Introduction
National Broadcasting Corporation Television (NBC) is the state-owned free-to-air terrestrial television channel in Papua New Guinea. It is based in Port Moresby, the country's capital.
NBC is the oldest television channel in Papua New Guinea. It was established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation before independence and was handed over to the Papua New Guinea government on 1 December 1973.
About the Project
In early 2015, NBC needed to upgrade and rebuild its facilities before the South Pacific Games, which were scheduled to take place in Port Moresby in July 2015.
NBC invited companies from Australia, India, Singapore and other locations to submit bids. Following the government evaluation process, Whiteways Systems Pte Ltd was selected as the prime bidder.
With the Games approaching quickly, the project required close coordination between NBC, Whiteways and the equipment manufacturers.
Scope of the Project
NBC specified the following requirements for the broadcast facility upgrade:
Project Challenge
The project had a very short delivery schedule. Government evaluation and procurement procedures took considerable time, leaving only a limited period for implementation.
Whiteways had approximately two months to deliver the equipment to Port Moresby, install the systems, commission and test them, and train NBC's operators, journalists, anchors and producers.
Before the equipment could be installed, the required infrastructure had to be ready, including space, UPS, air conditioning, generator and electrical supply.
Solution Delivered
Whiteways worked closely with NBC's complete project team to coordinate equipment delivery, installation, system integration, commissioning, testing and training.
When some manufacturers were unable to supply equipment according to the original schedule, Whiteways coordinated with them to speed up delivery and keep the project moving.
Once the equipment arrived in Port Moresby, additional manpower was brought in and the installation and testing teams worked extended hours to complete the facility before the Games.
Project Management & Execution
Infrastructure
The required space, UPS, air conditioning, generator and electrical infrastructure were prepared before equipment installation.
Equipment Delivery
Broadcast equipment was delivered and shipped to Port Moresby within the limited project schedule.
Installation & Commissioning
Racks and equipment were installed, systems were integrated and the facility was commissioned and tested.
Training & On-Site Support
After installation and testing, Whiteways trained NBC operators, journalists, anchors and producers on the new systems.
NBC carried out testing one day before the Games began. Whiteways also kept its core team in Port Moresby during the Games to provide on-site support if required.
Several challenges were encountered during implementation, but the project team worked through each issue and kept the facility operational.
Facility Layout
NBC Television's facility consisted of two in-house studios, with each studio supported by its own Production Control Room. The station also included a Master Control Room, Ingest Room and Central Equipment Room.
Main Studio
Main production studio equipped with a virtual set.
News Studio
Dedicated studio for NBC's news production.
Production Control Rooms
Each studio had its own PCR for managing and controlling in-house productions. The News PCR included vision and audio mixers and VTRs for tape playout.
Master Control Room
The MCR handled the final on-air signal, including switching, channel branding, audio limiting, video legalisation and signal monitoring.
Ingest Room
The ingest area used Vector Box ingest machines and existing VTRs for tape ingest.
Central Equipment Room
The CER housed the main servers, storage, signal router, talkback system, sync pulse generator, graphics engines, GPS clock server and other broadcast equipment.
Ingest
The Ingest Room was equipped with Vector Box ingest machines. Existing VTRs were also retained for tape-based ingest.
Production Control Rooms
The Production Control Rooms were used to manage and control NBC's in-house productions.
The News Production Control Room included vision and audio mixers together with VTRs for tape playout.
Master Control Room
The Master Control Room was responsible for the station's final on-air signal and was the highest level of control in the station workflow.
The MCR included a switcher console for switching and channel branding, an audio limiter, a video legaliser and a waveform monitor for signal monitoring.
During live events, the MCR could receive the playout from the PCR and transfer operational control to the PCR while the event was on air.
Central Equipment Room
The Central Equipment Room contained the main technical systems supporting the station.
This included video servers, storage, Wasp 3D engines, the main signal router, talkback system mainframe, sync-pulse generator, signal-processing equipment and GPS clock server.
The facility was designed with a high level of automation, reducing the amount of manual intervention required during normal operation.
System Reliability
Redundancy and fail-safe arrangements were included throughout the facility.
The project included mirrored storage and mirrored video servers as part of the station's system reliability approach.
Project Outcome
NBC was ready for the 2015 South Pacific Games.
Despite the short implementation period, equipment delivery challenges and the amount of work required before the Games, Whiteways completed the installation, testing and training programme.
NBC successfully operated the new systems during the Games. The new equipment and training supported the broadcaster's coverage of the event.
Client Response
NBC's top management was very happy with Whiteways' performance and sent a letter of appreciation following the project.
Whiteways also kept its core staff in Port Moresby throughout the Games to provide support if required.
About NBC
NBC is the state-owned, free-to-air terrestrial TV and Radio broadcaster of Papua New Guinea. It is headquartered in Port Moresby and has more than 20 bureaus.
