Medical Coaches, of Oneonta, New York, will be represented at the 2008 Summer Olympics. They are designing and building a sophisticated High-Definition Television (HD TV) trailer for the Guangdong Television company in the Guangdong province of China. They are the fourth largest TV station in the country and employ roughly 2,000 people.
During a recent visit to Medical Coaches’ factory, representatives from the Chinese company said that this will be the first trailer of its type in all of China. "It’s really exciting," said Stan Buczek, technical director for mobile TV and broadcast units at Medical Coaches.
Guangdong Television will be using the trailer to cover soccer events at the Olympics; it will also be used for the 2009 Asian Games. "The entire project costs about $6 million," said Ruoding Wang, president of Access Tech and Medical Coaches’ representative in China.
Guangdong Television found Medical Coaches when the company attended the National Association of Broadcasters Convention and toured a custom HD TV trailer built for all mobile video. Wang said he liked what he saw and the project was put out to bid. Medical Coaches was selected after intense international competition and highly arduous evaluation of all offers.
According to Wang, "the 2008 Olympics will have the largest participation and attendance of any similar competition ever held in the world."
The HD TV trailer will have a wall of about 20 monitors with numerous equipment racks and ancillary support devices. The custom-built trailer has large expandable sides for more room and will hold approximately 20 people during TV productions. The entire interior environment is precisely controlled through a sophisticated air-conditioning, heating, and ventilation system.
This is the first time Medical Coaches has supplied an HD TV unit outside the US. Wang said it will take about 22 days by sea to get to China and cost about $25,000 to ship.
Medical Coaches also had three trailers at the Super Bowl, in Miami, on February the 4th, 2007.