When I watch The Sixers NBA games, I notice that all the home games are in HD, but the road games aren't. This could possibly be attributed to three things:

1. Comcast is cheap :).
2. Its a pain in the rear taking the HDTV gear on the road.
3. There's some kind of regulation that prohibits the network from setting up the HD equipment at someone elses arena.

ESPN is the same. Some NBA games are HD, some arent. The Pro Bowl (in Hawaii)was not HD, but the superbowl was...I'm guessing there something about the equipment that makes it difficult to pack and unpack it?

For live sports, HD providers rent HD mobile production trucks. That, along with the additional production costs, mean about 30% more to go from an SD broadcast to HD.

When a local HD production takes place, the truck owner has all the correct HD hardware to fulfill the specific local requirements. For out of town productions, it would be too expensive to have the required truck make the trip, along with other increased costs.

For Sixers, Flyers and Phillies road games, the cost of the HD fiber feed back to CSN has been too expensive to justify the HD production in light of the small but ever increasing HD viewership. I would expect to see more HD road games of the PHillies shown this year on CSN-HD though in light of the number of HD subscribers on Comcast and Verizon for CSN-HD.

SUPER BOWL BROADCAST BY CBS SPORTS POINTS TO POWER OF HD AS TECH CREW
BATTLES ELEMENTS
Feb 4, 2007 - 12:17:34 PM

By Ken Kerschbaumer

When CBS Sports offered the world the first unified HD Super Bowl
production from Houston three years ago the move required CBS to use
four of the five HD productions truck available in the U.S.

Three years later the Super Bowl compound in Miami for Super Bowl XLI
is awash in HD vehicles, a real-world example of the way HD has truly
taken over the industry. This year’s game also exemplifies how NFL
stadiums will need to step up their facilities to ensure quality HD
productions as the lighting in Dolphins Stadium was not up to Super
Bowl snuff.

“It’s an older stadium and we needed to supplement the lighting,”
says Ken Aagaard, CBS Sports SVP production and operations. During a
site visit measuring lighting levels the end zones were reading at
only 60 foot candles, well below the 175 foot candles specified by
the NFL.

“We brought in 16 soft light fixtures and deployed them around the
stadium to give us 180 foot candles evenly across the field,” says
Aagaard.

On Game Day, as was obvious to billions of viewers around the globe,
constant rain that started early on Super Bowl Sunday and continued
throughout the day upped the ante but there were only a few minor
equipment issues. Wind was the bigger concern as on-site sets had
roofs capable of withstanding gusts up to 40 MPH but rain turned out
to be the only weather concern. In fact, weather proved to be more of
a problem for the Bears and Colts than the technicians and gear that
covered the game.

In terms of new in-game production technology advances this year’s
Super Bowl production, based around NEP’s SS24 three-trailer HD unit
that also handles A game coverage for the NFL, were fairly limited.
Along with the NEP truck CBS relied on an NCP truck for pre-game and
Corplex truck for tape release.

More Super Slo-Mo

Topping the list was the use of even more HD slow-mo, in both the
regular 180-frames-per-second version from Sony (with six units on
hand) and three super high-speed cameras. Two of those units were
three-chip cameras built by NEC and offered by Fletcher Chicago while
the third was a Phantom ImageCam from Inertia Unlimited.

“The two NEC units ran between 180-220 frames while the Phantom
camera can shoot up to 1,000 frames per second,” says Aagaard. It can
only shoot in 11-second increments with an EVS server then playing
highlights to air. Both cameras on-air presence was denoted by the
SuperVision logo.

The additional super slo-mo cameras are what a Super Bowl production
are all about: making sure the directors and technical crews have
enough cameras shooting the action so just the right angle is
delivered to the billions of viewers. This year that meant 48 Sony HD
cameras and Canon lenses, with 21 hard cameras, three cabled handheld
cameras, and two RF handhelds and a CableCam. Toss in robotic
cameras, clock cameras, and unmanned cameras and the numbers keep on
climbing. All were tied into nearly 40 EVS units and five Sony HDCAM
units.

“The only reason you would have this many cameras and tape machines
is to make sure you can find the right replay,” says Aagaard.

The massive influx of replay sources also called for a new approach
to workflow. Like Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning needs to trust
that the offensive line will protect his back side Super Bowl
Producer Lance Barrow needs to trust that the production people who
are looking through the replays are offering up the best shots.
“Technically and operationally it allows us to work fast enough to
get all the replays,” says Aagaard.

