Whisper Cymru opens Cardiff remote production facility

Whisper Cymru, Creative Wales, Cardiff Capital Region, Tramshed Tech, and Channel 4 have announced the opening of a remote production centre in Cardiff, Wales. 

Named the Cymru Broadcast Centre, the facility has been designed to be one of the most accessible remote production hubs in Europe, and is based at Tramshed Tech. It includes a central apparatus room, two production control rooms and sound control rooms, a master control room, multiple edit suites, two production offices and a multiplex. Connectivity is provided by BMC over Open Reach and Ogi fibre.

The first production to use the facility will be Channel 4’s Paralympics coverage from 28 August. This will see more than 1,300 hours of content produced from the centre by over 200 people, including 300 hours of coverage for linear, plus 1,000 hours of coverage on 16 live streams. 

Timeline TV has helped to design and equip the centre, and will run it following the Paralympics. More international productions are set to use the space, and a series of entry-level training schemes are also planned to use the space. Whisper was part of a live sport production bootcamp that took place in Cardiff earlier this year.

In addition to creating the facility, Media Cymru and Channel 4 co-funded research and development around accessibility in live production in conjunction with The Ability People - with the hope of acting as a case study for other technical facilities to use as best practice and to share learnings.

To this end, the facility includes a changing spaces toilet, wide walkways, ramps, power-assisted doors and accessible signage. Its colour schemes and signage have also been designed to ensure the Cymru Broadcast Centre can be used by as wide a range of people as possible.

Stuart Frayne, broadcast engineer at Tata Communications for the past two-and-a-half years, becomes head of technical operations at the Cymru Broadcast Centre. He has also worked in similar roles at the BBC and Tinopolis. 

Frayne said: “As an engineer working in live production across entertainment, news and sport broadcast, I’ve been involved in large global events such as ATP Tennis, F1, Moto GP, 2022 FIFA World Cup, the 2023 Ryder Cup and Wimbledon 2024. It’s a fantastic opportunity to be heading up the technical facilities here at the first fully-accessible remote production facility in Wales. Along with our partners Timeline TV, who bring a wealth of experience in both conventional broadcast technologies and the latest in remote production innovations, the Broadcast Centre’s flexible design can facilitate a wide range of production solutions.

“On a personal note, it’s great to have a facility like this in Wales, bringing me back home. I’m looking forward to inspiring the next generation of technical broadcast talent and seeing how the facility can leave a lasting impact on the wider broadcast community in Wales.”

Sunil Patel, co-founder and CEO of Whisper, said: “The vision back in 2019 was always to meaningfully invest into Wales, focusing on people and global production. Hiring the best local talent and nurturing the next generation was at the forefront of our plans – and we now have a 30+ strong team in Cardiff, as well as the Whisper Academy.

“Bringing the C4 2024 Paris Paralympics to Cardiff means it will be one of the biggest sporting productions to come out of the nation, with more to come in 2025. The Cymru Broadcast Centre is the crystallisation of an idea that will impact positive change within Wales and leave a lasting legacy. This goes down as a special moment at Whisper.”

Alex Mahon, CEO of Channel 4, added: “The realisation of the state of the art, fully accessible Cymru Broadcast Centre in Cardiff chimes with everything Channel 4 stands for. It’s a wonderful example of what can be achieved when we pull together with a focus to make our industry accessible to everyone. It’s a fabulous asset for Cardiff and I’m genuinely thrilled that its inaugural broadcast will be Channel 4’s coverage of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.”

Councillor Mary Ann Brocklesby, Leader of Monmouthshire County Council and Chair of Cardiff Capital Region (CCR) Committee, said: “The Cymru Broadcast Centre is a fine example of partnership working, and a testament to the growing creative industries, one of the key priority sectors in our Region. This project aligns beautifully with CCR’s core objectives within our Regional Economic and Industrial plan including research and innovation, green technology initiatives, infrastructure development, as well as skills and training, so that our Region draws in, but also retains local talent. I’m pleased that our CCR funding, alongside Welsh Government and Whisper Cymru, is enabling some of the world’s biggest sporting events to be live broadcast from Cardiff to audiences around the world. It’s an absolute credit to everyone involved, and excitement is palpable with the imminent Paralympics soon to start.”

The Welsh Government’s Minister for the Creative Industries, Jack Sargeant, commented: “I’m so pleased that the Welsh Government and Creative Wales have been working closely with Whisper, Tramshed Tech, and Cardiff Capital Region to establish the Cymru Broadcast Centre. This state-of-the-art facility brings substantial investment and new opportunities to Cardiff, further strengthening our capital’s reputation as a leader in the film and television industry. The fact that it is one of the most accessible remote production hubs in Europe ensures that opportunities in this sector are open to all. This investment not only boosts our creative sector but also highlights Wales’s commitment to innovation and inclusivity on a global scale.”