Relocating from its long-time home in Culverhouse Cross to a recently completed production facility, ITV Cymru Wales has a new news studio, production and sound galleries and editing, voiceover and dubbing suites.
‘After spending nearly 24 years at our old location, the time came to build an entirely new facility, so we chose to put our studio in the centre of the thriving political, cultural and business communities in Cardiff Bay, right next to the National Assembly for Wales,’ says Steve Teague for ITV Cymru Wales.
Central to its audio operation is an SSL C10 Compact Broadcast Console, which was part of the installation handled by TSL Systems. ‘A key point we wanted to address with the upgrade was the need for broadcast technology that will carry our production capabilities well into the future,’ Teague says. ‘The C10 from SSL met our needs on every level, including a straightforward interface that offers a small physical footprint while delivering all the power and features expected from a professional broadcast console. Of primary importance though was the console’s audio quality.’
Technical integration for the project was handled by leading UK broadcast integrator TSL Systems. James McLoughlin, Audio Specialist for TSL: ‘With the audio system being entirely Madi-centric, we needed a console that could process the vast amount of Madi I/O within the system. The C10 with redundant Blackrock processor enabled us to not only manage the required Madi signals, but create a backup path for every connection. Using a fibre infrastructure, we were able to strategically position several stageboxes throughout the building to minimise cabling and create a wider system feel. The console’s external remote fader panel also allowed us to create an audio-follows-video environment for single-operator productions.’
The new building accommodates approximately 100 journalists and creative staff who handle all aspects of audio/video production. The HD studio produces news programmes for TV, mobile and online applications – as well as the weeknight Wales at Six programme, the console is used to produce a stream of shorter ITV News Cymru Wales reports, including seven four-minute weekday afternoon and eight-minute late evening spots, and two weekend bulletins. On weekday mornings, Good Morning Wales airs short news reports while Newsweek Wales is broadcast on Sundays and includes an extra news bulletin.
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