NFL Playoffs 2026: CBS Sports Travels to Jacksonville With Packed Arsenal of Production Capabilities

NFL Playoffs 2026: CBS Sports Travels to Jacksonville With Packed Arsenal of Production CapabilitiesNEP Supershooter 4 C unit joins Supershooter CBS as tape-release truck at EverBank StadiumBy Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Friday, January 9, 2026 - 12:12 pm

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After the 18-week marathon of the NFL regular season, it's finally crunch time of the playoffs. CBS Sports - which posted record-setting viewership and led the NFL during the 2025 regular season with the most-watched network package, program, and game - leads off Sunday's schedule with a trip to Duval County, FL, to showcase the No. 6 Buffalo Bills vs. the No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars at 1 p.m. ET. Although the postseason is where the league's brightest stars raise their game, the broadcaster will roll with its customary top-flight arsenal of production technologies and operational workflows.

Over the last couple of years, we've tried to position the show so that the regular season doesn't feel like an enormous stepping stone to get to the playoffs, says Jason Cohen, SVP, remote technical operations, CBS Sports. We're at a point where a lot of the bells and whistles that we used to add specifically for the playoffs have been baked into the regular season.

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Nice and Dry: Postseason Debut of Rain-Clearing Lens on SkyCamMost of the bells and whistles come in the form of specialty cameras that fly above the playing field, slow the game down to catch a crucial replay, or capture a play from a unique angle. This year, however, one of the most notable pieces of tech is a simple yet important addition to the lower of two SkyCams. Making its postseason debut, a mechanism inside the camera lens - dubbed Sky Dry - will allow the SkyCam operator to dry off any rain drops and provide a crystal-clear image. As colder temperatures hit many areas of the U.S. and games are played in cities with unpredictable weather, this small tweak can become a gamechanger.

Sky Dry, CBS Sports' lens-drying mechanism on SkyCam, will make its postseason debut in Jacksonville.

We had this all year on our A games but used it only once, two weeks ago in Cleveland, and it was a massive success, says Cohen. Going into places with inclement weather like rain in Jacksonville, FL, or snow in cities like Foxborough, MA, and Denver, we're in a position to keep this camera fully operational.

Many of the cameras deployed during the regular season will make the trip. This includes 12 super-slow-motion cameras: seven Sony HDC-5500's (one at 6X speed on the near-sideline cart and six at 4X speed with 4K capability at each high end-zone position), one each at the near and far goal-line positions, one each at the near-side and far-side positions at the line to gain, and one at the reverse 50-yard line. Six Nucleus pylon cameras will be deployed: three in each end zone, one of which will be at 4X speed and 4K capability. Also deployed will be a Sony FX9 RF Steadicam, high and low SkyCams, a fixed-wing airplane, and a drone from Beverly Hills Aerials. In addition, there will be four back-pylon cameras provided by C360, two super-slow-motion cameras at 6X speed at low end-zone positions, and an RF Sony HDC-F5500 handheld.

On the graphics side, SMT will supply an augmented-reality version of the 1st-and-10 line on the low SkyCam, which will be CBS Sports' first full in-house execution. G3DVu will continue to provide virtual 1st-and-10 on the main game camera.

Typically, camera complements and ancillary technologies will get a boost as the playoffs progress. For instance, wind speed and other information will be used next weekend during the Divisional Round; as more resources are freed up with one game left in the season, the AFC Championship will feature more cameras, including two Sony HDC-3500's and a Sony HDC-5500 at 6X super-slow-motion. Additionally, CBS Sports will use various video feeds for immersive-experience provider Cosm's presentation of the game.

Built for the Playoffs: NEP Supershooter CBS Headlines the CompoundIn Jacksonville, CBS Sports will again be working from NEP Supershooter CBS, capturing content in 1080p HDR. A portion of NEP Supershooter 4 C unit will be put to use outside EverBank Stadium to help with tape release. Aside from these mobile units, NEP Group is also providing the HDR RF Steadicam, the RF handheld, a Sony Burano 8K camera with Sony's FE28-70mm lens from AVS, a Sony HDC-5500 camera, and a RF talent monitor. This equipment will also be used in the Divisional Round as well as the Championship round.

In the stadium, production personnel will be working within a venue that hasn't seen action at this time of year since 2022. After numerous postseasons in the same handful of cities, it's a breath of fresh air for the crew to work in a new environment.

[EverBank Stadium] is a new venue for us on this size show, says Cohen. It's a prime example of what is exciting and thrilling about this year's playoffs. There's another layer of excitement and challenge as well, because you don't have last year's [postseason] playbook to lean on. Even though you're there for the regular season, everything changes when you get to the playoffs.

Planning the Itinerary: Total Team Effort Helps Crew Transition From City to CityThe tricky part about the postseason is not knowing where the next round's game will be played. Cohen and his crew have to account for all possibilities, which means devising plans for any possible city.

We have to prepare for any and all circumstances when it gets to where we could be going next week for the playoffs, he says. We'll also need to prepare for possibly being on a Saturday, but we bake in contingencies as part of the

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/01/09/nfl-playoffs-2026-cbs-sports-tr...
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