NAB 2009: Sony Snags HD Reality, Sports Sales
Mark Burnett Productions standardizes on XDCAM HD
By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/20/2009 6:04:25 PM
NAB 2009: Complete Coverage from Broadcasting & Cable
Sony’s big NAB news items were large sales of its high-definition cameras and associated production gear to reality TV titan Mark Burnett Productions and to the National Football Leagues’ Dallas Cowboys franchise for its $1.1 billion new stadium.
Mark Burnett Productions, which decided last year to use Sony’s XDCAM HD optical-disc format to launch the first season of CBS staple Survivor in HD, announced that it has standardized on the XDCAM format for most of its shows, including Expedition Africa: Stanley & Livingstone, The Contender and Wedding Day. The firm is using both the high-end 4:2:2 PDW-700 XDCAM HD camcorder and PDW-HD1500 recording deck for HD productions like Survivor, and earlier versions of XDCAM for standard-def shows.
PDW-700 camcorder and PDW-1500 decks will also be employed by shopping network HSN as the cable programmer upgrades to high-definition production through a major contract with Sony. In addition to the XDCAM HD gear, HSN is adding 43 Sony HDC-1400 studio cameras, three Sony MVS-8000G production switchers, Sony BVM-L230 master monitors, and an assortment of Sony Luma LCD production monitors to its seven-studio facility in St. Petersburg, Fla. as it creates a fiber-based HD infrastructure there.
Besides providing gear for HD upgrades for broadcast and cable networks, Sony has also been hotly pursuing the sports stadium business, as both new facilities and old arenas embrace high-definition television for their in-stadium displays. Sony recently completed a $14 million project to outfit the new stadium for Major League Baseball’s Cincinnati Reds with a complete HD production and display system, which includes a large LED display from partner Daktronix.
The company’s latest big sports deal is a roughly $12 million project for the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium, which will host the NFL team’s games as well as big-ticket events such as the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, Super Bowl XLV in 2011 and the NCAA Men’s Final Four in 2014.
The new Dallas stadium will feature more than 3,000 Sony LCD displays throughout the luxury suites, concourses, and concession areas, which will be fed by a variety of Sony HD production equipment including studio cameras, optical camcorders and production switchers. The facility’s new HD control room has a Sony MVS-8000G production switcher and BVM and Luma LCD displays, with Sony HDC-1450 cameras, XDCAM HD PDW-700 camcorders, and PDW-HD1500 decks also being used.
The Sony displays will be used to show game content and other Cowboys-produced video and advertising elements. The Sony HD monitors, ranging in size from 19 to 70 inches, will be connected via RS-232 interface to a Cisco IPTV network, for digital signage and other content delivery applications.
The Sony equipment will also be used to capture and produce video for playback on the stadium’s giant LED screen, which will be suspended some 95 feet above midfield.
“You’ll see players on a board that are 72 feet high instead of seven feet high on the field,” said Dallas Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones, who appeared at Sony’s press event to describe Sony’s role in the new stadium. (VIDEO: Q&A With Jerry Jones below)
Jones said the idea for the suspended display came to him on previous trip to Las Vegas when he attended a Celine Dion concert with a giant video display behind the stage.
“When I left I wasn’t sure I whether I saw Celine Dion or just the image of her,” Jones recalled. “We believe this experience will be similar, where after watching a game you won’t know whether you saw the images looking at the players on the field or whether it was the images above them.”
Jones, who called NAB the “Super Bowl of technology,” said he had no idea that technology would play such a large role in his day-to-day job when he purchased the Cowboys 25 years ago.
“I spend half my time thinking about ways to present the team,” said Jones.
True to his word, Jones could be seen after the press event in the Sony convention-floor booth, wearing special glasses to view a 3D HD demonstration on a Sony LCD display.
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