MONTREAL—Television Mobiles (TVM), a leading independent outside broadcast provider, has completed a major refurbishment of its midsized OB3 unit with Grass Valley’s Sirius 800 SDI Router at the heart of the unit’s routing backbone.
The investment supports TVM’s continued focus on reliable, high-capacity serial digital interface (SDI) workflows for live sports and events and remodels the truck’s core routing infrastructure.
Headquartered in Ireland, TVM delivers outside broadcast services across a broad production portfolio, including domestic coverage of GAA (hurling and Gaelic football), English Premier League soccer and major international events, such as the 2024 Paris Olympics, where its fleet supported swimming coverage.
Refurbishing OB3 required a complete rebuild of the truck. Central to the project was a full upgrade of the unit’s routing infrastructure. TVM sought a modern SDI platform that would support existing operational workflows while fitting within the physical constraints of a compact, high-capacity OB unit. TVM selected the Sirius 800 SDI platform to satisfy its need for reliability, flexibility and high performance in fast-turnaround environments.
“We took OB3 off the road for a full rebuild, a key component of which was installing a new routing system that was robust, simple to service and aligned with our established SDI workflows,” Bart Arnold, managing director at TVM, said. “The Sirius 800 SDI met all of our requirements. Grass Valley delivered on schedule, and their support throughout the installation allowed us to get the truck back on the road in time for the start of the GAA Club Championship season for TG4 [the free-to-air Gaelic-language public-service broadcaster].”
The Sirius 800 SDI serves as the central routing backbone for OB3, providing a stable SDI infrastructure that integrates seamlessly with TVM’s existing Grass Valley equipment. The compact footprint of the truck required detailed planning to ensure the router and associated cabling could be integrated efficiently.
Grass Valley and TVM worked together to finalize layout, commissioning and testing within a compressed delivery window. Despite the challenges, the truck successfully returned to service on schedule for TG4’s football coverage at the start of the GAA season.
More information is available on the company’s website.
