XIII COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCOTLAND 1986

SUPPLEMENT JULY 1986 ~ENG INF BBC-HOST BROADCASTER

f' The XIII Commonwealth ;ames are going to be the BBC's most complex and exciting Outside Broadcast reaching an audience all round the world and involving one thousand BBC staff on duty in Edinburgh. This supplementary issue of "Eng Inf", the BBC's engineering quarterly presents the background of the Host Broadcaster operation, some details of the various OBs and the preparation of the purpose-built Broadcast Centre. We cannot expect our vast audience to appreciate the enormous efforts of planning, engineering and production that are going into the Games. Broadcasting Meadowbank Stadium ,.--4> at its most effective when its before and so to design, build and 2chniques are least conspicuous - asset in planning the Games test all the studios, working areas if the audience is made conscious of coverage. As early as 1982 he was and circuits has been a major technology it usually means that able to sketch out the pattern of challenge to the ingenuity of the there's an error in production or a the OBs and relate them to the PID Television team working under failure of equipment. If this is true vehicles and crews that are available. the guidance of Geoff Key of OB of broadcasting in general, it is even Without the strength of centralised Section. The entire process has ) more true of broadcast engineering planning within a single taken three years. in particular. As engineers we organisation the operation would provide the framework which have been virtually impossible. As The largest number of sustains the skills of our production it is other calls on BBC resources broadcast engineers in Edinburgh colleagues. The engineering for the have been reduced to a minimum for the Games consists of the BBC Host Broadcaster operation at the for the period of the Games operational staff who work in the XIII Games is on a massive scale although all the other regular sports scanners, man the studios, operate and, for the broadcasts to be events are being covered - as is the VT machines and staff the Central successful, it has to be right - first Royal Wedding. Technical Area of the Broadcast time! The Host Broadcaster operation Centre. Last, but by no means least, The Host Broadcast team has is no showcase of new and untried are the Communications staff who been able to call on resources from technology but the scale of the are mounting a huge operatio'l in all parts of the BBC. Brendan operation needs a Broadcast Centre co-operation with BT to link Slamin, Project Director, designed to suit the Games. The together the venues, the Broadcast acknowledges that the size of the BBC has never built a temporary Centre and the home countries. Corporation has been a tremendous operations centre. on this scale Edward Trickett. The Friendly Games Remember 1970? Remember the Closing Ceremony of the IX Commonwealth Games when the athletes danced round the Queen's carriage as it travelled slowly round the track? That was the last occasion that the Games were held in Edinburgh and that was when they earned the name of "The Friendly Games". The Commonwealth Games have always been a smaller and more intimate affair than the Olympics. With only 10 sports and lasting only 10 days (compare the Olympics' 23 sports and 15 days) the Commonwealth Games have managed to avoid some of the worst excesses of the larger event. The Games take place every four The Broadcast Centre dining room with a mural by Glasgow designer, Peter years and are open to competitors Duelling. /\ from the countries of the water sports course at Strathclyde back to the Broadcast Centre b) Commonwealth. For this purpose Park which is set in more attractive SHF link or, in the case of Bowls, that includes the dependent surroundings than its English by underground cable. To guard territories as well as the equivalent in Nottingham. The against possible failure of the link independent nations and so, for rowing programme includes we are using one VT machine at example, Gibraltar and Hong Kong women's rowing for the first time each venue to produce a continuous are both represented. The home and over the same distance, 2000'11, archive or guard recording while countries all have separate teams - as for men. another machine is used for slow and by home countries we mean Another newcomer to the motion action replays. Three not just Scotland, England, Wales Games is synchronised swimming, events need out-of-the-ordinary OB coming in as part of the swimming production and Northern Ireland but also the - athletics (track and Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey. programme in addition to the field), the marathons and the More than 50 countries are sending swimming and diving. The Royal rowing. competitors to Edinburgh this year. Commonwealth Pool, which was Track and field athletics are The ten sports are selected by built specially for the IX Games in naturally seen as the centrepiece of the host country from a list of 16 - 1970, is again the venue for these the Games. They involve the just two, athletics and swimming, events. The other venue built for largest numbers of competitors and must be included. The other 8 the 1970 Games, Meadowbank they require the most complex sports chosen by the Scots are: Stadium, is once again home for the broadcast coverage. At any on~ badminton, bowls, boxing, cycling, athletics apd for the Opening and time as many as three events can b, rowing, shooting, weightlifting and Closing Ceremonies. taking place - a race on the track, a wrestling. None of these is a sport The Host Broadcaster has a jumping event and a throwing conducted on a purely team basis - special part to play in the Opening event. Producers at the Broadcast those are specifically banned Ceremony. Much of the ceremony Centre want to