Ross Video Boosts Real-Time Graphics Capabilities Via Bannister Lake Acquisition

April 23, 2024 by Dave Haynes

The live video production technology company Ross Video has an agreement to acquire another Canadian company, Bannister Lake Software (BL Soft).

Ottawa-based Ross Video is a major player in solutions and services for live broadcasts and events, and Bannister Lake’s data-driven graphics capabilities fit nicely within broad list of products.

The flagship BL Soft product Chameleon taps into and presents real-time data for interest areas like news, sports, weather, elections, financial updates, closings, eSports, wagering data, promos, and sponsorships. The outputs seen on broadcasts, streaming channels and digital signage include tickers, L-Bars, snipes, web widgets, and full-frame graphics that showcase up-to-the-second data-driven content.

I don’t know what snipes are either …

Bannister Lake Software, based about 90 minutes south on Toronto in Cambridge, Ontario, has been around for more than 30 years and its software was already part of the solutions mix for Ross.

“We’ve known the Ross Team for a long time, watching the company grow and doing it the right way. We felt it was about time that we became an inside part of what’s going on,” says Georg Hentsch, President of Bannister Lake Software. “We’ve got some amazing technology that will really benefit from the global footprint that Ross has created.”

“We are excited to welcome the Bannister Lake Team and technology portfolio to Ross,” adds David Ross, CEO of Ross Video. “We’ve enjoyed a close association with Bannister Lake for a long time and have been customers of each other. Bannister Lake includes XPression in their turnkey solutions, and Ross uses BL Soft’s technology in Ticker and Branding applications. This acquisition will unlock the opportunity to do even more together and expand the solution set we offer to our clients, especially in the realm of HTML5 graphics.”

Ross says on its website that it is “the number one supplier of live production solutions to sports stadiums, working with 58% of NFL venues in the US, and 45% of combined US venues for MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS. The Ross graphics platform is used to produce some of the world’s leading broadcast shows, sporting events and awards ceremonies, including the Academy Awards , Grammy Awards, Tony Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards, among others.”

The company has about 1,300 people and has grown both organically and through M&A, having bought 19 companies in the past 14 years.