Harris Scoops Up Zandar Technologies

Broadcast-Technology Conglomerate Acquires Provider of Multi-Image Display Processors

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/29/2007 6:08:00 PM

Broadcast-technology conglomerate Harris acquired Zandar Technologies, a Dublin, Ireland-based provider of multi-image display processors for television stations and mobile-production trucks.

Terms of the deal for privately held Zandar -- which continues a pattern of strategic acquisition for Harris over the past few years -- were not disclosed.

The acquisition of Zandar, which was founded in 1993, broadens Harris’ portfolio of master-control products. Zandar’s virtual-display systems are used for centralized video and audio monitoring, alarms and corrective action at customers including the British Broadcasting Corp., British Sky Broadcasting, Alfacam, ESPN/STAR Sports (Singapore) and ESPN (USA), as well as nonbroadcast customers such as the FBI.

Harris already had a multi-image display product of its own, Centrio, which had experienced strong initial sales since its introduction last spring. But combining Zandar’s product line with its own gives Harris a leg up in the competitive virtual-monitor-wall market, where Evertz and Miranda Technologies are established players.

“The multi-image display-processor market has grown rapidly over the past decade, as increasing numbers of video and audio channels require more monitoring consolidation and a flexible, scalable system for the prevention, detection and correction of signal errors,” Harris Broadcast president Tim Thorsteinson said.

“Zandar’s compact, scalable systems, such as the new Predator II and QS100 series introduced at IBC, combined with the larger-format Harris Centrio systems, represent a great complement of product lines and an excellent platform for future growth through market expansion,” he added.

Zandar CEO Deirdre Smith said her company’s products should benefit from both the sales infrastructure and engineering resources of Harris.

“Multiformat, multiresolution and multichannel broadcast environments continue to present new challenges in video and audio monitoring, and we are delighted to be part of an organization that is making the long-term commitment necessary to lead the industry transition to multi-image display systems,” she added. “Harris has been a great partner during the past several years, and we believe our customers and employees will benefit greatly from the size, resources and research-and-development capabilities they bring to ongoing market pursuits.”