be free to choose because the Games are "contests follows a strict order laid down in any of these events so that means between individuals and not the Games Constitution but it we need three live vision circuits J contests between countries" includes a display which, for the back to the Broadcast Centre, one (Article 8 of the Commonwealth XIII Games, is being produced by for track events and two for field. Games Constitution). So sports the Host Broadcaster. Stewart A fourth circuit provides pictures like hockey and football do not Morris of Television's Light continuously from a wideangle appear but team events do have Entertainment Department is camera which the producers can use their place in the 10 sports chosen, responsible for the production on for shots linking between coverage for example, the relay races in behalf of the BBC. of different events. With so much athletics, the fours and eights in the Televising the Sports going on there's a heavy demand rowmg. It's simpler to think of the for interviews with athletes - In practice most of the sports Games as ten separate live OBs usually "flash" interviews at the chosen are the same as those rather than one big OB. Most of trackside. One camera has been selected four years ago - the odd the sports are covered in a straight- designated as the interview camera one out this year is rowing which forward manner producing a single and its output is also continuously was last included back in 1962 in output from the scanner. This fed by a fifth circuit back to the Perth, Australia. The Scots are consists of international vision and Broadcast Centre. As if that taking advantage of their national international sound which is fed wasn't enough, a sixth circuit is Page 2 Eng In! - Supplement fixed cameras only until the Lucerne. Altogether eight cameras allocated unilaterally to BBC are in use - two on the boat, two Television to allow the home mobiles can join in. While both races are taking place there are at the start, one at the 1000m mark, audiences to follow the fortunes of one at 1500m, one at the finish and the British competitors without three circuits through to the Broadcast Centre: one carrying the one at the boating area where the affecting the Host Broadcaster crews embark and disembark. On coverage. men's marathon coverage, one the finals days there's a ninth camera Marathons are part of the women's marathon and one viewing the events from a athletics programmes but their 26 showing the continuous output helicopter. mile 385 yard course means a from the lead vehicle. special operation for live television. Rowing has not featured in the The BBC as Host Broadcaster The course starts and finishes in Commonwealth Games since 1964. This year's competition is at the With more than 50 countries Meadowbank stadium and extends sending teams to the Games and east along the south shore of the new Scottish international standard course at Strathclyde Loch nearly 30 of them wanting to see Firth of Forth to a turning point at the events on television it needs a Longniddry. The usual coverage alongside the M74 between Motherwell and Hamilton. The Host Broadcaster to provide the for a marathon is to have a number complex operation. of cameras at fixed positions along Scottish course is very attractive, being set in the landscaped As Host Broadcaster the BBC is the course plus mobile cameras on surroundings of the Strathclyde ultimately responsible for the the road and in the air to follow the Country Park, but the pleasant facilities that will allow listeners leaders. The complication this time surroundings have given us a new and viewers all round the is caused by the need to cover both problem to solve. The course is Commonwealth to keep in touch f""len's and women's marathons 2000 metres long and the crews with the events. The duties of the "eparately - and the starts of the race six abreast. To cover the races Host Broadcaster fall into four races are only 30 minutes apart. effectively we need cameras which categories: Anyone who saw the London 1. producing international tele- Marathon will remember that we can move alongside the boats and the vision pictures and effects used two ground mobile cameras, look across the course - following camera technique used in sound from all the sports, one on a motorcycle and one on 2. providing fully -equipped the four-wheeled buggy, plus a the Boat Race won't do for six-lane racing. Although the edges of some commentary positions and helicopter-mounted camera. The other facilities at those same arrangement is planned for six-lane rowing courses are straight allowing the use of lorry-mounted sporting venues with live the Games marathons except that television coverage, the ground mobiles will follow the cameras the edge of Strathclyde Loch is curved. As a result we need 3. providing radio and television men's race from the point where studios plus audio and video the athletes leave Meadowbank to mount the cameras on a boat edit suites in a purpose-built until the leaders re-enter the which can travel as fast as the crews Broadcast Centre, stadium. Then they will return to but which produces only a 4. producing a daily 60-minute cover the crucial closing stages of minimum wash so as not to disturb television programme package the women's race, the last 30 to 40 the crews. The boat used is being of highlights from the Games minutes. We are providing separate borrowed from Swiss television for transmission in Common- ~ntinuous coverage of the who use it every year to cover the wealth countries in Africa, .vomen's marathon by using the major international regatta at Asia, the Caribbean and Europe. The BBC is producing the live television coverage of most of the sports. Three events are not being covered live - the shooting, the team road race in the cycling and the 30 km walk in the athletics. We are recording