When the mixing desk packed up in Budapest

Everything was running like clockwork for over an hour at the Puskas Arena. The Werkself led 1-0 at Ferencváros thanks to Moussa Diaby's early strike setting the team on the right track to the quarter-finals of the Europa League. Niko Hartmann and Cedric Pick, the two Werkself Radio commentators, kept Black and Red fans not at the game in touch with events on the pitch with expertise and emotion. But then: radio silence. Not a sound. The broadcast was interrupted. A technical knockout after 75 minutes. That had never happened before since Werkself Radio started exactly five years earlier to the day.

228 games

Up to that point, the technical equipment had done its job reliably for 228 games in succession. And now a short message via Messenger: "We can't hear you any more." Of course, the Hartmann/Pick duo immediately looked for the malfunction. The Internet connection was there. A restart was no help. It quickly became clear that the acoustic signal was no longer transmitting due to the hardware. Xenyx, the mixing desk, had given up the ghost. That certainly paid tribute to its longevity. Fortunately at a relatively relaxed point in proceedings. "Obviously, we were annoyed that we couldn't describe the goal when Amine Adli made it 2-0 on 81 minutes," said Cedric Pick. "It was the first time we were unable to broadcast a Werkself goal live." It could have been worst. The penalty shootout in Monaco would have been the worst case scenario.

Frustration was kept in bounds even if the unprovoked slip-up put the thoroughbred radio man Niko Hartmann in a bad mood for a while in Budapest. But the lifetime of technical devices also comes to an end some day. Xenyx had certainly done a good job for a long time given the amount of use. If there was such a thing as a log then the mixing desk could show its real worth. While similar devices are often only used fixed in situ, the good old Xenyx was constantly on the road. All over Germany in any case. But also in the whole of Europe.

29,000 kilometres covered

Well housed in a hard protective case, it often had to deal with a lot and handle a wide range of conditions at European away games. It had to perform in 35 degrees in the shade in Seville as well as at minus in Moscow. And it wasn't always handled with care by security staff at airports. "Even though it sounds funny: You almost build up an emotional relationship with the thing, speak to it nicely before the game and ask it not to leave you in the lurch," said Pick with a smile. Nothing happens without the mixing desk. It's the key component for every broadcast. Whether down the road in Cologne, as in the first time in March 2018, or later in Rasgrad in Bulgaria, in Larnaca on Cyprus, in Madrid, Turin, Porto, Glasgow or even at Hapoel Be’er Sheva close to Mount Hebron in Israel. 29,000 kilometres covered in 22 trips in 13 European countries was clocked up by the Xenyx. On top of that there are countless kilometres on the Deutsche Bahn for Bundesliga games and DFB Cup ties.

33,200 minutes of broadcasting

Hartmann and Pick broadcast 553 hours (or 33,200 minutes) with this mixing desk for Werkself Radio from the BayArena as well as other German and European cities. No wonder it left a trail. A couple of mixing desk controls and several buttons were missing. "Nevertheless, all the settings functioned perfectly right up to the end," declared Hartmann. Of course, before every game there is a test session with Heiko Schulz, head of the digital development section at Bayer 04, who checks connection and sound quality from Leverkusen and then gives the thumbs up. "Our settings vary somewhat depending on the size and acoustics of the particular stadium. In addition, there are different conditions in terms of Internet connection and bandwidth on site that sometimes makes it exciting. Setting up on site and checking everything can last for up to half an hour," said Schulz.

In addition to the mixing desk, setting up includes a networked laptop that sends the signals out to a streaming provider, two headsets for the Hartmann/Pick duo plus a range of cabling. Everything tidily stored in the case. Normally. Once, at a Champions League group match away to Locomotive Moscow, the two of them had forgotten to pack a small but crucial cable. And, as nobody was able or willing to help on site, Pick set out searching 30 minutes before kick-off. He walked through the catacombs of the stadium, saw an open door to an unoccupied office with a coffee machine running. He went to the switch and took then required cable. The broadcast was saved. Bayer 04 won 2-0 with a wonder goal from Sven Bender.

"The 30 seconds in the office with the longest of my life," said Pick, "it would have been embarrassing if somebody had caught me red-handed. I felt like I was in the wrong film. But it can't happen with life of thousands of kilometres and end up not being able to broadcast due to the absence of a bog standard USB cable." Of course, he returned the loaned cable after the game.

10 Seconds for unplanned stop

The fact that five years ago saw the start of every Black and Red match being broadcast by Werkself Radio is down to boldness and battling commitment of the two commentators. Sometimes things were incredibly tight. Niko Hartmann mentioned the trip to the cup game at Lokomotive Leipzig in August 2021 where he had to commentate on his own unusually. But he realised he was on the wrong train and the next stop was not Leipzig main station but Berlin-Südkreuz and he started to worry. The fault actually lay a with a newspaper colleague who pointed to the train when changing in Frankfurt but he then got off in Halle to continue the journey in a hire car. Looking back today, Hartmann can laugh about it: "I was in a right mess, I told the train staff about the seriousness of the situation and explained I had to be in Leipzig for kick-off, which would not have been possible if I had to stay on board until Berlin-Südkreuz." And the train driver was persuaded to make an unplanned stop in Bitterfeld. “A so-called emergency stop, the guard told me I had ten seconds to get off before the train moved off again. I will always be grateful to Deutsche Bahn for their help," said Hartmann. He called his newspaper colleague at the station in Bitterfeld and he picked him up with the hire car. Hartmann got to his seat at the Bruno Plache Stadium with just ten minutes to go before the start of the Werkself Radio broadcast. Everything turned out well again.

Exactly the same as at the end of February 2022 with the Bundesliga home game against Arminia Bielefeld when both commentators were ill with coronavirus at the same time. Thankfully, the reporters for the visually-impaired, Philip Heuser and Jan Zimmerman were able to step into the breach from the South Stand.

35,500 listeners for game in Monaco

Sometimes you have to improvise. And even though there is a briefing session with the individual club before every away game, with Bayer 04 communicating requirements for broadcasting, the situation on site is not always ideal. Sometimes the local firewall is not configured correctly and causes irritation or the promised Internet connection at the seat is missing as in Bruges. It's good to have a 20 metre long LAN cable so you can connect up at the other end of the press box. The same problem confronted Pick and Hartmann recently in Monaco. And once again colleagues in the press box at the Stade Louis II helped out.

The second leg of the Round of 32 in the Europa League broke all broadcasting records. 35,500 listeners tuned in to Werkself Radio for the clash in the principality including the penalty shootout. The success story was reflected in the listening figures that have trebled up to today.

A development that is again based on solid foundations. The night after the interrupted broadcast in Budapest, Heiko Schulz sent out a new mixing desk via express delivery: the same Xenyx model as before. It had demonstrated its value at the end of the day. And it made a successful debut in the 2-1 home win against Bayern Munich. A good omen for the next five years. At least.