Corplex Platinum handled tape release and supplemental game cameras.
Platinum housed and controled 17 cameras consisting of 10 Sony HDC
1500 cameras, four Sony 3300 Super slo-motion cameras, three high
speed/High Motion cameras as well as 12 EVS servers and two HD VTRs.
Platinum also took feeds of the remaining cameras, EVS machines and
VTRs and was able to provide SS24 with a sub-mix of replays via the
GVG Kalypso switcher and Calrec Alpha 100 as well as being prepared
to provide emergency game coverage in the event of a catastrophic
failureof the main unit.

Meanwhile Corplex Mercury, Platinum’s Graphics support unit, housed
five EVS Super Slo-mo operators, the camera control area for nine
robotic cameras and the Comms area where all four of the buss
expanded Telex/RTS Adam intercoms, with nearly 500 ports were
programmed and controlled.

“We were pleased to be working with CBS on an event such as the Super
Bowl," says Scott West, Corplex president. We have highly experienced
engineers that provided excellent technical support for this
program. Platinum and Mercury have an extensive investment in router
and distribution infrastructure, and that, coupled with our past
history of working with NEP’s SS 24, allowed us to facilitate an
efficient setup and provide CBS with a great show.”

Princeton Video Images (PVI) supplies CBS Sports with on-the-field
graphics enhancements like the first-down marker and rolled out a new
enhancement called the Tackle Box that lays a box around the
offensive tackles that lets viewers see when the quarterback has
ventured outside the pocket.

New Tech the Exception

Those new technical additions are the exception, not the rule, when
it comes to a Super Bowl production. The technical side of the Super
Bowl telecast always garners headlines because of the sheer size of
the telecast. But the real reason it’s newsworthy is that it’s an
example of safety first with redundancy ruling the day.

“Everything has a backup,” says Aagaard. “And it becomes a question
of how fast you can get to that redundant system because you’ll never
know where a problem will come from.”

For example, wireless microphones and wireless cameras can be tested
prior to game day but the influx of ENG news crews from TV stations
and networks on Super Sunday is an x-factor. That’s one reason
Aagaard tells his crew to use cable whenever possible for delivering
signals back from cameras.

“You never know until game day,” says Aagaard. “You can coordinate as
best you can but until you get there you never know what’s going to
happen.”

The NFL brings in nearly 20 game day frequency coordinators to keep
track of all of the wireless RF traffic. CBS Sports brings in Louis
Libin, president of Broad Comm Group, to manage its own frequency
coordination process.

“The risks are very high because, to me, the spectrum is very, very
congested,” says Libin. “As a rights holder we have a lot of channels
but where we are, which is right in the nearfield of broadcast towers
and we’re operating, in some cases, between the carriers of those
stations.”

Wireless Confidence

To ensure video signals are transmitted wirelessly with confidence
Libin took a different approach. Five wireless cameras will be used
during the game and every local TV station and others are in town
using 2.4GHz spectrum. As a result, Libin says he isn’t comfortable
depending on 2.4 GHz spectrum. The work-around? Getting STAs to use
other frequencies.

“Some are aircraft and test safety downlink and some is above and
below 2GHz,” says Libin. “And those are the saving grace.”

Finding reliable and secure wireless spectrum is one of the reasons
Libin and many in the wireless community are concerned with federal
legislation that would allow unlicensed devices to be used in the
White Spaces spectrum that is crucial to events like the Super Bowl.

“That legislation will basically make all of the spectrum
unreliable,” says Libin. More importantly, it’s a move that turns
back the clock on the technological advances made in audio and return
them to the days when massive plumbicon-tube based cameras ruled the
airwaves and large wired mics were the only way to deliver audio.


© Copyright 2006-2007 sportsvideogroup

Heh, so its the cost, thanks dude.

Does anyplace have dedicated HDTV cameras, like Madison Square Garden? I was surprised to see that last season's WNBA All-Star game was in HD (unannounced) and it happened to be at MSG.

Well are you talking broadcast? I mean most professional stadiums and even a lot of college facilities now are taking lower end HD equipment and using it to produce their scoreboard shows. University of Texas is a good example. However its very rare for there to be facilities suited for an on-air broadcast. There are just too many variables to deal with for this to be rational. And it does the stadium owners no good to have to be a remote production vendor of their own. MSG is an exception because MSG is a larger reaching production company that produces its own broadcasts. Even if a stadium were to have facilities, 99.9% of the time, no network would ever use them except under the most extreme of circumstances.

Does anyplace have dedicated HDTV cameras, like Madison Square Garden? I was surprised to see that last season's WNBA All-Star game was in HD (unannounced) and it happened to be at MSG.
MSG rents its truck from National Mobile Television (NMT). Nothing in-house. Never had anything in-house for HD, with the exception of the scoreboard video operation called Gardenvision.
An interesting point about the house: It like many NHL arenas has enough fiber cable camera drops to support three different live HD broadcasts of the same event ... for example ... MSG/visiting team/CBC, for example. A fourth could be added, but they'd have to work with the arena and NYC to get a permit to park on the street, use a generator, etc ...
Other broadcasters who do single games from MSG either rent the NMT truck
(HD-3) at MSG (like USA Network for this week's dog show, or NBC for Rangers), or as in the case of ESPN/ABC, or Versus bring in their own rental (NEP, etc.).
Very few US networks (OTA or cable) own their own trucks. One has to go north (CBC) to find networks with their own HD-capable mobile units.

