After just over a year of testing, Bayerischer Rundfunk has completed the commissioning of its new production and broadcast centre in Munich-Freimann, one of its largest technical projects in recent years. Replacing the broadcast infrastructure, including the new building, cost around €50 million. Converting the archive to a tapeless robotic system cost another €11 million.
BR appointed T-Systems Media & Broadcast as general contractor. Helmut Egenbauer, spokesman for the service provider’s management, described the integration of products from many manufacturers as the project’s central challenge. Through subcontractors MCI, Blue Order, CSS, D.a.v.i.d and Detecon, products from around 90 suppliers across AV broadcast technology, IT and telecommunications had to be combined.
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The broadcaster also faced internal challenges. Michael Hagemeyer, BR’s head of television production, said the departments had very different expectations, so a project manager was assigned to coordinate communication across the organisation. Staff had since accepted the project and the technology was running reliably. Technical director Herbert Tillmann said some areas still required correction and workflow refinement, but the largest difficulties had been overcome.
The investment became necessary because the previous operations centre, dating from 1985, was outdated and no longer met new programming requirements. At the heart of the four-storey building is an Omneon broadcast and production server connecting recording, editing, playout and archiving. The system provides storage for around 2,000 hours of picture and sound material. The facility includes four playout areas with largely automated control rooms, a central master control room, studio control areas for live and prerecorded production, 23 editing stations using Avid Xpress and Media Composer, three Avid Unity systems, and a digital archive.
