ALAMEDA, CALIF.—The music’s worlds stars came out to be honored at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, while Clear-Com and its FreeSpeak II digital wireless intercoms had a presence behind the scenes. During the live production on Sunday, Aug. 28, at Madison Square Garden, FreeSpeak II was used to connect the live production crew to cover the entire venue with 20 integrated Transceiver Antennas and 25 wireless beltpacks.
Firehouse Productions ran this year’s VMAs, and used FreeSpeak II for all of its 20 stage managers. The intercom system was also able to support five more tech positions. Full coverage was possible with the addition of Clear-Com’s Eclipse HX-Delta digital matrix with two E-Que-HX cellular frame cards, according to Vinny Siniscal, Firehou’se director of RF communications division. The production was able to operate the FreeSpeak II intercoms in the 1.9 GHz band, which allowed it to leave the 2.4 GHz band open for other signals, like lighting control and Wi-Fi devices.
Additionally, the FreeSpeak’s beltpacks can support up to five configurable channels per unit and hold an 18 hour charge. The beltpacks also come with a bottom-mounted LED flashlight.
“Whether they are handling cues for the talent, the rigging, or automation, I know that each stage manager can connect seamlessly to the people they need to talk to anytime,” said Siniscal.
