Proshow Audiovisual of Vancouver BC, a leading provider of wireless communication equipment/services for live events and broadcast productions, deployed Clear-Com’s FreeSpeak II wireless intercom system at the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) 103rd Grey Cup Championship game. The Grey Cup was held November 29, 2015 at Winnipeg’s Investors Group Field. The Edmonton Eskimos defeated the Ottawa Redblacks 26-20.
Clear-Com’s exclusive Canadian distributor, GerrAudio, had installed a FreeSpeak II demo unit in a minimal configuration for testing purposes. Even in this limited deployment, the system outperformed the other manufacturers’ wireless intercom system. Proshow’s client opted to use the FreeSpeak II demo unit to produce the Grey Cup’s pre-game, half-time, and post-game live events instead.
“The Grey Cup is an extremely hostile RF environment, with all the wireless microphones and in-ear monitors being used by the CFL, TSN (the TV broadcaster), and other people working the game, plus 36,000 fans on their cell phones,” said John Sharpe, Director of Production at Proshow Audiovisual. “Despite this fact, FreeSpeak II sliced through all the traffic congestion in the 2.4 GHz band during pre-game tests – and did the same during the game itself.”
Sharpe adds that “despite a significant cabling restriction which only allowed for one 2.4GHz wireless transceiver to be set up, the FreeSpeak II covered the entire playing field and stadium and maintained this coverage throughout the entire game. There was no noticeable coverage loss – with just one antenna!”
Shawn Hines, GerrAudio’s Sales Manager for Western Canada, was on-site offering technical support for the system. “With our recent extensive testing in large facilities across Canada, the FreeSpeak II wireless product has performed flawlessly in some very challenging RF situations. The feature set offers us capabilities simply not available in the market before the introduction of this exciting new product,” said Hines.
In the weeks passed since the 103rd Grey Cup game, Proshow Audiovisual has placed their order for their first new FreeSpeak II system, for their production rental inventory.
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