There's a thread (I think under "programming") called "How many HD mobile units are available?"

Check there for some links to what is available. We're talking million dollar vehicles, with tens of millions of equipment in each one!

The one caveat is MTV Networks. They own a couple of digital and one HD production truck, and an audio recording truck that they use to do most of their events. But it is shared throughout VH1, CMT, MTV and BET and also not the exclusive mobile facility.

The one caveat is MTV Networks. They own a couple of digital and one HD production truck, and an audio recording truck that they use to do most of their events. But it is shared throughout VH1, CMT, MTV and BET and also not the exclusive mobile facility.

Yep - and in other countries there are still some state/national broadcasters with their own in-house trucks - though increasingly these are being sold off or their resource areas "spun out" into separate companies.

The BBC has a wholly owned subsidiary called BBC Resources, which operates BBC Studios, BBC Outside Broadcasts and BBC Post Production in England (but not Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) - but these are likely to be sold off soon...

The BBC has a wholly owned subsidiary called BBC Resources, which operates BBC Studios, BBC Outside Broadcasts and BBC Post Production in England (but not Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales) - but these are likely to be sold off soon...OB I would understand, but BBC would sell off their Studio and Post facilities?

OB I would understand, but BBC would sell off their Studio and Post facilities?

Yep - Studios, OBs and Network Post Production in England are all part of BBC Resources Ltd, a company currently wholly owned by the BBC. In studio terms this actually means London & the "close-to-London" Elstree - as there are now no BBC network studios in England outside London and Elstree. The BBC shut their network studios in Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester in the 90s, as studio-based productions became less popular. (BBC Resources also includes the BBC Costume and Wigs operation - quite a significant operation given the BBC's history of costume drama production)

Since the early 90s, BBC producers have been free to use commercial facilities rather than BBC facilities, and in some cases (notably BBC Factual and Learning) - some production departments have started building their own post production facilities, rather than using those of BBC Resources. (Final Cut Pro is being rolled out across large swathes of the BBC - and DVCam is replacing DigiBeta as the main SD factual acquisition format in many areas)

Similarly BBC Resources have been trading on the open market for a number of years - and significant numbers of shows for rival broadcasters like ITV and Channel Four, are made at BBC Television Centre. Some senior figures now believe that the "BBC" in the name of the owners is a hindrance to getting more work from other producers.

BBC Resources doesn't include Network production facilities in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales, nor does it include the News production resources in the English regions and in London, though there is some overlap. (Network News in London have long-term hire agreements for BBC Resources studios, and Scotland/Wales and Northern Ireland have hire agreements for near-permanent use of some OB trucks)

It was announced this year that BBC Resources will be sold - and a project manager has been appointed. This was widely expected to happen a number of years ago - but discussion of it was postponed as part of an agreement with the Broadcasting Unions.

This is not the first "sell off" the BBC have made. They recently sold their BBC Technology operation to Siemens (so now large parts of the BBC IT and Broadcast infrastructure, including uplink, downlink, and feed co-ordination is now part of a commercial contract with a 3rd party). The BBC retained their R&D Department in-house - but significant development effort into products like Colledia and BNCS has now left the corporation. (Both products are in widespread use in the international broadcast industry)

The BBC most recently sold off BBC Broadcast, which is now called Red Bee and is owned by Macquarrie (an Aussie Merchant Bank I believe). BBC Broadcast was the BBC operation (previously known as "Presentation") that was responsible for all network playout operations for BBC One, Two, Three, Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC World, BBC Prime etc. as well as UKTV and other commercial channels. They are also responsible for the production of BBC on-air promotions. They have been successful as an independent playout company - and are now responsible for the branding of ITV (the main commercial rival to the BBC terrestrially!)

Of course selling off the studio operation is a major step - as a lot of staff who work in these areas are "part" of the BBC - and many joined specifically to make programmes for the BBC. BBC Television Centre in West London, built over 40 years ago as a purpose-built studio production centre, is an iconic TV building in the UK (with its distinctive question mark design) - and there are now rumours that when BBC Sport and BBC Children's move to Manchester/Salford and BBC News moves to Broadcasting House in Central London - there will be no real reason to retain TV Centre as a BBC building, and it could be sold. It is a large chunk of real estate opposite a shopping centre that will be open in a couple of years, with improved rail links...

