The Challenge
Broadcasting live theatre from London’s West End to Hulu Japan meant working in one of the hardest environments in the country for traditional outside broadcast. Narrow Georgian and Edwardian streets, laid out centuries before television existed, leave no room for satellite trucks. Permits for broadcast vehicles in central London take weeks to secure and carry hefty fees, and the alternative was running heavy cable hundreds of metres through busy pedestrian areas, every run needing its own planning and safety assessment.
The Constraints
- No room for a truck — narrow historic streets built centuries before television existed leave nowhere to park a satellite truck.
- Slow, costly permits — broadcast vehicle permits in central London take weeks to secure and carry hefty fees.
- Cable as the only alternative — running heavy cable hundreds of metres through busy pedestrian areas, with every run needing its own planning and safety assessment.
- Costs that multiply with complexity — insurance rises to cover a complicated public-space setup, extra staff are needed to rig and monitor cabling, and a shortage of suitable parking often forces a compromise on transmission position.
The Solution
Our transmission kit removed all of it. Compact enough to fit in a standard suitcase and carried in by train and tube, it connected directly to the theatre’s existing internet and delivered a broadcast-quality feed to Japan with no vehicles and no cable runs. Instead of a full satellite truck team the job needed one engineer, and instead of days spent securing permits and planning cable routes, the system was installed and tested in under 15 minutes.
“Friendly, immensely helpful engineer with proper kit and outstanding level of knowledge of networks. Honest pricing. 100% would recommend Adapt Media Services.”
— Takashi O’Rourke, Don Productions
The Result
Don Productions’ team could concentrate on capturing the performance rather than working around the broadcast. Beyond the vehicle and permit fees, they saved on insurance and staffing, with fewer technical crew on site cutting both operational and environmental cost.
In urban broadcasting, bigger is not always better. Sometimes the most powerful solution is the one that fits in a suitcase.