BSI Elected to Provide RF Support During Political Conventions

Broadcast Sports, Inc. (BSI) will be supporting both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions this year with a broad range of wireless equipment and services. BSI will assist CBS News with the press pool feed for the RNC Convention in Tampa, FL, August 27-30 and NBC News with the press pool feed for the DNC Convention, September 4-6 in Charlotte, NC.

In addition to the press pool feeds, BSI will also be supporting other network-specific broadcasts during the conventions. At the Republican Convention, BSI will be providing RF technology and services for the CBS News and PBS NewsHour unilateral broadcasts. The equipment needed to service all parties will involve a total of seven HD RF camera links with wireless camera control capability, 12 specialized 1.5Ghz MIC1500 microphones, 14 wireless IFB systems, 36 UHF handheld radios, and 6 wireless PL systems.

The Democratic Convention is an equally, if not more, complex event. In addition to the press pool feed, BSI will once again be supporting the CBS News and PBS NewsHour broadcasts. The event is complicated further due to the fact that it takes place in two separate venues in Charlotte.  The convention will take place in the Time Warner Arena and on the closing night, President Obama will give his nomination acceptance speech at the Bank of America Stadium. For this combined effort, BSI will be supplying 15 HD RF camera links and wireless CCU’s, 24 MIC1500 microphones, 24 wireless IFB systems, 50 UHF handheld radios, and 24 wireless PL systems.

BSI will handle the monitoring and quality control of the signal transmission and reception for all of the equipment as well as frequency coordination for both events. Six BSI Engineers and Technicians will be on site in Tampa and 11 in Charlotte to provide support.

“We are veterans of the political convention broadcasts and were thrilled to once again be asked to provide a broad range of RF equipment and services to these major news organizations,” explains BSI’s Sales & Marketing Manager, Mark Polla. “The RF environment will no doubt be very crowded so frequency coordination and reliable equipment will be paramount. This is a scenario where our proprietary technologies like the MIC1500 microphone will truly shine. We will be able to deliver the guaranteed clear, reliable signals that our customers expect.”