VANCOUVER, BC – Lawo consoles and routers played a key role in the production of international and national feeds in studios and OB vans in Vancouver and Whistler, including ARD and ZDF (Germany), Alfacam (Belgium), CTV (Canada), YLE (Finland), SVT (Sweden), CCTV (China), NRK (Norway) and ORF (Austria).
Germany's public broadcasters ARD and ZDF both had a control room in the International Broadcast Center (IBC) and a studio in the Mountain Broadcast Center (MBC) in Vancouver and Whistler respectively. In addition, they also broadcasted from the "Deutsche Haus" (the German national meeting point for athletes and guests from politics and society, economy and media). Both broadcasters relied on Lawo technology in Canada, just as they do at home.
In Mainz, Germany, ZDF's new control room, which was used solely for the broadcast of the Olympic Winter Games in Canada from Feb. 12 until the end of the event, was equipped for HD TV broadcasts. A Lawo mc²66 in the HD control room provided the 5.1 surround sound mix.
Audio was mixed in ARD and ZDF's Mobile Production Unit (MPE) on a Lawo mc²90 in Vancouver and a Lawo mc²56 in Whistler, fed to Mainz, and added to the broadcast output in the HD control room. A redundantly designed Nova73 HD served as the router.
ARD radio had 50 staff members on site, using Lawo gear including an mc²56 console, five crystal radio consoles, and more.
Most of the numerous OB vans in use at the Games in Canada were also equipped with Lawo mc²66 consoles. These included vehicles from Belgian TV service provider Alfacam. That company was hired by the host broadcaster and, for this event, used a total of nine OB vans equipped with mc²66 consoles.
Alfacam was responsible for the production of international feeds for the cross-country skiing, biathlon, and ski jumping events in Whistler, as well as all the snowboard and freestyle skiing competitions at Cypress Mountain. Alfacam's OB vans were also responsible for covering the presentation of medals at the award ceremonies.
Canada's national broadcaster CTV covered the Winter Games with a total of 12 Lawo systems. These included two mc²56 consoles; a Nova73 HD for broadcast covering Canada's national sport, curling; two Nova73 HD routers at the ice hockey matches; and five mc²56 systems and two ZirkonXL radio consoles at the IBC in Vancouver.
In a joint project between YLE, the Finnish broadcaster and SVT, the Swedish national broadcaster, all commentary and talkback signals were fed to Vancouver and Whistler and then routed from there to YLE production units in Helsinki, where they were mixed before broadcast.
YLE used two crystal consoles and one zirkon in Vancouver and Whistler respectively, while SVT employed an mc²66 in both locations. In Helsinki, YLE also had an mc²66 in their Studio 25; for HD productions, the "HD-1" OB van from HD Resources was used, also fitted with an mc²66.
As in Beijing in 2008, CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster, also relied on Lawo equipment. Its mobile control room – which had seen some action when it was set up under extreme conditions on Mount Everest to broadcast the Olympic torch relay – featured two DALLIS frames and an mc²66.
The rental companies Gearhouse and Presteigne Charter also supported their customers in Canada, including NRK, the Norwegian broadcaster, and ORF from Austria, with three mc²56 and one mc²66 for on-site production.
Lawo's rental partner, Audio Broadcast Services (ABS), also delivered a number of consoles, routers, and additional Lawo equipment to Canada.
For more information, please visit www.lawo.ca.
