Five Solid State Logic System T AoIP-networked consoles handle all facets of broadcast audio production at the just-opened NBCUniversal Boston Media Center, a six-studio complex that was designed and built on a SMPTE ST 2110 IP backbone.
“It was truly a pleasure working in partnership with SSL to build NBCU Boston’s new media facility,” says Jason Kornweiss, VP and general manager of Emerging Technology & Solutions, Diversified. “Their product ownership, comprehensive engineering training and support for the customer is impressive and we look forward to opportunities to work together again in the future.”
The new facility was built to support newsgathering collaboration between NBC10 Boston, NBC Sports Boston, Telemundo Boston and NECN (New England Cable News), which were previously housed in separate locations around the city. Chris Wayland, general manager of NBC Sports Boston and SVP and station manager of NBC10 Boston, Telemundo Boston and NECN, described the complex in a local news report as “the most spectacular news facility in the world.”
The NBCU Boston Media Center houses six 2,400-square-foot studios. Three dedicated studios serve NBC10 Boston, Telemundo Boston and NECN. NBC Sports Boston’s Studios 4 and 5 are combined into a single 4,800-sq.-ft. space. Studio 6 is a flexible space accommodating town hall meetings and other special presentations. There are six corresponding control rooms, plus a dedicated podcast studio. More than 60 broadcast service panels and over 90 channels of wireless microphones enable productions to broadcast from locations throughout the 160,000-sq.-ft. facility.
SSL’s System T, which is ST 2110-30 ready, comprises Tempest-based rack processors and a routing and I/O system incorporating Audinate Dante AoIP technology offering AES67 compliance. The system can be networked with a variety of hardware control interfaces, such as touch screen terminals and remote hardware panels to large-format modular consoles.
The co-location of the local news, regional sports network and regional news network is designed to better serve audiences across all platforms with English- and Spanish-language content. Working with NBCU’s team, systems integrator Diversified built the technical infrastructure to be as compliant with the SMPTE ST 2110 Professional Media Over Managed IP Networks suite of standards as is currently possible, enabling facility-wide collaboration. The ST 2110 IP infrastructure will also allow the facility to adapt and scale its capabilities and operations in the future with minimal additional investment.
