(31/07/2013) With its first news programme prepared at 8.30am and its last run at midnight, the Regieplatz 7 (RP7) TV news control room at ORF ( sterreichisches Fernsehen) operates for 16 to 17 hours per day, seven days a week. In fact, RP7 clocks up the greatest number of operating hours of any control room operated by the Austrian public broadcaster. Unsurprisingly, after twelve years of continuous operation, RP7's technical installation had reached the end of its working life.
A thorough refurbishment was commissioned in July 2012 to bring the control room in line with current technology, including switching from SD to HD production. To ensure its audio facilities matched the new picture standards, the upgrade included two Lawo mc 66 digital broadcast mixing consoles.
The main console is fitted with 56 faders (24-8-24) and the second with 24 faders (8-8-8). Each of the consoles comprises 240 DSP channels and one Plug-in Server. A Lawo Nova73 HD router supports the central matrix with DSP as the mixing console core this offers 51 MADI ports and has a routing capacity of 8,000 times 8,000 crosspoints. As this is a news control room, both PSUs and the router boards are redundantly configured. The stageboxes are fitted with redundant MADI boards and cabling. Also redundantly designed are the five Netlink-MADI crosslinks between the Nova73 HD and the consoles: Both consoles are networked via a central matrix so that it is possible to switch from one console to the other within the control room. The console cores are identical, and integrate 16 MADI ports each , explains engineer Reinhard Tomek, who was responsible for project management of the refurbishment.
RP7's smaller console takes care of programme pre-mixing so that for larger programs such as coverage of parliamentary elections the local reporter units and local studios can be assigned (e.g. via telephone) and satellite uplinks can be established promptly. This frees the sound engineer at the larger console to take control of the live program, using the feeds from the smaller console.
Identical console
In summer 2012, an identical main console had been installed at ORF's Regieplatz 1 (RP1); a production control room used for lottery jackpot draws, talk shows and magazine programmes, as well as larger TV shows. And for particularly big productions, RP1 can be linked with other studios. The first programming to be produced using the Lawo mc 66 at RP1 were magazine programs, followed by Dancing Stars . With the refurbishment of RP7, now RP1 and RP7 are identical so that, in case of a technical problem, all programs can be covered by the sister control room. The mixing consoles in RP1 and RP7 provide six ports for connecting stageboxes. Two stageboxes are assigned to each studio, but these can be distributed as required. In addition, there are four stageboxes in the TV Theatre' , says Tomek.
copyrighted by liveProduction.tv The decision to install a second Lawo console in RP7 was based on a bidding process conducted some years ago, that was won by Lawo. During one cycle of investment, we place high value in adopting one product model. With regard to mixing console technology, this results in benefits in spares pooling, servicing, and contact as well as training. Moreover, our sound engineers work at different production facilities studios and OB trucks and find the same operating philosophy and the same console surface everywhere , Tomek explains.
As a direct result, all ORF sound engineers and Tonmeisters can work in different OB vans and studio control rooms without the need for specific training. Presently, Lawo consoles are installed in almost all ORF OB vans and regional studios' production control rooms. This enables efficient workflows, while the consoles' configurability allows them to be adapted to changing requirements.
For a broadcaster like ORF, the availability and dependability of its equipment is of critical importance. With Lawo, ORF has a partner that both supplies quality products and also, if problems occur, helps out competently and, first and foremost, quickly , closes Tomek.
Lawo, headquartered in Rastatt/Germany, specialises in developing, designing and manufacturing mixing consoles and matrix systems for radio and TV broadcasters, as well as for use in live events. Recently, Lawo offers also professional video equipment for the broadcast sector. Standards of high quality and innovative technology are supported by more than 40 years of experience in the field of professional broadcast technology.
Lawo's product range covers digital audio mixing consoles for use in radio, broadcast, production and live applications, including the required software. In addition to the provision of matrix systems and audio networks, Lawo also offers video processing equipment. The company also carries out project engineering tasks as well as user training and maintenance. This high level of expertise results in a comprehensive support service for Lawo customers.
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
(31/07/2013) With its first news programme prepared at 8.30am and its last run at midnight, the Regieplatz 7 (RP7) TV news control room at ORF ( sterreichisches Fernsehen) operates for 16 to 17 hours per day, seven days a week. In fact, RP7 clocks up the greatest number of operating hours of any control room operated by the Austrian public broadcaster. Unsurprisingly, after twelve years of continuous operation, RP7's technical installation had reached the end of its working life.
