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Cabletime's innovative TV distribution system has been installed at the stadium of Southampton Football Club. This project was designed to allow the club to offer a range of facilities and broaden its business. Using MediaStar Pro, the club can now stage conferences, exhibitions, product launches, seminars, lunches and more.

The installation, completed by SportzMedia, a division of SmartComm, includes 130 state-of-the-art widescreen monitors located in all bar, restaurant and concourse areas, for club members, guests and the public. A range of AV services are provided to over 50 executive suites and directors' boxes. Plasma screens have also been installed in the club shop, to display advertising, and live match coverage. Similar screens were also installed in the players' lounge, all staff offices and the director's boardroom. All the screens display a mix of DVD, VHS, Sky and Terrestrial TV, plus live input from outside broadcast cameras.

Fine tuned and flexible

Four of Cabletime's MediaStar video distribution hubs operate over the CAT5/CAT6 structured cabling, to facilitate information allocation to individual or groups of monitors for simultaneous viewing in a number of locations. The Club can select and control the content displayed on the screens, depending on the audience. Information distribution is controlled either centrally via any networked PC, or by a touch-screen networked control system.

A SmartWall system - a 6 metre, wall to wall presentation screen with full audio-visual rear projection and surround sound - has been integrated by SportzMedia as part of the project and installed in the 'Days' Sponsors Lounge. All conferencing, meeting and banqueting suites have been fitted out with LCD overhead projectors, screens and presentation equipment.

Mark Wierzbicki, IT Manager at Southampton Football Club, said: "It is a fantastic system. I find that it is a good way of selling the club and the facilities here. We are able to select content to suit a range of screens, depending on their locations. It is very flexible."