BBC Wales new Central Square HQ to use Grass Valley’s IP workflows

BBC Wales to leverage Grass Valley’s IP workflows and infrastructure

BBC Cymru Wales is to broadcast live from its Central Square facility in Cardiff, using Grass Valley’s end to end, open standards-based IP infrastructure and workflows.

The broadcaster’s new purpose-built national headquarters, which replaces the old Llandaff complex, is the first BBC facility built completely around IP technology and one of the largest SMPTE 2110 IP routing systems for broadcast.

Featuring one of the largest newsrooms outside London, the new 150,000 square foot site will support content production in English and Welsh and playout across all platforms, from linear to mobile and social media. The facility is going live in stages, starting with a Grass Valley playout platform.

Roger Crothers, head of technology at BBC Cymru Wales, commented: “The world of broadcasting and media are changing at an unprecedented rate; our audience wants more content than ever before across an increasingly diverse range of devices. We need a facility that can remain up to date for many years to come, allowing us to easily adapt to new formats and services. IP is the only logical choice; it is format agnostic and meets our need for scalability and agility.”

Selected after a rigorous evaluation process, Grass Valley’s IP orchestration and routing system lies at the heart of a network capable of carrying around 6Tbps of live media traffic around the building. Grass Valley systems are also central to the broadcaster’s new playout operation, supporting BBC1 Wales, BBC2 Wales and S4C.

The Grass Valley team worked closely with BBC Wales and systems integrator dB Broadcast throughout the project.

Tim Banks, Grass Valley’s vice president of sales, EMEA, added: “Broadcasters of all sizes are facing a spike in demand for rich, captivating viewing experiences across all screens. Audiences also want to engage with new forms of content services that are more personalised and interactive. IP paves the way to these new business models, delivering the scale and agility needed to efficiently create greater volumes of first-class content and allowing content creators to work in new and innovative ways.

“This project with BBC Wales demonstrates Grass Valley’s commitment to working in close cooperation with customers to ensure they get the best solution for their current and future business and operational needs. We’re extremely proud that our solutions lie at the heart of this flagship facility and are helping BBC Wales create a blueprint for the future of broadcasting in the UK.”