Many believe the BBC of the future may well be a producer/publisher - with significant (though not as large as at present) production departments, but little in the way of resourcing.

The BBC most recently sold off BBC Broadcast, which is now called Red Bee and is owned by Macquarrie (an Aussie Merchant Bank I believe). BBC Broadcast was the BBC operation (previously known as "Presentation") that was responsible for all network playout operations for BBC One, Two, Three, Four, CBBC, CBeebies, BBC World, BBC Prime etc. as well as UKTV and other commercial channels.

Kinda makes you wonder why NBC/CBS et.al. arn't doing the same thing, let alone dozens of cable networks. I'd hate to see folks lose thier jobs, but Manhatten is kinda pricey real estate to house machine rooms that could be located in an industrial park in NJ, fed by glass, and service multiple clients.

As always, sneals2000, I enjoy reading about how things are done across the pond!

Kinda makes you wonder why NBC/CBS et.al. arn't doing the same thing, let alone dozens of cable networks. I'd hate to see folks lose thier jobs, but Manhatten is kinda pricey real estate to house machine rooms that could be located in an industrial park in NJ, fed by glass, and service multiple clients.

As always, sneals2000, I enjoy reading about how things are done across the pond!
Actually, downlinks, playout, and uplinks for all of NBC's cable networks are in the CNBC facility in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. High-priced neighborhood, but not as high priced (ahem, unionized) as the NBC Television Network, NBC News, and NBC Sports facilities in New York.

I think I read something last week, about CNBC moving back to New York.

You know, all the networks could move to "right to work" Utah, if the Unions are a problem ;) . Salt Lake City has the workers, and many of the networks already get their talent from our stations (Nance, Bolerjack, Carr, Clayson, Wirth).

You know, all the networks could move to "right to work" Utah, if the Unions are a problem ;) .

This is precisely why ESPN has remained in Connecticut (which is a TERRIBLE place to try and maintain a broadcast company -- very expensive, turnover, high state taxes, strict conservative laws, completely isolated from the rest of the industry, the combined result of which leads to a company with very high job turnover as very few outsiders want to commit to living there in the long term --- BUT its a right-to-work state, so ESPN doesn't have to deal with Unions).

...I'd hate to see folks lose thier jobs, but Manhatten is kinda pricey real estate to house machine rooms that could be located in an industrial park in NJ, fed by glass, and service multiple clients....

Years ago, (I'm showing my age here!) ABC's NYC Network Center had a "film origination" facility across the Hudson River in Union, NJ.

But it wasn't there to avoid any "expensive" union shop jurisdiction, as the NJ facility was also manned by NABET and other represented technicians. It seems NY City at the time levied a special tax on all public showings of "films", and in those days most of the ABC prime time lineup was film and ran off 16 and 35 mm telecines. So it was a legal way to minimize taxes!

Of course there was no fiber in those days; the video and audio came across the river on ordinary coax circuits provided by the telephone company. With the advent of videotape, Union City saw less and less use and eventually was closed.

It's a bit ironic that today the primary satellite uplink site for ABC's network distribution is in Manhattan, on the roof of one of their West 66th Street buildings. Getting both FCC and NYC approval of that site was a monumental undertaking! There are of course backup uplinks in CT and NJ, but there is something to be said for having on-site physical control of your main output path.

Mike

Years ago, (I'm showing my age here!) ABC's NYC Network Center had a "film origination" facility across the Hudson River in Union, NJ.

But it wasn't there to avoid any "expensive" union shop jurisdiction, as the NJ facility was also manned by NABET and other represented technicians. It seems NY City at the time levied a special tax on all public showings of "films", and in those days most of the ABC prime time lineup was film and ran off 16 and 35 mm telecines. So it was a legal way to minimize taxes!

Of course there was no fiber in those days; the video and audio came across the river on ordinary coax circuits provided by the telephone company. With the advent of videotape, Union City saw less and less use and eventually was closed.

It's a bit ironic that today the primary satellite uplink site for ABC's network distribution is in Manhattan, on the roof of one of their West 66th Street buildings. Getting both FCC and NYC approval of that site was a monumental undertaking! There are of course backup uplinks in CT and NJ, but there is something to be said for having on-site physical control of your main output path.

Mike
Yes, I once had some training at NBC's old Englewood Cliffs film exchange warehouse, a small building about a mile south of CNBC's current facility, which used to be owned by the Prentice-Hall publishing company. I remember walking around with one of the techs there and he showed me the boxed prints of "Bonanza" and many old 2-inch videotapes which were saved over the years ... something that turned into a goldmine since among the saved tapes was the Elvis 1968 "comeback" special, Super Bowl III and some of the 1969 Mets World Series!