ITV Daytime has taken delivery of the first of four new green satellite vehicles, designed to minimise their environmental impact, from dB Broadcast.
The four new vehicles have been built around the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, an efficient hybrid vehicle. They’ve been converted from standard passenger vehicles with the removal of the rear seats and addition of a custom bulkhead and twin-deck floor to allow for the installation of the technical broadcasting system.
The dB Broadcast design incorporates a battery/inverter system for clean, silent operation, and includes two solar panels on the roof of each vehicle to supplement the technical battery.
Each one incorporates an auto-pointing Cobham 8100 KA-band satellite link, and the LU800 LiveU encoder capable of simultaneously streaming up to four independent video signals, plus a high-power Wireless Access Point to boost connectivity around the car.
dB Broadcast said where possible, equipment has been serviced and repurposed from the existing fleet in keeping with the project’s sustainability, this included the Ka-band satellite antennas and modems.
“This new fleet of broadcast cars will enhance our operational capability, as well as being very much in tune with ITV’s environmental approach,” said Tim Guilder, head of technology for ITV Daytime. “Our ‘Green Team’ meets regularly with a mission to explore and implement environmentally aware solutions and we realised that we didn’t need a ‘Bureau-on-wheels’ anymore. It was a conscious decision to move away from traditional diesel-powered ‘Sat Vans’ over three years ago in favour of something smaller in terms of size and carbon footprint; something more agile, more all-terrain, and generally more fit-for-purpose when it comes to ITV Daytime’s daily live TV coverage needs.”
dB Broadcast said the other three vehicles are due to be delivered in the coming weeks.
