Grass Valley HD switchers set to tackle live broadcast and event coverage of Super Bowl XLV
February 4, 2011
This year’s NFL Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas will be broadcast live on Sunday, February 6th, by the FOX Broadcasting Company in the 720p high-definition format for the US market. The latest HD production technology from Grass Valley will be there to catch all of the action, as it has for the past several years, on board mobile production trucks from Game Creek (Hudson, N.H.) and NEP Supershooters (Pittsburgh, Penn.).
Game Creek’s “FOX” trucks will handle the main game coverage for FOX, while their “Liberty” truck will be used to cover pre-game events (including a performance by country music star Keith Urban), halftime, and post-game coverage and “Patriot” for other game-related shows. Game Creek will also send some of its other trucks to cover Super Bowl XLV activities for ESPN, leading up to and including numerous game day events.
The massive FOX truck—actually made up of two 53-foot expando HD production trailers and two 53-foot non-expanding production/support trailers—features both a 4.5 M/E, 96-input Grass Valley Kayenne™ HD Video Production Center and a Kayak™ HD video production switcher. Liberty carries a 4.5 M/E, 96-input Kayenne on board while the Patriot truck features a 4 M/E, 90-input Kalypso™ HD switcher with Grass Valley Dual-Twin Channel HD GVeous™ digital video effects system.
NEP’s “Denali Silver” will help produce the halftime show, featuring the Black Eyed Peas, with a Grass Valley Kalypso HD switcher, while its SS25 and SS18 (each with multiple LDK 8000 cameras and a Kalypso HD switcher, with SS25 also sporting a Trinix router), and other rigs will be on site in Dallas to provide coverage for the NFL Network, NFL Films, and NFL International.