November 30, 2017
London — Bloomberg Television has launched its new state-of-the-art broadcast facility in London following the opening of Bloomberg’s ground-breaking new European headquarters in the City last month. The new facility commenced operation this week with eight hours of live television and four hours of live radio programming each day, covering the biggest issues impacting business and finance.
Developed by award-winning broadcast set design specialists Jack Morton Worldwide, delivered by system integrator dB Broadcast and built by Scott Fleary, the new broadcast facility uses cutting-edge technology to create a flexible, dynamic platform for multiple forms of storytelling.
The new studio is home to Bloomberg’s London-based television shows, including “Bloomberg Daybreak Europe,” “Bloomberg Surveillance”, “Bloomberg Markets: European Open” and “Bloomberg Markets: European Close” — part of Bloomberg Television’s unparalleled global television offering, delivered in concert with broadcast hubs in New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, Dubai, and Berlin.
The central circular television studio is made up of programmable LED surfaces – including the floor, anchor desk and a series of large hanging LED panels – which together act as a single electronic canvas on which to feature graphical and moving content. The first of their kind in the world, the ultra-hi-resolution LED panels are automated to synchronise with video and can move independently or together to create flexible set elements that vary between segments and shows.
The central studio is situated on the open office floor, and is partially enclosed with angled glass coated with a vinyl that helps to control light and external audio. This, combined with its circular configurable format, offers the ability to shoot against multiple backdrops, including the movable LEDs displaying graphics and video, the live control rooms, and a busy office floor housing more than 500 London-based reporters, editors, producers, analysts and economists.
“The groundbreaking technology allows our journalists to visually tell stories like never before, leveraging the power of the Bloomberg Terminal for our viewers around the world using our extensive library of custom charts and graphics,” said Al Mayers, global head of broadcast for Bloomberg. “The new studio also enhances our capability to showcase our interviews with global leaders in finance, investing, markets and economics, as well as Bloomberg’s stable of experts.”
Broadcast and office lighting on the newsroom floor is programmed to replicate studio conditions when cameras are in use and the building’s distinctive bronze ramp is lit to give depth and a sculptural element to the shots.
Andre Durette, Senior Design Director, Jack Morton Worldwide said: “Working in partnership with Bloomberg gave us a unique opportunity to create one of the most advanced TV sets in the world. The design, which echoes the sculptural central ramp of the acclaimed Bloomberg building, has a sophisticated simplicity that utilizes many world ‘firsts’ in broadcast set technology, including the truly innovative curved LED panels. We are thrilled to have helped bring the Bloomberg experience to life for TV audiences.”
In addition to the central studio, three other broadcast positions distributed throughout the Bloomberg building provide alternative shots, including a live backdrop of the iconic St Paul’s Cathedral dome. The new facility also includes two recording studios, a photography studio and three control rooms, from which 36 remote cameras are controlled in locations from Frankfurt to Kuala Lumpur.
The backbone of the new broadcast facility is a pioneering uncompressed end-to-end video-over-IP solution. This signals the biggest shift in video transport through a broadcast facility since the introduction of SDI in the early 1990s. Bloomberg’s unique vision to blend this IP-based solution with a global workflow solution enables seamless integration of physical and visual infrastructure, as well as the ability to dynamically scale up capabilities to meet evolving content and product opportunities across platforms.
David Bird, Founder of dB Broadcast, commented, “The standards-based design and implementation future-proofs Bloomberg Television for current and next-generation formats, including UHD-1 and beyond. dB Broadcast has completed installations for all the major UK broadcasters and internationally and this is by far the most technically advanced and agile studio facility we have seen. We are delighted to have been part of this flagship project.”
Bloomberg Television is Bloomberg Media’s global business and financial television network, available in more than 437 million households worldwide. Bloomberg Television is also delivered to the Bloomberg Terminal, which guides the world’s financial elite with indispensable real-time data, news, and analysis. The network streams live on Bloomberg’s digital and mobile properties, along with Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Samsung TV and Roku.