Recently Fox Sports had a requirement to completely refit, refurbish or replace an aging hard set in their second largest studio. After a comprehensive assessment process, the decision was made to completely replace the set with the largest LED screen ever installed at the sports broadcaster. For that solution they turned to Magna Systems and their screen specialist installation partners PCB Digital.
Fox Sports Head of Production Operations Derek Howe explained: “The old set in our second largest studio had come to end of life and needed to be replaced. The question was, did we go with another hard set or an ultra-wide screen. After discussions with Neville Paterson and the team at PCB digital the benefits of the screen clearly outweighed having another hard set. We stood to enjoy fewer moving parts, better quality images, more production options and far more convenience. It really was a no-brainer.
Fox Sports are always looking for new and exciting ways to present their content and better engage with their viewers. According to head of studio graphics Mat Cooley, the new LED screen gave them all of the above and more.
“The screen is very flexible and gives us far more options than a hard set. In addition, when we are not using it, we can now rent out the studio and screen to external companies, so it is far more cost efficient too. The screen is in our second biggest studio which has gone from needing a complete refresh to being one of the best production spaces we have. The screen makes far better use of the floor space and makes set extensions seamless,” Cooley said.
Ironically one of the main challenges for Fox Sports wasn’t around the size and scope of the wall but the installation timeline, as it had been decided to use the new screen for two of the biggest sporting events of the year – the NRL Grand Finals and the Big Bash League cricket.
“We had a very tight timeframe that, thanks to the professionalism and expertise of Magna and PCB Digital was no problem at all. In fact, ordering the screen, installation and commissioning took just eight weeks and was seamless in its execution. A truly amazing feat of customer service and engineering,” said Howe.
As Howe explained the studio was gutted and cleared as the crates of LED panels were delivered and installed, with the commissioning phase taking just ten days.
“You had to see the logistics to believe them. There was no margin for error timewise and Magna and PCB Digital truly delivered above and beyond what they had promised. The build was impeccable as they started stacking over 190 LED cabinets from the ground up to build our 15 metre by 3 metre wall with pitch of 1.5 mm and its 2.5-degree curve to maximise the studio space. When we eventually pushed the on button everything worked first time too. An incredible achievement on the Teams part,” said Cooley.
For Howe, Cooley and the Fox Sports production teams they now had a state-of-the-art full studio-sized LED screen creating a more immersive and more engaging experience for their viewers.
“Images, both stills and video, look amazing on this screen, the workflow to get them there is very straightforward and the mood and feel the screen creates is instantaneous. This means we have a huge variety of shots we can now play with and creating promos and marketing campaigns are easy and cost effective. In short, it’s now about as easy as it can be to create one or multiple instant environments on a 15-metre screen across the entire studio,” said Howe.
For Howe, Cooley and the teams at Fox Sports the new LED screen has opened up a whole host of opportunities for the broadcaster. That said, both wanted to pay particular attention to the pre-sales, installation, service and support provided by Magna as the main point of difference for them throughout this project.
“The big difference between this project and almost any other for us was the service and support from Neville Paterson and the team at PCB Digital. They actually listened to what we wanted and were happy to work with exactly what we needed. They were calm, polite and extremely professional. Believe me, there are very few technology suppliers who work this way and Magna truly stands out from the crowd. We very much felt part of the team and it was an absolutely seamless process from purchase to installation and commissioning. I’m not overstating it by saying it was a near perfect process by Magna and PCB Digital from start to finish and again, that is very rare these days,” said Howe.
