CaseStudy
BBC Sport MediaCityUK
BBC Sport @ MediaCityUK
In 2004, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) decided to
move some of its broadcast operations to MediaCityUK, a 200-acre
site located at Salford Quays on the banks of the Manchester Ship
Canal. The aim was for MediaCityUK to become one of the most
important broadcast and media production centres in the coun-
try. BBC Children, BBC Research and BBC Radio 5 Live were all
scheduled to move to the new media centre in late 2011. And the
decision to move BBC Sport was made so there would eventually
be a major integrated sports broadcast centre which would benefit
from the most advanced digital broadcast and media technology.
BBC Sport newsroom floor
Customer Requirements
The BBC’s main objectives were to:
• improve media infrastructures and organisation to enhance
the efficiency of content management and delivery
• enable simultaneous ingest of over 30 live HD feeds with
transparent access to live material and nearline storage to
browse, select and share content
• provide highly secure storage for hundreds of hours
of media
• fully integrate thousands of hours of digital archives and in-
crease the use of archive material without impacting the deliv-
ery of highlight packages
"Based on our new Sports Production System we are
moving towards a file-based production, archive and
delivery system."
www.evs.tv
Charlie Cope
BBC Sport’s Technical Executive
 CaseStudy
The Solution
A Sports Production System
With live broadcasts representing approximately 95% of daily
operations, BBC Sport’s technology choices were designed to deliver
content quickly and efficiently, while maintaining the highest quality
standards. In Spring 2011, BBC Sport’s technical management
team confirmed their decision to implement a workflow solution
combining EVS’ integrated production management systems and
Harmonic’s nearline storage to provide the backbone of their new
Sports Production System. The system would be a fully integrated
centralised broadcast production and media storage infrastructure.
The entire project had to be completed within nine months to allow
the new BBC Sport production to go on-air in December 2011.
In this timeframe, 400 production and operational staff needed to
be trained so they would be able to use the new integrated system.
"One of the main challenges was to move from
multiple decentralised production systems into one
big central digital production structure that would
allow us to record, share and play out content from
a single platform."
Charlie Cope
BBC Sport’s Technical Executive
Up to 36 simultaneous live HD feeds are encoded in ProRes422 Quicktime by EVS systems
BBC Sport MediaCityUK
The system simplifies all aspects of workflow production and al-
lows production teams to speed up media delivery. As part of the
file-based production workflow, the solution implemented by EVS
comprises of multiple media processing and management stages.
It allows:
• ingest of multiple live broadcast feeds and import of massive
AV files - all immediately available and referenced for editing
operations
• high and low resolution stored media control, including meta-
data management
• central nearline storage based on Harmonic systems
• intuitive and quick media browser for clip selection and compi-
lation based on an optimised search engine
• media exchange between production and archives
• transparent media exchange with craft editors, including
associated metadata and logs
• multiple playout control optimised for crucial live operations
• full referencing and control with AP ENPS technology based
on MOS Gateway.
 BBC Sport Integrated Sports Production Workflow

Ingest Playout

Davina, Jupiter Web-Browser Final Cut Pro

400 browsers
WIP
Database

Linx
API

Automation
& NRCS

Up to 36 feeds Harmonic Mediagrid

ProRes422 HD 400hrs HD storage AP ENPS BigTed

The Details
Multiple live broadcast feed ingests and High and low resolution stored media
AV file imports control including metadata management

Under IPDirector’s control, 100% of live broadcast feeds coming
from multiple events are ingested into XT3 and XS servers with
a storage capacity of approximately 400 hours. The system
can manage the recording of up to 36 simultaneous live HD
feeds encoded in ProRes422 QuickTime at 120 Mbps, as well
as files imported from ENG crews using various card formats.
The files are instantly available for browsing, editing or playout.
Ingest can be managed centrally using IPDirector’s scheduling
interface, IP Ingest Scheduler, which offers a complete overview
of incoming feeds.
All material recorded on XT/XS servers is automatically streamed onto
a Harmonic MediaGrid via EVS XTAccess. During streaming, proxy
files are automatically generated to nearline storage using timecode
references. Throughout the entire production process, IPDirector
provides a single interface for media management in all ingest and
playout servers as well as nearline storage. The media management
component of IPDirector further speeds up the process by allowing
producers to place restrictions on what media is available to view –
for example editors working on a football package may only need to
see football-related clips.

Descriptive metadata is added

to each clip at ingest and more
information is added whenever a
clip is used or modified, allowing
a comprehensive history of each
clip to be built for archives.

