Clear-Com grabs Olympic gold with CCTV deal

China’s
largest broadcasters are entrusting communication for their largest and most
anticipated event of the year, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, to Clear-Com
Communication Systems. CCTV,
China’s
National Broadcaster, for instance, has selected Clear-Com to provide an
intercom network that will eventually span its entire broadcast
operation.

“After rigorous comparison testing, it was evident that
Clear-Com’s products have the advanced technology and innovative solutions that
are required for a broadcast as complex and as important to our country as the
Olympic Games,” says Mr. Ding Wen-Hua, Chief Engineer at CCTV. “We were
particularly impressed with the completely automatic and seamless switch-over
from fibre to the backup high density, low latency VoIP link, which is unique
to Clear-Com. We found that under the same conditions, other systems require a
reboot, which can take over 60 seconds or involve a manual intervention like
rerouting communication lines, and that can mean precious time during a
broadcast.”

Clear-Com’s communication network will provide a link for
CCTV between the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC), the hub of all
broadcasting activities for the Olympic Games, and CCTV’s new Television
Culture Centre (TVCC), which will house administration along with news,
broadcasting, studios and program production. The buildings are more than
20 km apart and will be networked using Clear-Com’s fibre link technology with
a redundant VoIP connection as an automatic failover backup to ensure
continuous connectivity between IBC and TVCC. Reliability and
connectivity were crucial considerations for CCTV, and Clear-Com was the clear
choice.

CCTV has purchased an arsenal of communication equipment
that will make up this network including two Eclipse Omega systems with 120
ports in total, which will form the heart of the network at the IBC and
TVCC. An integrated digital wireless card, E-Que, will enable
connectivity between FreeSpeak user beltpacks and headsets within the Eclipse
matrix system, creating a true seamless environment for ultimate wired-free
mobility and reliability over a wide area of operation. An additional six
Eclipse PiCo units, each providing up to 36 full duplex/4-wirless ports, will
be deployed throughout the arenas for electronic field production.

Furthermore, Clear-Com system’s 12- and 24-key Eclipse
V-Series user panels will be installed into various production rooms for crew
members to stay in synch during production hours. The V-Series line supports
five Chinese characters on its graphical display, Digital Signal Processing for
audio routing, and “Listen Again” technology that employs digital audio memory
to allow the user to replay 15-seconds of incoming audio aiding communication
in noisy and demanding environments.

In addition to CCTV, 13 regional broadcasters have selected
the Clear-Com’s Eclipse products for use in 14 OB trucks including two
belonging to China Beijing TV (BTV) as part of a robust and failsafe
communication system designed for on-the-fly operation. These intercom systems
will allow the individual broadcasters to communicate remotely with assurance
and ease via I-Station intercom panels. The I-Stations will provide superior
flexibility in a high-pressure environment with 32 pushbuttons, a gooseneck
mic, headset connections as well as a loudspeaker with level control, four
display key modules and keypad. Many of these broadcasters have opted to
add FreeSpeak 10 beltpacks for their Olympic coverage to provide their
presenters fully integrated communications whilst they are on the move
throughout the broadcast centres and sporting stadiums.

“CCTV’s requirements for the Olympics were as stringent and
challenging as any state broadcasting organization we have ever competed to
serve,” says Matt Danilowicz, Managing Director of Clear-Com. “We are
exceptionally proud to have been chosen to build the foundation of
China’s
next-generation intercom infrastructure.”