Slovenia - Pro Plus is the leading media company in Slovenia, which constantly generates new trends through the two TV channels with the greatest audience shares in Slovenia - POP TV and Kanal A, as well as through its topical TV channels - BRIO, KINO and OTO. Pro Plus has recently invested in 12 x Robe LEDWash 800s and eight MMX Spots for its main facility in Ljubljana.

A wide variety of talent, reality and talk shows are produced by Pro PLUS together with their acclaimed 24-hour news services. They own several studios, with the largest - Studio 4 - accommodating up to three separate productions simultaneously. This is where the Robes are currently installed.

The lighting department is primarily responsible for the white light elements of the shows - which is the main reason

USA - LED video display manufacturer PixelFLEX has appointed Alexander Williams as its new director of project management.

"I am very excited to announce Alexander in the newly created position of director of project management," said Monty Rains, PixelFLEX president and COO. "In this role, Alex will lead a team of talented technical and production management professionals who will provide client support for events, installations and direct sales of our PixelFLEX line of products and services."

As a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, Alex has travelled the world working with a number of corporations and touring artists. Prior to joining PixelFLEX, he made his start in the entertainment industry as a video engineer, and has also worked as a video director, sales engineer, and in project management for other corporations.

(Jim Evans)

Switzerland - Swiss manufacturer Schertler has announced the release of JAM, the third member of its "next generation" acoustic amplifier series. Representing an evolution of the company's best-selling JAM 150 amplifier, this new 5-channel "all-rounder" offers greater flexibility in both live performance and studio situations. The amp combines a comprehensive feature set with the updated technology and enhanced "look" that is characteristic of all the models in this series.

Equipped with a 1" dome tweeter and 8" woofer, and featuring an optimized 2-way bass reflex construction, JAM offers 200W (150W + 50W) of bi-amplified power. The amplifier includes a balanced microphone (XLR) input, an unbalanced mic/instrument input and an input offering both balanced microphone and unbalanced mic/instrument options. Both instrument inputs feature a B

The Netherlands - Analog Way is exhibiting at ISE 2016 in February and will present the new VIO 4K, a premium multi-format converter, along with the NeXtage 08, the latest premium seamless switcher added to the LiveCore series. Also showcased on the booth will be the new firmware version for the Vertige remote controller that brings new features.

VIO 4K is a powerful multi-format converter offering the latest generation of digital connectivity. Natively equipped with seven inputs, VIO 4K enables the conversion of a multitude of signals including: Dual-link DVI, DisplayPort, HDMI, 6G-SDI Optical, and universal analogue, into an impressive array of output signal formats up to 4K 30Hz. VIO 4K was designed to provide optimum versatility; it includes three slots for optional I/O modules, two for video processing with capacity to handle formats up to 4K 60Hz 4:4:4 and one for audio p

UK / Netherlands - Cloud Electronics has announced additions to the recently launched CS-C in-ceiling speaker series, and will unveil three new speaker models at ISE 2016 for contracting audio installations in retail, hospitality, commercial and leisure.

The new premium speaker models include the CS-C3, a 3" full-range in-ceiling speaker, the CS-S3, a 3" full-range surface speaker and the CS-SSUB8 a versatile 8" passive surface subwoofer, a companion for the surface and ceiling models. All speakers adopt an architectural aesthetic, are available in black or white and feature ZeroEdge grilles which makes them suitable for most environments including restaurants, hotels, leisure centres, houses of worship and retail stores.

Having already introduced a 5, 6 and 8-inch in-ceiling speaker range with the CS-C Series in 2015, the new full-range CS-C3 3" ceiling

Italy - Lighting designer Giovanni Pinna is the man behind the light setting of Tiziano Ferro's (TZN) latest indoor tour in second half of 2015. He opted for the SGM Q-7 multi-purpose LED luminaire even before realizing the full potential of the fixture.

The popular Italian singer-songwriter within the genres of Latin, Pop and R&B, and known to sing also in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese obtaining his current sales figures of 15m records worldwide, toured the Italian stadiums during the summer with great success. Subsequently, Tiziano Ferro decided to do an indoor tour, maintaining the very strong concept of the video graphics dominating his show. Requiring a totally new lighting rig to support the video screen setup, production company Live Nation called upon lighting designer Giovanni Pinna to join the team adding his strong portfolio of developing quality designs.

UK - John Hornby Skewes & Co has released details of its new HK Audio Dealership Agreements. They have opted for "a Selective Distribution Agreement with a view to creating a tighter network of enthusiastic, committed, likeminded dealers".

There are three dealership options available for existing and new dealers to apply for including Reseller, Lucas Nano, and Commercial Partner options.

JHS executive director, sales and marketing Alan Smith explained, "Over time we'd noticed that our resellers had become very diverse with differing levels of commitment, and all of those resellers have varying levels of product presentation and technical understanding.

"We're creating a new network of dealers who will be creating the high-end quality environment in which we'd like HK Audio to be represented. It'll be a new and stronger partnership where we'll be invest

UK - Olympia's London International Horse Show attracted equestrian fans from across the globe, blending show-jumping competitions, horsemanship displays and festive shopping stalls - 15-21 December 2015.

