BURBANK, CA, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 – Bexel, a unit of the Vitec Group’s Services Division and a leading worldwide provider of broadcast services and solutions, in conjunction with Litepanels™, the revolutionary lighting company which brings the advantages of unique patented light-emitting diode technology to professional production lighting, is providing Litepanels LED flat-panel lighting for all CBS Sports and FOX Sports NFL regular season and post-season telecasts for the 2010 NFL season. This will culminate with Super Bowl XLV in Arlington, TX on Sunday, February 6, 2011.
Litepanels proprietary LED lighting systems are being used to fully illuminate all of the broadcast commentary booths, as well as the roving sideline reporters, for each of the 14 weekly NFL games that CBS and FOX will broadcast during their regular season coverage. The historic shift to an all-LED Litepanels system was driven by a desire on the part of CBS and FOX to provide a more eco-friendly lighting system as well as the multiple performance advantages over traditional incandescent booth lights. The Litepanels instruments are not only made with 100% recyclable materials and contain no mercury, a common component in other lighting devices, but they are one-tenth the weight of comparable HMI’s and consume only one-third as much power. The minimal power consumption is of great importance as most broadcast booths power requirements already exceed the built-in capacity.
Pat Grosswendt, co-founder and director of the broadcast division, Litepanels, says, “A primary factor in CBS and FOX making the switch to LED lights is the lack of heat emission, which is very important when broadcasting afternoon games during the fall season. The broadcast talent has been thrilled with this switchover due to much more comfortable booth temperatures and the reduction of squinting eyes, typically caused by the HMI’s they had been pounded with for years. Crews have repeatedly told us that the lights were designed for end-users by end-users.”
Michael Davies, vice president of field operations, FOX Sports, commented, “Bexel has been a great help in making the overall implementation of Litepanels an easy adjustment. Bexel organized calls, graciously took our teams suggestions and even built specialized gear to better suit the engineers who use the equipment and make them more comfortable. Bexel is a part of a number of initiatives FOX Sports is revamping for the 2010 NFL season and the company has been a great partner in helping us to move forward seamlessly.”
“Each week, NFL broadcast crews are faced with different stadium booths and the unique Litepanels engineering and design, coupled with variable focus ability, now offer them a much easier and quicker set-up than the conventional incandescent lights, bulky fluorescents or very heavy and cumbersome HMI’s,” says Lee Estroff, director of broadcast technical sales, Bexel. “The Litepanels thin, lightweight and square form factor allows the lighting directors and booth camera operators to be as creative as needed when it comes to a booth with several size and space constraints.”
About Bexel
Bexel is the pre-eminent worldwide provider of broadcast services including video and audio equipment rentals, fiber services, new audio sales, used equipment sales, and repairs/maintenance. Bexel provides brilliantly designed and flawlessly executed systems and solutions to all customers – including producers of the biggest and most important televised events in the world. For more information, visit http://www.bexel.com.
A Snapshot of The Vitec Group
Vitec is an international Group principally serving customers in the broadcast, photographic and military, aerospace and government (MAG) markets. Listed on the London Stock Exchange with 2009 revenue of £315 million, Vitec is based on strong, well known, premium brands on which its customers worldwide rely. Vitec is organized in three divisions: Imaging & Staging, Videocom and Services.
Imaging & Staging designs, manufactures and distributes equipment and accessories for photography, video and events.
Videocom designs and distributes systems and products used in broadcasting and live entertainment, film and video production and MAG.
Services provides equipment rental, workflow design and technical support for camera, video, audio, fibre optic and wireless technology used by TV production teams and film crews.
More information can be found at http://www.vitecgroup.com.
