NBC Olympics Double up for 2008 Olympic Games
Calrec has supplied twin 64 fader Sigma with Bluefin consoles to NBC Olympics for US coverage of the Olympic Games in Beijing. The consoles will be installed at the International Broadcast Center (IBC) in Beijing in May 2008.
“Each Olympic Games’ coverage brings with it new demands for better technology, increased flexibility, and greater efficiency,” says Bob Dixon, NBC’s director of sound design at the Beijing Games. “From the Summer games in Atlanta in 1996 to the upcoming Summer games in Beijing in 2008 we have gone from an analog-only 2-channel contribution and distribution audio platform to a fully digital, discreet 5.1 channel platform.”
Sigma with Bluefin provides 320 channel processing paths packaged as 108 stereo and 104 mono channels, and allows up to 52 x full 5.1 surround channels. This is provided on just one DSP card, with full EQ and dynamics on all channels groups and main outputs.
NBC Olympics start planning for the Beijing Games over two and a half years in advance. The broadcaster holds exclusive US rights for coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The Games will be seen by an estimated 200 million Americans.
About NBC Olympics
NBC, “America's Olympic Network,” owns the exclusive U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games, television’s most powerful property, through 2012, which includes Beijing in 2008, Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012. From August 8-24, 2008 NBC Universal will present an unprecedented 3,600 hours of coverage, highlighted by NBC in primetime with live swimming, gymnastics and beach volleyball. In August 2004, 203 million viewers watched as the networks of NBC Universal—NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Bravo, Telemundo, and NBC’s HD affiliates—offered a then record 1,210 hours of Olympic coverage from Athens.
For additional information, go to NBCOlympics.com, a year-round destination for fans of Olympic sports, featuring news, Beijing previews, athlete features, expert blogs, photos, Olympic video from the NBC archives and social tools enabling users to build communities around their favorite sports, post comments and blogs.
