Italian private TV network operator Mediaset has chosen a 42-fader Studer Vista 8 digital audio console for its newly built audio production studio. It’s the second Studer Vista 8 for the broadcaster.

In Rome, Mediaset is using a Studer Vista 8 console for news programming on Canale 5. Completed at the end of 2006, the building includes all production facilities necessary for the adjoining 6500sq-ft studio. Among other projects coming out of this location is the daily show “Forum,” which is filmed in front of a live audience of 80 and broadcast on Mediaset’s Rete 4 commercial channel.

Though Mediaset’s HD transmissions started this year with soccer programs, the studio’s full multichannel surround-sound capability will be used in the future. For Mediaset, the move to digital audio and the new facility will be used a template for other audio studios in the corporation.

Mediaset’s TV holdings include networks Canale 5, Italia 1 and Rete 4, and it is the main competitor to the state broadcaster, RAI.

For more information, visit www.studer.ch.