Ross Video
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ross Video Ltd is a privately held Canadian company that designs and manufactures equipment for live event and video production. Ross Video's headquarters and manufacturing operations are located in
Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, while their R&D labs are in
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
, Ontario, Canada.


History

John Ross, a former engineer with the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
(CBC), founded Ross Video in Iroquois, Ont., in 1974 to make production switchers. Jim Leitch, founder of Leitch Video (acquired by Harris), initially suggested that Ross should start the company. The primary seed funding for the company came from the sale of a
Taylorcraft L-2 The Taylorcraft L-2 Grasshopper is an American observation and liaison aircraft built by Taylorcraft Aircraft, Taylorcraft for the United States Army Air Forces in World War II. Design and development In 1941 the United States Army Air Forces ...
that John Ross had restored. The company's first generation of switchers was the RVS family. The RVS 16–4, the first switcher made, was followed closely by the RVS 10-4 (a 16–4 with 10 video inputs). The first downstream keyer (DSK) could be added to the 10-4 to allow the addition of more video layers. Ross launched its second generation of switchers with the “500 Series” in 1978 which included Multi-Level Effects (MLE's), letting operators preview content before putting on the air. MLE is the Ross branded term for ME. In 1983, the company launched the Encore Memory System option which converted every switch and knob position to digital to be stored for future recall. Then, in 1985, Ross introduced its third generation of switchers which were smaller and talked to the control panel over a serial link, using microprocessors in the chassis to control the electronics. The company was hit hard by the early 1990s recession, but has since recovered, reporting 25+ consecutive years of growth. John Ross' son David joined the company full-time in 1991 and was later promoted to Director, Product Development, responsible for all product development in the company, then to Executive Vice President, President, and then to CEO in April 2006. In November 2005, David Ross assumed the position of Chairman of the Board and is now the majority shareholder of Ross Video with over 80% ownership. Today, the firm makes hardware and software for live and pre-programmed TV production, including cameras, production switchers, graphics, robotic camera systems, routing and infrastructure systems, signal processing solutions, production automation systems, newsroom computer systems and social media management tools. Its broadcast customers include Shaw, NBC and
Univision Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
, and its mobile productions unit produces sports events for
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, NBC and Fox. Ross equipment and systems have even been used to make graphics for the
Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
, the
Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
(Oscars) and
Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
. The company also provides stadium graphics for professional sports teams including the
Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...
,
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
and
Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
.


Acquisitions

From 2009 to 2021 Ross has acquired 18 companies in this order: * Media Refinery (Graphics) * Norpak (Data Insertion) * Codan Broadcast (Routers) * Fx-Motion (Robotics) * Cambotics (Robotics) * Montalto (Router R&D) * Mobile Content Providers (Mobile Production Packagers) * Automated Data Systems (Newsroom Systems & Prompting) * Unreel (Virtual Sets and Augmented Reality Solutions) * Rocket Surgery (Motion Graphics Creative Services) * Abekas (Video Servers and Replay) * Coveloz (Live Networking Experts & Consulting) *Portalis (KVM Systems) *PIERO (Sports Graphics) *Coiron (Graphics) *Image Video (TSI Tally Control Platform) *Primestream (Media Asset Workflow Solutions) *D3 LED (LED displays)


External links

*


References

{{reflist Electronics companies of Canada Film and video technology Companies based in Ontario Electronics companies established in 1974 1974 establishments in Ontario Canadian brands