Eleven Sports, part of global sports investment and innovation group Aser Ventures, is one of a new breed of broadcaster who are redefining how global sport is packaged and delivered. Eleven Sports’ innovative OTT platform is at the core of a platform agnostic approach, engaging fans across on-air, online and social media – delivering thousands of hours of top-class sporting action per year to millions of paying customers.

The company will integrate Blackbird into its video infrastructure and use it to rapidly clip, edit and publish sports content seconds after live to its social channels and OTT platforms in Belgium and Portugal. Eleven Sports’ social media, marketing, digital and production teams will be able to easily create clips and highlight packages for sports fans to enjoy.

Eleven holds rights to a wide array of premium sports properties in territories around the world including the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A and League 1, as well as the NBA, NFL, UFC and Formula One.

Stevie Rowe, Head of Production at Eleven Sports, said: “We want to give our fans access to the best sporting moments as quickly as possible and Blackbird will play a big role in helping us do that. They have a great product and we’re really looking forward to working with them.”

Ian McDonough, CEO of Blackbird, said: “I am delighted to have a dynamic and innovative broadcaster like Eleven Sports as a customer of Blackbird. Together Blackbird and Eleven are redefining and reshaping long established business models and industries. Eleven have selected Blackbird for its unparalleled speed to air, high quality output and easy scalability. We look forward to expanding with them as they grow.”

Blackbird is the world’s only video editing platform developed from the ground up specifically for the cloud. Delivering unbeatable speed, scalability and quality of editing tools and video output, Blackbird is accessed through any browser, easy to learn and needs only limited bandwidth to use.  Blackbird delivers significant productivity and efficiency benefits to any enterprise-level organisation working with video.

Blackbird drives major awareness, engagement and reach for companies and brands in the sports, esports, news, entertainment, enterprise and public sectors. Customers include IMG, Deltatre, Peloton, TownNews, A+E Networks and the U.S Department of State.

The post Eleven Sports chooses Blackbird for cloud video editing and publishing of content to fans appeared first on Blackbird.

The nomination is in the Best Fan Engagement category in recognition of The R&A and IMG using Blackbird to deliver rapid and engaging content at The 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

With multiple live feeds into Blackbird, IMG’s team on location was able to clip, edit and publish highlights to Twitter within seconds. Blackbird’s ability to provide professional video editing in the cloud on just 2Mbs was key to the fast-paced environment in Northern Ireland. Over 300 individual pieces of great content were created across Championship week – including Emiliano Grillo’s hole-in-one and the Champion Golfer of the Year, Shane Lowry, taking the acclaim of an adoring Irish fan as he made the greatest walk in golf on his 72nd hole.

Tournament highlights were viewed millions of times by fans globally on Twitter – delivering further levels of reach and engagement for what was one of the greatest Open Championships in living memory.

The post Blackbird, IMG and the R&A shortlisted for SportsPro OTT Award appeared first on Blackbird.

With consumers now expecting fast access to content on any device, broadcasters and rights holders are increasingly looking to the cloud to streamline content management workflows and power major cost efficiencies. To help companies better understand the myriad of solutions available, leading media consultancy Tyrell has brought together the industry’s top players in cloud-based news and sports content production for a tour of the UK and Ireland this month.

Blackbird will be demonstrating how much easier, faster and cost-efficient it is to view, edit and publish video in the cloud alongside Clear-Com, LiveU, Intinor, ABonAir and Streamstar.

The Tyrell Tour events are:

• 6 November at Chelsea Football Club, London
• 12 November at Manchester United FC
• 14 November at Croke Park, Dublin

To learn more about the Tyrell Tour and book your place please visit: www.tyrellcct.com/tyrelltour/

The post Blackbird and Tyrell on tour to showcase fast, efficient cloud video production appeared first on Blackbird.

