Thomson's 'digital affordability' strategy - Post News

Post, March, 2004 by Ken McGorry

NEW YORK -- Thomson Broadcast, the parent of Grass Valley (www.thomsongrassvalley.com), unveiled its plans for NAB last month at a press convocation here. The company is putting forth its philosophy of "digital affordability," a theme that may sound oxymoronic to professionals who have doled out a fortune over the years to keep up with the latest technological trends. But it's a memorable phrase, the price of Spirit DataCine notwithstanding, and Thomson president Marc Valentin is serious about it as the company's strategic focus. With Valentin at the wheel for the past three years, Thomson has seen success and growth. Thomson's growth has also come from some bold acquisitions, including that of GVG, and the company's name is on product used at the Super Bowl and the upcoming Olympics.

Valentin told the press here in late January that Thomson would succeed by "riding technology waves, leveraging standard IT, Web and PC technologies, and growing our business by deploying these solutions into adjacent markets."

Thomson will also be moving down market, into the "AV" world of Fortune 500 companies, schools and universities. Valentin's VP, Jean-Marc Hoffer (who oversees cameras, switchers, film imaging and more), says he sees room for growth in "small-to-mid-size broadcasters, government and religious organizations."

The company has the ability to think small and very large at the same time. Thinking "large" includes plans to deploy affordable HD gear on a global scale but also to further penetrate Hollywood and the film world with Viper digital acquisition and Spirit 4K telecine technology. Valentin cites big wins with Warners (Rob Hummel's classic movie restoration work on Spirit), director David Fincher (using Viper on commercials), recent DGA awards and Michael Mann (using Viper on his Tom Cruise film, Collateral) as sure signs of Thomson's growing hold on the industry's high end.

VP Jeff Rosica calls such gear as Viper and Spirit "digital tools for filmmaking" and says Thomson's goal is to move "both technologies, film and digital, forward." He cites the Spirit 4K's new capabilities, the Viper's "unique advantages," and the Specter FS and FilmStream's "greater image performance and superior greenscreen performance" as key to bringing new levels of quality to digital filmmaking. The Spirit 4K has been through a "multi-million-dollar development," Rosica says, and it will demonstrate DataCine functionality at NAB that will include digital intermediate enhancements for special effects work. Spirit 4K's price will start around $1,175,000.

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Grass Valley also touts the new Kayak HD|ME switcher, which they say offers "native HD scalability and affordability" for $64K to $95K.