TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR DELIVERY OF ..... TELEVISION PROGRAMMES TO This document is a complete guide to the common technical standards agreed by the BBC, BTSport, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV, Sky, S4C and TG4. The first three pages of this document outline parts of the specification that are unique to Channel 4. The main body of the document outlines the main specification as adopted by all members. The Standards include: Technical Specifications, i.e. the technical production methods which must be used, and the parameters which all material must meet to be acceptable by the broadcasters. Picture and Sound Quality requirements, which also form a binding obligation on producers of material. Assessment of quality is by nature subjective, and is highly dependent on the nature of the programme. Some of the Quality Requirements are expressed in relative terms (“reasonable”, “not excessive” etc), and it will be necessary to make a judgement as to whether the quality expectations of the intended audience will be fulfilled, and whether the broadcaster will feel that value for money has been achieved. Delivery Requirements, which specify the form and layout of the programme material. Every programme submitted for transmission must satisfy a Quality Control process specified by Channel 4. Any programme failing the QC process on tape or file may be rejected and returned to the supplier for repair. Please ensure you are using the current version of this document, available at the Channel 4 Programme Management portal, “Technical Standards for Programme Delivery”: http://www.channel4.com/info/commissioning/production-information/programme-management Technical Responsibility and Contacts: Channel 4 is required to ensure that for all broadcast programmes technical quality is maintained to a satisfactory standard. For any production or technical delivery enquiries please contact Contact Email Telephone Production Technical Standards [email protected] +44 (0)20 7306 8183 The Senior Engineers at Red Bee Media are the out of hours contact for technical enquiries affecting immediate (defined as “on the day”) delivery. For enquiries please contact Contact Email Telephone MultiMedia Duty Ops Manager [email protected] +44 (0)20 8495 4976 TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR DELIVERY OF TELEVISION PROGRAMMES File Naming Requirements - PROGRAMMES Programme files delivered to Channel 4 must be named thus: Requested Programme File Name Format Example Filename Notes XXXXX_YYY_Vnn.mxf 54321_004_V02.mxf Contract Number (5 to 10 digits)_Episode Number(3 digits)_Version Number (3 digits). For example, a file containing C4 Contract Number 54321, Episode Number 4, Version 2, would be named as shown below. Note that the “V” for Version must be uppercase, and the extension names must be lowercase. File Naming Requirements – QC reports All reporting files will follow the same naming convention as the MXF programme files with the report name as a further identifier after the underscore. The PSE Report = _PSE The AQC Report = _AQC The Eyeball QC Report = _EYE Some AQC devices combine the PSE and AQC reports and others allow manual entry for comments from the Eyeball QC test. Broadcasters can accept all options as long as it is clear from the file name what is included. Quality Control (AQC, Eyeball QC and PSE) reports must be delivered as PDF reports and must have the same Programme ID and Version Number as the programme file; as per below. Requested Report Name Format Example Filename Notes XXXXX_YYY_Vnn_PSE.pdf 54321_004_V02_PSE.pdf A PSE Report for that: Programme (Contract) Number_ Episode Number_ Version Number_ PSE signifies PSE Report And it is in PDF format. XXXXX_YYY_Vnn_AQC.pdf 54321_004_V02_AQC.pdf As above but for AQC XXXXX_YYY_Vnn_EYE.pdf 54321_004_V02_EYE.pdf As above but as an Eyeball test XXXXX_YYY_Vnn_PSE_AQC.pdf 54321_004_V02_PSE_AQC.pdf As above but in the case of combined PSE and AQC reports Channel Four File Delivery Detail The programme MXF and all the QC PDFs are delivered to a single upload area for you to drop your files. Channel Four’s Programme Managers will give you the username and login for this, and guidelines for naming the area for each delivery. If you do not know who your programme manager is, they are all listed here: http://www.channel4.com/info/commissioning/production-information/programme-management Page 2 of 62 UK Version 4.3 – 2014 Channel Four Version 4.3.1 - 2015 TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR DELIVERY OF TELEVISION PROGRAMMES Live Programme Delivery In the majority of cases, productions will be expected to drop off their live signals at BT Tower as the main Point Of Delivery. Channel 4 has dedicated circuits from there to its playout centre. Channel 4 may also, at its discretion, specify use of its own dish-farm at the Channel 4 Playout facility for collection of live signals. Channel 4 Playout is located at: