26 l June 2013 broadcastnews UNITED KINGDOM
BT scores with new production centre
By Kevin Hilton
BT SPORT’S new broadcast production centre, currently being built in east London, will feature a wide range of audio equipment for both on-air work and post-production, including Calrec consoles, Avid Pro Tools HD X and Riedel intercoms. The 80,000sqft complex is
part of what was the International Broadcast Centre for the London 2012 Olympics. The building is part of the iCITY development on the Queen Elizabeth Park at Stratford and will be used to produce three channels, BT Sport 1 and 2 and ESPN. All three will be broadcast in SD and HD, with 5.1 also available. Three Calrec Audio 40-fader Artemis Light desks are being installed in the control galleries of the main studios, which have been floated for full isolation. The consoles will be linked to an Artemis Beam rack as a routing core to create a Hydra2 network. BT Sport chief engineer Andy
Beale explains that the Hydra is to be used to feed wall boxes in the studios, as well as connecting to the main Snell 850 hybrid router. Wisycom wireless microphone and in-ear monitor
systems are being installed for on-air work. Audio recording and editing will be based on Avid Pro Tools HD X. The main dubbing room will feature this along with a 32-fader D-Control desk. A QC (quality control) suite is to have an eight-channel D-Command controller as well as access to Pro Tools.
BT Sport has bought the rights
to live coverage of English Premier League football and Premiership rugby union. These broadcasts will be produced at the grounds with on-location commentary but for incoming feeds of other events, including Italian and French football, eight voice booths have been installed for commentators to work “off screen”. The voice booths, like the audio suites, are being built by
The Calrec-equipped control galleries are under construction
Studio Schemes and will include Sonifex CMCU21 commentary units, with two Sennheiser HMD26 headsets and two Coles 4104 Lip mics. Beale explains that booths 5 to 7 are available for more “serious” voice over use involving a Neumann TLM193 mic. VO8, which is the Pro Tools booth, offers two TLM193s. The hub intercom system is a Riedel Artist, comprising three sets of 128 frames and a total of 140 control panels. The frames are connected over fibre while the panels are on Cat5 cabling. A CTP Systems dbc1 system will be used for camera talkback, with the ability to switch between different areas.
The BT Sport studios are
expected to be completed by the end of July. n
www.bt.com/sport/
Gold winner in the Drama category, The Resistance of Mrs Brown,directed by Jonquil Panting (left), written by Ed Harris (centre) and starring Amanda Root (right) in the title role
UNITED KINGDOM
Sony Awards tune in to production
By Kevin Hilton
THE SONYRadio Academy Awards for 2013 have recognised the role of Production in the medium, as well as the achievements of journalists, presenters and general personalities. Among the winners at the ceremony held at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on 13 May were a wartime drama, a documentary about teenage abusive relationships and coverage of the conflict in Syria. The Resistance of Mrs Brown,
directed by Jonquil Panting, written by Ed Harris and starring Amanda Root in the title role imagined a Britain that had lost the war, where a tea lady working for the Nazi administration decides to join the fight against the invaders. It was produced by BBC Radio Drama London for BBC Radio 4, with technical presentation by studio managers Graham Harper, Peter Ringrose and Alison Craig. The judges commented: “Amanda Root’s strong central performance, plus first-rate production values, contributed to making this serial a ‘must listen’.” The Drama Silver went to Donna Franceschild’s dramatisation of John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, produced by BBC Radio
Scotland for BBC Radio 4, with technical work from studio managers Dave Steele, Ross Blackmore and Amir Mirza. The recipient of the Bronze Award was My Boy, a Somethin’ Else production for BBC Radio 4 written by Laura Lomas and directed and produced by Polly Thomas. The play was recorded on location by sound designer Eloise Whitmore; the judges observed it was an “example of a radio drama which went way beyond the confines of studio-based fare”. The Gold for Best Feature or Documentary went to Bruising Silence, a Just Radio production for BBC Radio 1 about teenagers in abusive relationships, while the top prize in the Best News Feature or Documentary category was won by coverage of the Bombardment of Homs, produced by BBC Radio Current Affairs for BBC World Service. The Best Use of Multiplatform
Gold was awarded to Radio 1’s Review Show, produced by Somethin’ Else. The Judges observed: “Using all the tools they have at their disposal to make better-sounding radio, this entry was clearly designed for digital natives that know their music.”n
www.radioawards.org
www.psneurope.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60