19.12.2016
Integration of franceinfo: the French public news channel
In May 2016, following a call for tender, Radio France selected BCE for the integration of the French public news channel “franceinfo:” in its premises.
“For us this project is essentially three elements, a very innovative project in this radio company, which had to integrate the requirements of television, secondly a quite unique project since it is the first time that we combine the flexibility of radio to the industrial side television in a partnership and thirdly an impossible bet since the deadlines were impossible” comments Jean-Michel Kandin DGA Techniques et technologies nouvelles at Radio France.
In three months BCE teams installed three production studios with their respective control rooms and an automated platform to manage the content and the branding of Radio France.
“The difficulty of this project was the deadline for its completion since the on-air date was set to September 1. BCE proposed proven solutions which would meet this challenge. This project has been a success thanks to a strong interaction among BCE and Radio France teams,” explains Michel Ranson, Directeur Adjoint à la direction des Moyens Techniques at Radio France.
Headlines control room
To answer an almost industrial pace of production of news, Radio France has created the headlines control room. Located in the heart of Radio France newsroom, it has a TV set, where the presenter can make breaking news. He has a teleprompter that he can control, as well as a video totem which broadcasts content matching his topics.
Following a sustained pace of a 1 minute news programme every 10 minutes, from six o’clock in the morning till midnight, the presenters work in shift and the content is created by Visual editors that send information to an automated production platform (Mosart) which manages and ensures the continuity of the information.
“We have trained the journalists visual editors to editing and to the tools used on the news channel. We have also trained the operating and support team of Radio France to the new media workflows of the channel,” explains Pascal Montagna, Responsable formation chez Aski-da Taldea, partner of BCE on this project.
“One of the difficulties of the project was to be on-air at for the deadline and have people trained on the deployed tools. BCE was able to provide a global response to all these questions: a technical solution and at the same time the means to exploit it while making a transfer of knowledge,” commented Michel Ranson.
Control room 421
Originally a radio studio, the studio 421 has been equipped with seven High Definition (HD) motorized cameras as well as a video wall powered by content, branding and sets stored in the automated production platform.
On the control room side, a new production control room has been added to the already existing radio platform. The new infrastructure controls the cameras, the sound, the video wall as well as all the secondary events for TV broadcasting.
“The studio 421 has been modernised with cameras and a video wall located behind the guests that allow broadcasting news, logos and channel branding. This studio perfectly marks the transition between radio and TV, making the two worlds meet by broadcasting content on both radio and television,” adds Philippe Mauduit, Directeur Général Délégué at BCE France.
Control room 221
With a brand new studio and new control room, the studio 221 is used for talk shows such as the political show of Jean-Michel Apathie presented on a daily basis in the morning, another political programme “Les informés”, broadcasted in the evening and followed by “Le Classico” that focuses on sports news.
The studio is equipped with ten robotic HD cameras including one with motorized travelling. The programs are broadcast both on radio and on television. To keep this soul of the radio, the studio has voluntarily been equipped with swan neck microphones. The studio has also several screens on which are broadcasted content, branding and sets.
The new control room has audio and video equipment, a graphics system, all perfectly connected to the automated production platform.
“Our relationship with BCE was not stuck to a customer-supplier relationship,we were partners. We met once, set a rule, a date, a deadline, a goal, and then the teams have worked together. We never had to reassess together if not for the evolution of the contract and the channel was delivered on time, under the intended conditions of use and that was the most satisfying with this relationship with BCE.” Concludes Jean-Michel Kandin.