HBO Latin America Group is nearing a deal to lease space within its technical facilities in Sunrise, Fla., to GlobeCast America, the global service provider for satellite broadcast and content management.
Should the parties reach an accord, GlobeCast plans to transfers its master control, origination facilities, NSS 806 uplink and fiber interconnects that it currently operates in Hialeah, Fla., to HBO LAG's 63,000-square-foot facility.
Built in 1999, HBO's facility houses postproduction, technical quality control, film-library management, subtitling, master control, origination and satellite-transmission services.
Emilio Rubio, executive vice president of operations for HBO LAG, said negotiations have been ongoing the past few months. "The deal makes sense. We have a robust, state-of-the-art facility with extra capacity, and GlobeCast wants to expand," he added. "We pretty much have a short-term agreement. The longer agreement is a matter of weeks," he said, noting that it "has proven that it works in the face of hurricanes."
Rubio added that the venue's resilience in the face of severe weather conditions gives GlobeCast impetus to close soon: "They want to move ahead and move into our facility before the storm season hits."
GlobeCast America CEO Mary Frost said that if the parties close on the lease shortly, she anticipates that full transition to HBO premises from its Hialeah venue would be completed by December.
She added that GlobeCast would use the HBO facility to deliver more channels in Latin America, with some of those exports possibly being shopping channels and infomercials.
GlobeCast America said its network client base includes CNN, Discovery Networks U.S., E! Entertainment Television, Venevision, Eternal Word Television Network, TV Globo and Setanta Sports.
