Avid Technology a annoncé le 18 mai dernier avoir conclu une entente avec la société de diffusion Radio-Canada/CBC, afin d'installer des systèmes complets de traitements de l'information pour trois de ses salles de nouvelles. Cette vente de plusieurs millions de dollars représente une étape majeure dans la stratégie à long terme de modernisation des installations de Radio-Canada.

Voici le communiqué de presse de Avid (en anglais)

Avid Wins $6.7 Million Broadcast Deal at CBC/Radio-Canada

Tewksbury, MA – May 18, 2004 – Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced it has won a $6.7 million broadcast deal with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)/Radio-Canada, which will install Avid® end-to-end digital newsroom environments at three of its 23 television stations. The multimillion dollar sale represents a major milestone in CBC/Radio-Canada's long-term strategy to completely modernize its newsroom operations.

The initial implementation of Avid systems will occur over the next several months at CBC/Radio-Canada's television facilities in Ottawa, Edmonton and Quebec City. Following these first three implementations, CBC/Radio-Canada plans to convert its largest facility, the Toronto Broadcast Centre, from a tape-based production pipeline to an all-digital end-to-end Avid news production environment.

“When we set out to choose a technology provider that could help us transition our facilities, we needed a partner with a proven track record for delivering production efficiencies across multiple media properties and one that is committed to providing a solution that meets both the current and future strategic technology requirements of our company,” said Ray Carnovale, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at CBC/Radio-Canada. “After evaluating solutions from all the major manufacturers, it was clear that Avid's intelligent, end-to-end workflow and future technological direction were well-suited to the task. The new digital workflows will facilitate content sharing between our radio and TV platforms and associated assets nationwide, and provide us with a migration path to HD. Our viewers have come to expect the highest quality programming from CBC/Radio-Canada, and these new tools will allow us to build on that in the most efficient manner.”

David Schleifer, director of Broadcast and Workgroups at Avid, said, “This deal represents an important step for CBC/Radio-Canada as it continues the process of updating its news production technology across Canada. As a longtime iNEWS customer, CBC/Radio-Canada has already experienced the benefits of an integrated newsroom computer solution. Now, with a broader Avid workflow anchored by our award-winning editing solutions CBC/Radio-Canada will be able to greatly increase productivity across its entire newsroom production pipeline. We're fortunate to work with a trend-setting company like CBC/Radio-Canada as it embraces the next generation of digital broadcast production solutions.”

In this first phase, CBC/Radio-Canada will purchase a comprehensive mix of Avid solutions, including three Avid Unity® for News systems with Avid Unity MediaManager, Avid Unity TransferManager, and Avid Nearchive™; 27 Avid NewsCutter® Adrenaline™ systems; 150 additional licenses of Avid iNEWS™ newsroom computer systems, bringing the total iNEWS license count to 1,800; and 61 Avid AirSpeed™ systems – Avid's new video ingest and broadcast playback server. The powerful capabilities of the Avid AirSpeed system – such as the ability to interface with third-party products to facilitate media storage, management, and sharing in collaborative environments of any size – will allow CBC/Radio-Canada to dramatically improve its production workflow.

About CBC/Radio-Canada

CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. CBC/Radio-Canada reaches Canadians through eight national radio and television networks, its full-service Web sites, local/regional stations and affiliates, the all-news services CBC Newsworld and the Réseau de l'information (RDI), as well as the digital television channel Country Canada, and the continuous music network Galaxie. In addition, CBC/Radio-Canada has forged partnerships with other broadcasters and is a partner in the specialty television services ARTV and The Documentary Channel . Through this array of activities, CBC/Radio-Canada brings diverse regional and cultural perspectives into the daily lives of Canadians in English, French and eight aboriginal languages. CBC/Radio-Canada was included this year in Canada 's Top 100 Employers.

About Avid Technology, Inc.

Avid Technology, Inc. is the world leader in digital nonlinear media creation, management, and distribution solutions, enabling film, video, audio, animation, games, and broadcast professionals to work more efficiently, productively, and creatively. For more information about the company's Oscar®, Grammy®, and Emmy® award-winning products and services, please visit: www.avid.com.

© 2004 Avid Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. Product features, specifications, system requirements and availability are subject to change without notice. Avid, Digidesign, Film Composer, NewsCutter, Avid Unity, Adrenaline, AirSpeed, ProTools, and Nearchive are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. iNEWS is a trademark of iNews, LLC. Avid received an Oscar statuette representing the 1998 Scientific and Technical Award for the concept, design, and engineering of the Avid Film Composer® system for motion picture editing. Digidesign, Avid's audio division, received an Oscar statuette representing the 2003 Scientific and Technical Award for the design, development, and implementation of its Pro Tools® digital audio workstation. Oscar is a trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Emmy is a registered trademark of ATAS/NATAS. Grammy is a trademark of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, Inc. Experts agree: All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

[28 mai 2004]