these events at their venues by using single camera units with on-board recorders. The recordings are brought back to the Broadcast Centre by road and there they arc edited and packaged for distribution to the clients. Live coverage is being linked back to the seven television studios and eleven radio studios inside the Broadcast Centre. Here, production teams from the BBC The diving pool at the RCP is being used for diving and synchronised swimming. domestic and overseas serVIces, Eng Inf - Supplement Page 3 ABC (Australia), CBC/SRC Geoff has co-ordinated the telephone exchange and an adjacent (Canada), BCNZ (New Zealand) effort of three PID Tel (formerly warehouse building. Partitioning and the Host Broadcaster part of SCPD) teams each was put in to segregate BBC and BT, (producing the 60 minute TV responsible for different parts of then. to create the rooms that have package) will turn the pictures and the work. Charlie McCaw of since become the working areas. sound into the complete Central Systems Section is the By the summer of 1985 the programmes. project leader for the Central partitioning had been finished and The BBC along with ABC, CBC/ Technical Area, Gaeron Davies (O.B. the power and technical cables were SRC and BCNZ are sending Section) has overseen the being laid in. The Central commentary teams to the venues installation of the radio and Technical Area' installation has with live OBs. Back at the television studios, the radio editing progressed steadily since then with Broadcast Centre each television suites and the off-tube commentary most of the work having to be done production team combines their booths and John Harris of on site by PID Tel engineers. commentary from each venue with Recording Section has been Major components for the the international pictures and responsible for the video tape television studios (BBC domestic, sound and so produce the coverage installation at the Broadcast Centre ABC, BCNZ and Host Broadcaster) with their own national flavour. and the BBC areas at Meadowbank were prefabricated by Link Radio production teams use their including kitchens, studio and Electronics at their plant in radio commentaries combined with operations centre. Andover before being shipped to the international sound. The Broadcast Centre is the Edinburgh at the end of 1985. In the Host Broadcaster home-from-home for the 500 Similarly components for the radip, television studio a special BBC overseas broadcasters visiting studios were put together at tl production team will be putting Edinburgh and is the base for many Audix factory in Saffron WaIden together the daily 60-minute BBC staff during the Games. When before being moved to Scotland. package, tailoring their presentation designing the installation the teams The Canadian areas, two television to suit the receiving countries. had to take into account the needs suites and two radio studios of the client broadcasters based on remained empty shells until June, Building the Broadcast Centre their requests and on the because the Canadians chose to ship After the Games are over, Geoff experience of previous Common- over 16 tonnes of their Special Key of PID Tel will be entering a wealth Games. The final design Events kit which they would period of heartbreak. Geoff is the contains SIX television suites assemble themselves in Edinburgh. Installation and Systems co- with space for last minute The BBC has supplied their studio ordinator for the Host Broadcaster expansion, and ten radio suites. accommodation with lighting, and has been responsible for Additionally there are seven power, air conditioning and building the Broadcast Centre and self-contained BVU (%" video tape) programme circuits to and from the installing the BBC area at edit suites, three audio edit suites CTA. The BBC also supplied the Meadowbank. When the Games are and four off-tube commentary 625/50 monitors for the incoming over the Broadcast Centre, which booths. One important factor HB vision circuits but those are the took three years to plan and build, influenced the design team - the only 625-line pictures the Canadians will have its equipment removed in use of equipment already available. will see. The Canadians wy~ a matter of days, and within weeks As far as possible they have avoided operate entirely on theirown525/{ the internal walls ,vill be the cost of hiring equipment, standard and are using five demolished. However the preferring to use plant already standards converters on the HB objectives ,vill have been met and committed to future projects or to feeds as they select them. 500 million customers satisfied. borrow items from existing All the partitioning is facilities. For example Television constructed of plasterboard on a OBs in London are lending their metal framing. For studios and I Wimbledon routeing matrix and other areas needing sound Television Centre is sending VT insulation a double thickness of machines. Many of the new items plasterboard is fitted each side of .. in the Centre have been bought for the framing, ,vith overlapping joints, Type 6 OB scanners now in course and the void filled ,vith rock-wool. of construction at Ampex, for Sound insulating ceilings are again Radio OB vehicles and to replace constructed of double plasterboard, old equipment in the CMCCR. ,vith an acoustic tile below. It's not just technical facilities Fibreglass slabs pinn~d to the walls at, the Broadcast Centre - there are and covered ,vith a light curtain I t 1 . offices, a dining room, kitchen, give acoustic absorbency, which ! t toilets and a conference room. when supplemented by carpcting Gcoff has planned and supcrviseq on the floor gives a very reasonable ~ _LJL f) the construction all the way approach to professional studio through, starting ,vith vast open standards, at a fraction of normal Geoff Key areas of a British Telecom customer costs.