Each year, Leaders Week London brings together around 3000 leaders in sport, technology and entertainment for a series of knowledge-sharing, experiential, networking and social events. Director level executives from global brands, broadcasters, clubs, franchises, leagues, federations, agencies and industry service providers will attend the ‘Experience The Future Of Sport’ themed show during a series of events held across London from 7 to 10 October.

The Blackbird cloud video platform will be used by Leaders’ production team to rapidly clip, edit and publish highlights from the stage to its social channels Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn during the show.  Events Blackbird will produce and publish content for include The Sport Business Summit at Twickenham Stadium and The Leaders Sports Awards at the Natural History Museum.

Simon Thomlinson, Head of Partnerships at Leaders, said: “The distribution of real time highlights from the stage is a vital component of our social output during Leaders Week, so we’re delighted to be working with Blackbird on our video production this year. Their lightning-fast editing and distribution platform will support us on maximizing our social reach throughout the week.”

Adrian Lambert, Marketing Director of Blackbird, said: “Leaders Week is a must-attend event for the world’s leading sports organisations and it’s a privilege to be chosen as the event’s official video production partner. We look forward to delivering engaging highlights fast to Leaders’ online channels, just as we do every day for a wide array of clients in sports, news and other sectors.”

Blackbird is the world’s only video editing platform developed from the ground up specifically for the cloud. Delivering unbeatable speed, scalability and quality of editing tools and video output, Blackbird is accessed through any browser, easy to learn and needs only limited bandwidth to use.  Blackbird delivers significant productivity and efficiency benefits to any enterprise-level organisation working with video.

Blackbird drives major awareness, engagement and reach for companies and brands in the sports, esports, news, entertainment, enterprise and public sectors. Customers include IMG, Deltatre, MSG Networks, Peloton, TownNews, A+E Networks and the U.S Department of State.

The post Leaders appoints Blackbird as video production partner for Leaders Week London 2019 appeared first on Blackbird.

The ‘What Caught My Eye’ awards are given to the most exciting, innovative and important products at IBC. They focus on leading, unique products that are changing the face of broadcast and on-demand publishing and driving the media technology revolution.

Blackbird was selected for the coveted award on behalf of IBC by guest expert, Renard Jenkins – a 30 year veteran of the television and film industry and VP of Operations, Engineering and Distribution at the Public Broadcasting Service in the US.

Blackbird is the world’s only video editing platform developed from the ground up specifically for the cloud. The fastest video clipping, editing and distribution platform on the market, Blackbird provides rapid access to live and non-live video for the creation of clips and highlights to multiple devices and platforms including web, broadcast, OTT and social. Accessed through any browser, easy to learn and needing only limited bandwidth to use, Blackbird delivers significant productivity and efficiency benefits to any enterprise level company working with video.

Blackbird is driving major awareness, engagement and reach for brands in the sports, esports, news, entertainment and enterprise sectors. Customers include IMG, Deltatre, MSG Networks, Gfinity, Peloton, TownNews and A+E Networks.

The post Blackbird receives top 6 ‘What Caught My Eye’ award at IBC 2019 appeared first on Blackbird.

TownNews has signed up a further six US TV stations that will use Blackbird to rapidly view, edit and publish their video news content to social and web platforms. When paired with TownNews’ Field59 VMS, news stories can be delivered with unbeatable speed and control using Blackbird’s browser-based cloud video editing platform.

The six additional US TV stations that will use Blackbird are based in Wisconsin, Missouri, Washington and Texas – bringing the total of TV stations using Blackbird to 46 across 27 states.

Over 350 local TV stations in the US produce around six hours of news content per day with the industry generating nearly $28 billion in revenues annually. With an estimated 43% of US adults now sourcing their news from websites and social media (source: Pew Research Centre), millions of viewers in the US consume content through the Blackbird and TownNews’ Field59 VMS platform.

Globally the trend towards mobile news consumption continues to rise – doubling in most countries over the past six years. According to the Digital News Report 2018, on average 62% of people weekly use their smartphones for news content.

