Globo Tv produces ‘Big Brother’ with the latest AMPP IP and SaaS technologies from Grass Valley AMPP

Globo Tv’s Rio de Janeiro facility has introduced a state-of-the-art IP video production setup from Grastal, significantly upgrading the studio that houses the iconic ‘Big Brother Brazil’ (BBB).

Now in its 24th season, Big Brother Brazil, a reality TV phenomenon, brings together a diverse group of individuals to live isolated from the world in the Big Brother house under constant surveillance for 100 days. The program thrives on audience participation, and the final contestant avoids eviction to win a substantial cash prize.

This comprehensive upgrade migrates from traditional SDI infrastructure to Grass Valley native IP production tools, including Grass Valley AMPP, providing an on-premises microservices-based production deployment hosted on AMPP Edge COTS. The overhaul incorporates two Grass Valley mixers and three control panels, GV Orbit orchestration, GV IP multiscreens and UCP IP gateways along with third-party network switches. The system was installed in two technical centers using a spine-and-leaf topology.

A significant feature of this deployment comes from Globo’s integration of AI technology into AMPP control, enabling dynamic and automated monitoring and production switching of both video and audio, incorporating time-shift delay, audio mixing, production switching… seamlessly into the workflow.

Mauricio Felix, executive director of Media Solutions Technology at Globo, stresses the critical need for reliability, given the importance of BBB as a major revenue stream. “The exhaustive testing phase confirmed the Grass Valley setup’s versatility, agility, and reliability, crucial for our non-stop 100-day production cycle”, he says.

Grass Valley and Globo embarked on a strategic partnership in 2022, focused on transitioning Globo’s live TV and media operations to IP and software-based solutions. Globo’s upgrade prioritizes an AMPP-enhanced on-premise solution. The platform’s hybrid on-premise and cloud architecture, which combines hardware and software offerings in a single solution, has enabled Globo to benefit from unmatched flexibility and scalability compared to traditional offerings, supporting Globo in both its current requirements and future needs.

Fernando David, Grass Valley’s Director of Sales for Latin America, says, “We are thrilled to support Globo’s transformative journey from legacy systems to a future-ready infrastructure embracing IP and migration to a software-centric architecture. This modernization positions Globo to excel in live, VoD, and streaming content distribution, maintaining its status as a global media powerhouse.”