Sky Sport News HD is Germany’s and Austria’s first round-the-clock sports news station, broadcasting news, updates and interviews with coaches and players seven days a week, from a dedicated live studio with video and audio control room.
The facility planning with the system integrator Wellen+Nöthen led to equipment being ordered in September 2011. Construction of the control rooms began in October, and on 1 December the studio and the control rooms were operational – with Lawo systems at their core.
Audio mixing centres on a second-generation Lawo mc²66 with a 24+8 frame, equipped with 32 faders, three DSP boards supplying 288 DSP channels. With ist 24/7 brief in mind, the desk and router card with four Dallis frames, the power supply unit and the master Madi boards are fully redundant in operation.
‘Being on-air 24/7 means that the reliability of the system infrastructure is crucial,’ says Wellen+Nöthen audio engineer, Holger Lentge. ‘All components are in continuous operation and have to deliver full performance around the clock. The Lawo mc²66 console offers the required operational reliability.’
‘All system components we have chosen for this installation – like the video mixer, cameras or the matrix – are among the best the market can supply,’ adds Stephan Schmid, the project manager for Sky Sport News HD. ‘This was also the reason we chose the Lawo mixing console. The best technology for an ambitious project.’
In the news room, the Lawo mc²66 console is integrated into a Mosart control set-up, so that the SCR can be operated by only two operators. No operator needs to be present at the console, as it can be controlled automattcally using templates that are triggered as macros – camera tracking shots or panning, are triggered and controlled, video sources are switched via the Kahuna mixer, graphic charts are faded in/out, as well as microphones and faders are opened and closed.
‘The Lawo Remote Protocol is supported by the Mosart control – that’s why the communication between the two systems works extremely well,’ says Lentge. ‘Thus, not only static matrix states, but also dynamic parameters, like fader movements, can be remote-controlled.’
The cooperation between Sky Germany, system integrator Wellen+Nöthen and Lawo ran smoothly. As all participating parties proved very flexible, no delays occurred and the new programme went punctually on air according to schedule.
‘Generally, a short consultation with the Lawo project engineers was all that was needed to solve technical changes or mechanical configurations. The required adaptations were carried out fast and in a competent way’, Lentge concludes.
More: www.lawo.de
