Grass Valley positions itself for live M&E future
October 8, 2021
By Colin Mann
Media and entertainment market technology provider Grass Valley has strengthened its commitment to be the transformation partner of choice for the world’s leading creators and providers of premium live content with the launch of a strategic focus on live video.
Under the banner of ‘We Love Live, Grass Valley has launched a new corporate identity and marketing campaign that underpins its vision for the future of the media and entertainment market.
“Every goal, every encore, every story – live is forever and in the DNA of everyone at Grass Valley,” declared Tim Shoulders, CEO and president of Grass Valley. “We empower our customers to deliver the live moments that matter to people across the globe, from anywhere to everywhere, across billions of devices. Today, we are strengthening our mission to support our customers as they transition to the future of media and entertainment through IP, software, and cloud-based technologies. We are focused on giving today’s media companies the agility they need to produce and deliver compelling live content and guide them towards flexible operating models that embody choice and streamlined workflows to enable economic transformation.”
“The Grass Valley name is trusted across media and entertainment, reflecting decades of industry experience and deep knowledge of how to deliver premium live content,” stated Neil Maycock, Grass Valley’s CMO and general manager of playout. “We have refreshed our corporate identity to position Grass Valley for the future as we support the ongoing transformation of the media companies producing the world’s most valuable content while driving market-leading innovation.”
“Originally scheduled to be unveiled at the NAB Show in Las Vegas, the new Grass Valley visual identity reflects the foundations on which our brand is built: the GVMU partner ecosystem, our technical excellence, the trust we’ve built across the media sector, the flexibility we bring to our customers, the insight we provide into the evolution of the market, and our drive to innovate and support media companies in their transition to a cloud-based future,” he added.
The strategic move comes with the strong support from Black Dragon Capital, a progressive and visionary investor that gives Grass Valley the mandate to bring the new strategy and image in line with being the leading media technology partner of choice.
While briefing media journalists on the strategic focus, Shoulders revealed that Grass Valley had signed a $25 million, multi-year contract with consultant, systems architect and media technology digital transformation provider Qvest that will see the two companies combine their complementary strengths and market offerings to meet the demands of today’s dynamic media industry.
The deal brings technological, operational and financial benefits to Qvest for standardising on Grass Valley’s advanced production solutions, thus benefiting from enhanced economies of scale, creative commercial models and closer technological collaboration.
“The media and entertainment industry is evolving at an astonishing rate with audiences demanding more content across a greater number of devices,” said Christian Massmann, CSO, Qvest. “Our customers are the cornerstone of the M&E space, ranging from news networks to sports broadcasters, video streaming services, and major film studios. These technology-reliant operators demand state-of-the-art solutions that enable them to differentiate their services and maintain a competitive edge. To offer this to our customers, in addition to our technology and transformation expertise we have built up a worldwide partner network of first-class product manufacturers over many years. By also working closer with the Grass Valley team in future, we are able to share market insights, align our technology roadmaps and leverage greater purchasing.”
The agreement marks the formation of a global and long-term strategic partnership building on the parties’ proven experience, strong customer relationships and extensive market references as trusted advisers to the media and entertainment industry.
“We are delighted to be embarking on this next phase of the strategic partnership with Qvest and look forward to jointly realising the benefits of the win-win enterprise agreement,” commented Shoulders. “Over the past 20-years, we have forged a powerful alliance and this next step will further strengthen our technology and business collaboration and will provide customers with world-class solutions that address both current operational challenges and longer-term transformational goals.”