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The design and installation process for building a new studio can be a long procedure where systems are evaluated and adjusted several times before a final version is agreed upon. However, this was not the case for the Abu Dhabi Media Company’s (ADMC) new HD TV studios. For this project, the systems integrator selected to handle the project would have only 16 weeks to design a system, procure the equipment and install it on site.

To add to this challenge, the primary focus of the new studios would be the HD broadcast of the company’s new sports flagship, the Barclays English Premier League (EPL), making this a very high-profile project. ADMC acquired the rights to broadcast the EPL to the MENA region in July 2009. With a fixed start date of the start of the 2010 EPL season, ADMC needed a new HD studio setup to broadcast its new content. To meet this challenge the broadcaster turned to Sony Professional Solutions MEA

‘ADMC has been a key customer of ours for a long time, we have been working with them for many years now and when they won the EPL contract they wanted to have experts to do the integration for their studios,’ says Shabbir Hussain, project manager for Sony Professional Solutions MEA. ‘They made a choice to go with Sony based on the work we have done previously for ADMC.’

While this prior relationship aided Sony in winning the deal, the speed of delivery was a new challenge for the integrator. ‘The EPL was a very fast track project. We had our teams working ahead of the delivery and design phases.’ recalls Mr Hussain. ‘If it were six months then we would have had an ample amount of time to do the pre-build and then the site build. But for this we had to do everything on site and it had to be very well planned.’

He describes the project itself as ‘a race against time’. There was a specific timeline consisting of several phases and everything needed to go according to this timescale. ‘We had to finish it and hand over the system to go on air for the start of the EPL. Considering the tight deadline, most of the project functions like design and procurement had to be planned effectively to save time. The challenge here was to get the right design from the beginning to ensure minimal revisions at a later stage which could affect the budget and timeline. This required a large degree of trust and cooperation from the customer.  

‘We did the design phase and then there were some small changes at the request of the EPL production team, we had to do all the amendments to meet their requirements.  It wasn’t a change to the equipment, it was just the way the wiring had to be done – some additional inputs and outputs were needed and routes had to be changed. They were only small changes, not much really,’ he continues.

‘The design and the design amendment was going on simultaneously as things were changing. We had to be very flexible with the requirements. There was good support from the customer and we had a good team out there to finish it up on time.’

The installation project can be split into two distinct phases which took place over a six month period. The first stage was to upgrade two existing studios for broadcasting the start of the 2010 EPL season in August while the building for the new studio complex was completed. This first phase involved equipping the two studios to broadcast in high definition rather than standard definition and lasted for around three months. This left just 16 weeks for the second stage.

The second phase consisted of building the new HD studios to be the permanent base for ADMC’s EPL coverage. ‘It was a complete studio project – complete installation of the camera chains, switchers, audio mixers – all things were there and we made the system according to their requirements,’ says Mr Hussain. ‘With the second project, the building was built from scratch, so we had to work with the civil contractor to give them the exact route of the cable and the specification of the cable trays.’

While this two-phased approach could have been a challenge for Sony, Mr Hussain believes it was actually a benefit for delivering the second project on time. ‘We had already done one phase of studios, so we knew the second phase of studios was going to be similar for the sports channel. That made it easier for us to meet their requirements.’ Essentially, by upgrading the initial studio, Sony was able to use what it had learned in this section of the project to develop the design for the new site, ensuring as little time was wasted on site for the second phase.

Building a flexible system

What makes the speed of this project more impressive is the scale of the system that was being installed. ‘It was a big system,’ recalls Mr Hussain, ‘it was a 10 camera system. We supplied eight but we wired for 10 cameras.’ Added to this it needed to be able to broadcast the content over a variety of media. ADMC offers its EPL content over three different platforms – HD TV set-top boxes, IPTV distribution and streaming via broadband internet – so the equipment needed to be able to meet these different challenges.

The system was designed by Sony from its Middle East headquarters in Dubai’s International Media Production Zone. As would be expected with such a high-profile project, it was a large team from various divisions that made it a success and Mr Hussain is keen to emphasise the importance of good teamwork. ‘At Sony headquarters we have various different departments and divisions to take care of each and every thing such as the proposals that make it meet customer requirements, the procurement team are there to source the equipment, and there is a project division to do the installation. The design is part of Sony Professional Services, we have our own team for everything from design to installation to trouble shooting,’ he explains. ‘We have a large setup and everyone plays a role in the success of a project.’

As is to be expected, a large amount of the technology installed in ADMC’s new studios is from Sony, but it is by no means the only brand involved in the project. The Sony equipment in use includes HSC-300 cameras, MVS-8000 switchers which can do HD or SD, HDW-M2000 HD recorders amongst other products. As for other manufacturers, ADMC opted for Calrec for the audio mixers and Evertz for the audio routers while also deciding to use Sennheiser broadcast mics. ‘Calrec audio mixers was a specific request, and Evertz was also requested because it’s a big part of the system,’ says Mr Hussain. ‘They are using the Sennheiser mics for all of their studios so it was better to give them the same thing. It makes them more comfortable using it. You can also switch mics between studios if there is a problem and it is a seamless switchover.’

Mr Hussain is comfortable with using equipment from multiple manufacturers for projects such as this, particularly if it will help meet the client’s needs. ‘We are systems integrators so for most projects customers make specific requests, and we are flexible working with all sorts of brands.’

Flexibility is certainly a key word with this project. Not only was it important for the equipment installed but it was one of the major aims of the system as a whole. ‘There was a lot of flexibility in the audio and the video section,’ says Mr Hussain. ‘There are two studios, A and B, and it was designed and built in such a manner that either of the production galleries could control either of the studio floors. If something is not there in A they could use the studio B floor and could connect it to that.’

This flexibility of design continues into the potential uses of the whole studio complex. Because the EPL season does not run all year round, coverage of this could not be the sole use of the studio. ‘The system was made very flexible so that it was not only for the EPL. In the future and at present they want to use it for talk shows and different productions other than the sports. The studios meet all of those requirements.’

‘We are delighted with our new EPL studio,’ comments Ahmed Almenhali, director of broadcast technology for ADMC. ‘Sony Professional Middle East has done an excellent job in a tight timeframe and supplied us with a flexible system that meets all our needs.’

While providing obvious benefits for the customer, there is also a strong business principle behind the company’s flexibility. ‘The flexibility we are able to offer to our customers is something we take pride in.’ says Mr Hussain. ‘We believe in building relationships based on trust and confidence thereby ensuring we help our customers achieve their goals.’

This attitude has certainly borne fruit for Sony as ADMC has continued its long relationship with the company by placing an order for a further studio with the systems integrator. It is this kind of repeat business that makes the efforts of a project team worthwhile and, for Mr Hussain at least, is the mark of a good project.

Further to the repeat business Sony can gain from ADMC, Mr Hussain believes that this new reference project will help the integrator win contracts for other broadcast installations. ‘It was a fast track project and we have shown we can deliver huge systems in a short time span. It’s a good differentiator for us with this project. We hope that this will help drive more projects our way.’

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