Arena Seating installed 7,586 tiered temporary seats at Olympia - 5,191 were public Tip-up seats and the remaining 2,405 were upholstered Instyle VIP seats.

Within the venue, Arena Seating also installed press and competitor interview platforms home to the world's sports journalists for the week, follow spot platforms facilitating illuminations throughout equine performances, judge platforms offering a clear view of the indoor arena and hospitality platform supports.

Indoor arena entrance doors, jump stores, presentation areas, video screen supports, a bridged logo platform and ménage surface retaining walls were also supplied by Arena.

Arena Seating project ma

UK - Blackout added ITV's The Sound of Music Live! to their extensive list of television production projects after supplying truss and rigging to the live musical show, aired 20 December 2015.

Chris Brain, Blackout's project director oversaw a pre-rig before the set at London's Three Mills Studios was built, then worked closely with HG Event Production's Harry Guthrie and the lighting team installing the TV lighting over a three-week period.

The Blackout team were called upon to install 90 CM Lodestar motors, 600m of truss and 150m of pipe, and black wool serge drapes to mask the dressing room.

Chris explained, "The show was the first of its type, being shot live from numerous stages in the studio. This was such a special project to work on and we are proud to have been contracted to provide the truss, rigging and drapes on such a world-renowned live musical p

USA - A 24 channel Audient ASP8024 analogue mixing console is now at the heart of a new 1400sq.ft teaching facility at Lake Havasu High School's CTE (Career Technical Education) Audio Production Program. Remodelled earlier this year under the close supervision of its director, Sam Brindis, the upgrade of this new studio space - to be known as Knight House Studios - heralds the beginning of a new era for the Music & Audio Production Technology programme.

Brindis has adapted the course over the four years he's been at Lake Havasu High School with programme numbers steadily increasing from the initial 45 in his first year. "The programme used to be called Audio/Video; there was pretty much no audio whatsoever." That has certainly changed, with 160 students in regular contact with the desk today, learning basic recording techniques, tracking, mixing, signal flow and patch

UK - At Olympia's London International Horse Show, Blackout were entrusted for the 17th year running to supply all the drapes for the week-long festive equine extravaganza. The team used 3,000sq.m of black drapes to enclose the rear of the all the seating blocks in the Grand Hall, as well as all the entrance tunnels to the seating blocks.

For the sixth year running, Blackout helped maximise the presence of sponsoring brand H & M through the installation of advertising drapes near the main entrance of the venue.

Chris Brain, installations director at Blackout, commented, "It is a privilege to return to such a fantastic sporting event year on year. Despite the tight time schedules, the whole draping project was completed in just four days, which only serves testament to the wonderful work our team delivers."

(Jim Evans)

UK - Following a year of changes, PLASA is looking forward to a fresh new approach for 2016. With the de-merger from PLASA North America enabling the Association to re-focus its resources and push forward with plans to re-engage with its members, PLASA is now set to introduce a series of initiatives based on the constructive feedback gained from the industry.

Despite its difficulties, 2015 saw many positives for PLASA. At PLASA Media, Lighting&Sound International celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2015, having been confirmed by research completed by Fusion Insight & Strategy as the market leading magazine and by far the number one choice of readers in the marketplace. LSi also welcomed a new media sales team: commercial manager Andrew Organ and business development manager Greg Morley have quickly settled into their roles, and 2016 is shaping up to be LSi's most successf

USA - It is with great sadness that Syncrolite, LLC announces that Jimmy Page Henderson passed away on 5 January, 2016. Since 1969 Jimmy has been a fixture in rock 'n roll touring and concert promotion. His roots went deep into the heart of our industry starting with concert promotions, night club management and then joining founder Jack Calmes at Showco in 1972 as their first and only salesman. Jimmy saw it all and came to know everyone as he helped grow Showco from a simple two system sound company to a complete production company doing over 2000 live performances per year worldwide.

After leaving Showco in 1978 and working another round of concert promotion and venue management, Jimmy again teamed with Calmes to help build Syncrolite in 1991. Working at Syncrolite for the next 24 years Jimmy and Jack grew Syncrolite into the world leader in large format lighting for concerts

The Netherlands - tvONE is launching CORIOmaster and CORIOmaster mini 4K input & output modules and a new AV over IP module at ISE in Amsterdam (stand 1-M60). It will also be revealing a completely new innovation - details are as yet undisclosed.

CORIOmaster and CORIOmaster mini video wall processors offer anything in, anything out capability fully covering 4K. With the new 4K and AV over IP modules, the processors can accept IP streams up to 1080p, 4K file playback via USB3.0 and 4K still images - all on one card, in one slot.

Also new at ISE is the tvONE 1T-MV-8474 4K Multiviewer, the latest product in its range of 4K enabled products. The Multiviewer can display up to four video windows simultaneously via sixteen different fixed layouts, which can be recalled to present content in a variety of combinations. This could vary from a straight forward Quad split, Picture-In-Pi

Australia - Progressive metalcore band, Northlane, have just completed a sold out homecoming tour carrying an Allen & Heath iLive monitor system, comprising an iDR-32 MixRack with iLive Editor app for control.

