Broadcast solutions supplier retained for eighth straight year in jungle by ITV Studios
Gearhouse Broadcast, has updated much of the technical and production infrastructure on-site in Australia for the latest series of ITV Studios’ I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! This is the eighth year in a row that the leading broadcast solutions supplier has been involved in the production of the popular reality television series.
Among the upgrades that Gearhouse has made for the 2015 series have been a new RF distribution system to enable complete site coverage for the radio microphones used by the celebrity contestants and presenters. A farm of 40 antennas that have been installed by Raycom mean that the production team can capture audio from anywhere within the 1.5km² compound located in the New South Wales jungle, ensuring that they have the widest choice with what action to include in the broadcasts.
The introduction of a Lawo Nova73 compact router and multiple D.O.TEC ANDIAMO.MC 32 channel microphone amplifiers means that the audio system used on set is now predominantly MADI. In addition, D.O.TEC EXBOX.MIDICOM compact MADI embedder / de-embedders have been added on the MADI stream to the ANDIAMO.MC 32’s located in the camps. The EXBOX.MIDICOMs embed RS-232 onto the stream, allowing the on-set sound supervisor to adjust gain on the microphones used in the camp directly from the audio desk located in the production area.
Gearhouse has also supplied HD flyaway solutions, complete with a production gallery that features a 15 monitor video wall comprised of 32” Samsung screens that are fed by Evertz VIPA16-DUO multiviewers. There is also a modified Pro Bel video router that can handle 384 inputs and 576 outputs. Around 5km of SMPTE fibre studio camera cable has been installed and there are 30 cameras located around the set to capture all the action.
“The upgrades we’ve made to the production infrastructure this year on the I’m a Celebrity set are designed to futureproof it, and also enhance the overall reliability for ITV Studios,” said Kate Rendle, (title) at Gearhouse Broadcast. “We’ve worked closely with several specialist suppliers to be able to deliver the most complete coverage yet throughout the compound, in what are extremely challenging conditions.”
“Because of the nature of the show, it’s important that we can cover each and every storyline as they build around the camp,” said ITV Studios production executive – Entertainment, Helen Kruger Bratt. “The upgrades that Gearhouse has made for this year’s production have made a big difference to us being able to capture everything that is going on in broadcast quality, and gives us greater creative choice about what content we play out.”
