NEP Australia has recently announced the launch of its second-generation Andrews Hub. It was opened in 2017 and is one of its centralised production centres. NEP group is expanding its networknd global production ecosystem. Its main facilities are located in Sydney and Melbourne and its satellite locations, or “spokes”, in Adelaide and Brisbane. The production centre has supported numerous clients in producing shows across continents. The upgrade of the production centre allows it to support all-4K HDR broadcasts through the facilities built for Tier 1 live sports coverage.

As part of its expansion, NEP will build four new control rooms and upgrade its Network Operations Centres to meet increased demand. Work areas for shading and HDR grading of footage before it goes on air will be added, as well as new “mini” studios and commentary suites for on-screen, off-tube commentary.

Other advancements include the expansion using 100% IP, scalable technology, designed to have the lowest possible impact on the environment; the introduction of the “hybrid grip,” a tender/grip trailer with on-board streaming technology; NEP will also deploy a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) package to its broadcast control and orchestration platform.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in the number of projects we’ve covered through the Andrews Hub due to COVID-19,” said Marc Segar, NEP’s VP of Enterprise Architecture. “While we were able to add temporary control rooms and remote location ‘spokes’ in Brisbane and Adelaide to get us to where we are today, building the next-generation Andrews Hub facilities in Sydney and Melbourne will further enable us to meet just about any production challenge or configuration for our clients.”