Following the band's successful 2014 tour supporting Bring Me the Horizon, who own an iLive-R72 monitor system, Northlane decided to invest in their own compact iLive for touring.

Northlane purchased an iDR-32 MixRack to operate their touring in-ear monitor rig. By setting up the mix over a wireless connection with the iLive Editor app, the band is able to maintain a consistent monitor mix in any venue or practice space around the world.

"With the iDR-32 we can take our entire monitoring system with us on flights, plus having a quick set up at gigs and practice sessions is awesome," said guitarist, Josh.

Since the band's latest album, Node, hit number 1

USA - Bandit Lites continued its tradition of kicking off the New Year with legendary jam band Widespread Panic. The American rock group closed out their three night run at the Fox Theatre on New Year's Eve and featured both their original songs and covers of Bob Dylan, David Bowie and Leonard Cohen with guest performances by the Megablaster Horns.

As with previous years' massive New Year's Eve shows, lighting designer Paul Hoffman altered the band's touring rig from the previous fall tour.

"This year marks Panic's first return to the Fox Theatre since 2011, and we wanted to make an impression," he said.

And make an impression they did, using MAC Vipers, Robe BMFLs, Robe Pointes, Elation 2 Lite LED and GLP X4S's to give psychedelic and vibrant looks that have become synonymous with the group's performances.

The biggest change to the lighting design was the ad

UK - Channel 4's Big Fat Quiz of the Year is hosted by comedian Jimmy Carr and filmed at London Studios. It's a panel show made up of A-list celebrities who are put to the test to see who can remember the most about the year.

Regular lighting designer Chris Kempton returned for another year, supported by Richard Martin Lighting (RML). The show has now been running for over a decade and neither the set nor the lighting rig has changed much in recent years. As the age old saying goes - if it aint broke don't fix it!

Chris uses VL1000TS, VL2000 Wash, Chroma Strips, Pixellines, Pixel Par 90's and LED Birdies to complete the bright and bold design.

(Jim Evans)

UK - A ground breaking interactive audio installation is bringing China's 6,300 km Yangtze River to London Gatwick, using actual sounds recorded on the river.

Delta Sound have installed Bose FreeSpace DS100SEs along the length of the 194m Gatwick skybridge linking Pier 6 to Gatwick's North Terminal, to give passengers a real taste of the sounds of the river all the way from source to mouth.

The installation features over 100 hours of authentic sounds taken directly from 35 locations on the Yangtze, and complemented by a wall of colourful imagery showcasing the wildlife, nature and people who call the river home.

Called A Living River, the installation celebrates the work of HSBC's Water Programme and 15-year partnership with WWF, and was created by J Walter Thompson London, working with creative sound designer, Nick Ryan & technical sound designer Davey Williamson.

UK - S+H Technical supplied 360m of their ShowLED animation cloth, 20m of 1 and 2m Pea-light strings and 2000 x 4-channel DMX controlled Pea-lights - used to decorate three Christmas trees - for The Abba Christmas Party, a TV special produced by Thames, part of FreemantleMedia UK at the London Studios on the South Bank. The show was broadcast on Christmas Eve's ITV 1 prime time.

Production designer Joshua Grace created the 'Abba Lodge' - a super Christmassy, fun-filled Scandinavian inspired environment - in a nod to Abba's Swedish roots - and Festive Cabin for presenter Paddy McGuinness, who was joined by a host of music, TV and theatre stars.

They performed a wide range of Abba songs and shared their own personal Abba memories in a series of chat-style session, all celebrating of 41 years since Abba released their Greatest Hits album in 1975. An exclusive inte

UK - Space Productions, the in-house company at off-West End fringe venue the Space, has brought an original play, The Lighthouse, to its boards for the post-Christmas period. The play is written by promising new playwright Rachael Claye, who was recently long-listed for the Old Vic 12 mentoring scheme.

Resident Space sound designer, Keri Danielle Chesser has defined a complex 3D soundscape for the production, bringing the play truly alive for the audience, and once again using TiMax Soundhub 3D audio showcontrol matrix.

In this production, Chesser connects sound effects playback directly from the QLab Macbook into TiMax via a MOTU UltraLite MK3 Hybrid interface, which also provides MIDI commands from QLab. TiMax Group faders are used for any live volume changes, while all other mix elements are handled within QLab, with TiMax providing spatialisation via MIDI trigger

UK - HD Pro Audio has announced five new dates for Avid Venue | S6L training. The first session is being held on 26 January, with subsequent events on 29 February, 15 March, 19 April and 17 May.

The events will take place at John Henry's Studio Three in London N7 and will give engineers a comprehensive view of the features and operation of this advanced console, with some hands-on opportunity.

Training places are free, but limited, so anyone interested in attending should contact HD Pro Audio at info@hdproaudio.co.uk as soon as possible.

(Jim Evans)

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