La Chaîne Parlementaire-Assemblée Nationale (LCP) deploys Axon’s Cerebrum

Cerebrum’s flexibility and ability to speed up workflows made it a key component in the french Chaîne Parlementaire-Assemblée nationale (LCP) recent switch to HD.

La Chaîne Parlementaire-Assemblée nationale (LCP), the television channel of the French National Assembly, has installed Axon’s Cerebrum control and monitoring system as part of a major upgrade of its news production facilities.

The channel, which broadcasts 24-7 over satellite, cable, OTT, IPTV and DTTV (Digital Terrestrial Television) with debates and commentary on major national and international political issues, has switched its entire infrastructure to High Definition – now the default format in France. As part of this upgrade, technical equipment was also renewed to streamline the workflow and improve control and monitoring.

The tender was awarded to Ericsson France, who undertook the design, integration and installation of the project. The team worked closely with Axon to ensure that Cerebrum was correctly deployed and to provide training to LCP operators – all delivered within a challenging timeframe imposed by the parliamentary calendar.

The nerve centre of broadcast facilities across the world from the Dutch Parliament, France 24, Sky, BBC to SABC in South Africa, Cerebrum’s advanced functionality and broad range of features makes it ideal for news and studio live production as well as master control, mobile and remote production. With an easy-to-use fully customizable interface, it significantly reduces workloads by enabling complex tasks to be completed in just minutes. The combination of the software’s own SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and third party protocols ensure that Cerebrum can support virtually every piece of equipment in a broadcaster’s workflow.

Riedel MediorNet

LCP operates two studios and two control rooms located on different sites. These are linked by fibre optic cables with control and monitoring provided by a single Cerebrum system. This is integrated with a Riedel decentralised MediorNet/MicroN IP router that offers advanced processing and routing capabilities via modular I/O video blocks. Using fully customizable remote panels, Cerebrum manages all of the equipment connected to the router, including a video mixer, an audio console, mult-images, intercom, tallly and UDM.

Jérome Monteil, General Manager of Ericsson’s Broadcast Service France, says: “The Axon Cerebrum control and monitoring platform is key to the success of this project as it delivers both reliability and scalability. It interfaces beautifully with Riedel’s MediorNet router and with other third party equipment in LCP’s workflow. Cost of ownership was also a factor: using floating licenses, Cerebrum offers exceptional value for money and, thanks to its intuitive design, it is very easy to add new products to the broadcast chain. We are also able to modify the system internally, which lowers the cost of maintenance and service.”

Jan Eveleens, CEO at Axon Digital design, adds: “Cerebrum continues to go from strength to strength, offering the widest third-party integration available. During the tender process for this project, we understand that Cerebrum was the solution of choice proposed by every respondent and that’s great testament to its reliability and functionality. As LCP prepares for the upcoming French Presidential election, Cerebrum will help to ensure that its broadcast operations run smoothly.”