DiGiCo UK has been selected to provide several DS-00 digital consoles to NBC during the network’s coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics from Beijing, China, beginning August 8, 2008. The announcement was made today by Dave Mazza, Senior Vice President Engineering, NBC Olympics and James Gordon, DiGiCo Managing Director . The DiGiCo consoles will support NBC’s coverage of basketball, boxing and indoor volleyball.

Bob Dixon, Director, Sound Design & Communications, NBC Olympics, chose the DiGiCo consoles for their small footprint, expandability, sonic quality, and cost. According to Dixon, t he three DS-00 consoles will each be outfitted with expanders to handle a total of 40 mic/line inputs, 32 analog line outputs and 64 AES inputs and 64 AES outputs.

“We’ve had to change quite a bit this year technically,” explains Dixon. “Whereas in previous years, NBC was using a hybrid of both SD and HD, often with stereo or up-mixed audio. But with the 2008 Games, it‘s the first time we’re - broadcasting all Network shows - in high-definition with 6 discreet channels of audio. We’re covering about seven venues on our own, taking some of the feeds from the host broadcaster, but then adding our own cameras and mics to give it our own perspective “As for digital consoles, when looking for a digital console that was between - a very large format and a smaller console…there are not as many choices as you’d think. DiGiCo was the perfect solution. And they were extremely proactive in working with us to accommodate our needs for the TV market.”

“In previous years, NBC Sports used consoles that were 11 mono inputs, 3 stereo inputs and 8 output busses. Starting in Athens in 2004 and continuing in 2006, NBC went to using two of the consoles grouped together. With DiGiCo, NBC is adding more tape machines, more cameras and the 5.1 audio which creates big change in demand.”

“The moment Taidus Vallandi [DiGiCo Technical Sales] and I met with Bob Dixon,” says DiGiCo Managing Director James Gordon, “it was clear his feedback and experience would be invaluable in helping DiGiCo to expand further into digital broadcast. Once we explained the possibilities he grasped it and instantly took the DS-00 to its upper limits. For us, it is rewarding to see our product deliver the results both Bob and NBC demand for the Olympics.”

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.

About the DiGiCo DS-00
The DS-00 is a compact digital console equipped with enough DSP for the studio’s purposes and its 40 busses allows them every configuration they require - stereo, LCRS, 5.1, 7.1 and there is enough power available that the studio feels the console’s limits will never be reached.

About DiGiCo
DiGiCo is a UK-based manufacturer of some of the world’s most popular, successful and ground-breaking digital mixing consoles for the live, theatre, broadcast and post production industries and is exclusively distributed in the U.S. by Group One Ltd. of Farmingdale, New York. For more information, go to: www.digico.org

 

Press Contacts:
Dave Webster at DiGiCo
Tel: +44 1372 845600
Email: webby@digiconsoles.com
Web: www.digiconsoles.com

Diane Gershuny at DGPR
Tel: +1 562 366 8869
Email: dgershuny123@gmail.com