The new module of IPDirector,

IPBrowse, offers a quick and
simple way to research and
review media to create simple
rough cut edits
 CaseStudy

Central nearline storage based Media exchange with entire production

on Harmonic systems teams and local bureaus

HD media recorded onto EVS systems in studios is transferred
to the MediaGrid, which provides 400 hours of HD storage to the
post-production team. Editors working in an Avid environment can
access the low-resolution version of media for offline editing and the
high resolution version for online editing. Once material has been
edited, the finished project can be pushed back to the MediaGrid
system for storage. The file-based storage can be easily expanded
without disrupting ongoing operations, and eliminates the expense
of buying HD tape and running tape decks.
After the media selection and clip compilation has been completed,
the rough cut edit is displayed in a Work In Progress (WIP) area of
the central storage found in Final Cut Pro craft editing suites. Final
Cut systems are connected directly to the Harmonic MediaGrid
active storage for edit-in-place operations. Using EVS’ new plug-in
interface, IPLink, FCP editors can also easily find media created
by producers or search and import media to FCP projects with
the same metadata as producers. Once an edit is complete, EVS’
Final Cut Pro export plug-in sends it to the right playout server and
creates browsing copies for journalists and producers to review.

Media browsing and advanced search

Using the new production infrastructure and IPDirector, selected
clips can be sent from the media storage or restored to or from any
All BBC Sport production teams and editors can access media BBC News bureau using the BBC News file exchange system (JEX).
throughout the network by using IPBrowse, the latest module of
IPDirector which offers a quick and simple way to instantly search
and review media. Based on proxy files, journalists can look for raw New BBC Sport's centre at Salford MediacityUK
material in a flash. With an intuitive user interface, IPBrowse can be
easily used by journalists, producers and editors without needing
hours of training.

Searches are simplified by using an advanced search engine based

on associated logs or metadata. Operators can select a file with a
simple drag and drop function and can compile clips to create a
rough storyboard on the newsroom computer. In total, 400 desk-
tops at BBC Sport are equipped with IPBrowse.

A new web-based browsing interface solution called Davina is also

available for most BBC Sport production users to review content.
The Davina system uses IPDirector API to seek proxy files available
www.evs.tv

in the Harmonic MediaGrid storage as well as to retrieve any relevant

metadata with API. Proxy files are re-transcoded and stored on a
dedicated web storage system based on a Harmonic Rhozet server.
 CaseStudy
Multiple playout control optimised
for crucial live operations
Final package playout control can be managed using different
channels, depending on the critical level of operation. A manual
control option is also always available. Based on EVS’ IPDirector
Service-Oriented Architecture and its advanced API, third-party
systems can easily access the media and operational databases.
The BBC’s playout automation system, BigTed, is used in the gallery
playout. It seamlessly controls EVS’ playout servers for rundown
playlist operations. Based on EVS’ IPDirector MOS Gateway
support, the BigTed system can read the remainder of a clip.
BigTed displays the clip name and the remaining play time on the
gallery screen.
In total 400 journalists and editors will be using EVS IPBrowse to gain access to content in the Sports Production System
BBC Sport MediaCityUK
Based on the full MOS support protocol of EVS’ content
management systems, all the final packages tagged as ready for
airing in the IPDirector database can be linked to the rundown
playlist on AP ENPS’ newsroom computer system, managed by
the editorial team. The playout operation can be entirely managed
from the NRCS system. Without the NRCS playout control,
on-air operations can be instantly managed using IPDirector’s
playout schedule interface. In crucial situations, material can always
be brought to air using the LSM remote controllers as a back up.
www.evs.tv
 CaseStudy

The Benefits
By moving to a greenfield site, BBC Sport has been able to start
Key Advantages
to BBC's Sport

NNC North - 03/2012 - EVS Broadcast Equipment is continuously adapting and improving its products in accordance with the ever changing requirements of the broadcast industry as a result of which all data contained herein are subject to
from scratch and benefit from its Sports Production System,
which has completely overhauled the technology and production
workflow. BBC Sport currently uses EVS’ tapeless workflows in Production System
its TV centre for major events bringing resources to air quickly.
Due to the fast-paced nature of sports programming, it is vital to
have speedy access to archives as well as LSM reliability for quick • Major integrated sports broadcast centre
turnaround and analysis during productions. IPDirector integrates benefiting from the most advanced digital
seamlessly with BBC Sport’s existing infrastructure to efficiently broadcast and media technology
manage media throughout the ingest and playout servers. IPBrowse
is a key production tool for all BBC Sport producers, allowing them
• Implementation of the Sport Production System
to instantly access clips and footage in an intense production
allows 400 sports production teams and journalists
environment.
to create more content through a highly efficient
and fast turnaround workflow

• Highly secure ingest and control

of 36 simultaneous live HD feeds for studio
production operations

• Central media storage offering high and low

resolution media access with transparent control

change without prior notice. Companies and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies
and media exchange throughout the workflow

• Easy browsing system that allows multiple

journalists and editors to search (based on logs),
review, clip and exchange media

• Full integration between the newly introduced

Sport Production System and existing BBC
BBC Sport playout control room
broadcast infrastructures such as automation,
local newsroom and web-browsing

• Scalability of the new technical infrastructure

for handling special events such as London 2012

EVS Broadcast Equipment / Sales & Marketing

sales@evs.tv
+32 4 361 7000
www.evs.tv