Sky's broadcast coverage of the 2001-02 football season sees Audio-Technica AT835ST microphones called into action to convey the thrill of the crowd to the watching audience. The introduction of the AT835STs follows a series of successful tests carried out by Sky Sports audio consultants, Video Sound Services, during last year’s FA cup final and play-off games. Joint VSS owner and BAFTA-winning sound engineer Robert Edwards explains: "As technologies such as surround sound become widely available, television audiences expect to be transported to the stadium with realistic audio coverage delivered to their armchairs. We are constantly evaluating new equipment that will help us to keep pace with this changing demand and the AT835ST helps by providing a really strong ambient crowd noise. Traditionally we have used two closely matched mono microphones mounted onto the commentary boat, but there are great advantages to be had by moving to a single position stereo microphone. We evaluated a number of microphones and we found that the 835ST had everything we were looking for: simplicity, reliability and superb performance. The internal matrixing system also makes it easily compatible with the Dolby encoding system required to mix the games."Edwards, along with his VSS partner Ian Rosam, submits his specifications to Sky Sports, who hire the equipment from broadcast facilities company Visions. Sky then calls VSS in to co-ordinate the sound mix for the games. As well as a busy season of domestic football, Robert and Ian are currently in the midst of preparations for the 2002 World Cup Finals which are to be held in Japan and Korea, where they will work in conjunction with host broadcast organization HBS. Again, Audio-Technica microphones will be prominent in their recommendations, with AT835ST and AT895RK digital array systems brought in to handle sections of the world broadcast feed. Among a host of other programming, Video Sound Services also provide sound mixing for BBC's City Hospital and Channel 5's Night Fever programs. Audio-Technica has gained a wealth of experience in developing microphones for sporting broadcasts through its close relationship with the host broadcasters of the Olympic and Commonwealth games.
