SAN FRANCISCO: Deployed by the country’s largest and most experienced mobile production companies, a wide variety of live production equipment from Grass Valley was used for this year’s Super Bowl XLVI high-definition telecast—as well as for a number of related programs shot during the week leading up to the big game.
NBC Sports broadcast the game live from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Feb. The broadcast was supported by NEP Broadcasting of Pittsburgh, Penn., and Game Creek Video of Hudson, N.H. Game Creek also worked with ESPN on a variety of related shows leading up to the big event.
NEP Supershooters—a division of NEP Broadcasting—had 10 trucks on-site in Indianapolis. Its ND3, ND4, and SS24 54-foot rigs covered the main game telecast, while another six trucks helped produce a variety of game-related programming on location. Many feature Grass Valley HD production gear—cameras, video production switchers, routers, and signal conversion modules—in a variety of configurations.
NEP’s SS24 HD mobile production truck, one of the largest in the country comprised of two, 53-foot double expando trailers combined, features a Grass Valley Kalypso Video Production Center switcher, as well as Trinix NXT and Concerto Series routing switchers. The company’s SS25 truck was used for the NFL’s World Feed and carries a Kalypso switcher, more than 12 Grass Valley LDK 8000 Elite WorldCam HD cameras, as well as Grass Valley Trinix and Concerto Series routers.
NEP’s California truck helped broadcast the live halftime show featuring Madonna, and its Summit truck covered the NFL Hall of Fame event. The ND4, California, and Summit vehicles all include Kalypsos on board.
Game Creek Video had several of its mobile production trucks on hand in Indianapolis to help produce programs for ESPN and NBC. The company’s Freedom truck, complete with a Kalypso with dual external HD GVeous effects units, handled various ESPN studio shows during the entire week from Pan Am Plaza. The company’s Northstar truck, equipped with a Grass Valley Kayenne Video Production Center on board, will cover ESPN’s “Sports Center” live coverage also from Pan Am Plaza, while the “Larkspur” mobile unit, also with a Kayenne, will broadcast for ESPN from Lucas Oil Stadium. For NBC, Game Creek’s Kayenne-equipped Victory truck was used to produce the “Live Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” show on location in Indianapolis.