Page 4 Eng In! - Supplement . . .

System Diagram Over the page IS an overall system diagram for the broadcasting of the XIII Commonwealth Games. It starts on the left with the sporting venues and finishes on the right with the television and radio broadcasts to B VU edit suite for BBC English regions. the countries of the Commonwealth. In the centre of the diagram is the Ventilation, with chilling for teleVIsIon studios is designed to Broadcast Centre containing its ~ television areas, is provided by air provide sufficient cooling as long as studios, edit suites, commentary handling units, some of which may the lights are not used for long booths and, of course, the Central be used afterwards in local radio periods but it is quite adequate for Technical Area - heart of the studios. While it has been necessary presentation studios. The sound- broadcast operation. Each venue is shown with to provide dust silencer units to proofing in all the studios is very maintain the acoustic isolation, good for a sports presentation symbols to show the type of ductwork is of lightweight flexible studio but would obviously not be coverage. The keys to these material which economises in both good enough for music or drama. symbols are on the extreme left of direct and installation costs. Ventilation and sound-proofing are the diagram. Most of the venues Although the Broadcast Centre very expensive - we cannot afford have live OBs providing the Host is a substantial construction, Geoff over-engineered studios. Broadcaster feeds of international has worked hard at keeping the Our landlords, British Telecom, vision and sound but some, notably costs down. As he says the studios have been the installation the shooting venues, only have local are designed deliberately to suit the controllers for power distribution recording of pictures and sound. Games there's no point in to main boards, and for much of Where there is a live OB there are building in excess luxury. For the ventilation, working in close commentary positions for both example the ventilation in the conjunction with the BBC. BBC and client commentators (there is no such thing as a Host Broadcaster commentary). All venues are likely to be visited by single-camera crews working for individual clients and by reporters recording their comments on portable tape recorders. The BBC domestic services have exclusive circuits from the athletics and swimming. Any facility restricted to one client (including the BBC) is described as "unilateral". Unilateral contribution circuits are coloured red on the diagram. Live circuits through to the Broadcast Centre are indicated by continuous lines - the carriage of tape is shown by pecked lines. Live circuits go through the CTA and are distributed to the studios. Tapes from the venues are brought back to the Centre by road - HB tapes go to the Host Broadcaster suite Canadian technician installer Graham Camp bell alongside the Betacam half- inch VT machines arranged for editing. Note the equipment built inside where edited packages are made up the flight package. and then distributed on line via the Eng Inf - Supplement Page 5 gOGA ~II/) XIII COMMONWEALTH

VENUES - ~~:DOWBANK ~ BR BADMINTON Key: Through circuit I---= ______.; ---+ vision/sound >E "-- ~ ~E ---+ Sound only 0 Delivery of tape MEADOWBANK __ -" ~-o - VELODROME __ " - - -. recording- :~. -- vision/sound CYCLING '",,-0 . - - - ~ Sound only c:'" _ HBcontributions "'..;~.: 1 i-- _ Unilateralcont...... E -~ BALGREEN --+ .E !- BOWLING .~ 0 --+ > i', Key:. " HOST BROADCASTER ~~.:.'".~ LIVE COVERAGE ",0. t"--, > 0 ..... ~v)- -Ill' =o ...... , INTERNATIONAL VISION INGUSTON --. ~"-0'" .g " ~~...... y'" BOXING --+ :0 .-..c-cc:o INTERNATIONAL SOUND :: .E ...., ~,~ ..... is;-,'" CLIENT COMMENTARIES STRATHCLYDE --+ CENTRAL ~E- "- COUNTRY PARK ..;E .--+ 0 Key:'" LIVE SOUND ROWING TECHNICAL - ONLY INTERVIEWS AREA " ~-o" " . ~~" BBC UNILATERAL L: ,,-0 { ...... CIRCUIT VIA RCP!- .. ' ~ CIRCUIT I ---+ C:'"'" -- + "'..; "- ATHLETES' ---. RCP --+ ~.= VILLAGE --+ SWIMMING '\

