BEIJING – Mixers from both Studer and Soundcraft appear at numerous events and broadcast facilities at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Digital consoles from both Harman companies have been chosen and purchased by local Chinese broadcasters as well as worldwide companies who are installing or providing facilities at the events. The increased attention to HD broadcasting and surround has been one of the reasons Studer consoles particularly have been bought by numerous Broadcasters for their games coverage.
By far the largest consumer of Studer consoles for the games is China’s premier Broadcaster, CCTV (China Central Television). Their English-speaking International channel, CCTV-9, is using a Studer Vista 7 in its on-air studio, while the main studios of CCTV have been equipped with four Vista 5s and five OnAir 3000s. Quindao Radio has purchased an OnAir 3000 for the games, and Hong Kong’s TVB has purchased a total of five Vista 5s, three for its studio for the games and two for OB vans.
Studer Vista consoles are particularly popular in OB vehicles because of their compact size, weight, simple user interface and functionality (including surround management and integral Dolby E and SDI decoding capabilities), and local broadcasters Guangdong TV, Beijing TV and Shanghai Media Group all feature Vista 8s in their trucks. The Shanghai Media Group also fitted a dedicated 5.1 audio truck with a Vista 5. CCTV’s HD OB van is equipped with a Vista 8 and an OnAir 3000, while TJTV’s HD truck is now equipped with a Vista 8. HLJTV’s HD van comes with both a Vista 5 and an OnAir 3000, BTV’s HD truck is fitted with a Vista 8 and an OnAir 3000. Jinan TV and Dalian TV are sending HD trucks, both fitted with Vista 5 consoles.
From outside China, Spain’s TVE is constructing its own studio in Beijing, where three Studer Vista 5’s handle all the mixing tasks, as will the Vista 5 in the studio of Hungary’s MTV. Danmarks Radio’s facilities include a Studer OnAir 3000 (the corporation operates some 90+ Studer OnAir mixers in Copenhagen), and an OnAir 3000 will be at the heart of Brazil’s TV Bandeirantes’ system, while OB vehicles from France (SFP and VCF) and Norway (NRK’s HD-1) will run with Studer D950s, Vista 5s and Vista 8s. Finally, the OnAir 3000 infrastructure of the Swiss SRG Media Services (MSC) will also be in Beijing, feeding all the radio programs of SRG, 13 networks in all.
For the opening and closing ceremonies, Soundcraft Vi6 digital consoles are part of a large Harman-based system, while a Soundcraft Vi6 is at the heart of the system in the National Aquatics Centre. Two Soundcraft Vi4s are installed at the National Olympic Conference Centre, and numerous Soundcraft analogue mixers ranging from CompAct mixers up to MH4’s are installed in Olympic venues such as the Fengtai Softball Field, Chang Ping Indoor Stadium, Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, Beijing Foreign Language University Stadium, Ditan Park Indoor Stadium, Shanghai 80k Stadium, Hong Kong Equestrian Venues and the Honk Kong Olympic House Conference Room.
ACTION ITEM:
For more information, please visit www.harman.com
