Toronto, Ontario, Canada – February 25, 2010… Lawo consoles and routers are currently major players in the production of international and national feeds in studios and OB vans in Vancouver and Whistler. Some of Lawo’s on-site customers include:
Germany’s public broadcasters ARD and ZDF both have 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 broadcast from the ‘Deutsche Haus’ (the German national meeting point for athletes and guests from politics and society, economy and media). Both broadcasters rely on Lawo technology in Canada, just as they do at home.
In Mainz, ZDF’s new control room, which will be used solely for the broadcast of the Olympic Winter Games in Canada from February 12 until the end of the event, is equipped for HD TV broadcasts. A Lawo mc²66 in the HD control room provides the 5.1 surround sound mix.
Audio is 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 serves as the router.
ARD radio has 50 staff members on-site. Also on the team is the Lawo equipment, consisting of an mc²56 console, five crystal radio consoles, and additional equipment.
Most of the numerous OB vans in use at the Games in Canada are also equipped with Lawo mc²66 consoles. These include vehicles from Belgian TV service provider Alfacam. The company was hired by the host broadcaster and, for this event, is using a total of nine OB vans equipped with mc²66 consoles. Alfacam is 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 are also responsible for covering the presentation of medals at the award ceremonies.
Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, a joint venture formed by Canada’s national broadcasters CTV and Rogers, is covering the Winter Games with a total of 7 Lawo systems—five mc²56 consoles and two zirkonXL 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 are fed to Vancouver and Whistler, and then routed from there to YLE production units in Helsinki, where they are mixed before broadcast. YLE uses two crystal consoles and one zirkon in Vancouver and Whistler respectively, while SVT employs an mc²66 in both locations. In Helsinki, YLE also has an mc²66 in their Studio 25; for HD productions, the ‘HD-1’ OB van from HD Resources is used, also fitted with an mc²66.
As in Beijing in 2008, CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster, also relies on Lawo equipment. Its mobile control room – which saw some action when it was set up under extreme conditions on Mount Everest to broadcast the Olympic torch relay – features two DALLIS frames and an mc²66.
The rental companies Gearhouse and Presteigne Charter are also supporting their customers in Canada, including NRK, the Norwegian broadcaster, and ORF from Austria, with three mc²56 and one mc²66 for on-site production.
In addition, a large number of consoles, routers, and additional Lawo equipment have been delivered to Canada by Lawo’s rental partner, Audio Broadcast Services (ABS). These include two mc²56 consoles, a Nova73 HD for broadcast covering Canada’s national sport, curling, and two Nova73 HD routers at the ice hockey matches.
About Lawo
Lawo is a manufacturer of digital audio networking systems and consoles for a wide range of applications from small to large scale audio production in television and radio, post production, and live sound. Established in the 1970s, the company’s manufacturing center is located in the Rhine valley town of Rastatt, Germany. For additional information on all Lawo products, visit the company online at www.lawo.ca.
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