MediaHouse, part of IMG Worldwide, turned to Gearhouse Broadcast’s Systems Integration division to deliver two new London-based HD studios being used by the BBC’s Football League Show and ESPN’s Premier League match coverage, writes David Fox.
The installation consisted of putting in new cabling, technical equipment and bespoke studio furniture. Gearhouse built two HD/3D-capable galleries to support three studio floors, which are now 3Gbps ready for 1080/50p productions. One of the galleries is pictured above in 3D mode. This build brings the total number of HD studios at MediaHouse in west London to four.
The project involved two weeks of planning followed by four weeks of onsite installation and commissioning. The equipment selected for the upgrade included Axon glue equipment, Vutrix quad split monitors, Sony MVS-8000X switchers and Miranda 8500 hybrid routers. Six Sony HXC-100 HD cameras were added to bring its compliment of HXC-100s to ten.
The studios were built to fulfil a commitment to broadcast top-flight English football to rights holders worldwide. The service is offered to broadcasters 24 hours a day and includes a mix of studio-based output, with presentation of up to six live football matches a week, regular news shows and additional magazine programming.
MediaHouse decided to use Gearhouse Broadcast because: “They are one of the few broadcast companies in the UK who can source and work with such a wide range of equipment. They have excellent in-house product knowledge through their technical divisions and their systems integration track record demonstrates successful studio installations delivered for Astro and Al Jazeera. The installations went smoothly and we are very happy with the new facilities,” said MediaHouse General Manager, Shane Warden.
The changes were done in the close season and were completed in time for ESPN’s first live HD Premier League match, which transmitted on Saturday 13 August 2011.
