Case Study

Digitisation of GBC’s Historic Tape Library by CJP

Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation partnered with CJP Broadcast Service Solutions to digitise its extensive tape archive, preserving decades of historical footage spanning from the 1970s to 2014. With tapes deteriorating and at risk of being lost, the project aimed to restore, convert, and future-proof the collection. Using expert restoration techniques and high-quality digital workflows, CJP worked to bring Gibraltar’s media heritage into the modern age while ensuring its long-term accessibility.

The Vision

Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) recognised the need to safeguard its archive, but preserving and digitising decades of historical footage required expert handling. CJP Broadcast Service Solutions was brought in to deliver a structured, phased approach to protect this irreplaceable collection while enabling seamless integration of historical content into GBC’s modern broadcasts. The goal was to future-proof the archive, ensuring it remained an accessible and valuable resource for generations to come.

The Challenge

CJP faced the complex task of digitising GBC’s vast collection while ensuring the archive could be efficiently accessed and repurposed. The collection spanned multiple tape formats, many of which had deteriorated over time, making playback and conversion challenging. Without proper restoration and digitisation, much of this content risked being lost. CJP needed to implement a structured approach to recover, stabilise, and convert the footage while preparing it for seamless integration into GBC’s archive system for future use.

The CJP Solution

CJP was selected by GBC for this critical task. The project, divided into three phases, involved the meticulous process of digitising GBC’s entire tape library.

Assessing and Restoring the Archive

CJP began by cataloguing the tapes, assessing their condition, and identifying those at risk of deterioration. Many tapes suffered from ‘sticky shed syndrome’, a condition that made playback difficult. This meant it required careful restoration techniques, including ‘baking’ – a controlled heating process that temporarily stabilises magnetic tapes for playback.

Precision Digitisation and Format Conversion

Using state-of-the-art technology, CJP transcribed the content into uncompressed 10-bit format to maintain the highest quality. The footage was then transcoded into IMX 10 for long-term archival use. Real-time conversion ensured the integrity of the original recordings while maximising recoverable content.

Integrating Historic Footage into Modern Broadcasts

A key milestone was CJP’s successful integration of digitised footage into GBC’s coverage of the 2019 Island Games. This allowed historic clips to enhance live broadcasts, providing greater depth and historical context while showcasing the value of the preserved archive.

Ensuring Future Access and Reuse

In the final phase, CJP worked closely with GBC to integrate the digitised archive into a structured system, making it easily searchable and accessible. This ensures Gibraltar’s media history remains preserved while allowing GBC to repurpose content for future programming, research, and documentation.

“I would suggest that we’ve actually been able to recover about 90% to 95% of material… we have had good success rate, we only lost about 4 to 5% of the taps so far, so it’s a very very good result”

Chris Phillips, Founder & Managing Director, CJP Broadcast Service Solutions

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