In Broadcast - July 2015 - 50


50

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 5 - Issue 7 | July 2015

InStudio

Live Production:
Shows That Never End
Jim Evans rounds up the latest
developments in live production for
broadcast...

T

he world of live broadcasting
continues to evolve at a
breathtaking rate as productions
become increasingly elaborate and
content delivery is geared towards
a widening spread of devices - TVs,
laptops, tablets, smart phones and
whatever's next on the agenda. And
the tools and technologies that enable
the producers to feed people's appetite
for instant coverage of events from
football finals to Formula One, from
general elections to natural disasters,
have become more complex, while
offering great versatility and scope for
creativity.
On its website, EVS, a leading
provider of live video solutions,
puts it in a nutshell: "Broadcasting
has changed. Today, digital video
production must be more agile,
more efficient and more creative to
monetise content in new ways. It must
also deliver enriched content to the
range of devices - consumers use every

day. We deliver practical innovations
to help broadcasters deliver live
content and realise more revenue."
Back on the front line - Elstree was
selected as BBC's national broadcast
hub for the UK's 2015 General Election
coverage, supporting over 24 hours
of live coverage and analysis. Fronted
by David Dimbleby and Huw Edwards
- and supported by Jeremy Vine,
Emily Maitlis, Laura Kuenssberg,
Andrew Neil and Nick Robinson - BBC
viewers were given an immersive and
engaging election experience full of
technological innovations.
Airing on the evening of polling
day, Thursday May 7, through to the
evening of Friday May 8 across BBC
News and BBC World, up to 120 outside
broadcast feeds tracked the live results
from every local constituency across
the country which were streamed into
Elstree and ingested onto EVS servers.
Backed by a technical crew of 60,
BBC S&PP's Studio D was segmented
into different areas to
accommodate
each
presenter's remit of
coverage.
Jeremy
Vine's virtual reality
set returned, this time
utilising the latest in
virtual reality technology
provided by Vizrt.
A Lawo mc²66 console on
OB duty in Vienna

One of the commentary booths at Eurovision

Winner, Sweden gained
the second highest
Eurovision viewing
share - 85.6% of TV
viewers tuned in to
watch Måns Zelmerlöw
bring his country its 6th
Eurovision victory

Providing the latest
developments
from
around the country,
Emily Maitlis' interactive
5.3m wide touch-screen
- one of the largest to
The Eurovision Song Contest was seen by almost
be used in Europe -
200 million viewers in its 60th anniversary year.
presented a new 2.5 mm
The three live shows from Vienna, Austria on 19, 21
& 23 May reached 197 million people in 40 countries
LED screen featuring
fish-tank graphics powered by the AES67-based IP infrastructure for
camera tracking system, Vizrt graphics the first time at a Eurovision event.
and its graphics rendering engine, Viz Both the Lawo Nova 73 audio matrix
Engine.
- including all connected DALLIS I/O
John O'Callaghan, Head of Studios systems used by ORF's broadcast
and Post Production Services said: supplier, VideoHouse - and the video
"Through the use of innovative and audio distribution of the Lawo
technology, we're helping to change commentary solution were based on IP
the face of General Election TV networking technology.
coverage by making it an engaging and
All of the audio signals were
immersive experience for voters and collected by a central audio router,
viewers."
to be distributed to all of the
On a less serious but mega event's suppliers and OB vans.
audience pulling note, Austrian host This setup minimised equipment
broadcaster, ORF, marked the 60th and cabling requirements while
anniversary of the world's oldest significantly increasing the flexibility
televised song contest - Eurovision of the installation. The central audio
Song Contest - by providing a infrastructure was based on a Lawo
spectacular TV and stage show with Nova 73HD audio routing core,
a technically innovative production which formed the heart of the audio
concept. More than 200 million operation.
viewers in 80 countries witnessed
In total, the Lawo Nova infrastructure
Sweden's Måns Zelmerlöw outscore his routed more than 6,600 audio signals
26 co-finalists, but would have been to six OB vans, as well as to the FOH
unaware that all of the contest's audio and monitor consoles inside the hall.
signals were routed via a Ravenna/ All OB trucks
http://www.inbroadcast.com http://www.eurovision.tv/page/timeline http://www.eurovision.tv/page/timeline http://www.eurovision.tv/page/timeline https://www.lawo.com/products/broadcast-live-consoles/mc266.html https://www.lawo.com/products/broadcast-live-consoles/mc266.html http://www.eurovision.tv/page/timeline
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