IBC TV switches to complete IP production driven by EVS technology

IBC TV is IBC’s annual dedicated news channel which delivers live news, interviews and more distributed on multiple platform including live on IBC website plus Facebook, Periscope, and Youtube and to screens throughout the RAI Exhibition Centre. It features event- and show- related news as well as key stories about exhibitors. Taking note from last year’s inclusion of the technology from the EBU-VRT Live IP Studio project, the now-IP-based channel will produce live programming using an IP infrastructure that’s set up over multiple areas.

“We’ve again partnered with EVS because it’s the industry-leader in live production technology regardless of whether it’s SDI or IP-based and because its people understand our priorities in delivering the best live production throughout the show,” said Sue Robinson, producer at IBC TV. “The EVS IP-enabled live production solutions we’ve put in place for the show are best placed to meet the challenge of IP and deliver benefits to our production team throughout the show.”

The new infrastructure will give the IBC TV production team – located in the master control room in hall 13 – full control over live video feeds transported from the conference venues and main studio. These will be centralized in the datacenter in position on the EVS stand in hall 8 (8.B90) which will be deployed on an IP Spine-and-Leaf network composed of Arista and Cisco Switch networks. Here live flows will be exchanged using AIMS and SMPTE standards and ingested into the EVS XT4K live production server and feeds added as centralized files to the EVS XStore scalable central storage system.

“The industry-leading partners that have come together to implement an IP-focused workflow at this year’s IBC TV is a testament to the interoperability that’s available to those adopting new ways of operating,” said Nicolas Bourdon, SVP Marketing at EVS. “It shows that real-world live IP production is no longer something to prophesize on but something that can be put in place to bring real benefits now.”

The overall production infrastructure will rely on EVS technology for ingest, content management and playout and will integrate solutions from several technology partners. The live studio program will be captured using Grass Valley IP cameras that will be natively ingested into EVS XT4K servers while all content will be controlled by EVS’ IPDirector PAM system and edited using Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Grass Valley production switchers and multiviewers will also be deployed while Imagine Communications will deliver content over IPTV. IP routing and flow management will be controlled by EVS’ new IP infrastructure orchestration system which will be announced ahead of IBC2017.

IBC TV will run throughout IBC2017, between 14 – 19 September at the Amsterdam RAI, where content will be available to view live online and on displays around the show.