NESN’s Pete Grenier pictured at the SSL C164 in the network’s new remote truck. Photo by Dave King.
The New England Sports Network (NESN), home to the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins, has added a remote truck equipped with a Solid State Logic C164 Digital Broadcast Console to enhance its ability to offer high-definition productions and broadcasts.
The truck was built by National Mobile Television (NMT) to NESN’s specifications and complements NESN’s Watertown, Mass. facility, which features two C100 consoles. The new truck and facility augment NESN’s aggressive upgrade to HD, providing a digital infrastructure that allows the network to produce and broadcast all in-house programming in HD with multichannel audio.
“The new truck is part of the master plan for our migration to all HD, all the time,” says Michael Narracci, NESN’s senior coordinating director. “We started doing HD for Red Sox games in 2003, and in 2006 we became the first and only regional sports network to broadcast every game in HD.
“The three components of HD are aspect ratio, resolution and 5.1 audio,” adds Narracci, who won an Emmy award for his work on Red Sox broadcasts in 2004. “The latter was the missing link in our production—we were still doing stereo. One of the biggest advances we’ve made by moving into this truck is that we’re now 5.1-capable. The C100 certainly is a great board for us, because of its 5.1 capability, its flexibility, and most important, the sound quality. It’s been a major benefit.
“Our in-house audio technicians are thrilled with the C100,” Narracci concludes, “and our primary freelance engineer for Red Sox and Bruins games, Pete Grenier [pictured], is very impressed with it as well. We’re very happy.”
For more information, visit www.solid-state-logic.com, www.nmtv.com and www.boston.com/sports/nesn.
