Satellite Information Services (SIS), which supplies TV programming and sports data to licensed betting offices in the UK, has commissioned Megahertz Broadcast Systems to build the first of its new production complexes at its Milton Keynes facility.
The new facility is composed of a gallery, sound and voiceover booth, which will be linked to the master control room (MCR) and text center Megahertz built at the site earlier this year. The project's specifications will allow SIS to produce its new SIS+ channel from Milton Keynes. The channel is currently being produced at an SIS campus near the company's headquarters in London.
According to SIS project supervisor Peter Fuller, the master control room will be used when SIS+ goes live to acquire program feeds for the channel and monitor the technical aspects of programming. At first, programming will be sent via microwave link to the SIS London headquarters for encoding and uplinking. However, SIS plans call for an independent uplink facility at Milton Keynes in the future. To facilitate that, the SIS is installing additional monitoring positions in the central apparatus room (CAR) and MCR at Milton Keynes.
Megahertz is installing a variety of equipment, including a Thomson Grass Valley Kayak DD2 production switcher, a Soundcraft B400 sound desk, a Sony monitor wall and NEC and Evertz multiviewers. The project also involves additions to the existing Quartz router and Trilogy talkback systems, Tektronix and TSL signal monitoring, JVC monitors, Trident LCD screens, Aston Red and Pixel Power Clarity CGs, Sony DigiBeta tape machines and Sony DSR-1000 disk recorders.
The new production facilities mark the next phase in the development of the Milton Keynes site and will give SIS room for expansion.
For more information, visit www.megahertz.co.uk and www.satelliteinfo.co.uk.
