Mediatec Broadcasting has taken delivery of the tenth of its 10-camera Streamline OB trucks from Broadcast Solutions, which will go from IBC to deliver its first live hockey match in the north of Sweden on Saturday. It is also taking delivery of three new
6-camera Compact Streamline vans this month, which will start doing German basketball league coverage on 2 October.
Mediatec developed the Streamline concept with Broadcast Solutions three years ago, building 10 identical trucks, and the systems integrator has now sold further Streamline OBs, which cost €2-2.5m depending on final specifications, to other broadcasters.
“They have changed a little bit, due to the fact that some of the equipment we chose at the beginning has changed or been upgraded, but we’ve made a programme to upgrade earlier trucks,
so they are still the same,” said Mediatec CEO, Paul Henriksen. The commonality of equipment means that any of its staff in Scandinavia or the German-speaking countries, can easily operate any truck.
Besides economies of scale, and reduced staffing and diesel costs (as the trucks carry all their own equipment), not needing to spend a lot of time planning and in acceptance tests has also cut costs. When Mediatec planned its first HD 40-camera truck, “we had five people working on it for 18 months, on top of what we paid for the truck. This truck [HD18] here had a two-day acceptance test last week,” he said.
It has allowed Mediatec to compete very effectively for long-term contracts to cover football and ice hockey leagues in many countries. “It’s all about trying to do factory TV,” said Henriksen, who believes the new Compact vans will give it the same edge for smaller productions, particularly for IPTV. The flexibility of the larger trucks has allowed them to be used for large, high profile events, such as the European Song Contest and IIHF World Championships.
