BMG is adopting Grass Valley AMPP, Kayenne K-Frame Switcher and LDX 135 cameras to scale and control live remote workflows and manage assets from its new NOC in Washington, DC.
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) operates as a live production services provider for large-scale news, sports, music and entertainment events. It carries out managed services to broadcast networks, film studios, agencies and corporations. The company is building a new centralised cloud Network Operations Centre (NOC), in Washington, DC to support these services and its live production clients, adding to its first Cloud Broadcast Centre and fleet of REMI mobile units, built between 2021 and 2025.
BMG began work on the new NOC facility in August 2024 and is now in the process of installing the systems and technology for its data centre, master control, media asset management, transmissions, insert studio, post-production and video and audio control rooms.
Customised Live Productions
BMG’s business model applies a tailored approach to productions in which the company customises solutions specifically to meet client objectives. Its philosophy extends across the live productions themselves, consulting and integration, to events, staffing and creative skills.
Expanding an existing partnership, Grass Valley devices and software will be integrated across the network operations at BMG’s new centre. Todd Mason, BMG’s Chief Executive Officer, said, “Grass Valley’s technology brings the performance, scalability and flexibility we need to meet our clients’ evolving production requirements. Standardising on Grass Valley solutions allows us to right-size every production, whether it’s a fully remote setup or hybrid configuration, and ensures broadcast-grade quality at the same time.”
The deployment comprises Grass Valley’s Kayenne K-Frame production switchers and LDX 135 cameras, and will soon include the AMPP platform, including the Framelight X asset management system and other AMPP applications. As a virtualised open media production platform, AMPP will give BMG considerable scope for diversifying operations at the new centre over time. Incorporating the reliability of traditional broadcast with the agility of software functionality, it can support scalable high-performance workflows for live production, content management, automation and distribution.
Framelight X on AMPP
Kayenne K-Frame switchers, built specifically for live productions, have the required performance and versatility, as well as support for 1080p and 4K formats. Its design, based on hot-swappable modules, allows the user to adapt the interface per production, an essential factor for freelancers or technical directors managing different show segments and dynamic production environments.
Each switcher system is expandable up to 192 inputs, 96 outputs and nine M/Es with six keyers each, and may be mounted flat or curved for integration into varied setups. All buttons are illuminated in RGB colours that change to indicate different contexts, and many buttons have programmable functions displayed above.
AMPP – Economy of Scale
Grass Valley’s Alex Keighley, Sr VP of Sales, Americas, commented, “Extending our partnership through AMPP has allowed us to deliver the high quality production switchers, cameras and control systems that BMG was looking for to run this remarkable new NOC. From an infrastructure perspective, AMPP’s use of software via COTS hardware means BMG can access true economy of scale. It also furthers BMG’s ability to precisely customise production integrations for its varied client base.”
By federating media into a unified, searchable system with browser-based access, Framelight X enables users to collaborate, edit and manage content from any location. Designed for news, sports and similar environments, it integrates content from various sources and formats into a single, cohesive system, reducing redundancy and duplication, and also ensures teams work from a unified asset pool, saving time, bandwidth and storage while allowing media to flow between production stages.
Basic editing tasks, such as rough cuts, sequence arrangement and applying transitions, can be performed directly within the platform. For advanced editing, Framelight X integrates with GV EDIUS and Adobe Premiere. Team members can log in from any location, accessing tools for searching, previewing, logging and editing media. This means remote and hybrid workflows are also supported, so that distributed teams can produce content quickly without working from a specific location.
New Opportunities
While implementation of the technical systems is currently in progress, BMG aims to onboard its first AMPP customer by the end of June 2025. The deployment will allow BMG to serve enterprise clients with efficient, remote-enabled productions from its DC NOC and OB fleet, avoiding the traditional geographic and logistical barriers.
Grass Valley said the move marks its growing presence in the corporate and enterprise broadcast market, where BMG’s clients include financial services, healthcare, hospitality and media brands. It also shows how AMPP and the GV Media Universe can give organisations of all sizes the opportunity to work with flexible, scalable, affordable production systems. www.grassvalley.com
