Rebuilding Iraqi Media

In an exclusive interview with Vijaya Cherian, Zaid Wattar, Managing Director of AV Solutions, a leading broadcast systems integrator in Iraq, talks about two recent TV projects undertaken in the country for media training, and the challenges of working in a politically volatile country

Iraqi systems integrator AV Solutions is in the final phase of completing a multi-million dollar project for the launch of Al Jamiya TV, an educational channel from Iraq’s Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Al Jamiya TV is the first TV channel in Iraq that specialises in broadcasting content related to the higher education sector. The channel will carry a mix of educational content, research productions, documentaries, specialised lectures and scientific conferences, in addition to news broadcasts related to the colleges and institutes in the country.

The project includes two fully equipped HD studios, kitted out with Sony cameras and switchers; a master control room (MCR) that is primarily fitted with Harris solutions, a SAT uplink system from Advent, two OB cars and editing suites.

“Iraq has seen several wars in the last couple of decades and one area that has suffered due to the political turmoil is the country’s education sector,” says Zaid Wattar, Managing Director of AV Solutions, who operates mainly from his office in Dubai.

“This channel is an initiative from the Iraqi government to revive the education and training sector in the country. This makes Al Jamiya TV an important media project. As an Iraqi company, we work primarily with projects in Iraq and give priority to those that have social relevance. This is part of our efforts to help redevelop our country.”

Al Jamiya is a government initiative that is intended to function like a university on television.

They approached AV Solutions to design the entire facility for them.

While the studios were already built, AV Solutions stepped in to procure the right equipment and integrate them for the project.

“We have a technical team that takes care of some parts such as air-conditioning and other areas that are specific to TV stations but otherwise, the client had the facility in place. We put in the lighting for the studio, the equipment for the various areas and undertook the full broadcast part of the project,” explains Alaa Mohammed, AV Solutions’ Manager in Baghdad, who takes care of all the operations and relations with clients and supervises the company’s project management in Iraq.

Al Jamiya TV presently boasts two studios — a large 350 sqm studio fitted with four cameras and a smaller 100 sqm studio comprising three cameras. Both studios operate independently. The studios are equipped with Sony HXC-100 cameras mounted on Vinten support systems. Key kit include the Sony MVS-3000 switchers. The main studio is equipped with an ABC camera crane from Movie tech in Germany.

“We represent many of the leading brands in the industry in Iraq so sourcing products also becomes easier,” says Wattar.

The facility is attached to the College of Media in Baghdad University, thereby, giving students the opportunity to make training in broadcast part of the curriculum.

“Just like you build a hospital beside a medical college, it makes sense to have a TV facility next to the College of Media,” explains Wattar.

AV Solutions also undertook the lighting for both studios. Lights were sourced from ARRI and Photon Beard.

“We have primarily used cool or fluorescent lights for the studios mixed with some tungsten lighting. Photon Beard did not have HMI daylights so we sourced these from ARRI. The client required HMI daylights for their mobile kits.”

The systems integrator adds that the end user may opt for LED lighting for decorative purpose at some later stage.

“LED lights are more expensive. At present, the end user was keen to put in place quality equipment for training and to enable the broadcast of this 24/7 education channel. For now, fluorescent lights serve the purpose. They are more widely used, economical and generate lesser heat.”

The next part of the workflow is the gallery, which includes a Yamaha Digital audio mixer, the MVS-3000 – the latest Sony 2ME multi-format video switcher, as well as HDV VTRs. The project includes a mix of monitoring systems from Sony and Marshall Electronics, and some of those monitors receive signals from the built-in multiviewer processor inside the Sony switcher itself.

The lighting is controlled from the studio gallery. The MCR is primarily run by Harris solutions including the Harris Nexio servers, Harris 3G-SDI routers, the IconMaster MCR switcher and glue core processors.

“The facility is geared to allow you to play out recorded content or to go live and play out from the studio itself. They also have two OB cars for outside production of news and events, in additon to editing suites and creative suites,” explains Wattar.

The facility is equipped with five edit suites that include 3ds Max and Avid Media Composer systems.

“There are five Avid Media Composer standalone suites. The latest Media Composer V6.5 has been installed on HP Z820 workstations with Avid Nitris DX multi-format I/O hardware.

The transmission of the main channel is via a SAT uplink earth station that has been installed at the roof of the facility. This part of the project is equipped with a 2.4m fixed antenna with Advent DVE5100 HD/SD exciters, Ericsson HD/SD IRDs, XICOM 400W TWTA amplifiers and Rohde & Schwarz spectrum analyser.

“Everything includes an additional completely redundant system,” explains Managing Director Wattar.

The playout system has a six bi-directional channels server, which allows for the simultaneous ingest and playout of six channels in total, all on the same shared storage system. This enables the channel to have more flexibility for playout operators.

AV Solutions has a fairly large operation in Baghdad, with 23 staff members managing most of the broadcast projects across the country. Its office in Dubai comprises nine people and primarily manages the administrative and financial affairs of the company.

“We need an office in a place like Dubai, which is a hub. We prefer to ship products from manufacturers to Dubai. We keep our inventory at our Jebel Ali Free Zone warehouse. From here, it is sent to Iraq. We sometimes build and assemble systems and cars here but most of the other projects are put together in Iraq itself,” explains Wattar.

Logistics has been an issue owing to the political turmoil in Iraq as a result of which AV Solutions has always routed products through Dubai.

“Things were not so simple earlier on,” explains Wattar.

“It used to be a huge challenge, when we first began operations in 2005. Dubai did not issue visas to Iraqis easily back then. Manufacturers were not willing to go to Iraq to train the end user. Lebanon and Jordan were the middle ground back then. We would ship items to Lebanon. They would be shipped from there and assembled in Iraq. We would bring the end user to Lebanon or Jordan for training.

“In the last year, visas have been easier to get. Plus, we get the manufacturers and end users together in Kurdistan – the northern region, which is considered safer than Baghdad and Southern Iraq,” explains Wattar.

In recent years, the availability of training facilities in Dubai from most of the brands AV Solutions represents including Sony, Avid and Harris has made it easy to bring end users to one spot for training, he says.

“This does not mean that we take only the brands we represent,” Wattar is quick to explain.

“There are times, when clients question why we pick one brand over the other even if there are more cost-effective alternatives. Over the years, we have found that some products work better in some areas of the workflow than the others and integrate better. To avoid any glitches later on, it’s always best to put together solutions that you know work well together.”

The commissioning for the whole system will take place in March 2013. Some of the training will also take place in Dubai.

“Training takes anywhere between seven and ten days,” explains Wattar.

“If we have a government end user, they usually feel more comfortable being trained by the manufacturer.”

Since its launch in 2005, AV Solutions has undertaken more than 60 projects for Iraqi clients, claims Wattar.

The son of Salah Karam, well-known famous Iraqi filmmaker and director, Wattar, an engineering graduate chose broadcast integration over production although he is familiar with both parts of the business.

“We have worked closely with the government of Iraq, which has stringent guidelines on who can bid for a project. We have undertaken the most number of projects in our country,” he says.

In the meantime, AV Solutions is presently working on at least six different projects in Iraq. Although the country has seen turbulent times, this system integrator stood its ground and has succeeded in making itself a leading player in the country.