Derek Gebler, Vice President of Broadcast and Video for TownNews, commented: “Blackbird is a great partner to TownNews with proven technology providing high-quality, frame-accurate cloud editing software for our broadcast customers. We consider their team to be part of our team and are true collaborators.”

Ian McDonough, CEO of Blackbird, said: “We’re delighted that Blackbird is recognised by so many TownNews’ customers to be the best-in-market for rapid digital news production. To expand the adoption of the combined Blackbird and Field 59 solution from 3 to 46 US news stations in just 15 months is a fantastic and very encouraging endorsement. It’s also a perfect example of how Blackbird can land and expand in large high-media markets.

“Blackbird is completely unique in its ability to enable media companies to create and deliver high quality video content very fast. Having been specifically built from the ground up for the cloud, Blackbird delivers very significant productivity and efficiency benefits which all enterprise companies working with video can take full advantage of.”

The post Blackbird now in 46 US TV news stations following latest TownNews expansion appeared first on Blackbird.

Launched at the start of the year, BP3 enables post-production facilities to sell Blackbird directly to media production companies internationally creating an additional revenue stream for partners. The new BP3 partners are ENVY, Ricochet, Back2Back, The Edit and Run VT.

Blackbird delivers major efficiencies to the production workflows of hundreds of TV programmes annually. The production teams of popular shows such as The One Show, Gogglebox and Gold Rush use Blackbird to rapidly view, edit and log content.

Easy to learn and use, the Blackbird cloud video editing platform is accessed through any browser on any device from anywhere in the world. Teams can simultaneously work on the same workflows in real time for easy, collaborative working. With no need for expensive on-premise editing suites, training and travel costs, Blackbird delivers a significant return on investment for all production companies.

In June this year, Blackbird announced a multi-year deal with A+E Networks in the US to drive major video productivity efficiencies. As well as being widely used in the production sector, Blackbird has a growing global user base across multiple sectors including sports, esports and news – customers include MSG Networks, IMG, Deltatre, NRL, Peloton, Gfinity and TownNews.

Ian McDonough, CEO of Blackbird, said: “We are delighted that so many partners have signed up to the Blackbird BP3 programme so far. They recognise the speed and efficiency benefits of the Blackbird platform within so many post-production workflows. Post-production companies have also seen how Blackbird can be a revenue stream with many independent productions gravitating towards our solution.”

For more information about BP3 visit: www.blackbird.video/BP3

Blackbird is exhibiting at IBC 2019 on the Google Cloud booth (E01, Hall 14) from 13 to 17 September. To arrange a meeting please email commercial@blackbird.video.

The post IBC 2019: Blackbird signs 5 more post-production companies to BP3 program taking total to 20 appeared first on Blackbird.

Blackbird is the world’s fastest cloud video clipping, editing and distribution platform on the market. It provides rapid access to video for the creation of clips and highlights to multiple devices and platforms including web, broadcast, OTT and social. Current Blackbird sports clients include MSG Networks, IMG, Deltatre, Buffalo Bills and the Australian National Rugby League. MOOV has been a leader in live broadcast graphics for many years counting BBC Sport, BT Sport and ITV Racing amongst its client base.

By integrating MOOV’s technology into the Blackbird platform, users will be able to rapidly and seamlessly add a variety of broadcast quality graphics to their video content to further enrich output and increase brand perception and engagement.

Blackbird and MOOV will be showcasing their combined solution at leading media technology show, IBC, this month. Demonstrations will focus on live sports content with the platform being the fastest and most efficient on the market for delivering broadcast quality clips and highlights to fans.

Nev Appleton, Director and Co-Founder of MOOV, said: “We are really excited about the partnership with Blackbird. Clients will soon be able to quickly add broadcast quality branded graphics to their edits, either manually or data automated.”

