Orad solution for RFI’s automated TV production
Radio France International (RFI) has chosen RadioTV – Orad’s solution for the automatic production of radio shows – in order to publish two of its flagship shows on its website and social media channels.
RFI’s long-term plans are to rely on the Orad solution to offer a sizeable portion of its programmes on different media such as smartphones, tablets, etc. A fully automated system, RadioTV is based on a voice detection algorithm; as soon as one of the participants speaks into a microphone, the system automatically starts recording video.
“Video can give radio the chance to reach a younger, more web-savvy audience, thus broadening its listener base, more so than podcasts,” said Thierry Fanchon, who is in charge of information systems and technical management at the AEF (Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France). “However, we have no intention of getting into video without full mastery of our production costs. In addition, we immediately dismissed single-camera systems, which offer little added value.”
The first show to be broadcasted both on radio waves and in video streaming was L’invité du Matin (The Morning Guest), hosted by Frédéric Rivière, in December 2011. “We chose a two-camera system since this show revolves around one guest who is a prominent figure in political, economic and social activity, and whose reactions to French or international news are influential. This results in exchanges that are rather guided.”
Subsequently, another of RFI’s flagship shows, Mardi Politique (Political Tuesday) was fitted with the RadioTV system in a more complex format: “This show involves four journalists and one guest from the political sphere. In this situation, the system manages four cameras that film the guest (one camera) and the four reporters (two of them are filmed by a single camera), as well as a fifth camera for a wide-angle shot.”
Fanchon highlighted the capacity of the RadioTV system, adding that “even after the solution was implemented, our production costs have not increased, and we are offering an additional service alongside our shows. Also being an open solution, we can easily switch out of the current scenario and take control during the show, without affecting its broadcast. Towards the end of the year, we are planning to use the automated graphical overlay function, which automatically manages the logo and the speaker’s name.”
RFI will soon move to a new location in Issy-les-Moulineaux (south-west of Paris), with larger studios. “We will have 14 studios in which we should be installing RadioTV systems on a more ambitious scale. The four-camera system was a first step, but we are now looking at every possibility.”