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ITV rolls out IP wireless intercom across entire operation

ITV has converted three studios to the FreeSpeak II wireless intercom system, completing its company-wide adoption of Clear-Com which first began in 2014

ITV has employed Clear-Com’s IP-based wireless communications systems to connect all of its 11 separate regional studios.

Working with primary system integrator IPE, ITV has converted three studios to the FreeSpeak II wireless intercom system, completing its company-wide adoption of Clear-Com which first began in 2014.

In 2017, a Clear-Com solution – consisting of Eclipse HX-Delta digital matrix platform with V-Series control panels, MVX and MADI cards – was rolled out across ITV’s regional centres in Newcastle, Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich, Cardiff, and Jersey and Guernsey.

The system installed at each regional site provided talk-back to the news studios and satellite newsgathering trucks. The V-Series panels installed at ITV’s remote sites connected to the main studio via IP, giving them the MADI capability to connect directly to ITV’s Solid State Logic audio desks.

FreeSpeak II has since been added to three further sites—Meridian, Granada and Yorkshire.

ITV is also using LQ Series IP interfaces and the Agent-IC mobile app for remote productions.

“The adoption of Clear-Com technology has significantly enhanced the ITV production workflow,” said Steve Teague, head of technical services, ITV News Group. “A typical broadcast day begins at 5:30 a.m. and ends close to midnight, with the system in operation throughout as the ITV studios and remote field teams continually produce live bulletins and prerecorded segments and insertions.”

According to Clear-Com, ITV’s adoption of its FreeSpeak II system has helped the broadcaster to make more efficient use of frequency space cleared in the 700 MHZ band. ITV was able to prioritise what needed to stay in the spectrum, such as radio mics, as well as better allocate the space to largely deal with production talk-back among regional stations via an IP backbone.

“The conversion to Clear-Com completes ITV’s ‘future-proofing’ as an all-IP environment,” Teague added, “allowing us to implement not only a flexible and seamless communications workflow across our entire operations, but also a logical and cost-effective plan for future growth.”