Anton/Bauer, Litepanels, Sachtler Supply Newsgathering Equipment to Al Jazeera Media Network

Market leading brands Anton/Bauer, Litepanels and Sachtler have supplied a range of innovative products to global broadcasting giant Al Jazeera Media Network. The privately owned Middle Eastern multinational corporation based in Qatar, is the parent company of 24-hour global news channel, Al Jazeera English.

vitecvideocom_brandEquipment from the renowned brands will be used by three of the corporation’s biggest channels, Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera Mubasher. The substantial range of products will be deployed as part of the networks’ frontline newsgathering kits to global crews operating in more than 70 countries around the world.

The prestigious deal with Al Jazeera Media Network includes Anton/Bauer, the premier global provider of batteries, chargers, lighting and other mobile power systems, who has supplied more than 500 of its Dionic HC batteries, 688 QRCLG Gold Mount and 172 Titan Twin and TM4 battery chargers.

LED lighting pioneer Litepanels will supply 172 Croma fixtures, 161 Sola ENG flight kits and 11 Traveller Trio flight kits. The company’s 1×1 units are already deployed in a number of Al Jazeera Media Network’s bureaus. Global crews using the fixtures have found the 1x1s to be a reliable and cost effective option, which maintain a consistent high quality LED output.

“As part of this recent agreement, we selected the Litepanels Croma and Sola ENG products as they provided us with a lightweight yet robust portable lighting solution,” says Paul Quinn, manager news operations, Al Jazeera English Channel. “They can be run off the mains or a battery so they are ideally suited to the diverse locations and situations that our news and programme crews find themselves in.

“We also chose to replace our current V lock battery systems with Anton/Bauer batteries and chargers because of the company’s proven product reliability, as well as its worldwide support network.”

In addition, the substantial Al Jazeera Media Network order includes 172 Sachtler System 18S1 SL MCF tripod systems for use with the corporation’s new Sony PMW500 camcorders, and a further 172 Sachtler System FSB 6 SL MCF Tripod systems, which will work with their new Sony PMW200 Camcorders.

“The decision to purchase Sachtler products is based on our positive experience of using similar systems during the past seven years,” says Quinn. “The Sachtler tripods have been highly reliable even in the most hostile environments, and over extended periods we have found that little or no maintenance has been necessary on either the tripods or the heads.

“The new systems will provide our newsgathering teams with a robust, user friendly tool, which meets our production needs for both long form documentary work or fast moving news situations. The speed lock system is extremely popular with our cameramen and the proven reliability of the product makes it highly cost-effective for the business.”

Every piece of equipment supplied by the world leading brands, who are part of Vitec Group company Vitec Videocom, will be supplied to 172 camera crews working across the three news channels. The order is being managed by Ahmad Nana’a, Vitec Videocom’s Middle East sales manager and delivered by the Vitec brands’ regional partners INC and Salam Media. The equipment will support the expansion of Al Jazeera’s newsgathering capabilities.

“This is a highly significant deal for these three brands, not only in terms of its financial value, but also the opportunity to deliver the highest performance required for these prestigious networks,” says George Kealy, senior VP global sales & marketing, Vitec Videocom. “The Al Jazeera news networks are amongst the most respected and professional news gathering operators in the world and we are extremely proud that our brands are playing a part in helping them to achieve those exceptional standards.”

Password must contain the following:

A lowercase letter

A capital (uppercase) letter

A number

Minimum 8 characters

;
SVGLogoHR_NOTAG-200

The Latest in Sports Video Production & Technology
in Your Inbox for FREE

Daily Email Newsletters Monday - Friday