ARLINGTON, TX, FEBRUARY 10, 2011—While the telecast of Super Bowl XLV neared four hours from kick-off through the Vince Lombardi trophy presentation, companies like Bexel were onsite days in advance to ensure production was seamless and the broadcast ran smoothly both on the field and off. For Bexel, a unit of the Vitec Group’s Services Division and a leading worldwide provider of broadcast services and solutions, the big game on Sunday marked its 20th year of involvement in the Super Bowl, its role steadily growing to where it is now, working with more than 40 customers who all require products and services that are just as varied as the applications.
As the location of the Super Bowl changes each year, so do the applications the Bexel crew tackles. This year, Bexel debuted optical services for the photo press. These services interconnected their positions on the field, stands and catwalk above the field to the press workrooms inside the stadium and outside in the press compound. This allowed photographers to eliminate the need for runners to move media cards from the photographers to the workrooms, while helping to speed up the workflow—from image capture to final content delivery.
Bexel also provided support to the NFL and NFL Films, utilizing Bexel’s Optical ESU as signal distribution point for domestic post-game interviews broadcasting from the field. The NFL Officiating crew also had Bexel technicians on hand to support the expanded Instant Replay systems utilized throughout the Super Bowl.
What’s more, Fox Sports called upon Bexel to provide all of their on-site studio and game editing facilities. The multi-edit bay and viewing station operation was supported by Bexel engineers around the clock throughout Super Bowl week. After using Litepanels LED Lighting Systems during NFL regular and post-season games, for the second Super Bowl in a row, Fox Sports exclusively utilized the Litepanels fixtures to illuminate the announcers’ booth. Bexel’s on-site presence was also evident by the assorted equipment found in the Fox broadcast compound including EVS LSM’s, Super Slo-Mo camera systems, monitoring, lenses, teleprompters and many other items.
Rounding out its presence in Texas for Super Bowl XLV, Bexel’s support went beyond Cowboys Stadium in Arlington to Sundance Square in downtown Fort Worth, ESPN’s home base during Super Bowl festivities. At the stadium, ESPN utilized a mix of equipment, Sony HD cameras and optical equipment supporting its broadcast, while offsite for ESPN’s “Sports Center,” Bexel supplied engineering crews, fiber optic equipment, teleprompters, monitors and a Q-Ball HD/SD Minicam system. The Q-Ball was mounted above the ESPN Radio stage, providing an overhead shot of the highly accurate “animal picks” for the winner of Super Bowl XLV.
“We are proud that Bexel's presence has grown at the Super Bowl, with this year bringing even more new and exciting challenges,” said Scott Nardelli, chief business development officer, Bexel. “As the needs of our clients grow, Bexel has the solutions and engineers to help execute dynamic productions of this nature and we look forward to what next year will bring.”
For more information, visit www.Bexel.com.
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 organised 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.
