Broadcast Rental expands its RTS ODIN setup for home Grand Prix

• RTS ODIN digital intercom matrices delivered clear communication between the Broadcast Rental teams on and offsite at the Heineken Dutch Grand Prix
• RTS KP-Series keypanels supported the mobile broadcast teams and remote studios at the circuit
• Broadcast Rental expanded its RTS solution to ensure it could meet client needs for the race weekend

Amsterdam/Zandvoort, Netherlands, Sep 2023 – Broadcast Rental has relied on its touring setup to support clients with their Grand Prix coverage around the world. But when it came to the company’s home race, the recent Heineken Dutch Grand Prix, it needed to scale up the communications with extra intercom options from RTS.

Broadcast Rental was contracted to supply RF cameras and remote studios to several national and international clients at the track. Due to these additional requests, the team decided to add a second ODIN 128x128 digital intercom matrix to its regular setup.

“RTS intercoms were used for communication at the race and remotely,” explains Rick Verwaal, Guarantee Engineer at Broadcast Rental. “We had to ensure communications between the mobile direction and the control room onsite, as well as communication to our master control room (MCR) at the Broadcast Rental office, from where the communication distribution to our clients took place. In total, over 45 four-wire communication lines were set up.”

The main challenge for the race was to create a reliable and intuitive solution that could connect many different clients with several separate productions to their own MCR/studio onsite and offsite. Fortunately, two ODIN systems combined with 10 KP-5032 keypanels provided the perfect solution.

“RTS intercoms have already proven to be an extremely solid intercom solution for us after several years of experience with the ODIN in our touring setup,” says Bram Giskes, Broadcast Rental’s Engineer. “For us, it was the most logical way of expanding the setup for this race in our home country. In-person and remotely, our clients expect a consistent, high level of service throughout the whole Grand Prix season. Scaling up for this project underscores the importance having a flexible, expandable system. This allows our regular clients to take full advantage of the enhanced network capabilities of RTS intercoms without affecting the integrity of our usual touring setup.”

With the Grand Prix delivering a victory for Max Verstappen in front of his home crowd, it was the smooth running of the intercom system that was critical for Broadcast Rental. “With a race in Netherlands where a scale-up is necessary, having the right tools allows us to focus on our service without worrying about technical side of things,” concludes Broadcast Rental CCO, Frank Steenbeek.