Game Creek Video using PESA routers for Super Bowl coverage

PESA has announced that HD mobile production company Game Creek Video will use PESA video and audio routers for FOX’s coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday, February 2.

Jason Taubman, Game Creek vice president of design and new technologies, said 75 percent of the company’s fleet is in the New York area to cover the Super Bowl for various clients. The entire truck compound at the game will be connected through PESA video and distributed audio routing systems.

FX, the five-truck production system, which includes five 53-foot expando trucks, is in place at the stadium for the FOX game broadcast. It includes a PESA Cheetah 512×1024 digital video router with embedding/de-embedding, along with a DRS 2048×2048 distributed audio router that supports analogue, AES and MADI.

Liberty, on location at MetLife for FOX pre-game programming, includes a 53-foot production unit and a 53-foot graphics and support unit. The main truck features a Cheetah 384×720 digital video router, as well as a DRS 1536×1536 distributed audio router with analogue, AES, and MADI I/O. “The whole world has not gone digital,” Taubman explained. “We need a variety of connection methods.”

Northstar, another 53-foot expando, was used on Jan 28 for Super Bowl Media Day coverage at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., then moved to MetLife for FOX Sports 1 coverage. The truck includes a Cheetah 288×576 digital video router, plus a DRS 704×576 distributed audio router with analogue and AES I/O.

The game will be produced in 720p HD, with 55 cameras and 24 six-channel EVS replay systems, plus frame sync sources, 4K composites, graphics, and a “host of new toys” that FOX will reveal during the broadcast, Taubman said. “It’s a pretty straightforward crosspoint matrix,” he noted, “we just have a huge capacity needed.”

PESA has historically been one of Game Creek’s router systems of choice because of product performance and excellent customer support, Taubman said. In fact, Game Creek recently upgraded Liberty to PESA’s PERC3000 IP-based router control system. “It’s been a big plus in giving us better control over the router and providing additional configuration options for our clients,” he added. “We have a long standing relationship with PESA. Their products have been rock solid.”