SIS Live to close its OB division

Broadcast understands that 240 people could be affected by the company pulling out of the OB market, which follows its failure to secure any of the new BBC Sport contracts last month.

SIS Live had previously held the majority of BBC Sport contracts since it acquired the broadcaster’s OB division in 2008, but last month BBC Sport announced that SIS had not been successful during the last round of OB tenders.

That prompted SIS to conduct a five-week strategic review of its OB business.

In a statement, SIS chief executive Gary Smith described the outside broadcast sector as a “commodity marketplace where price is the dominant factor”. 

He said: “Our difficulty in reaching terms with BBC Sport over the renewal of their sports contracts offered a vivid reflection of the problem.

“We have always sought to be competitive in our pricing, but we have never been prepared to sacrifice quality just in order to deliver a cheaper service.

“In view of the pricing pressure for long term contacts for customers such as the BBC we have come to the conclusion that the outside broadcast market, as it is today, no longer offers an arena in which it makes sense for us to continue to operate.”

SIS is now looking to find buyers for the company’s outside broadcast units.

SIS Live’s equipment and links business is not affected by the closure.