BCA, RedBee Media, The Broadcast Centre, 201 Wood Lane, White City, London W12 7TP Production Companies should contact the Live Operations Co-Ordinator at a pre-contractual stage to agree an appropriate level of resilience, based on several factors, which will be discussed at that stage. Additionally, well in advance of the event, and preferably as soon as the commission is awarded, the technical contact of the production will establish contact with, and submit a production design outlining how the delivery will be achieved, to: The Live Operations Co-Ordinator, C4 Distribution and Broadcast Technology, who can be contacted via e- mail thus: Contact Email Telephone Live Operations Co-Ordinator [email protected] n/a Any technical enquiries can be discussed with: Contact Email Telephone Production Technical Standards [email protected] +44 (0)20 7306 8183 Closer to the event, the contact for setup and testing at RedBee Playout for Channel 4 is: Contact Email Telephone The Satellite and Lines Co-Ordinator, Not applicable +44 (0)20 8495 5391 C4 / RedBee Media, ECA (Office Hours) Duty Engineering Managers (DEMS) [email protected] +44 (0)20 8495 5400 (24 hours) Schematic Diagram for the Production When requested the Production companies should provide a schematic diagram to the C4 Live Operations Co-ordinator documenting the end to end signal path, including back up circuits, between the remote location and RedBee Media no later than 2 weeks before the transmission date. This should include circuit numbers and contact details for key Technical / Production Staff working on the live programme. Channel 4 should be made aware of all third party suppliers working on a live programme. It will be the responsibility of production companies to ensure third party suppliers are fully conversant with C4’s technical delivery requirements relating to live programmes and that they fully comply with the code. Codec Map The Codec Map documenting all codecs (including bit rates) through which a signal passes before arriving at Red Bee Media, as referred to in section 6.4 of this document. This should be submitted to the C4 Operations Co-Ordinator for assessment at the earliest possible opportunity and certainly no later than 1 week prior to the programme’s scheduled transmission date. Circuit Booking Times The main and back-up circuits must be booked and made available between the OB location, or remote site, and RedBee Media at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of the programme to allow sufficient time for technical line-up. Circuits must also be available for a minimum of 15 minutes after the scheduled end time of the programme. This 15-minute window should be observed after the end time of any contingency schedule. Page 3 of 62 UK Version 4.3 – 2014 Channel Four Version 4.3.1 - 2015 TECHNICAL STANDARDS FOR DELIVERY OF TELEVISION PROGRAMMES Resilience Levels Production companies will normally provide a main and backup signal path, and they will ensure OB suppliers, or remote locations, have UPS/Generator provision so the live programme transmission can be maintained in the event of any loss of power at the remote location. Critical systems should always be protected by UPS and if generator power is used it should be a dual system which allows synchronous changeover. This provision should be fully tested prior to transmission to ensure the functionality is fit for purpose. Surround Audio Requirements This is a supplement to Section 3.4 and applies to all Channel 4 programmes that have Surround Sound. In general, commissioned programmes delivered to Channel 4 for SD or HD transmission shall be delivered as Stereo, unless they are specifically commissioned in 5.1 Surround Sound. The stereo mix of a commissioned surround sound programme should be an automated down-mix in Lo/Ro created from the 5.1 mix of the surround audio made using the down-mix metadata. C4 prefers that all commissioned programmes with Surround Sound are provided with all dialogue present in each of the three front channels (Mode 1). Live, As-live, and Sports may be delivered as outlined in Mode 2. Out-of-vision commentary or voice over that is placed in the centre channel only, should be approximately 3LU higher than the in-vision dialogue in the front left and right channels Where the international or co-production deliverables require a centre-only dialogue mix (Mode 3) and it is not feasible to produce a Channel 4 UK transmission mix, then Centre- only dialogue will be accepted. The following table gives the settings required for delivery of C4 commissioned programmes. The settings refer to the “See Broadcaster Recommendation” sections of the Dolby E settings table in Appendix 3 PARAMETER ALL COMMISSIONED SPORT AND LIVE CONTENT PROGRAMMES Dialogue Level* -23dB -23dB Line Mode Compression Film Light Film Light RF Mode Compression Film Light Film Light Centre Down Mix Level Content Dependant* -3dB Surround Down Mix Level Content Dependant* -6dB Surround 3dB Attn.