STAR Channel Relocation
Who is STAR Channel
STAR Channel is a national free-to-air TV station that operates in Greece. It belongs to the STAR Group which also includes Radio Stations and multiple Internet Websites. STAR Channel started broadcasting in 1993, with Telmaco selected as the system integrator for the turn-key project. It has a general entertainment program including news, gossip TV shows, films and comedy series.
In 2008, STAR Channel moved to its new modern and spacious building that covers in-house all their production requirements. STAR Channel looked for a system integrator that would:
1. Have the technical know-how and experience to design Star Channel's new Broadcasting Centre to latest state-of-the art and proven technology that will enable STAR to continue their broadcast operations efficiently for the next 10 years.
2. Have the experience and skills to properly manage the demanding project and especially the "overnight" move of the TV station while the station remains on-air.
Project Description 2007-2008
In 2007, Telmaco was awarded the project to design all the new infrastructure of the building, supply new equipment, install and manage the project to move part of the old installation, upgrade it while moving it and make the switch-over. The new installation included:
-3 Studios with 3 Studio Control Rooms
-Master Control
-Lines Recording Room
-Continuity for 2 TV Channels
-Newsroom and News & Program Production
-Digital Archive
Telmaco designed analytically for months the new system, pre-cabled all the new building, installed all new equipment and some on-loan equipment to allow us to test and commission the complete new installation. During one carefully planned weekend, we managed to move all decided legacy equipment that was going to be used in the new building, and integrate it into the new installation. STAR Channel went on-air from the new building in May 2008.
On the Move Upgrade of the News System
The core of the operation of STAR Channel is a tapeless news and program production system based on Avid Technology. Originally installed in 2004-2005, the system was based on Avid Unity MediaNetwork share storage, Avid Media Manager, Avid Airspeeds for ingest and Studio Playout, Avid Newscutter and Avid Media Composer editors, Avid iNews newsroom automation software with Media Browse for journalist editing, and a StorageTek Robotic Archive managed by SGL FlashNET software.
In the new building, STAR Channel decided to upgrade the storage to Avid Unity ISIS7000 with 4 x 16TB chassis, but kept the rest of the system as before. They also added an EVS XT[2] production server to allow clips to be replayed in good quality slow-motion in any of the studios. Telmaco with the assistance of Avid, installed new servers for iNews, Media Manager, Capture Manager and Media Browse software at new versions compatible with ISIS. They also moved 2 Airspeeds and 2 Newscutters to fully test and commission the system.
During the weekend of the move, Telmaco overnight packed and moved the rest of the editors, Airspeeds and the Digital Library, upgraded all components to compatible software and integrated them to the rest of the system. On the Monday, STAR Channel's news production team continued working with the same tools as on the previous Friday, but with a much larger and more reliable storage, Avid ISIS7000!
Infrastructure Philosophy
The infrastructure of the new building was designed and installed following long design discussions to allow STAR Channel the signal flexibility they would expect. All cabling in the new building was compatible for High Definition, however the rest of the infrastructure remained mixed SD/HD-Ready, since there were no plans for HD in the near future.
All Studios and Master were equipment with Barco's IP networked iStudio monitoring infrastructure which allows any signal from any part of the station to be viewed in any of the Monitor Cubes desired, routed over standard IP networking!
Lighting
The lighting of the Studios was also designed by Telmaco's specialist Lighting Design team. Two large studios were designed to be used for morning shows and a live entertainment show, while the third was a modern News Studio with an auxiliary Green Chromakey Studio for Weather presentation.