ARCTEK Satellite Productions Continues Reliable Transmission Across the Board

The provider is currently entrenched in the 2019 MotoAmerica season

In the past few years, the sports-video–production industry has been introduced to new concepts and techniques. A clear front-runner among the pack of contenders is the at-home method. Even so, ARCTEK Satellite Productions remains steadfast on the standard model of producing an event onsite, continuing with its efforts on the MotoAmerica circuit.

ARCTEK Cyan’s transmission truck was on hand at MotoAmerica’s Dunlop Championship in Elkhart Lake, WI.

“Satellite is the most reliable transmission available today,” says Brian Stanley, owner/CEO, ARCTEK Satellite Productions. “When you’re at a remote location like a racetrack, there is no other [type] of connectivity or reliable internet. [With satellite], you have everything there to manage your signal going out because you have the equipment and a technician onsite. And, a lot of times, you don’t have that [stability] when plugging into an encoder.”

Four Feeds Inside One Truck
For the premier road-racing circuit in the U.S., MotoAmerica is relying on the sure-fire connectivity of ARCTEK. In addition to the Motoamerica circuit this summer, ARCTEK has played a huge part of all Lucas Oil outdoor Motocross races as well. For example, the company’s Purple C-band truck supplied the heavy lifting and necessary infrastructure for a four-service mux via satellite from every stop on the circuit.

ARCTEK Purple traveled to Buchanan, MI, for RedBud National Motocross and Round 7 of the Lucas Oil Motocross Championship.

“There [was] a dirty feed, a clean feed, an international feed, and a webcast feed,” he says. “We [provided] the link that got their signal out and got their sources back in.”

Under the MotoAmerica umbrella, ARCKTEK’s Cyan transmission truck was also present at the Dunlop Championship at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI. Although the company receives heavy exposure in the world of motorsports, these races aren’t the only the major projects on their list. After laying the transmission groundwork at the 2019 NCAA Final Four in Minnesota, the team has also deployed other trucks in their fleet at events across the map.

“[Last month], we transmitted the 2019 Weber Cup for Sky Sports [with ARCTEK Magenta],” says Stanley. “In late April, we did billiards from the Mandalay Bay [in Las Vegas] for Sky Sports as well. Those are both huge, multiday events that received international viewership.”

The Weber Cup in Las Vegas is only one of the many events that ARCTEK has been a part of so far in 2019.

This past weekend, the 2019 season ventured to Monterey, CA, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Following an annual tradition, Europe’s World Superbike scheduled its races on the same weekend as MotoAmerica. The production required 15 cameras that were littered across the 2.238-mile course. And more recently, ESPN recruited ARCTEK for last week’s festivities a the MLB All-Star Game in Cleveland.

“On Friday, [June 5], I got the call to be in on Sunday, [June 7],” he says. “[ESPN] just wasn’t comfortable with the connectivity that they had, so they brought in a satellite truck to back everything up.”

Oldie, But a Goodie
As ARCTEK prepares for the upcoming football and basketball seasons, the satellite sector of the business continues to roll with momentum in the face of contemporary practices.

“[Other methods] may possibly be a more cost-effective solution but also a riskier solution,” Stanley says. “If you’re going over the public internet, you may not have that bandwidth throughout the entire show. Do you want to risk that or make sure that the show gets back to your headend or network? The satellite industry is not going away, because [our services] are used when broadcasters absolutely need a reliable transmission path.”

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