It’s Showtime!
Showtime Arabia in Dubai has installed twin 24 fader Calrec Zeta consoles in two brand new live studios.
The Middle East’s leading pay-TV operator has installed the consoles into Studios 1 and 2 at their Dubai Media City complex. Transformed from a warehouse into two fully operational HD-capable studios in just four months, Studio 1 and 2 are the broadcasters’ only two live studios.
With exclusive rights to broadcast live English Premiership football, Studio 1 broadcasts coverage in Arabic, with Studio 2 used exclusively for English.
“When we began looking for a solution for these studios we looked at a variety of consoles, many of which were totally unsuitable for live broadcast…I’m so glad we looked at Calrec!” says Showtime Director of Technology & Engineering Mike Whittaker.
“As an operator I have worked with Calrec consoles for many years, and they are exactly what we need. The Zeta is extremely reliable and well-suited for live on-air use. It is easily configured, flexible and extremely user friendly with a good deal of visual monitoring of the console status. When compared to other console manufacturers the Zeta offers real value for money.”
Showtime Arabia broadcasts a range of programmes across 40 channels. Around 25% of their weekly output is original programming.
In addition to Studios 1 and 2, the broadcaster also operates two playout facilities. The first is the Network Operations Centre, dedicated to playout and monitoring of all 40 of their channels.
The second is solely dedicated to the transmission of their three sports channels, and went on air on 31st July. At this time Showtime switched all three sports channels to widescreen, the first broadcaster in the MENA region to broadcast widescreen channels.
