Rising to the Challenge: FBC and Gencom’s Swift Upgrade for International Rugby

Thursday June 27, 2024 03:54

Rising to the Challenge: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation and Gencom’s Swift Upgrade for International Rugby

At the end of 2023, the Fijian Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) faced a challenge. They had been tasked by the Fijian Drua Super Rugby Pacific team to produce their home matches for international broadcast. This presented an opportunity to upgrade both their production facility and the capacity of their workforce. “By doing so, we aimed to not only keep up with the current demand but also to enhance our overall efficiency and output. Operating from a small island economy presents unique challenges, including limited resources and logistical constraints. However, it also offers distinctive advantages such as a close-knit community and the potential for specialized, high-quality production,” Said Vinal Raj, Director of TV Operations at FBC.

To achieve this, the FBC planned significant investments in state-of-the-art equipment and advanced technologies. They focused on expanding their workforce by recruiting skilled professionals and providing comprehensive training programs to enhance the capabilities of our existing employees.

“By aligning our production capabilities and workforce skills, we intended to increase our production capacity significantly. This would allow us to generate more extensive coverage and meet the growing demands of our customers efficiently.” Raj continued, “Ultimately, our goal was to position ourselves as a leading player in our industry, demonstrating that even from a small island economy, we can achieve substantial growth and success through strategic upgrades and investments in both infrastructure and human capital.”

The next challenge was the timing of the project, this upgrade needed to happen before the start of the next Super Rugby season, which was less than six months away. So, Raj quickly sought quotes from three vendors and selected Gencom for three main reasons: cost, quality of support, and ability to deliver the project within the short timeframe.

A strong, responsive support network was high on the list for the FBC. “New Zealand was much closer than the other companies, and we knew Gencom had a strong network, and we trusted that they’d be able to get us back up and running much quicker than the other vendors,” explained Raj.

Raj said the biggest deciding factor was delivering the project in the short time period. After the RFP process, only four months were left for design, procurement, build-out, transport from New Zealand to Fiji, plus setup, and delivery and training.

“And we were working with the Christmas holiday in the middle of it. The other vendors didn’t make it because the lead time to deliver the equipment was much longer. I don’t know how Keith did it!” said Raj.

“It was quite a challenge to design a system and choose the technologies during that timeframe,” commented Gencom Technology’s Director, Keith Bremner. “It was an intense project because of that constraint. We started in November and very quickly put together a design and a budget for funding. By December, we were full steam into it.”

Decisions were made specifically to support the shorter-than-normal time allotment. Normally, Gencom has six to nine months to complete a project once approved, and this one was accomplished in four.

Bremner also commented that the tight time frame limited the equipment options. “We had to select equipment that could be sourced quickly, so vendors were chosen based on reliability and turnaround time. Ross Video and Clear-Com were easy choices as they were long-standing, reliable Gencom partners. In the end, both companies were able to deliver their equipment ahead of schedule, despite the Christmas holiday. “The production talkback systems were the first thing to arrive. Clear-Com sent more gear than we actually needed, just to make sure that we had more than enough so we could use what we needed and then send back the rest. The design was still very loose at that point. Clear-Com was amazing,” said Bremner.

Ross also beat delivery expectations. “The beauty of the Ross system is that it’s hyperconverged. The router, the signal processing, the multi-viewers, the vision switcher – all of that comes in as one single Ross product: the Ultrix. It’s only one product to ship, it’s super compact, and it’s a real enabler for this project,” Bremner continued. “If we tried to do that with four separate pieces of equipment like we used to, it never would have happened on time. It needed to be small, lightweight, and compact for the space it was going in, and the Ross Ultrix platform, being as compact and singular as it is, was just perfect for that job.”

“The team from Gencom worked really hard and worked closely with us to provide this solution and understand exactly what was required,” said Vinal.

“The biggest challenge was finding systems and products that would fit the budget and deciding on technologies to use that were simple to use, flexible, and highly capable as needed by an OB setup,” Bremner commented. “For an outside broadcast, everything you do has to be flexible. You have to be able to change its configuration from game to game. It might be rugby one day, and tennis the next. The design and build of OB systems have to be flexible, scalable, and adaptable.”

As with any project, there were a few challenges. “We had a set budget, and fitting everything we wanted or needed within the budget was hard,” said Vinal. “A lot of negotiations were done with the Gencom team, and I understand Keith had a lot of discussions with the vendors, negotiating and narrowing down the correct equipment while staying within our budget.”

The idea started as an upgrade. FBC wanted to use their existing OB truck with their original six cameras, but everything else was new: vision switcher, routers, intercom, and four additional cameras as per the Super Rugby requirements. But it soon became clear that a much larger vehicle than the original OB truck would be required.

Bremner said that normally this setup would be built into a traveling vehicle. However, there was not enough time before the first broadcast to accomplish that.

Vinal explained: “We originally started as one whole unit working with the original setup as a ‘fly-away’ kit. Eventually, it worked out to put everything in a 40-foot container, with different designated rooms: audio, production control, technical, and replay room. We still use the OB truck with the new setup, but the container houses the new equipment as a semi-permanent solution. We have two OB studios now, so we can do two OBs simultaneously.”

The equipment arrived in New Zealand and was assembled and tested by the Gencom crew. The FBC senior technical team travelled to New Zealand to assist with configuration and to receive training before the setup was shipped to Fiji, where additional rigorous training sessions occurred. The two parts came together on the ground in Fiji, and it was operational straight away with some additional training the day before the first game.

“While we were building the system at the Gencom office in NZ, the guys back in Fiji were fitting out the 40-foot container. Those two parts had to come together on the ground. Us installing what we built as a semi-portable system and having to build that into their 40-foot container,” said Bremner.

“We of course had some technical challenges with new equipment, but we overcame that with training that came with the Gencom team,” Vinal said.

“The guys went into the broadcast with a perfect result from a viewer’s perspective. They were really happy,” Bremner commented.

“We managed to deliver a world-class event on national television, which was appreciated not only by the Fijian viewers but overseas as well. We recently live-streamed a three-day athletic competition overseas on a pay-per-view basis,” Vinal added. The proceeds of the pay-per-view assisted the Fijian secondary schools to help them grow their sports.

“Gencom is one of our first choices for any project,” said Vinal. “We like to develop and forge long-term relationships with the different parties we work with. And Gencom definitely has made it to the first-choice position due to the level of service they have provided in terms of pricing, the speed of delivery of services, to procurement and support that they provide.”

“Anything I need, we don’t need to raise a ticket; we just pick up the phone and call Gencom, and they make it easy!” Vinal concluded.

Major products used:

Ross Video: