Setting up the infrastructure for the media
Two facts stood out from the early days of this project. There was enormous media interest - hence a demand for a considerable infrastructure requiring a large piece of ground.
However, the ground in question was Green Park and in particular, the south side in the tree covered shady area, where the grass struggles to grow. We were particularly keen to minimise the damage to this area and had to constantly look at optimising the use of space. The trees were convenient for the multitude of cable runs but the tree cover affected the satellite link position. The edit suites and uplink positions were subsequently situated 200 metres north of the main broadcast compound in a clear part of the park.
The Golden Jubilee Weekend Festival was subject to an unprecedented agreement with the broadcasting organisations. BBC, ITV and SKY all acquired joint host broadcast status, which basically meant three fully independent outside broadcast operations in one ‘venue’. Notwithstanding the arrangements for the host broadcasting companies, ABC, NBC, CBS (from the USA), CBC (Canada), ZDF and ARD (Germany) were all anchoring their daily output from the location. In all, there were over twenty major broadcasting companies transmitting live from the site.
The broadcasting facility comprised two double decker studio structures north and south of the Queen Victoria Memorial. Each structure had over 300 square metres of studio space based on 5 × 5 metre individual modules. All studios commanded panoramic views of Buckingham Palace from their picture windows.
The host broadcast village was kept down to a compact 6500 square metres with additional areas for the edit suite tent (30 × 20 metres) and a compound of 3000 square metres for the Foreign Broadcast Service, the European Broadcasting Union and their affiliates. There was also an area of 1000 square metres for broadcast and media catering.
One aspect of the planning process for so many broadcasters was that a consolidated approach to camera towers and positions was going to be time consuming. ‘Every action provokes a reaction’ Eventually, an agreement was reached to build 19 TV camera towers and 3 towers for stills cameras. In addition to these camera platforms, we installed a TV platform on the roof of Admiralty Arch for long shots down The Mall towards the facade of Buckingham Palace. Extensive telephone and ISDN facilities were also supplied to the broadcasters and media.
In addition to the double decker studios, 400 square metres of outdoor presentation space was provided by Canada Gate. Due to the scheduling of the dress rehearsal of The Trooping of the Colour, this substantial and tiered platform had to be built in a very short space of time.
On the Queen Victoria Memorial, attention was paid to the finish of all structures built for TV and stills photographers. The structures were clad and scenic artists were engaged to paint the cladding to match the stonework of the memorial.
