The largest television studio facility and broadcast production company in Russia, the Television Technical Center Ostankino (TTC) has purchased four Clarec Apollo consoles and four Artemis Light consoles as part of a two-year project to upgrade all 11 studios at its Moscow facility.

The purchase will enable TTC to produce programmes in 5.1-surround with remote control of audio from third-party routers. It will also enable I/O and feeds to be shared between studios over fibre-optic links, and for consoles to be quickly reconfigured to meet differing programme requirements for more efficient use of studio facilities.

The consoles have been supplied and are being installed by Russian system integrator OKNO-TV. Four consoles are in use, with the remaining four awaiting commissioning.

The TTC complex is home to more than 20 Russian TV broadcasters transmitting more than 100 hours of programming per day. It is linked by cable, radio relay and satellite to almost all of Russia’s other television centres, and handles the exchange of television programmes over the Intervision and Eurovision networks. TTC also serves production companies that will use the consoles for a wide variety of work, from magazine-type programs to government projects.

‘Because we often hire to other production companies, our refurbished studios must be reliable, flexible, and able to handle the most complex and diverse programming,’ says OKNO-TV sound specialist, Roman Katrovsky. ‘The Calrec consoles will give us the ability to connect desks within a studio or cross-connect with other studios for full redundancy and added reliability. Also, as Russia transitions to HD, some programmes will be produced in 5.1, some in stereo and some in both. With these consoles, we’ll be able to change configurations instantly to suit different programmes. Such features significantly lower downtime and set-up time, which saves money.’

TTC is installing one 64-fader Apollo console and one 48-fader Artemis Light console in each of four studios. Within each studio, the Apollo desk in the control room is connected via Calrec’s Hydra2 audio router to an Artemis Light desk on the floor. There are also three flightcased stageboxes per studio enabling I/O and feeds to be shared between consoles via the Hydra2 network.

‘It became clear to us that Calrec consoles offered superior technology and networking possibilities compared to the other brands we have been using up to now,’ Katrovsky comments.

‘TTC’s commitment to Calrec consoles and the Hydra2 network represents a major inroad for us into the Russian market, which has historically been dominated by other brands,’ says Michael Reddick, Calrec European Sales Manager. ‘We expect that other broadcasting facilities will take their cue from one of Eastern Europe’s largest broadcasting centres.’