The BBC completes the integration of 85 Studer OnAir 3000 consoles

All facilities have been equipped with different Studer OnAir 3000 with control surfaces ranging from 6-fader with self-operated consoles to some with 36 faders.

Three years ago it announced that it had won a major contract with the British BBC to deliver a total of 85 mixing consoles. Studer OnAir 3000 Digital destined for different studios in MediaCityUK, in the north of England, and the second phase of the reconstruction of the London headquarters to create the new W1 Centre.

The latter is now the new home of all the BBC's national radio networks, as well as its central newsroom for national and international news and its World Service.

The transformation of the London headquarters has seen the creation of 140 acoustic spaces for radio and music, news and the World Service in a new 10-storey building.

All facilities have been equipped with different Studer OnAir 3000 with control surfaces ranging from 6-fader with self-operated consoles to some with 36 faders.

The OnAir 3000, mounted as a desktop using standard faders, has been supplied with a mix of SCore and SCore Live racks.

Around 30 OnAir 3000s have been deployed at Manchester's MediaCityUK centre, serving home radio services such as BBC 5 Live.

Workflow

For phase 2 of W1, where 5,000 professionals work, OnAir 3000 has been chosen, with the VCS, BNCS (Broadcast Network Control System) and Delec playout system, with all external local sources integrated into the console itself.

The installation has the Broadcast Bionics PhoneBox on-air telephone access system and the IDS (Intelligent Display System) to display clocks, light signals and TV and video monitoring.

Many of the consoles have been supplied with RTW TM7 TFT measuring equipment configured by software according to BBC standards.

The installation also has ten Voice Point points, using OnAir 3000 modules connected to the central control. Each has been equipped with a Studer Editor module along with a three-fader module including monitoring functions, talkback and assignable buttons.

John Sullivan, responsible for the delivery of the project in Salford and the new Broadcasting House, highlighted that "the original vision of the project team was to make everything identical, to facilitate execution and workflow. However, having an OnAir 3000 desktop at all sites, although configured differently, allows a less technical administrator or studio operator to perform a job on the console in a matter of seconds."