SAN FRANCISCO—In addition to the massive amount of production and broadcast technologies being deployed this week for Super Bowl LX, with Sony supplying over 175 cameras, and NBC Sports reporting that it laid down more than 75 miles of cable, the host venue Levi Stadium got a major wireless upgrade to handle the needs of both fans and media covering the game according to the Wireless Infrastructure Association.

In an article for its website, the group noted that “for wireless professionals, the Super Bowl is more than a sporting spectacle — it’s a massive stress test, demonstrating how cellular networks, distributed antenna systems, small cells, Wi‑Fi, spectrum layering and cybersecurity converge to create a seamless digital experience. From stadium concourses to city streets and transit hubs, this month’s sporting events highlight just how crucial high-performance wireless networks have become.”

Costa Kladianos, the 49ers’ executive vice president of technology, described the upgrade to WIA as a “complete rebuild.”

Working with JMA Wireless, “Levi’s installed a digital DAS capable of 5G, multi-band LTE, and future spectrum layers, delivering what Kladianos calls `70,000 VIP experiences” for every fan walking through the doors. Redundant fiber and power paths ensure high availability, while energy-efficient designs reduce the stadium’s carbon footprint. The result is a long-term foundation built to handle extreme device density, high-speed uploads, and ultra-reliable connectivity for years to come,” wrote the author of WIA article Kristen Beckman.

In addition, AT&T “refreshed the DAS inside Levi’s Stadium and expanded macro and small cell sites around stadium-adjacent fan zones” and Verizon, “layered C-Band and mmWave deployments for high throughput and capacity. Together, these carriers deployed nearly 200 projects spanning DAS, small cells, and backhaul, with on-site RF engineers and real-time command center monitoring fine-tuning the network for peak efficiency. Small cells targeted high-traffic ingress and egress points, while private slices ensured operational communications remained uninterrupted. The combined system sustains tens of thousands of simultaneous connections with minimal latency, even during tailgate surges.”

More details about the upgrade, including advanced security solutions and upgrades to BART public transit stations, are available here.

HUNT VALLEY, Md—Months after selling off its controlling interest in its Stadium sports network, Sinclair Broadcast Group is launching a new diginet to replace it. Starting Oct. 30, a new free OTA network, The Nest, that offers so-called “comfort food programming” comprised of home-improvement, true-crime, factual reality series, and celebrity driven family shows will start airing on the former Stadium channels.   

The mix of programming in daytime includes classic episodes of Flipping Boston, Flipping San Diego, Sell This House, American Justice and Cold Case Files.  While in primetime, The Nest will feature fun, celebrity-family dramas such as Growing up Gotti, Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour, Steven Segal: Lawman, Ice Road Truckers, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Wahlburgers.   

The Nest joins Sinclair’s lineup of national broadcast networks, Comet, CHARGE!, and TBD, which the broadcast group says have grown more than 23% in viewership over the past year.   

At launch the network will be available in more than 50% of all US OTA television households including the major markets of New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Dallas - Ft. Worth, Boston, San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose and Seattle-Tacoma with more affiliate additions in the coming months.  

Cypress, CA, April 23, 2019 – Social media and sports go hand in hand. So much so that when it came time for the professional video production team at Western Michigan University (WMU) to add a second replay system, they wanted something easy to learn as well as a system that would provide social media branding and video playout – all in one system.

WMU already had one Envivo Replay, a sports and live event replay solution from Variant Systems, which is used to capture slow motion footage of the school’s Division I football team for in-stadium replays and for streaming coverage to ESPN and ESPN+. As part of the school’s video production unit, Bronco Productions, students are responsible for the school’s sports programming feeds to ESPN and ESPN+. Based on its simple to learn user interface and the system’s built-in branding and social media playout integration, the school purchased its second Envivo Replay system. The goal in mind with the second Envivo Replay is the creation of more live content for WMU’s social media platforms and for scoreboard playout at the stadium.

“We want to get great looks in the arena and then get that content out to social media instantly,” said Thomas Delves, Director, Bronco Productions. “We envision this new unit being used very much for social media content creation and promotion and to get more video out in-game. Being able to brand and playout all in one system is a huge plus for us. It also gives us an opportunity to train our students before they start providing replay feeds to our ESPN shows. Another benefit is that we’re able to teach students on technology similar to what broadcasters use.”

Delves credits the support he’s received from Variant Systems as another factor in the decision to go with a second Envivo Replay system: “Having that support is one of the main reasons we want to continue to work with Envivo. Olaf Bahr [Vice President of Marketing, Variant Systems] has been an amazing resource. They’re always looking at making it better with updates and tweaks. Just all-around incredible service.”

Variant Systems’ Envivo Replay is sold all over the world, and exclusively by FOR-A in North, Central and South America. Envivo Replay is a complete replay solution with an intuitive user interface that offers support for high-speed slow-motion cameras, as well as playlists for highlights playback, built-in branding capabilities, and direct publishing to social media platforms. It allows for multiple camera inputs and multiple controlled outputs.

Envivo Replay is part of a complete live event workflow with FOR-A’s HANABI series of video switchers, ClassX 3D graphics, and video writer telestrators.

About FOR-A

FOR-A, a worldwide, industry-leading manufacturer, offers a wide range of broadcast and production products with a focus on cutting-edge technologies, including: HD, 4K and IP products. FOR-A continues to offer future-ready, cost effective, advanced technology solutions. Products include: video switchers, routing switchers, multi-viewers, full 4K high-speed cameras, IP encoders/decoders, multi-channel signal processors, 8K/4K/HD test signal generators, color correctors, frame synchronizers, file-based products, character generators, video servers and much more.

For a full range of HD and 4K production and processing solutions, as well as IP-based products, visit our web site at www.for-a.com.

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FOR-A CORPORATION OF AMERICA, 11155 Knott Ave., Suite G&H, Cypress, CA 90630 Phone: 714-894-3311, Fax 714-894-5399 Web site: www.for-a.com 

CHICAGO—Stadium opened a new studio this week and expanded office space in the atrium at Chicago’s United Center, the 24/7 all-platform sports network said.

“As the only national sports network originating from the Midwest, we’re extremely excited with the quality, location and visibility of our new home,” said Jason Coyle, CEO of Stadium. “The location embeds Stadium in the middle of the action and further reinforces our unique perspective on the national conversation.”

The new studio is the latest step in Stadium’s production and programming evolution. The facility features a polished news desk setting that can be converted into an intimate lounge for interviews with visitors to the set.

Built by Artform, the set can be adapted to accommodate a variety of show formats in addition to news. Plans call for the sports network to originate more than 1,000 hours of live, original studio programming from the new space in its first year, Stadium said. Live and classic games will also be produced and aired from the new studio.

The facility is also home to master control operations and integrated control rooms for live studio and live event production as well as new office space.

Stadium began its 24/7 linear operation in August 2017. Since then, it has grown its distribution footprint to more than 75 markets, or 58 percent of the country covering over 18 million households. It is also retransmitted to 25 cable markets around the country.

More information is available on the Stadium website. Here is a clip of the new studio in use.