Key:. BBC UNILATERAL \ LIVE TV FACILITIES ..... PLAYHOUSE --+ \ Key: ... WEIGHTLIFTING --+ UNILATERAL RADIO AND WRESTLING \ COMMENTARY AND INTERVIEWS +jBBCUNILATERALI---", \ CIRCUIT r ~ MEADOWBANK --. - - "\ \ SOUND RECORDING AT ATHLETICS ALL VENUES \ ...\ .(No commentary) --+ \ DREGHORN p__. \ ROAD ri ITAPE OF 30kml \ CYCLING If IWALK I \ \ Key: . \ \ TAPE OF TEAMI \ IROAD RACE I \ \ "~r4 \ VIS. SD. COMM. \ { \, UNILATERAL LOCATION ..... \ RECORDING AT ALL - -~ "\ ~ KIPPEN \ \ \ VENUES BY CLIENTS AND --~ \ \ I \ BBC REGIONS. NEWS. SHOOTING \ I EDITED PACKAGES TAPES TAKEN BY ROAD , \ \ ON LINE I TO BROADCAST CENTRE ' \ ...... , \ \ --~ , \ I BARRY \ --+ ',' \ BUDDON \ - --~ HOST SHOOTING A- ______- - - - ',<:: :=: BROADCASTER Key: . -- -- .-. HOST BROADCASTER PACKAGING LOCATION RECORDING --~ .,--- -+ --:__...'- -~ SUITE MUSSELBURGH- -. ... SHOOTING - - -' ., ...... -- ... -- ... VISION SOUND ., ...... --~ -- PLEASANCE .... TAPES TAKEN BY SHOOTING ==~ ROAD TO BROADCAST CENTRE GAMES SCOTLAND 1986 DESTINATIONS OADCAST CENTRE

BVU EDIT BBC GLASGOW BBC SCOTLAND

BVU EDIT BBC 3ELFA~T

- - + BBC N.IRELAND .

... W . BVU EDIT REGIONAL Has BBC ENG. REG.

BVU EDIT BBC TV NEWS BBC TV NEWS

BBC NETWORK TV BBC1 and BBC2

ABC TV

TVNZ

CBC TV ENGLISH ~---+ ,~g[':' CBC/SRC CBC TV FRENCH . ~ To 17 Commonwealth HOST ~ countries by satellite ~~ or by airfreight + BROADCASTER ~~~ - - K"nY8 Banghldtlsh BaNmu « " SPARE w ', ~ ~::~~~UI ~~~i:.i ~::~~~;s --+ a: Ugoind. Mal"Vli. Trinidad « Z.mbia SingllPon & Tobago BVU ...I g::::. BOOKABLE « BVU (,) ~ ;:::;;~:,:~;~,~ BOOK ABLE z or by airfreight as BVU :I: booked. BOOK ABLE (,) w I- +~ r ...I BBC NETWORK RADIO a:« RADIO 2, RADIO 4 I- Z w BBC RADIO (,) BBC GLASGOW SCOTLAND BBC REGIONAL Has, .. LOCAL REGIONAL LOCAL RADIO STATIONS RADIO For direct reception and for BBC EXTERNAL WORLD SERVICE -+ relay by Commonwealth - - + SERVICES Broadcasters.

