22 l November 2013


www.psneurope.com


broadcastnews SOUNDBITES


The Reproduced Sound Conference, hosted by the Institute of Acoustics, will take place from 12-14 November. Broadcast audio is the focus of this year’s event, titled: Delivering the experience – from imagination to realisation in audio. Two special visits at the BBC’s R&D facility and the University of Salford’s acoustics research unit have also been arranged for conference delegates.


www.reproducedsound.co.uk


Riedel Communications has acquired Düsseldorf-based mobile streaming specialist Code One, providing Riedel with a portfolio of WAN-focused technology for distributing video, audio and data via mobile networks. “This young company’s key areas of expertise, such as mobile streaming and innovative solutions for data transmission, offer Riedel unique technology that we can use to elevate our solutions to a new level,” said CEO Thomas Riedel. www.riedel.net


WRN Broadcast has enabled Seoul-based KBS World Radio to provide a one hour daily transmission in German using an analogue-digital 20kHz simulcast mode of the Digital Radio Mondiale system via a shortwave transmitting station in Sofia, Bulgaria. Broadcasts began on 27 October, which listeners with a DRM receiver can hear on 5875kHz. www.wrn.org


Outside Broadcast provider and studio operator Prolink Television Facilities has taken delivery of a second DiGiCo SD10B console. The first desk was purchased in the summer of 2012 to service the needs of the popular BBC1 show Saturday Kitchen, together with other programmes that had moved to new television studios in Clapham, south west London. The second desk, delivered almost a year later in 2013, has recently been installed in Prolink’s High Definition Outside Broadcast unit. “We completed a significant upgrade to the vision side of the truck in early 2013 and we scheduled the mid-year period to give the sound facilities a similar make over,” said Prolink director Andrew Dugard, speaking of the DiGiCo acquisition. www.prolinktv.co.uk


UNITED KINGDOM/RUSSIA


Megahertz assets bought by fellow integrator OKNO-TV


By Kevin Hilton


INTEGRATION SPECIALIST Megahertz Broadcast Systems Ltd (MHz) has been bought by the UK arm of Russian integrator OKNO-TV. The sale was announced on 14 October, the same day Megahertz was put into administration. Under the deal OKNO-TV (UK) has acquired the business and assets of Megahertz, saving the jobs of all 25 employees.


Megahertz has been in the systems integration business for 25 years, installing technical equipment in outside broadcast trucks and TV studios both in the UK and round the world. A recent high-profile contract in Britain was the technical installation at BT Sport’s new studio complex in east London. Company executives have estimated that 66% of Megahertz contracts are


GERMANY


outside the UK; installations include an earth station for BT in Poland and two in South Africa for ETV in Cape Town and Johannesburg. In recent years Megahertz has


been owned by US technology group Piksel, previously trading as KIT Digital. The company’s administration was handled by Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery, working with solicitors Bond Dickinson. The business and assets of Megahertz were bought out of administration by OKNO-TV (UK), a subsidiary of Moscow-based OKNO-TV, which has been supplying and installing equipment in broadcast centres in Russia and neighbouring countries for over 20 years.


Adrian Allen, a partner at


Baker Tilly Restructuring and Recovery, commented, “We believe this deal represents the


GERMANY OMG! 145 RTW TM3s for WDR By Erica Basnicki


ONE OFthe original founders of Stagetec, Dr Klaus-Peter Scholz, retired on 31 October. As part of his activities, he provided on-site customer support and technical consulting. In future, this role will be filled by current assistant manager, René Harder. “Stagetec has driven innovation from the first digital Nexus audio networks and Cantus mixing consoles on, going from strength to strength in the 20 years since its founding,” said Scholz. “I am proud to have done my part to build this success – and I think back fondly on the many great times I have had with our customers.”  www.stagetec.com


RTWHAS delivered 145 TM3 TouchMonitor units to German broadcaster WDR, Europe’s second-largest broadcaster after the BBC. The units, which WDR has installed in its regional studios and editing suites, enable the broadcaster to comply with EBU R128 loudness metering. With the development


of EBU R128, the audio metering reference has shifted from PPM to loudness, with a peak level (QPPM) of –9 dBFS to a loudness target of –23 LUFS (Loudness Unit Full Scale). WDR already has a large


point”, said Friedrich Neher, head of the master unit service group at WDR. “Also, we liked the idea of using the TM3 as a standalone device. The


Additionally, since freelancers and full-time employees share the same work areas at WDR, the company required an administration solution to ensure seamless workflows. Martin Leuenberg,


RTW boss Andreas Tweitmann at the introduction of the TM3


number of TM7 and TM9 units, and “the similarity to the TM7 and TM9 units already in use at WDR was an attractive


separation of the display unit and the breakout box were critical, as this considerably increases the flexibility compared to competing products.”


head of sales at RTW, commented that one of the drawbacks of plug- in solutions was that “any user can change presets or the setup. Second, this would have added another GUI to an already cluttered screen area,” he said. RTW’s Devicer DC1 setup software component for the TM3 allows for preset


customisation, allowing users to configure administration rights for the application, making sure that only authorized employees can change the set-up.  www.rtw.de


BT Sports’s new complex in east London was a recent Megahertz installation


best outcome for creditors. It has safeguarded the jobs of 25 people and ensures a continuity of supply to some of the world’s leading broadcasters.” A Baker Tilly spokesman confirmed to PSNEurope that Megahertz went into administration on 14 October and that further details on that process and creditors will be made public “in due course”.


Jon Flay, managing director of OKNO-TV (UK), said: “The acquisition of Megahertz gives us an immediate in-house capability, with a team of highly respected engineers and project managers that will help to facilitate the expansion of our portfolio to include production vehicles and RF capabilities and to extend our footprint globally.” www.megahertz.co.uk


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