Another big week of live events for all of us at PSSI Live, with transmission, project management, production, and teleport services bringing exciting content to viewers around the world.
Things were relatively quiet in Los Angeles as the awards season came to an end with the Academy Awards on Sunday. It’s great to have another successful Oscars behind us, and we’re already looking forward to another busy awards cycle next year.
John Jennings had a flawless show at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank earlier in the week, as the live episode of The Conners aired on Tuesday night to both coasts as the New Hampshire primary results trickled in.
Chris Hovden took the same truck John used at Warners down to the LA Convention Center on Thursday for a commercial shoot. Our team in the Van Nuys shop shined her up real nice for the relatively rare opportunity for one of our trucks to be in front of the camera. And Chris wore his best PSSI Live shirt, too!
That’s it for California this week, but there’s plenty going on up the coast. The WWE train is in the Pacific Northwest for an exciting few days of live broadcasts. Driver extraordinaire Joe Kelderhouse piloted the CK30 mobile teleport across the border to Vancouver earlier this week. Nick Ray’s in town for Friday Night SmackDown at Rogers Arena. From there Joe joins the WWE caravan back across the border and into Portland, OR for this weekend’s WWE NXT Takeover pay-per-view, live from the Moda Center. Strategic Television project manager, Logan Schinto, will join forces with Zane Michaels to oversee multiple inbound and outbound feeds via fiber and satellite, with domestic and worldwide distribution of all the WWE action. The PSSI International Teleport is a key link in the chain for the domestic and international turns.
Once Joe parks the CK30 in Portland, he’s off on a well-deserved vacation while Devon Porter takes the wheel and heads to Everett, WA for Monday Night RAW at the Angel of the Winds Arena, again with Zane Michaels running the show. Then we really start driving! Devon and Jerry Gore will tag-team the CK30 to upcoming events in Phoenix, Winnipeg, and Boston. We get around!
We’re pleased to be doing a couple of at-home transmission for our friends at ESPN this week. On Thursday, Craig Henry was at Gardner-Webb in Boiling Springs, NC as the undefeated Winthrop Eagles were in town. Craig handled 7 multiplexed cameras via Ku-band back to ESPN headquarters in Connecticut, where the team there produced the show for broadcast.
Jim Flowers is doing much the same thing at St. Bonaventure in Olean, NY Friday night. Davidson’s in town for some Friday night hoops, and Jim’s sending 7 cameras back to Bristol, as well, while trying to keep himself warm!
Let’s stick with hoops, as there’s plenty of it this week. Steve Chaisson is in Boise, ID for Sunday’s game between Boise State and San Diego State, live on CBS Sports Network.
Rick Kolinek’s in Toledo on Friday night for some MAC hoops on CBS Sports Network. The Rockets host the Buffalo Bulls at the Savage Arena.
Steve Hagerty’s back at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, where he’s been once or twice before. The Lady Orange host the Pitt Panthers on Sunday afternoon in an exciting Big East matchup.
Mike Lemieux’s heading back to the Ryan Center at the University of Rhode Island for Saturday’s matchup against St. Joe’s, also live on CBS Sports Network. Mike’s in Worcester for Holy Cross hoops on Monday.
And Dennis Smith is down at the University of Richmond for a game between the Spiders and VCU on Saturday. More hoops in Richmond for Dennis next Tuesday, as well.
Dave “Mitch” Mitchell is back at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown for more Mountaineer hoops. The ‘Eers host the Texas Tech Raiders on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier in the week, Blake Blomstrom was in Queens for the game between the Providence Friars and St. John’s. The Red Storm beat Providence handily.
Blake’s brother, Paul, is in a slightly more exotic location for his basketball assignment on Saturday: the Stan Sheriff Arena in Honolulu. Paul’s there for the game between Hawaii and UC Irvine on Saturday night as we bring our fully-equipped Ku-band SNG to the stadium for our friends at ESPN.
Back to Blake, and back to the much chillier mid-Atlantic. Blake’s at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia for Shobox on Showtime. It’s the Valentine’s Day Massacre, featuring Thomas Mattice versus Isaac Gonzalez in a 10-round lightweight bout.
More fighting on the schedule, with another big UFC fight on Saturday night. Larry Sheets joins senior engineer Tracy Michaels and Strategic Television project manager, Keith Valeri, at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, NM for another big UFC Fight Night. The guys are in the CK35 mobile teleport, working alongside our good friends and partners at Concom to put together another great show with domestic and international distribution. The PSSI International Teleport, as usual, will provide extensive turnaround and QC services. Corey Anderson takes on Jan Blachowicz in the main event, but of course we’re there for everything from the weigh-in to the undercards to the post-event presser.
Kevin Spangler’s on his way to Nashville, where he will be the origination for the world feed of the fight between Caleb Plant and Vincent Feigenbutz, live from the Bridgestone Arena. The PSSI International Teleport will take in Kevin’s signal and turn it around to boxing fans in Asia and Latin America, while VP of Strategic Television, Jason Land, will check in with licensees as he monitors a remote feed.
Earlier in the week, Kevin was in Tampa for a corporate event as T-Mobile and Sprint cleared a key hurdle in their upcoming merger. One of many events in the great state of Florida this week.
Chris Golden’s handling a live surgery in Orlando, taking in a feed from a hospital and feeding to a group of surgeons at the Orlando Marriott World Center. Earlier in the week, Chris was our man at Full Sail University for another WWE NXT event.
And we’ve got a little golf to keep us busy in Florida, as well. Steve Toth is in beautiful Naples, FL at the Lely Classics Course for the 2020 Chubb Classic. Our friends at Golf Channel have us there through the tournament’s final round on Sunday.
Perhaps the biggest event in the Sunshine State is happening at the Daytona International Speedway, where our NASCAR crew has been camped for a couple of weeks. It’s the 2020 Daytona 500, live on Fox and around the world on Sunday. Senior engineer Rick Ball is leading our efforts there, as Justin Roszak and Rick Varney are there to manage multiple feeds via satellite and fiber, with the PSSI International Teleport as the hub between the track and NASCAR headquarters in Charlotte. Our team is working closely with our partners at AT&T Global Video Services to ensure NASCAR is getting the highest level of service for this first race of the season. Here’s to a great day of racing in Daytona, and another successful year of NASCAR!
More racing up in Adel, GA, at the South Georgia Motorsports Park. There Kyle Meyer has been providing transmission services all week for long days of big time drag racing.
Oddly enough, we can’t remember the last time we covered a rodeo in Texas. That’s going to change this Saturday when Ron “Roadrunner” Ford takes his truck to the Foster Communications Coliseum in San Angelo, TX for the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo. Should be an exciting day of bronco bustin’ and barrel racin’!
We’ll finish up with the always-intrepid David Meyer, who is once again north of the border in some pretty cold conditions. Thankfully he’s well out of the single digits, but there’s plenty of snow at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary. David’s there for a full weekend of snowboarding and skiing as he provides his transmission services for the FIS Snowboard and Freeski Slopestyle World Cup, live around the world through Sunday. Stay warm, David!
And in addition to all of that, the PSSI International Teleport continues its 24/7 full-time transmission services for multiple customers, while the Pittsburgh Videotech Center in downtown Pittsburgh cranks out live shot after live shot. There’s not a single minute of any given day when PSSI Live isn’t Live! And that’s the way we like it. Tune in next week for more action.