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Solution Brief
Abekas Mira Multi-Channel
Servers at the Center of Live
Sports Broadcasting
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Application
Stadium and venue broadcasting
The Challenge
Entertain and educate a live
audience during an event within
a venue
The Solution
Deliver live instant replay and
pre-recorded programming from
an easy-to-use, cost effective
and reliable multi-channel HD
video server
Benefits
• Flexible multi-channel
configuration allows system to
be adapted to meet different
production requirements
• Simple and intuitive, customdesigned user interface means
students can operate the system
to reduce operational costs
• Flexible workflow allows
operators to produce highlight
packages during a live event
for immediate replay during
natural breaks in the game
Venue Broadcasting
From the score board hanging 60
feet above the hardwood floor, to the
flat panels displayed throughout a
stadium, the programming broadcast
within a venue can be as important to
thousands of fans or concert goers as
the live action. Keeping an audience
entertained during breaks in the
action falls to the in-venue broadcast
operations center and the people
who produce the programming. Live
instant replay is a “must have” in sports
broadcasting. The stadium audience
expects plays to be reviewed on the
venue’s giant screen, as much as the
broadcast viewers do at home. The live
audience also expects highly produced
graphics packages and interstitials
throughout the game. Where in-venue
broadcast operations are not supported
by massive media buying budgets and
commercial programming, stadium
broadcast operators have to be
creative on how to produce and deliver
compelling content more efficiently
and cost effectively than commercial
network broadcasters.
The Challenge
So simple a student can operate it
Almost all university athletic broadcast
operations keep costs low by using
volunteer students rather than
expensive freelance operators. In the
high-stress live sports broadcasting
environment, providing operators with
an intuitive user interface that’s easy
to learn is of paramount importance.
Another way to keep capital costs
to a minimum is to deploy a system
that is flexible enough to be allocated
to multiple applications throughout
the venue – from live instant replay,
graphics package playback and post
production.
“Mira does everything
the other leading
server delivers, and
more — for just a
fraction of the price”
Mike Bilbow,
Executive Director of New Media for
IMG Georgia Sports Marketing
“The first thing that attracted us to Mira was the flexibility
at its price point. We can easily allocate the resources of
the Mira to meet the requirements of each control room.”
Jim Nachtman,
Director of Broadcast Operations, Penn State Athletics
One of many configurations of Mira in a venue-broadcasting application
The Solution
A multi-channel, multi-format video
server for in-venue broadcasting
Live sports broadcasting is a high
stress job. Deploying an Abekas Mira
multi-channel, multi-format server,
which seamlessly transitions from live
instant replay to video and key graphics
playout, will dramatically simplify the
operation and ensure the very highest
standards of live programming. Penn
State athletics employs 36 channels of
Mira to cover 150 live events annually,
from three HD production control
rooms on campus. Rec Hall houses two
new control rooms with 24 channels
of Mira shared between them. One
is used to produce the video-board
production displayed on the two large
video screens. The other possesses
the capability to provide a live signal to
the Big Ten Network headquarters in
Chicago. There they can air the event
in HD, on the linear Network, or stream
it on the Big Ten Digital Network. The
upgraded facilities in Rec Hall enable
the athletics department to make every
event available to network air, where
previously budgetary considerations
would have limited the number to 7-10
truck events annually.
SOLUTION COMPONENTS
Mira Instant Replay
Mira Production
Mira Control Surface
Abekas, Incorporated
www.abekas.com
1090 O’Brien Drive
Menlo Park, California 94025
United States of America
© 2005-2012 Abekas, Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Product names, companies and brand names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.