WBEZ, a public broadcaster in Chicago, recently finished a renovation of its historic studios located on what was a Lake Michigan pier used by the U.S. Navy decades ago.
Integrator Inrush Broadcast Services along with WBEZ/Chicago Public Media technical staff selected a Wheatstone WheatNet IP audio system populated by Wheatstone LXE digital consoles and more.
Chicago Public Media Vice President of Technology and Operations Stephen Wright said, “It was a very unique place to do a buildout.”
The 3,300-foot-long pier presented minimal help to the integrators with little wiggle room and no freight elevators for carting in equipment.
And then the old facilities needed to be tackled. Wright said, “It became abundantly clear that we needed to replace the aging infrastructure and modernize with WheatNet IP audio.”
In addition, “The existing studio core footprint was stripped down to the studs and studios were right-sized for purpose and function, transforming large spaces that once held large format talk shows in the past into better equipped, more focused content creation studios that will last well into the future,” according to a release.
The results “includes a main on-air studio with secondary studios and four production/multipurpose studios, including one for video production, plus a performance space and news edit suites that all share resources through the WheatNet IP audio network.”
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