Midas PRO X, PRO6 and PRO9 mixing consoles were used by Österreichischer Rundfunk/Austrian Public Broadcasting (ORF) and Vienna-based Sound Art Service (SAS), which provided the system for the network’s Eurovision Song Contest TV Show.
Vienna’s Wiener Stadthalle arena played host to some 10,000 attendees, and the massive production was broadcast live to nearly 200M viewers on May 19, 21 and 23rd.
Now in its 60th year, the Eurovision Song Contest was awarded the 2015 Guinness World Record for the “Longest Running Annual Television Music Competition”.
With an amazing pool of talent from 40 countries the competition was fierce, but Sweden’s Måns Zelmerlöw walked away with the top honor. The Eurovision Song Contest is recognized as the world’s largest non-sporting TV event.
ORF’s head of sound commented, “We use the experience from Sound Art Service for monitor and PA applications. ORF and Sound Art Service have a long lasting relationship for TV-PA applications, and we are happy to have Stefan Schloegl and his experienced team on board.”
He continued, “We use Midas PRO9 and PRO6 together as front of house consoles. The PRO9 handles the artists and music, while the PRO6 distributes the outputs and handles additional inputs, announcers, and some sources from other playbacks. PRO X consoles are used for monitors on stage. Every console has an active spare console for redundancy purposes.”
“We are proud to have been part of this momentous, record-setting series of shows,” stated Graham Rowlands, Music Group vp of sales professional division. “We look forward to providing the highest level of support as the event moves to Sweden next year. Congratulations to ORF and the stellar Sound Art Service team for a job well done!”
In total, seven consoles were on hand: two PRO9, two PRO6 and three PRO X, all of which distributed inputs via DN9650 Network bridges from a MADI distribution system. A single DL451 Modular I/O Unit (and its redundant partner) were driven via 4 pairs of DN9620 AES50 Extenders to provide a super-secure fibre optic linkage.