Brooklyn, N.Y.-based production company Space Station Media is helping MTV bring back its MTV Unplugged series, this time for an online audience. Space Station recently recorded concert performances in HD for the program in New York City using Remote Digital Media’s tapeless HD production flypack, which features the FOR-A HVS-300HS HD/SD portable video switcher.

A stripped-down musical performance show first established in 1989, the new MTV Unplugged debuted online on June 8 with performances by Adele. Her performance of the song "Cold Shoulder" will be added into the music video rotation on MTV and MTV2. The entire show will also be broadcast in HD on Palladia, Viacom's HD music television network. A second program featuring the band Silversun Pickups debuted in July.

Unlike large venue concert performances, MTV Unplugged demands an intimate setting, so the stage for Adele was set in a brownstone in New York City’s Gramercy Park. According to Space Station president and CEO Matthew Mills, who also served as director and executive producer of MTV Unplugged, the Remote Digital Media flypack takes advantage of the HVS-300HS switcher’s compact 1RU main unit size, as well as its robust array of additional features suitable for live productions.

“Our location forced us to be in really tight quarters, which meant the compact design of the flypack was very helpful,” Mills said. “We made good use of the switcher’s built-in multi-viewer as well, and set up all our monitoring needs with a 50-inch plasma.”

Mills considered Remote Digital Media’s HVS-300HS production flypack a portable network studio in a bag. “Being able to set up a five-camera shoot and full control room capabilities in a small venue without needing a huge production truck was a considerable advantage for this production,” he said. “In terms of cost savings and ease of use, the flypack with the HVS-300HS switcher really delivered a robust solution.”