NILES, ILL.—NBC has been helping to spread some holiday cheer with its coverage of both the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” tree lighting telecast. For both events, NBC went with Shure Axient wireless microphones and PSM 1000 in-ear personal monitor systems to deal with the coverage and wireless spectrum for the outdoor broadcasts.
During the Thanksgiving Day Parade, hosts Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker were equipped with Axient AXT200 handheld transmitters with the KSM8 microphone element. Behind the scenes, eight channels of Shure PSM 1000 were used as an IFB system for camera operators and other crew members.
For the Christmas tree lighting, all hosts were outfitted with both handheld and bodypack Axient systems, which like the parade, were set up in frequency diversity mode to limit interference. In addition, tree lighters Kate McKinnon and Alec Baldwin used handheld Axients with KSM8 capsules, while the stage for music performances was outfitted with 10 channels of Axient wireless and 16 channels of PSM 1000 in-ear monitors. In total, 18 Shure Axient systems and 22 channels of PSM 1000 were used for the broadcast.
Both telecasts were run by Project Manager Joshua Flower and RF Engineer Clair Global.
