NAB 2017: BBC Taps Grass Valley for Integrated IP Solutions in its New Welsh Headquarters
BBC Wales is a national broadcaster, providing a wide range of programs and services for audiences across Wales, as well as flagship programs for the BBC network. Like all broadcasters, the BBC is always looking to leverage the latest technology advances to improve production efficiency, so, when designing its new national production center in Wales, it opted for an IP infrastructure and chose the Broadcast Data Center from Grass Valley (Booth SL106), a Belden Brand, to meet its IP aspirations.
GV Node, a key enabler of the Broadcast Data Center, provides vertically accurate switching along with other signal-processing and routing capability using the Cisco IP Fabric for Media networking solution, based on Cisco Nexus switches and SDN controllers to enable the migration from SDI to IP.
An active member of the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Networked Media Open Specifications (NMOS) projects, the BBC saw the leadership that Grass Valley provides in those initiatives as well as its role as a founding member of the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) and felt secure in Grass Valley’s vision for creating a true IP solution for live broadcast.
“So much work is being done by the industry and by the standards bodies, making it clear that IP is the way to go for broadcasters moving forward,” says Roger Crothers, head of technology, BBC Wales. “With SMPTE 2110 on the horizon, we’ll see a clear set of standards specifying the carriage, synchronization, and description of separate component streams over IP for the purposes of live production. The implementation of IP in broadcast is the next big step for our industry.”
The new BBC Wales broadcast center under construction in Cardiff is being built around the IP infrastructure enabled through the GV Node Real Time IP Processing and Routing Platform. The partnership between Grass Valley and Cisco made it easy for the BBC to get an integrated IP solution that is serviced and supported by Grass Valley, providing a future-ready network that will maximize production efficiency.
“Open standards are very important to the BBC, as they should be,” notes Neerav Shah, SVP, sales and marketing, Grass Valley. “We have always pushed for an open-standards approach and believe that our customers benefit most when they can select the technologies and products that work best to meet their needs. Our Broadcast Data Center solution delivers on that commitment.”