the 2009 World Baseball Classic to its broadcast rightsholders throughout Asia, Latin America, North America and the Caribbean.
When the Japanese won its second straight Classic, millions of viewers throughout the world were able to watch because of the Intelsat transmission services provided to WBCI.
Intelsat, in conjunction with All Areas Access Communications, produced four High Definition (HD) and 11 Standard Definition (SD) feeds that circled the globe via the Intelsat network, delivering more than 800 hours of the 39 games to baseball fans. Intelsat transported the games from all seven World Baseball Classic venue cities: Tokyo, Toronto, Mexico City, Puerto Rico, San Diego, Miami and Los Angeles. In all, four Intelsat satellites (Galaxy 19, located at 97º W; Galaxy 16, located at 99º W; Intelsat-3R,located at 43º W; and Intelsat-8, located at 166º E), two Intelsat teleports (Ellenwood, GA and Napa, CA) and Intelsat’s fiber network were used in the contribution and distribution of the programming.
Intelsat delivered the games to the World Baseball Classic’s International Broadcasting Center (IBC), housed at the Rainbow Network Communications Center, in Bethpage, NY. Once the post-production feeds were bundled with digital signage at the IBC, the games were transported back to Ellenwood and Napa. From there, the programming was uplinked to Intelsat’s satellites, which host some of the leading video neighborhoods within the Americas and Asia, for distribution.
“The primary objective of the World Baseball Classic is to grow the game of baseball by providing a global stage where fans can experience the best players in the world performing for their native countries,” said Russell Gabay, Vice President and Executive Producer, Broadcast Operations, Major League Baseball International (MLBI). “Excitement for this year’s Classic garnered one of the largest ever baseball television audiences in Asian and Latin American history; and the Intelsat network is the ideal platform for our programming distribution into these important regions.”
“Intelsat’s single platform for global delivery, as witnessed through its seamless transmission services of the World Baseball Classic, showcases our strength in delivering HD content, the value of our global video neighborhoods, and the efficiency of our fully integrated satellite and terrestrial network for transmitting global events," said Ron Rosenthal, Intelsat’s Regional Vice President, Broadcast Solutions.
In addition to the World Baseball Classic, Intelsat delivered regular season MLB games in 2008, as well as SD and HD feeds of the 2008 American League Championship Series (ALCS) and the 2008 World Series.
Intelsat will be celebrating its “20 years of HD” and exhibiting in Hall C, Booth #4937 and in the Outdoor Pavilion, Booth #E404 at NAB 2009, the tradeshow for professionals involved in the creation, management and delivery of content for the broadcasting industry, which is being held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, 20-23 April.
