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BBC Academy: BBC Radio and the Olympics

2012-12-11T17:38:40+00:00

How the digital channel complemented BBC Radio 5 live

The College of Production at the BBC Academy have released a series of videos going behind the scenes of the BBC's coverage of the summer's Olympics including contributions from 5 live's presenter of the Olympics drive time slot Colin Murray and Olympics Extra's Anna Foster.

Watch all the videos on the BBC Academy website.
The BBC Academy is the BBC’s centre for training. It houses the Colleges of Journalism, Production and Leadership as well as the Centre of Technology.

The Chris Moyles Show tour on the red button

2010-11-01T08:33:48+00:00

The Chris Moyles Show Tour happens to coincide with Radio 1's Access All Areas week - when we throw open the doors of Yalding House (figuratively for the masses and literally for a lucky few) for all to see.

There's an expectation that audiences want to watch as well as listen to outside broadcasts (OBs) of a certain scale nowadays. So, when this project landed in the inbox, we thought we'd try to find a way of making a bigger splash with the AAA element. We eventually decided to give the audience a higher level of access to Chris and the show than they've ever had before. As well as a live stream online, users will (for the first time) be able to watch the action live on their TVs (by pressing the red button). Additionally, for those viewers on the way to work, the stream will also be live on 16 BBC Big Screens across the UK.

We've tried to incorporate the visualisation element without affecting the 'sound' of the programme. Some features that are usually audio-only have been produced on video this time, so that the audience watching on TV has something to watch as well as hear - the radio programme will play out our audio during these features. On the flip-side, we have also prepared video items to play out over long segues in the radio programme to keep the TV audience engaged.

Technically - We're using 9 cameras in total, some robotic, some operated. OB facilities are from SiS, who we've worked with before and who have been very flexible in delivering what is a somewhat unconventional OB. We're sending the transmission by satellite to Satellite Operations at TV Centre where the red button video will play out and our partners Red Bee will handle our online stream from Broadcast Centre.

Please let us know what you think of the whole experience!

Adam Heyhurst is Series Producer for the Chris Moyles Show Tour

The Chris Moyles Show tour is directed by Will Kinder. Executive Producer is Ben Chapman.
Access All Areas week is under way now. Full details on the Radio 1 web site.
The Chris Moyles Show tour is on the Radio 1 web site, on the red button and on BBC Big Screens around Britain. Details here. Chris was in Portsmouth this morning and will be in Newport, Derby, Darlington, Perth for the rest of the week. Tickets for all four Cities are sold out.
The Chris Moyles Show is on Facebook and the team is on Twitter.
The hashtag for Access All Areas is #R1AAA

Investing in broadcast technology

2010-10-04T16:14:34+00:00

A few days ago I hosted a celebration of the launch of our new radio Outside Broadcast (OB) fleet. The fleet comprises of state of the art sound trucks that you may see parked up at countless festivals, concerts and events throughout the year. The new trucks have come to the rescue of our ageing vehicles which have been heavily used for many years. Capital investment is very significant (and rare) for BBC radio, so it represents a landmark moment.

Of course, inside the trucks are some of the most accomplished audio engineers, technicians and producers in the world. When you meet these teams, who have decades of experience, you are struck by their passion for delivering a perfect broadcast and the enormous pride that they have in representing the BBC across the country. Everything that you hear from live events beyond the studio is utterly dependent on their expertise.

This year, during some of my most enjoyable days, I visited our trucks across many locations such as outside the Proms, at Glastonbury or Maida Vale. However, perhaps I appreciate what these trucks deliver most in a cottage in Cornwall every summer, listening to live coverage of the Proms. The quality of our OB Fleet combined with the skill of the team comfortably closes the distance between the Albert Hall and the Lizard.

Furthermore, the OB team are a group that are constantly pushing the boundaries of technology. Immediately after last week's launch, they were testing new ways of producing music during a session with the Charlatans. I will be returning to this theme of audio innovation as we bring news of further developments to improve the quality of our broadcasting.

Meanwhile, if you do have ideas on how radio should innovate, don't hesitate to leave a comment here on the blog.

Tim Davie is Director of Audio & Music at the BBC

The picture shows Tim at the launch of the new fleet. It was taken by Simon Tuff, Principal Technologist at BBC Audio & Music.