[bbctvtechop]

BNCS (as above, Broadcast Network Control System) is the glue behind the BBC's broadcasting infrastructure.

It is basically setup to control and get feedback from various bits of hardware and display/allow control on a touchscreen. The whole process of getting correspondents on air, for example, is entirely controlled by BNCS from MCR down to the gallery via a telephone assignment for clean feed. For example:


[*]MCR will receive an incoming satellite A/V feed and assign it to the incoming side of a News Package (an internal 2-way A/V feed)
[*]MCR will dial a telephone number for that correspondent and assign it to the outgoing version of the same News Package
[*]Gallery B will then assign (eg) News Package 29 to their (say) OS3 line and "take control"* of the line.
[*]This then allows Gallery B to speak and send programme audio down News Package 29 and for the correspondent to have a conversation with the gallery/presenter.
[*]If (say) Gallery E then assigns News Package 29 to one of their OSs, they will be able to see and hear incoming, but as they do not have control* of the line, they cannot speak or send audio. They can request control, which puts them (and any other gallery who requests, in chronological order) into a queue.
[*]If Gallery B drops control*, Gallery E will automatically move to the top of the queue and receive control* of the line.
[*]Some BNCS workstations set with extended privileges (mostly in MCR type areas) can boot someone out of control and change the order of the queue using their own BNCS touch screen.


* The official BNCS terminology is "2-way Clean Feed" rather than "Control" but I prefer the latter as it's more descriptive and doesn't confuse the (audio world) clean feed meaning. 

BNCS is also used at the BBC for:


[*]Network control/downstream viz engine assigning of outgoing gallery feeds to neywork/con. Operates in a similar way to above - so Gallery 54D can select the appropriate downstream viz engine for their lower thirds, and then offer themselves up on a network line to Red Bee
[*]Controlling the Langham/Millbank/Newsroom/Business Newsroom PTZ cameras
[*]Turning on/off on-air lights
[*]Incoming and outgoing ISDN calls
[*]Toggling audio clean feeds to specific OSs
[*]Even unlocking a CCTV controlled door!


Not every panel has access to everything, generally you can only control the stuff in the same gallery, but it is a very flexible system in that pretty much any hardware with some kind of Internet connectivity can be controlled in some way. It's completely networked and synchronised so one change on one panel will reflect immediately on other panels controlling the same systems. 

Worth mentioning that it was a minor fault with a single BNCS panel in Peel Wing which took down the whole of BBC News (and a lot more) and resulted in Fiona Bruce's notorious "police escort" to Millbank for the News at Six a few years ago!

Feel free to message me with any more questions - I've used lots of versions of BNCS in different configs/privilege states and for lots of different uses!