ECAC Championships 2023

After a successful broadcast during the 2022 ECAC Hockey Championships, CCTv was asked to return for the 2023 tournament. This year posed some interesting challenges, especially with the cameras being on the opposite side of the ice from our production area. I needed to not only get the camera signals to the production area, but also get a return feed to the cameras, run ambient mic signals from the cameras, and get a communications network between the camera ops and the rest of the crew.

Fortunately, I was already in the process of moving our production staff out of the press box in Cheel Arena, so I had decided on some technologies for that purpose. Video signals ended up being pretty straightforward, with the arena providing 4 strands of fiber between the cameras and production area. Ambient mics were embedded into our main camera and fed over via that fiber line. For many of the other audio and comms challenges, I opted to use Dante, an audio over network protocol. Instead of running XLR cables for our rink side reporter’s mic, IFB, and talkback, I just had to run a single network cable to a Studio Technologies Model 381 beltpack. And since the building has a strong network infrastructure, I only had to run that network cable about 50 feet. I was also able to use Studio Technologies’ Model 545DC ClearCom interface, allowing me to link the production comms to the cameras, again over the building’s existing infrastructure.

Since this was during my last semester at Clarkson, I was working with a mindset of trying to document everything I could to help the next generation of CCTv. I had already developed a diagram of every piece of equipment in the broadcast setup at Cheel Arena and how they’re connected, so I decided to create a second diagram for our setup at Lake Placid. Not only did this help me document our setup for the future, I also was able to use these diagrams for testing and debugging our setup, as well as making sure others could know what was going on. Instead of trying to explain what a cable looked like or which of the 16 outputs I had a cable plugged into on our video router, I could just have someone reference the diagram and ask “what output on the video router goes to the jumbotron?”

I also took on a producer role for this broadcast, working with our on-air talent, director, and the league to organize the broadcast, develop graphics elements, and facilitate interviews. We somehow managed to create an entire intermission report when we had almost no time during the regular season broadcasts!