Pittsburgh, PA (October 22, 2021)—Pennsylvania’s University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) has deployed a campus-wide communication system comprising Riedel‘s Artist, Bolero, and SmartPanels to provide communications and audio transport for live broadcast production of Pitt Athletics events on the ACC Network for ESPN.
Utilizing multiple Artist digital intercom matrixes, 1200 and 2300 Series SmartPanel user interfaces, and 24 Bolero wireless beltpacks scattered across campus, the Pitt Athletics production team coordinates centralized live sports production for broadcast and streaming. Riedel’s Director software coordinates configuration and management of all the matrixes into one, providing the coverage, performance, and functionality for orchestrating multiple simultaneous productions across different venues and control rooms. The system not only facilitates communication between team members at each venue, but also ties into ESPN’s intercom system supporting remote talent, including directors and producers.
Broadcast Goes Swimmingly with Riedel Comms
Working with NEP Integrated Solutions, Pitt Athletics deployed the Riedel Artist system in a campus-wide, fiber-redundant hub-and-spoke configuration. This enabled communications at the Petersen Events Center (basketball), where the university’s centralized broadcast production facilities are located, as well as at Charles L. Cost Field (baseball), Vartabedian Field (softball), Ambrose Urbanic Field (soccer), and the Fitzgerald Field House (wrestling, gymnastics, and volleyball). The Bolero wireless intercom system deployed by Pitt relies on 18 antennas distributed across all four venues and Trees Pool (swimming and diving), providing comprehensive coverage and allowing the use of the Bolero beltpacks at any venue.
“Riedel offers the depth of functionality required to meet every user’s communication needs and preferences, as well as the ease of use essential to effective communication and collaboration during production,” said Liam Sporrer, director of broadcast engineering for the Pitt Athletics department. “I can be confident that when I program a button on a panel or beltpack, it’s going to do what I want it to do the first time around — and that people working with those systems will understand how to use them. I might be juggling three or four different productions in one day, and all the little efficiencies I gain with the Riedel intercom system not only save me time, but also help prevent small issues from becoming larger problems.”
