Complete Canon kit upgrade for Romania’s largest independent TV channel

Over two years of the pandemic, TV and streaming numbers boomed and the demand for well-made TV increased accordingly.

Romanian broadcaster, Antena, wanted to invest heavily in future-proofing its production capabilities, through a reliable partner who could deliver on very short lead times. With a relationship dating back to 2016, Canon were the natural fit to help them increase their potential.

Company Name: Antena Group (Intact Media Group)
Location: Bucharest, Romania

“There is always a fight for the Canon cameras,” says Bogdan Oancea, Technical Director at Antena.

“Even if we had double, they’d be fully booked, seven days a week. All the production teams are fighting to get their hands on the Canon products!”

Bogdan says that all 22 units of the EOS C300 Mark III and EOS C200 are always fully booked, for use on anything from cooking shows to stand-up comedy. Thanks to these higher production values, viewership has increased in his eyes.

In terms of other Canon gear, the C70 is used for on-the-go news reporting – the 30 units of C70s are spread across Romania in different offices for journalistic purposes; while the EOS C300 Mark IIIs stay mainly in Bucharest.

Owned by Intact Media, Antena is part of Romania’s largest private media group. The broadcaster was looking for a large-scale overhaul of its production capabilities, so having multiple products available for immediate acquisition was imperative.

By ordering with Canon, they were able to order in bulk and be sure of a quick delivery time. And the new equipment has broadened their broadcasting horizons.

Producing shows across six channels, it’s easy to see how in-demand the Canon products are. Every type of TV show has its own unique challenges – and Antena produces them all.

Bogdan recalls how Canon PTZ cameras helped Antena navigate the challenges they faced when filming ‘Temptation Island’ a reality TV show set in Thailand.

“In Thailand, we had difficult weather with storms and rain. We ended up flying seven tonnes of equipment, including 23 Canon PTZ cameras, lights, and production control rooms, more than 7,500km around the world.”

Travel was one thing. Availability and acquisition of products was a whole other challenge. When dealer CBS first contacted Canon about the project, the aim was to deliver the PTZ cameras in less than 20 days.

“It was a fantastic achievement to get everything we needed and delivered on time, thanks to the support of Canon,” says Bogdan. “Canon took care of all the logistics. We couldn’t ask for more.”

Set across two Thai islands, the installation in its entirety was no small feat. But having set everything up in Romania before packing meant the PTZ cameras were good to go out of the box.

“The area we had to cover was vast for each island. It was a huge operation. The distances were very big, 200m in some cases from the production control room to the action,” Bogdan explains.

“All the PTZ operators were very happy to work with the Canon CR-N300 and CR-N500 cameras. The production team was also delighted with the broadcast quality of the images, considering them better than rivals.”

Another Canon product was put to the test in the production of the show ‘Dancing On Ice’. The Antena team used a hockey player and an EOS C300 Mark III attached to an easy rig to film the action close up.

It is the outstanding cinematic quality as well as the cost-effectiveness that drew Bogdan to the EOS C300 Mark III.

“The large DGO sensor is just, ‘WOW’! It makes the camera shine, generating HDR in real time. When our technicians saw the image, they knew it was the camera for us.”

With his technicians happy, Bogdan is certainly content with the relationship between Antena and Canon. “We need a strong partner. That’s why we work with Canon over others. For the product quality, the customer support and then the price.”

With a history of investment in high-quality equipment, it’s safe to say this long-standing business partnership is set to continue.