CBS Sports Preps for Plenty of Replay, In-Depth Analysis at AFC Championship

39 cameras, 152 replay channels, advanced play-marking will help tell the story

As the Jacksonville Jaguars look to stymie the New England Patriots’ quest for a sixth Super Bowl victory, CBS Sports will cover this Sunday’s AFC Championship from every angle — including overhead.

CBS Sports will deploy 39 cameras in Foxborough, MA: seven super-slow-motion cameras, eight handhelds, and a Steadicam; pylon cams; and a collection of 4K, robotic, and Marshall cameras. The network will also have access to Intel 360 cameras for 360-degree replays. To give viewers an aerial view, CBS will rely on a dual SkyCam WildCat aerial camera system and fly a fixed-wing aircraft over Gillette Stadium.

The CBS Sports crew will work out of NEP SSCBS and have access to 152 channels of replay from 14 EVS servers — four eight-channel XT3’s and10 12-channel XT3’s — plus a six-channel SpotBox and one 4K server.

CBS Sports’ lead announce team Jim Nantz, Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfson will have plenty of storytelling tools at their fingertips, including SMT’s Next Gen Tele and play-marking systems with auto-render technology on both SkyCams. The lower SkyCam will focus on the actual game play at the line of scrimmage, including the quarterback’s point of view, while the upper SkyCam will provide a more tactical, “all-22” look at the field. During the AFC Championship, Romo will be able to use these tools to break down what he sees on the field for first and second replays.

Coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. ET with The NFL Today, featuring host James Brown and analysts Boomer Esiason, Phil Simms, Nate Burleson, and Bill Cowher at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City; kickoff follows at 3:05 p.m. ET. Fans wanting to start their day even earlier can tune into The Other Pregame Show (TOPS) on CBS Sports Network, which runs from 10:00 a.m. to noon.