It was another busy work week for PSSI Global Services with a wide variety of transmission services to keep us on our toes.
Ron Ford and the K26 drove through some nasty weather to get to Northrock Lanes in Wichita, KS on Tuesday for the US Bowling Champions Queens Championship for women. Dasha Kovalova of Ukraine took home the winning prize of $20,000, and Ron was there to make sure bowling fans around the country got all the action.
There were a lot of eyeballs on Jimmy Kimmel’s live sitcom event on Wednesday, and we were happy to be a part of the show from Sony Studios in Culver City. John Jennings and project manager Michael Hollander were there to provide a transmission path for The Jeffersons and All In The Family, live in front of a studio audience.
Of course we were working for our good friends at WWE on Monday and Tuesday, as usual. Nick Ray and the CK30 mobile teleport were at Times Union Center in Albany, NY for Monday Night RAW. Highlights included Braun Strowman defeating Sami Zayn, The Usos losing to The Revival, Cesaro defeating Ricochet, and so much more. CK30 driver extraordinaire Joe Kelderhouse then advanced the truck to the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, RI for Tuesday’s Smackdown show.
We were in Pittsburgh, PA on Wednesday for a Huntington Bank Town Hall event. Steve Hagerty handled the transmission in the CK25 mobile teleport, while project manager Eric Storlie was there to ensure clean transmissions back to corporate headquarters and to other remote outposts.
Kevin Spangler and the C31 truck finished up the NCAA Women’s Championship Wednesday at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, AR (and dealt with some crazy weather, too). Kevin has a couple of down days before starting up the Men’s tournament on Sunday for our friends at Golf Channel.
Chris Golden’s continuing a long road trip at Kingsmill Resort & Spa in Williamsburg, VA this week for the Pure Silk Championship, a stop on the Women’s LPGA tour with a prize purse of $1.3 million. Chris will finally get home for a few days next week before heading back out on the road.
Still more Golf Channel action. Joe Cox has been at the Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth, TX this week for the Charles Schwab Challenge, aka the Fort Worth Invitational, which carries a prize purse of $7.3 million.
Engineer Mati Kerpen, MBA (congrats, Mati!) and senior project manager Keith Valeri had another Thursday night fight at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY. The second episode of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) series went off without a hitch, with fiber and satellite transmissions from the origination. The PSSI International Teleport was an integral part of the event’s domestic and international distribution across multiple platforms. We have recently upgraded the streaming capabilities at the teleport, and for this show alone our team at PIT encoded eight separate pathways to multiple streaming platforms, including Facebook and Twitter. Great team effort, and a great showcase for our many capabilities in signal distribution!
Speaking of PIT, Orlando-based fabrication specialist Norm Bearce is visiting the teleport for a little TLC on some of our antennas. Thanks, Norm!
Plenty more fighting on our schedules.
Steve Toth and the C41 truck will be at the Beau Rivage Hotel & Casino in Biloxi, MS on Saturday for Pro Boxing Championship when former Super Welterweight World Champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout faces off with Terrell Gausha for 10 rounds. Steve’s providing a three-channel mux for domestic and international distribution of all the fights.
C23 truck with Rick Ball will be at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, FL on this weekend for Top Rank Boxing when Masayuki Ito will defend his WBO junior lightweight title against 2012 US Olympic boxing team captain and US Marine Corps veteran Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring. Rick has a four-channel mux for our friends at ESPN, which will include distribution to Japan, with routing designed by project manager David Gallardo. Abi Falcon will be there for us, as well, providing ringside commentary services for a Japanese broadcaster.
We have another DAZN fight on our schedules. Mike Howley’s setting up at the MGM National Harbor Casino in Oxon Hill, MD on Saturday for Devin Haney versus Antonio Moran. Unfortunately the original headliner Oleksandr Usyk had to pull out of the fight due to injury, but we’re expecting a great fight and a lot of exciting undercards.
We continue our work for DAZN and Aldea next week with multiple media events around NYC leading up to next Saturday’s bout between Anthony Joshua and Jarrell Miller at Madison Square Garden. We’re working with our friends at Freedom Broadcasting to provide production and transmission services for a public workout, press conferences, and the weigh-in. Project manager Eric Hall and EIC Rick Varney will have their work cut out for them in the Big Apple next week!
How about a little racing? Ben Bradshaw and Craig Henry are back at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, NC this week with the C27 mobile teleport for the historic 60th running of the Coca-Cola 600. The first event was held in 1960, and race fans have been coming back every year for all the heart-pounding action. This Sunday will be the end of an exciting two-week stretch of multi-modal transmissions, with AT&T fiber and satellite running from the track through PIT and on to NASCAR HQ and points beyond.
It’s a busy weekend in Seattle, where we have two large aperture C-band trucks performing at-home transmissions for our friends at ESPN. Steve Chaisson’s at the Angel of the Winds Arena for opening day WNBA action, as the Seattle Storm host the Phoenix Mercury. Seattle local David Meyer is there to lend Steve a hand as we send back 10 multiplexed cameras to ESPN headquarters for full production.
Not too far up the road, Brian Blomstrom and the C47 truck will be at Husky Stadium for more NCAA Softball. It’s the 2019 NCAA Seattle Super Regionals, and the #14 Kentucky Wildcats will face the Washington Huskies in a best of three series to see who advances to the 2019 Women’s College World Series. Brian is uplinking 8 multiplexed video channels for our friends at ESPN.
And who could forget it’s Memorial Day weekend? Certainly not Dave Buckman, who is back in Washington, DC yet again for the National Memorial Day Concert on Sunday night. Dave’s getting set up on the West Lawn of the Capital for the big show, hosted by Joe Mantegna and Mary McCormack. This incredible event – which Dave has done every year for quite some time – brings families and music together to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion and all of our men and women who have served in the Armed Forces.
The PSSI News Group team is also in DC for the festivities there. On Sunday, Scott Garber will be live on CNN covering the Rolling Thunder Parade. DC driver Cary Poarch will lend a hand to Scott before moving on to our DC3 truck at the Arlington National Cemetery for CNN’s coverage of the ceremonies there.
PSSI Global Services wishes all of you a happy and safe Memorial Day!
