PROVO, UT— Brigham Young University’s (BYU) Provo, UT campus went live this past December with a brand new state-of-the-art broadcast facility, delivering top-notch broadcasts to a global audience.
BYU Broadcasting (BYUB) is home to Brigham Young University’s broadcast channels. From the Provo facility, four television and five radio entities – among them BYUtv, BYU Television International, KBYU Eleven, BYU Radio, Classical 89 KBYU-FM, and Create TV – are produced and distributed via broadcast, cable, satellite and the Internet. Previously operating from two older, separate TV and radio facilities, BYUB was able to consolidate operations in a 100,000-square-foot modern facility. In order to achieve the level of acoustical and audio quality it was looking for, BYUB brought in Russ Berger Design Group (RBDG) to design technical spaces that would live up to BYUB’s global reputation.
“Our main goals for this project were to create facilities where we could dramatically increase the quality and quantity of content that we produce and provide distribution platforms that allow us to expand our reach,” explains Brandon Smith, Chief Technology Officer for BYU Broadcasting. “RBDG are acousticians with excellent resumes and come highly recommended. The firm helped BYUB define the acoustical ratings (sound transmission and acoustical performance) for each space and to deliver the best audio experience possible to our students and staff.”
The new BYUB facility features three television studios, three audio post production studios, a recording studio, four voice-over rooms, two on-air radio studios, 15 video editing rooms, and six master control (distribution) rooms where outgoing signals are monitored for quality. One of the television studios is a combination studio/auditorium/screening room with in-house audio mixing capability. In addition, there are two production control rooms, each with their own audio control room, for live and taped studio productions. The facility has offices and support spaces to provide for a staff of more than 300 full-time employees, part-time production crew, and students. RBDG helped ensure that the entire building would achieve BYU’s goal of improving the BYUB working environment for its production team and the overall quality programming for viewers.
“A building with this concentration of technical spaces requires a lot of attention to detail,” notes Richard Schrag, RBDG project manager, “to make sure there will be adequate sound isolation between rooms, quiet mechanical systems, and room acoustics that make it possible to accurately monitor audio programs. It takes a lot of coordination, starting with the earliest design and continuing through the last bit of construction.”
The newly constructed BYUB facility also features some of the leading broadcast technologies including Chyron Graphics systems; Sony switchers, cameras, and jibs; and Calrec Audio consoles. The three post audio rooms are equipped with ProTools®, two with Genelec speakers and the third that serves the recording studio with B&W speakers. Video editing is achieved with Final Cut Pro. The new radio studios at BYUB feature Wide Orbit Automation Software with Axia audio consoles.