ABC ~ABC RADIO

RNZ CiD BCNZ

CBC RADIO --+ ENGLISH .;;:". :';Q,':CBC/SRC '.~, CBC RADIO }- FRENCH CBA 1 - -+ BOOK ABLE CBA 2 BOOK ABLE HOST BROADCASTER . To Commonwealth --+ BOOKABLE :ountries as booked. EDIT SUITE x3 OFF- TUBE BOOTH x4 broadcasting staff to Edinburgh. The design philosophy is quite Apart from direct reception by simple - you have a number of llsteners in those countries some of venues where sports OBs are going the local broadcasters will on and you have a number of rebroadcast the results from the studio suites all of which want to World Service. get feeds from every venue at all Not shown on the system times. The CTA is based on 20 diagram are the operations of radio international vision distributions reporters who telephone their each providing 17 outputs feeding reports home or who record studio suites, monitoring and an RF commentaries which they send distribution system feeding home by line using telephones at monitors for office viewing. The the venues or at their hotels. international sound is distributed in much the same way. Commentator Central Technical Area (CTA) circuits from dedicated The CT A "is the engineering commentary positions at the venues Charlie McCaw of Central Systems heart of the Broadcast Centre. All are routed through to the Section by the sound bays in the CTA. sound, vision and communications appropriate studios. Take the CTA to the studios. Unilateral circuits between studios, venues example of Television New Zealand tapes go to the studios and edit and home countries go via the CTA. at the rowing from the venue the suites where they are used by the In a conventional production centre pictures reach the CTA and then go clients in combination with HB the Central Technical Area has to to all the studios including the Nr"" pictures and/or sound. use a large and consequently Zealand television studio. Ttl" The programmes leaving the expensive central routeing matrix international sound also comes studios go via the CTA to the but the Games CT A has been from the rowing scanner and that is outgoing circuits and on to the BBC designed by Charlie McCaw's team distributed to every studio studio centres or to the including TVNZ. The New Zealand Commonwealth countries. The 60- television rowing commentator has minute daily television package his own commentary position at from the Host Broadcaster suite is the rowing venue, which is cabled distributed via Visnews by satellite back to the Broadcast Centre and, to some countries and by airfreight via the CTA, to the TVNZ studio to others. At the time of writing only. Thus the New Zealand 17 Commonwealth countries had producer can combine pictures, agreed to take the daily package. sound and the New Zealand They are in Africa: Kenya, commentary for his home audience. Mauritius, Uganda, Zambia and The CT A staff do not need to do Zimbabwe; in Asia: Bangladesh, any routeing or switching; they Brunei, India, Malaysia, Singapore ~ .~:- ~ simply monitor the incoming and and Sri Lanka; in the Caribbean: Roger Rainbird, senior wire man of outgoing circuits. Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica and Designs & Equipment Dept has seen Most of the commentr" Trinidad and Tobago; and in the Broadcast Centre installation positions are permanently allocateu Europe: Cyprus and Gibraltar. The through from the beginning. to particular clients and are routed World Service of the BBC will to suit precisely the needs of the through to those clients' studios. reach those Commonwealth Games. They have avoided the use Two or more commentary positions countries which have not sent any of the expensive matrix. at each venue are available for booking by any client and their circuits are plugged on request by the CT A staff to a bookable radio or television studio or directly to an outgoing circuit to the home country. All the communications circuits between the studios, home. countries and venues go through the CT A and can be monitored if necessary. The designers of the CT A have arranged that the jacks carrying commentary from, feedback to and co-ordination for each commentary position all appear in the same area of the bay. CTA control desk during the working-up period. Each of the bays carrying these

Page 8 Eng lnf - Supplement - - ~ -

plus a slide file, DVE (digital video effects), caption generator and a bank of monitors. The system is centred on a 32 x 16 Probel vision matrix with a sound matrix slaved to it. The gallery receives all the international vision and sound feeds from the venues and commentary circuits from bookable commentary positions at the venues are routed through on request to the CT A. The suite includes an off-tube commentary booth containing a commentator unit and a monitor on the RF distribution system.

