RSI commissions BCE to integrate the visual radio solution StudioTalk

BCE (Broadcasting Center Europe) has installed StudioTalk at Radiotelevisione svizzera (RSI), a solution that deepens the concept of visual radio.

RSI was looking to enrich its visual radio productions through a new studio. With the aim of integrating traditional radio production with the latest developments in visual radio automation, the Swiss-Italian radio station decided to implement StudioTalk.

This solution, in addition to managing video and radio production, integrates external content and allows the control of lights and scenery elements. In order to enrich the viewers’ experience, the ECB system makes it possible to link broadcasts in different studios so that programming runs smoothly on both the radio and visual levels.

Advanced automation

To minimize the workload of the production team, StudioTalk analyzes the sound from the microphones in real time, regulates the audio height both live and in automatic mode, and selects the best-placed studio camera to portray presenters and guests. Thanks to an intelligent studio map integrated into the ECB solution, each speaker is identified, integrated and synchronized with the production.

Similarly, StudioTalk can create automated workflows, orchestrating schedules and automatically activating branding, sets or lights. Of course, the operator can also choose at any time to switch to manual mode and control each studio module himself.

Remote presetting

Due to the pandemic and therefore the strict restrictions in Switzerland, the integration team could not be on site to ensure system integration. To meet the deadlines, the different elements were preconfigured at the BCE facility. Installation and configuration at RSI was done remotely from Luxembourg.

Oliver Waty, technology and project manager at BCE, emphasizes that StudioTalk “can automate all the systems in a studio, allowing RSI to concentrate on its content.”

In parallel, RSI has detailed the reasons why it has decided to integrate BCE’s solution: “StudioTalk was chosen mainly for its flexibility, its automatic mode (during the broadcast) and the possibility of being able to interface the system with our current radio playout system. StudioTalk has allowed us to simplify the work of the control room technician: with a single software, it is now possible to manage several items such as lighting or the content on the videowalls. In addition, thanks to the system’s high level of automation, the studio can also be managed by a single operator.”