It’s big and spectacular. At 11,000 square feet with nine separate sets and 52 monitors, Sportsnet today introduced the largest, most innovative sports studio in the country, providing fans with a sports entertainment playground that places them in the heart of the action and brings the NHL experience to life.
The Hockey Central Studio, which debuts October 8 – opening night of the NHL season – features a rotating main anchor desk with a 360° open environment allowing cameras to shoot from any angle, an 11x38ft. ultra-high-resolution monitor – the largest ever in a Canadian television studio, and an LED floor that displays videos and graphics and leads into a giant video monitor wall. The studio also features up to 14 cameras that can shoot up to three live broadcasts for three different networks at any one time. (See attached “By the Numbers” addendum.)
“Our hosts and commentators gasped when they saw the studio in action for the first time, and we’re confident fans will as well,” said Gord Cutler, Senior Vice President of NHL Production, Rogers. “It’s cutting edge and allows us to showcase the game in ways never seen before that will keep fans on the edge of their seats.”
Designed by Jack Morton PDG, the company that designed the sets for Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium at Vancouver 2010 and London 2012, the set was eight months in the making, beginning with the design phase and coming full circle with the construction in mid-June and finishing in late September.
The studio is complemented by a new graphics and animation package, designed in-house by the Rogers Creative Group. It includes 10 different custom opening animations, 250 player animations, and more than 1,000 support animations that enhance storytelling and game analysis for viewers. Hockey fans will hear fresh musical packages during NHL on Sportsnet broadcasts, with renowned Canadian composer Stephan Moccio’s enhanced version of the current Hockey Night in Canada song and Sportsnet theme music – both of which are performed by an all-Canadian 50-piece orchestra.
In late-2013, Rogers Sportsnet acquired the Canadian television rights to NHL coverage – a mammoth $5.2-billion deal that stretches 12 years. It excludes TSN but will allow CBC to air some games with limited editorial control through a sub-licensing agreement with Rogers.
Feature Image: Rogers
Follow Channels and Categories