The BBC Television Complex VT director's position in the BBC television complex. Not surprisingly the BBC "Grandstand" studio suite is the circuits is dedicated to one major suites which produce programmes largest and most complicated in the ,r client. It all means that fault-finding for the overseas viewers. Four of I s made as easy as possible. these suites are for Australia, New Broadcast Centre. Between 10 and The CTA monitors the Zealand and Canada but the fifth, 12 hours per day of broadcasting incoming circuits from the venues the Host Broadcaster suite, makes on BBCl and BBC2 will come from and the outgoing circuits to the the daily 60-minute package for this studio which is capable of home countries and to London. viewers in 19 Commonwealth feeding the two networks independently. The control desk has three countries. operating positions - two for Client broadcasters can book The studio itself is only part of television and one for radio. There the HB suite to produee their own the complex which includes the are forty 9-inch monochrome programme packages using the HB studio gallery and racks area, a monitors on the incoming and pictures plus recordings from their separate VT area, a graphics room outgoing circuits visible from both own single camera crews. If they and the VT library (which serves television positions. Each vision only need to edit their own the overseas, clients as well as the monitoring engineer can select any recordings from the single cameras BBC). circuit to view on a colour monitor, they can book one of the three The large presentation studio vectorscope and waveform monitor. BVU edit suites on the same floor. (area 45 square metres) has two To check on the Canadians' The HB suite contains a small Link 130 cameras and has outgoing signals there are two 525- studio ,vith a single camera and suspended luminaires controlled by line colour monitors and there are presentation desk. The gallery area twelve 2 kW dimmers. The vision two RF teletext sets for checking shares a room with six one-inch VT system in the gallery is centred on a 0he Ceefax unit's output. Radio machines. Three more one-inch Central Dynamics 32-channel and television monitoring positions machines have been squeezed into mixing desk which, at some time all have loudspeakers and an outer office to cope ,vith the after the Games, is to go into the headphones for checking sound. expected demand. The gallery is CMCCR. Only 24 channels of the The CTA is the source of the equipped with a 16-channel Grass desk are being used ,vith sources RF distribution system at the Valley vision mixer and a from the two cameras, twelve venue Broadcast Centre. Up to 18 24-channel Soundcraft sound mixer circuits, four circuits from the VT incoming venue circuits plus the __ __ four received broadcast channels (BBC I , BBC2, ITV, C4) are modulated on the RF system which has monitors in all offices, studios, control rooms and, most importantly, off-tube commentary booths. It means that any broadcaster in any working area at the Broadcast Centre can see the action from any venue where there is a live OB.

The HB Television Suite Onc floor of the Broadcast Centre contains the five tclevision HB television suite gallery.

Eng Inf - Supplement P0f5e 9 Current Affairs studio for Radio News. The fourth BBC studio is for

the World Service - directly and indirectly it will send reports of the Games to listeners all round the Commonwealth. Just as in television there are four radio studios dedicated to particular clients, one each for Australia and New Zealand and two for Canada, onc each for the French and English language services. The Commonwealth Broadcasting Assoication has two studios which it is booking out to the other clients. As the Games drew nearer it became obvious that the two CBA studios would not be sufficient and an extra Host (Broadcaster bookable studio has been equipped with Outside OB Section of PID Tel, in the BBC gallery - left to right Martin Jakeman, Broadcastequipment. " Gaeron Davies, Laurie Green, Nigel Fry, Graham Canning...., The CBA studio suites are- area, two slide files, two digital commentary positions. Each typical, each consisting of a small video effects generators (DVE) with venue scanner has three control studio with a control room next a combiner, one cap}ion generator lines to the CT A, two are extended door. The two CBA studios have a and two circuits from Television to the BBC gallery (for production common outer office although Centre for complex graphics. The and engineering) and one is for the most of the others have individual vision mixer has two mix effects CTA to assist in line-up. offices. We have equipped each either of which can feed to line. A The VT area in the BBC CBA control room with a 24-way total of 40 monochrome monitors complex has 12 one-inch machines mixing desk and four quarter-inch and 18 colour monitors are working from the 32 x 24 (3 level) audio tape machines. International deployed in this BBC area. Wimbledon matrix which came to sound circuits are routed through The sound system is based on a Edinburgh immediately after the to the studios, and bookable 24-channel Soundcraft mixing desk; tennis championships. All the commentary positions at the venues a stereo desk which is being used in venue sources are brought through can be routed through on request mono but which is capable of to the matrix (which handles venue by the CT A. There is a special providing two independent outputs. vision, international sound and the talkback system, also used in the The inputs are from studio BBC mixed programme sound) so" television studios, to allow the microphones, the VT area and that any VT operator can select any radio producer to talk to his mixed sound from the scanners at source to his machine. The VT commentator at the venue. ~ the venues. In this sense the BBC director sekcts up to four machines In the radio area of tht operation differs from the overseas as sources to the mixing desk in the Broadcast Centre we have provided client studios which are fed gallery. The VT area also contains three quarter-inch audio edit suites separately with international sound two off-tube booths for dubbing and four off-tube commentary and their own commentary for new commentary over edited booths. mixing in the studio. The BBC sequences. commentary is mixed with Ceefax at the Games international sound at the venues The Radio Studios In two small rooms near the bv.; the OB sound staff but a clean We have built four radio studios feed of international sound is also for the BBC and seven for the available in the BBC complex. The clients. One of the BBC studios is Host Broadcaster suite also has the for network radio, reporting into choice of clean feeds of Radio 2 and Radio 4. The studio international sound and the BBC itself is unique in being a mixed programme sound. prefabricated unit which was placed The BBC communications inside the Broadcast Centre before system differs from the other the partitioning was built. The clients - the BBC gallery has second BBC studio is for Radio talkback and reverse talkback Scotland and the third is to be to/from the venue scanners. By shared by the other regions and comparison the client studios can local radio. The outer office for Control room of one of the CBA only communicate with their these studios contains a News and radio studios.

