BBC Radio 2 - Highly flexible radio studio
BBC Radio 2 creates new studios in Broadcasting House
The Customer
The British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, is the UK’s major public service broadcaster with headquarters in Broadcasting House in central London. BBC Radio 2, the UK’s most listened to radio station, recently created four new studios as it moved operations from another site, along with sister-channel, 6 Music, the UK’s most listened to digital only radio station.
The new studios are located on the 8th floor of Broadcasting House alongside other national channels including Radio 1 and 1Xtra.
The Challenge
A system was required for Radio 2 operational staff and presenters to access central broadcast equipment, playout servers and editorial machines located in two Local Apparatus Rooms (LARs), shared by Radio 1, Radio 2 and 6Music.
The wide range of devices used by the broadcast channel includes Dira radio solutions for music acquisition, playout scheduling and playout, hosted on HP servers and Dell PCs.
The Solution
The system integrator for the project, IPE, worked closely with BBC engineers and supported by Scene Double, the UK distributor for IHSE products. Together, they developed the best possible KVM infrastructure to meet the requirements and objectives of the new studio suite, along with upgrading infrastructure in some of the existing Radio 1 studios.
Five Draco tera compact KVM switches, two with 48 ports and three with 24 ports were installed in the LARs, along with a range of single head CPU units connecting all source devices into the switches.
The system gives us the scope and flexibility to be able to operate as we want. Many of our servers are electronically locked-down to ensure reliability and security and are safely located in the LARs so that they cannot be accessed without authorisation.
– Vijay Patel, Engineering Operations Manager, BBC Technology Operations
Copper Cat X cabling installed throughout the floor connects individual users, recording and monitoring points to the source devices in the LARs. Individual operators can select and access devices using keyboard shortcuts on their workstations or X-Keys hotkeys in the studios. This is especially useful for complex multipurpose studios, where a studio will act as a control room and control devices associated with a second studio. Additionally, a central administrator can configure the switches to provide appropriate connections and store layout configurations for setup prior to use and for repeated operations.
All devices necessary for the total operation of Radio 2 station transmissions are controlled through the KVM network.
The KVM solution offers an effective and highly user-friendly means of connecting production and presentation staff to the devices they need within the studio complex. It adds significantly to the capability and overall creative environment and removes limitations in application in the studios as a whole.
– Vijay Patel, Engineering Operations Manager, BBC Technology Operations
The Benefit
The KVM system provides immense flexibility for staff working in the studios and preparing material for broadcast, by giving full access by individual users to the specific tools they need on a daily basis.
All devices are housed in the LARs, well away from the users at their workstations or studio chairs. This minimises the amount of equipment held locally around the studio floor with an associated reduction in noise and space. It also reduces the total amount of equipment, and cost, as devices can easily be shared and used more efficiently. Reliability of the IHSE system was a key consideration for a 24/7 national network broadcast operation.
A national radio station such as Radio 2 requires a reliable, robust KVM that is highly flexible. The installed IHSE system does exactly that.
– Simon Warburton, Director IPE
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