Ian McDonough, CEO of Blackbird, said: “As we engage with larger sports rights holders the demand for higher quality, enriched content increases. Being best-of-breed makes MOOV a natural fit for Blackbird and provides an incredibly efficient data-driven graphics workflow for rapidly delivering clips and highlights to sports fans the world over.”

Blackbird has invited MOOV to demonstrate some combined workflows at IBC 2019 on the Google Cloud booth (E01, Hall 14) from 13 to 17 September. To arrange a meeting please email commercial@blackbird.video

The post IBC 2019: Blackbird and MOOV partner to enrich fast turnaround sports video content appeared first on Blackbird.

Launched in January 2019, BP3 enables leading post-production facilities to offer the Blackbird cloud video platform to media production companies internationally. The BP3 program is in line with Blackbird’s strategy of building a commercial model whereby BP3 partners can sell to multiple partners rather than Blackbird selling directly.

Hundreds of TV programmes utilise Blackbird in their video production workflows. Popular hits such as Gogglebox, Hunted, Gold Rush and Come Dine With Me use Blackbird to view, edit and log content during the production process each season.

Easy to learn and use, Blackbird is a web-based platform agnostic, cloud-native application that requires no hardware investment. Production teams can access and edit video content via any browser using any device from anywhere in the world for easy, collaborative working. Blackbird’s unique flexibility delivers significant cost-savings to any company working with video.

Meeting Blackbird’s high levels of product training and service requirements, BP3 partners are carefully selected. The 14 industry leading post facilities already signed up to BP3 include Clear Cut Pictures, Evolutions, Halo, True North, MSV Post and ITV.

As well as being widely used in the production sector, Blackbird has a growing global user base across multiple sectors including sports, esports and news – customers include MSG Networks, IMG, Deltatre, NRL, Peloton, Gfinity and TownNews.

Ian McDonough, CEO of Blackbird, said: “We referred to this new model in our annual report and are really pleased that the post-production market has quickly adapted to reselling Blackbird as a service on our behalf. This is a win-win-win solution whereby we provide our patented Blackbird platform, together with high-end one-to-one training to post houses and they in turn build a revenue line through Blackbird. Our end customers have a wide and growing choice of where to go to use Blackbird and know they will get a world class and standardised service.”

Blackbird is exhibiting in the Sports Zone at the Media Production Show in London Olympia from 11 – 12 June 2019. The company will also be delivering a presentation  – ‘Creating sports clips and highlights in the cloud: speed and simplicity’ – at 3pm on the first day of the show.

For more information about BP3 visit: www.blackbird.video/BP3

The post Blackbird signs up 14 post-production facilities to its new BP3 program appeared first on Blackbird.

The NRL is the most viewed and attended rugby league club competition in the world, with hugely popular teams competing including the New Zealand Warriors, the Melbourne Storm and the Brisbane Broncos. In 2018, NRL was Australia’s most watched sport.

Based in Sydney, the NRL’s digital team will use Blackbird to rapidly clip, edit and publish short highlights during live matches, optimising workflows and operations and speeding up publishing to multiple publishing destinations. The NRL’s global fanbase will then be able to view match highlights on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and NRL.com.

Quanah McBride, Head of Digital Operations at NRL, said: “NRL Digital are looking forward to working with the Blackbird team and technology to optimize our live editing workflows and expedite publishing timelines.” 

Ian McDonough, CEO of Blackbird, said: “The NRL is one of the most exciting and competitive sports competitions in the world and we are delighted they have chosen to use Blackbird. Enabled by our unique, patented codec, the Blackbird platform will offer the NRL the speed and agility needed to clip, edit and publish highlights for fans in real-time, as the games are being aired live. The confidence of the NRL in our platform confirms Blackbird’s growing strength in the global sports industry, building on our relationships with major sports companies like MSG Networks, IMG, Peloton and Deltatre.”

The post Australia’s National Rugby League chooses Blackbird for live video clipping and publishing appeared first on Blackbird.