Sky's Harlequin 1 Broadcasting Complex Invests In Wohler Audio/Video Processing Monitors

Wohler Technologies has announced that British Sky Broadcasting (Sky), the UK's largest pay TV provider, is installing more than 200 Wohler AMP1 and AMP2 audio/video processing monitors in its new, state-of-the-art production facility, currently nearing completion in West London.
Led by the award-winning AMP2-16V-3G 16-channel audio/video processing monitor, the Wohler systems will provide unprecedented integration of audio monitoring and processing for production studios, post-production facilities, and a broadcast centre housed within the new complex, code-named Harlequin 1.
Wohler's AMP2-16V-3G will deliver dedicated video monitoring, loudness metering and control, audio mixing and routing, SDI audio embedding and instantaneous Dolby bit stream analysis (Dolby Zoom), all within a single system.
Within the broadcast centre, Sky is installing 33 AMP2-16V-3G units, as well as three AMP1-16-3G systems. The post-production facility will feature another 65 AMP2-16V-3G units as well as 42 AMP1A-Plus two-channel audio monitors, 31 AMP1-16-3G units and three of Wohler's new AMP1-S8-3G multi-format audio monitors. Another 33 AMP2-16V-3G monitors will be installed in the production studio, along with three AMP1A-PLus units.
Kim Templeman-Holmes, Wohler's EVP of Global Sales and Marketing, said: "Sky runs a very through and meticulous engineering department, with high standards for everything from usability down to audio fidelity. Nothing was specified without proper evaluation.
"When matched against its competition, the AMP2-16V was the clear winner. The system is highly versatile and robust, with many critical functions such as monitoring, loudness control and audio mixing and routing contained in a single box.
"Sky could order just the cards they needed for specific functions within each department, safe in the knowledge they could always re-configure or upgrade, which adds up to a more cost-effective solution. Also, our willingness to work closely with them and tailor the software to their needs was critical."
Carl Dempsey, CEO of Wohler Technologies, said: "Customisation has been the key to our success in the past and will continue to be going forward. Companies consider us an extension of their engineering team and know they can call us anytime with questions or ideas and no possibility is ever off the table. Solutions for our customers' captioning needs, for instance, are never turnkey.
"The inherent complexities necessitate partnerships and those kinds of relationships at the end of the day are what get us out of bed in the morning."
Billed as the world's most sustainable broadcasting facility, Harlequin 1 is located on the main Sky campus in Osterley, West London, and incorporates efficient technologies designed to significantly reduce the overall power consumption of the technical operations.
The new facility will house studios, technical support and operational space for Sky's Broadcast Operations, Sky Sports, and Broadcast Services divisions, with four audio mastering suites fully equipped to provide flexible, 5.1-capable multiplatform content production servers, as well as 45 craft edit suites.
The facility will also provide a centralised platform for the control and monitoring of program output, including encryption, compression and playout.
(KMcA)