Page] 0 Eng Inf - Supplement available on demand. Although the Australian, Canadian and HB the size of its predecessor and is BBC is hiring the coaches the cars television suites, a small team will connected to its base station not by have been made available at no cost spend the Games producing a a multi core cable but by a single (other than the cost of fuel) special results magazine for Ceefax. coaxial feeder which carries all the because the lenders are happy to The magazine is 30 pages long and sound and communication channels s~e their vehicles carrying the Host the sub-edit area contains four in multiplex form. It makes it Broadcaster livery. On behalf of preparation terminals used to insert much easier and neater to install at the clients Eddie Gold has via data links into the Ceefax the OB venues. negotiated the hire of cars. computer at Television Centre. The At most venues the Ceefax staff will be kept up-to-date commentators (whether radio or The Men at the Top by the Games results service and by television) are provided with a A three-man team has headed using monitors on the RF picture monitor showing the this operation since the BBC was distribution system. international vision output of the appointed Host Broadcaster in Viewers in Britain, Australia scanner at the venue. But at . 1983. They are the Project and New Zealand with hearing Meadowbank stadium they have Director, Brendam Slamin, who was problems will be able to see live two monitors with a wide choice of previously Chief Engineer, Regions; teletext subtitles for the Opening sources - five from athletics, one Ceremony and for selected sports. each from the badminton and the Charles Munro, who is General Manager, Services and John Sterling, The Ceefax area contains one of the velodrome cycling plus the off-air General Manager, Operations and latest subtitle preparation desks broadcast channels. The ~. Engineering. ft0ducing data which will be commentators at athletics, boxing and swimming also have a The management team has I 'erted into the field-blanking ultervals of the vision circuits monochrome monitor which developed close relationships with leaving the CT A. In fact two displays an information service the many sporting and executive different standards are being provided by Wige-data, the firm bodies associated with the Games. generated within the CT A to suit responsible for the results service at Between them they sit on virtually all of the 40-odd committees the three broadcasters and to let the Games. ABC, TVNZ and the BBC transmit The commentator unit also responsible for the Games. Additionally, close contact has the subtitles live. features in the Broadcast Centre where w:e have installed them in the been establisRed with the overseas New Commentator Unit bookable off-tube commentary client broadcasters who, between them, are originating 450 hours of The XIII Games see the first use booths (OTBs). OTBs are a boon television to about one thousand of an entirely new commentator to commentators who have to cover million people. unit built to a BBC specification by several events in the course of a day In the opmlOn of the Glensound Electronics. The unit - they can select the pictures on management team, the BBC has gone through a number of the RF distTibution system or from proving tests in the regions during routed video feeds and make departments who are supplying the the first six months of the year. commentary from the screen. staff and facilities for the Host We always use purpose-built Broadcaster operation have been commentator units at big OBs Transport most helpful in the best traditions r~ere there are several overseas The 1000 BBC staff and 500 of the BBC. dio and television commentators. client staff are in numerous hotels The units permit the commentators and halls of residence scattered to switch their microphones round Edinburgh. So arc the between line and telephone, to call various sporting venues and the home or the base station and to set Broadcast Centre where all 1500 the mix of the information will be on duty. Providing the channels in each earpiece of their transport for all these people calls headphones. for a fleet of vehicles - especially Each unit can accommodate since the spare parking at most two commentators with full venues is, in effect, non-existent. headsets or with separate The transport organiser, Eddie microphone and headphones plus a Gold from Kendal Avenue, has third commentator with gathered together a fleet for the microphone only or, alternatively, a BBC staff consisting of 50 cars, tape recorder can replay through two minibuses and six 53-seater the unit. Up to five units are coaches. The cars are for VIPs, controlled from one base station senior producers and commentators; where the levels of the three the coaches for the operational outgoing sound channels per unit staff. The coaches are providing a Brendan Slam in, Project Director, are mixed. One BBC engineer can regular service between the halls of XIII Commonwealth Games. control a number of base stations. residence and the venues according The new unit is only a quarter to a timetable: the cars will be Eng In! - Supplement Page 11