Blue Ridge Communications (BRC), a regional cable television, Internet and VoIP provider serving Pennsylvania, provided a mobile video unit, crew and HD cameras from Hitachi to PNC Bank for its live production of the 2011 PNC Big 33 Football Classic on June 18 in Hershey, PA. The Big 33 is an annual game between all-star football players from Pennsylvania and Ohio high schools.
While BRC’s truck is SD-capable, the camera package for the Big 33 included four Hitachi SK-HD1000 and four Z-HD5000 HD cameras, each equipped with Hitachi CU-HD1000 and CU-HD500 camera control units, RU-3400VR, RU-1000VR remote control panels, and Fujinon HD lenses.
This year’s Big 33 aired on PCN — a nonprofit cable television network that provides news, sports and public affairs programming for all cable systems across Pennsylvania.
BRC has two mobile trucks that spend much of their time on the road, producing more than 200 live, local high school games each year across as a free service to their subscribers. BRC also hires out its trucks and crew to production companies for numerous regional sporting events. One such client is Sports Fever Television Network, which produces NCAA Division I and Division II events, including college football and basketball games, for broadcast by regional sports networks The Root, FoxSportsNet and Comcast SportsNet.
While BRC’s trucks are still SD, the Hitachi HD cameras were purchased as part of a gradual transition to HD. The truck used for the Big 33 game is outfitted with a Ross Video Vision (2M/E) switcher, Chyron Lex2 graphics and Yamaha M7CL 32-input digital audio mixer.
BRC’s Hitachi HD cameras were ordered through Lerro Corporation, a professional video equipment dealer and systems integrator based in Norristown, PA.
