The UK’s BBC will be using Snell Kahuna multiformat switchers for news production at its revamped Broadcasting House in central London. The switchers will be installed by dB Broadcast at four large studios in the center. The switchers support simultaneous HD and SD operation in the same mainframe, with a single control panel, but more significantly allows any SD material, such as handheld camera feeds, graphics or archives, to be integrated seamlessly into HD productions without the need for upconversion.
The BBC’s new London studio upgrade will provide a central hub for its national and international news operations, bringing its world and domestic news services together at one site. The Kahuna switchers will be heavily used in three fixed-rig studios and one flexible-rig studio, switching all incoming content and clips in HD for the 24-hour “World Service” and “News Channel” broadcasts. However, they will still draw from many sources that exist in SD and other formats.
