Belgium TV Broadcast and OB van provider Alfacam had a busy time in Baku last week broadcasting the Eurovision Song Contest in optimum quality. After this job, they headed straight to Kiev for the European Football Championship 2012 and then travel on to broadcast from the Olympic Games in London. Regarding sound, Alfacam relies on Lawo technology – like the routing system Nova73 HD and the mc²66 consoles.
From Belgium, the trucks took the road to Romania, passing the Black Sea to transit Georgia and finally arrive in Aserbaidschan’s capital Baku, this year’s venue for the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). For the world’s biggest music show, with viewing rates surpassed only by major international sporting events, Alfacam uses five mobile trucks: four OB vans are dedicated to handle the sound mix and the show mix while another one will be used as the Master Control Room (MCR). In the workflow on site, one sound OB van will produce the music mix (live music and playback), the other sound truck will work as backup.
A large TV OB truck is in use for the final TV mix, which includes the presentation, the famous video clips from participating countries, the ambience, the music mix from the sound mobiles, plus many other signals. And working inside the truck at the controls is Stefan Ebert. Also, this TV OB van uses a second one as a back-up truck. The fifth mobile unit is used as MCR for the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to establish the many broadcast connections to the broadcasting countries.
Â
