Tiernan
Tiernan Communications, Inc.
Tiernan Communications Inc. was an established leader of digital television compression and transmission solutions used worldwide by broadcasters, cable operators, common carriers, software designers, computer engineers and Internet Service Providers. Tiernan made equipment that compressed a typical TV signal from 30 million bits per second down to 3 million bits for transmission via a satellite network.
Tiernan was acquired by Radyne in 2001. Radyne was acquired by Comtech EFData (CEFD) in 2008 and sold the product line to International Datacasting in 2009. IDC sold the product line to US based DTV Innovations in 2015 that merged with Novra Technologies in that following year.
Skybrokers offers for almost 15 years used and tested Tiernan encoders and satellite receivers. We have supported several clients with used channel and broadcast encoders as well as HDTV receivers.
Tiernan Communications Inc. was a privately held company in San Diego, CA, USA and designed, developed, manufactured and marketed a full line of digital television compression and transmission equipment that enabled broadcasters to transmit more information over a single channel. Tiernan equipment is still used worldwide by Television networks, cable operators, Internet service providers and satellite service providers using the company’s high-definition television (HDTV) and MPEG encoders and integrated receiver/decoders for newsgathering, sports coverage, broadband services and program distribution. Customers included ABC, NBC, British Telecom and Teleglobe.
Company History
University of California San Diego (UCSD) graduate and Telecom entrepreneur John Tiernan founded Tiernan Communications in 1988 as a spin-off from Linkabit, a technology company that was founded in 1968 by Irwin M. Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi and Leonard Kleinrock. Linkabit and alumni created a large number of technology companies and is currently a division of L-3 Communications.
Tiernan Communications’ product line included a range of digital video compression encoders and IRD’s, as well as ATM and NMS (Network Management Systems) solutions. The Tiernan TE600 encoder provided SDTV video services in a basic configuration suitable for fixed contribution applications. The TE60 was an advanced modular SDTV encoder configured to support additional features such as extra audio channels and network interface options. Tiernan’s THE1 and THE10 encoders provided similar high-performance HDTV services, and the THE1 was equipped to support multiple SDTV channels.
In 1999 Tiernan and leading provider of broadcast networking solutions SkyStream Corporation, decided to embark on the integration of their technologies based on customer demand for an open, standards-based architecture that enables them to choose best-of-breed components. The resulting architecture was a fully interoperable DVB- (Digital Video Broadcast) compliant digital video and IP data broadcasting solution and enabled television broadcasters to build high-performance, secure video and data broadcast system that can be integrated with any industry-standard conditional access solution.
In April 2001 communications equipment manufacturer Radyne ComStream acquired all assets of Tiernan Communications, Inc. in an effort to beef up its digital video and content offering. The new subsidiary, Tiernan Radyne ComStream offered employment to essentially all the former Tiernan Communications employees. Tiernan’s customer base included major television networks, broadcasters, common carriers and suppliers of Satellite newsgathering systems.
Radyne stepped in since Tiernan had run out of money as was about to undergo a foreclosure by its bank. The purchase gave Radyne new product lines in the area of digital video and Internet-over-satellite marketplace.
In June 2005 Radyne Comstream, Inc. changed its name into Radyne Corp. and was organized in three business units: The Phoenix Division, Xicom Technology, Inc, that was acquired earlier that year, and Tiernan.
In August 2008, Radyne Corp. completed the merger with Comtech Telecommunications Corp. The merger created a company with combined sales of 652 million USD. The whole company would be operating as Comtech EFData (CEFD), a subsidiary of Comtech Telecommunications Corp.
The acquisition also resulted in the closure of Radyne’s manufacturing facilities. Radyne’s Satellite Earth Station businesses were integrated into CEFD’s facility in Tempe.
Three of Radyne’s businesses, the Xicom satellite Earth station amplifiers, the AeroAstro microsatellites and the Tiernan broadcast encoding and transmission, were operated as independent product lines under the CEFD umbrella.
In August 2009 Canada based International Datacasting Corporation (IDC), a leader in advanced solutions for satellite distribution of broadband multimedia content acquired the Tiernan Video product line and related technology from Comtech Tiernan Video, Inc. IDC has acquired all intellectual property, trademarks, inventory, customer and vendor lists as well as original equipment manufacturer reseller partnerships related to the Tiernan-related product lines being acquired.
CEFD agreed to continue manufacturing certain products and components in the Tiernan product line while IDC transitions manufacturing into its own operations. IDC integrated about 30 former Tiernan employees into the new operation.
In 2015 leading supplier of digital broadcasting solutions and Chicago based DTV Innovations acquired the professional video contribution product line from International Datacasting Corp. With the acquisition, privately held DTV owned all intellectual property and inventory associated with IDC’s professional video line, including Titan and SE4000 encoders, HMR decoders and Logic Innovations TSM-2800 ASI multiplexer.
In November 2016 Canada based Novra Technologies, Inc. merged with International Datacasting to form a World-Class Broadcast Technology Provider for data, radio and television broadcast segments along with Digital-Cinema and IP-TV.
IDC would become a subsidiary of Novra, though continues to operate much as it had before. Novra Technologies also owns another satellite and broadcast infrastructure equipment company, Wegener Communications, a leading provider of digital media management and distribution technologies for digital signage, radio and television.
Novra Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2000. The company provides premium products and solutions for the IP datacasting, IPTV, and digital signage markets. Novra specializes in the transmission and reception of IP traffic over satellite, cable and terrestrial communication links. Products include broadband receivers for DVB-S, DVB-S2, and ATSC systems as well as the NovraLink digital signage solution, which integrates Novra’s technologies into a comprehensive multimedia management and distribution system.
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Resources
www.comtechefdata.com
www.datacast.com
www.novragroup.com
www.novra.com
www.wegener.com
www.wikipedia.org
www.ucsd.edu
www.bloomberg.com
www.prnewswire.com edition April 19th, 2001
www.marketwired.com edition August 18th, 2009
www.marketwired.com edition April 19th, 2016
www.satellitetoday.com edition August 2009
www.satellitetoday.com edition September 2009
www.bizjournals.com edition April 16th, 2001
www.sky-brokers.com
www.productionhub.com
www.manta.com
www.dtvinnovations.com
www.satellitemarkets.com edition November 2nd, 2015
www.radioworld.com edition June 8th, 2016