LinkedIn Media Production Network
In 2015, Linkedin, the world’s largest professional network, established a mandate to develop a media production network commensurate with the company’s scope and vision. Gary Schneider, Manager of Broadcast Systems Engineering for Linkedin Media Productions, had a vision of how to do this, and came to DCA with a unique challenge.
First, systems should use standards-based IP transport to ensure longevity and to allow multi-vendor participation. Second, the production values should be commensurate with broadcast quality. Finally, a tight partnership with Linkedin’s WAN group was necessary to leverage the growing global corporate network for production purposes.
This pointed to SMPTE standards, and the latest generation of broadcast video over IP technology from Grass Valley, a Belden brand. Challenge number one: these products were in pre-release at the time the project started, and adopting them would require a flexible architecture to allow rolling design changes as the technology evolved. Challenge number two: the rollout of new spaces was on a tight timeline and could not wait for new technology.
DCA met the challenge by assembling a purpose-built team to approach the project from multiple angles: facility requirements, IP media networking, internetworking for multi-site operations, broadcast video engineering, audio engineering, and project management.
The first facility to be built, in downtown San Francisco, was an All-Hands production space with an associated control room. This would serve as the primary central production control until the Sunnyvale Master Control facility could be rolled out, approximately one year later. The LMP network consists now of four facilities in the Bay Area, including one studio/edit center, three All-Hands meeting spaces, two with central, networked production control rooms.
Linkedin Media Productions is on the leading edge of broadcast/AV technologies with their new capabilities and DCA is proud to be their technology integrator.
