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July 17, 2013 – Los Angeles, CA - The biggest stars from the cinema screen to the playing field gathered at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE in July to honor the best in sports at The 2013 ESPYS Presented by Capital One. Bexel was on hand to support ESPN's coverage of arrivals on the red carpet, and the telecast of the awards show, which was hosted by Jon Hamm.
At the ESPYS this year, LeBron James made headlines winning three awards, including Male Athlete of the Year honors for helping the Miami Heat win its second straight NBA championship. But before James scored his hat trick, celebrities lit up the red carpet outside the Nokia Theatre. Bexel's support of the live coverage of the red carpet included a fiber optic infrastructure, Sony Bravia and TV Logic 32-inch monitoring for the main stage, and the ESPN Deportes and "Mike & Mike" show stages. Bexel also provided Sennheiser HSP4 headset mics for the show hosts. For the ESPYS telecast, Bexel contributed to a number of different facets.
"Multiple Avid edit bays worked continually from preproduction through the actual show," explains Alan R. McDonald, senior account executive for Broadcast Systems at Bexel. "We supplied all the fiber connections from the Avids in their trailers to the show trucks. We also provided Sony and Sharp 46-inch HD monitors and Sony 52-inch HD monitors for the editors and producers, and an EVS IPDirector system."
Bexel filled most of the monitoring requirements throughout the house, supplying 40" Sony Bravia monitors for the athletes' lounge and 9- to 32-inch Sony and Panasonic HD monitors that were used alongside the stages, in dressing rooms and by producers during rehearsals. "We provided all the fiber that fed those monitors, in addition to the fiber connecting the TV truck to everything, including ESPN's LAPC facility for transmission," adds McDonald. A Panasonic AG-HCK10 POV camcorder enabled producers to monitor the band on its stage and confirm when the musicians were ready to perform.Bexel also supported the new pressroom at the Nokia Theatre where ESPYS winners met the media after accepting their awards. "The press used to be on the street in large tents," McDonald recalls. "This year they moved into a pressroom in the lower lobby of the Nokia." Bexel provided the required fiber infrastructure, 55-inch Sony viewing monitors, and a dual-path press bridge custom engineered for compatibility with any HDSI, SD and analog formats the media might have on hand. "The press bridge worked very well for this application," notes McDonald.
Bexel engineer Kevin Owen helped set up systems for the telecast and oversaw the equipment for the pressroom. McDonald supervised the operations and facilitated any last-minute needs of the show and red carpet coverage. "We set up two days before rehearsals and stayed for two-and-a-half days of rehearsals," explains McDonald. "This way, we were able to quickly accommodate any last-minute equipment additions." The 2013 ESPYS marks the shows 21st telecast. In addition to honoring the best is sports each year, the ESPYS honor ESPN's commitment to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, a partnership launched with the late Jim Valvano at the inaugural ESPYS in 1993.
"The ESPYS is really a one-of-a-kind show in how it brings together the top talent in entertainment and sports," says Joseph Wire, vice president of sales for Bexel. "We are honored to support ESPN on this annual event showcasing the best of the best. Our experienced engineers and systems integration experts work hard to make sure all the aspects of this broadcast come together smoothly and hit the airwaves without a glitch."
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