
Princeton Caps Off Extensive Program Transformation With H.G. Levine Broadcast Center New production hub features two control rooms and a studio By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Thursday, October 17, 2019 - 12:23 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
When the calendar rolls around to May, college students rejoice to the sound of summer. For one of the most prestigious schools in the Ivy League, Princeton University, the signs of this past summer marked the homestretch of its multiple-control-room buildout inside Jadwin Gymnasium. Like college football, with its phenomenal growth in the 150 years since its first game (which included Princeton, then-called The College of New Jersey), the production arm of the Tigers' athletics program has made an absurd amount of progress in a short time.
The two-bench control room is the newest addition inside Jadwin Gymnasium.
We always outsourced our football and basketball productions because, a year and a half ago, we didn't own a switcher, says Cody Chrusciel, assistant director, athletics/multimedia and broadcasting, Princeton University. Now we have three centralized control rooms, with one over at the football stadium that can run our videoboard.
This hasn't always been the situation at the university. When Chrusciel arrived in September 2015, a local third-party vendor was the go-to answer for all Tigers broadcasts. But the program was interested in branching out into in-house broadcast production, a massive undertaking that resulted in construction of the H.G. Levine Broadcast Center. The plan was put into motion in October 2016 when the first construction plans were drawn.
We decided to not hire an integrator, Chrusciel says, so John Bullis [assistant director, athletics multimedia and production, Princeton University] and I sat down and figured everything out. We didn't have an engineer, so, if it exists in the control room, we wanted to know how everything is configured and hooked up.
At Princeton Stadium, the condensed control room is the foundation of the program's hockey broadcasts.
With an existing fiber network throughout the campus, the program carved out a lane where two of the school's main sports, football (with 24 strands) and basketball, could rely on the infrastructure. After developing the concept, the effort began this past spring with a generous donation by Steven Mayer, a graduate of the Class of 1981 and student-athlete on the baseball team. The space's name, H.G. Levine, is a tribute to his uncle, who died after a car accident during his freshman year at Princeton.
On June 25, the team moved into its two-control-room facility. A few months later, the team produced the first event from the new digs: Women's Soccer vs. Boston College on ESPN+ Sept. 1.
During the first month of this control room, we produced six different sports out of five different venues. Four of those sports were done for NBC Sports Philadelphia, says Chrusciel. All [were produced] with a full-time staff of two.
Hybrid Home: Fiber, NewTek NDI Link Control Rooms and Venues
At the heart of the Jadwin control rooms are two NewTek TriCaster TC1 switchers. Two NewTek 3Play 3P1's handle replay functions; a portable version is also being used. For smoothness, Clear-Com HelixNet is behind in-house communications. On the audio side, Audinate's Dante audio networking is accomplished with a Yamaha TF3 in the bigger control room and a TF1 in the smaller one. Other significant tools include live shading for games with a late-afternoon kickoff and AJT Systems' LiveBook GFX, which is used by all Ivy League schools.
Four Hitachi Z-HD5000s and JVC cameras anchor the bulk of the university's live event productions.
In summer 2018, Princeton gave the Princeton Stadium control room a much needed refresh. After getting rid of 10-year-old equipment geared to dated SD broadcasts, the university needed to justify the refurbishment despite using the space only for five home football games per year. With an IP network courtesy of NewTek NDI and an aging/cramped Hobey Baker Rink nearing its centennial (in 2022), all hockey home games are produced from a half mile away.
The space features a NewTek TriCaster TC1 switcher, a 3Play 3P1, Dante audio via a Yamaha TF1 console, and other smaller versions of gadgets used in the main control rooms.
In both Jadwin and Princeton Stadium, the 2019 live event productions will total nearly 100 after the home slate of ticketed sports (football, men's and women's lacrosse, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's hockey, and wrestling) and 20-25 broadcasts of other sports (water polo, volleyball, soccer, field hockey).
Football and basketball productions are handled by a total of 15 staffers. For football, four Hitachi Z-HD5000 cameras with CCUs will line the stadium roof, with end-zone action covered by a wireless RF handheld at field level in the corner of the stadium and an additional camera midway up the stands. One of eight JVC PTZ cameras resides in the announcers booth for on-camera hits; others are installed beneath the basketball videoboard in Jadwin, inside the main control room, and throughout other sports venues).
Near the entrance of the H.G. Levine Broadcast Center, podcasts are recorded for additional content.
For basketball coverage, the control room will double its workload, serving as the nucleus for the main game broadcast and handling the in-venue videoboard show.
All Things Princeton: A Willingness To Expand
Despite maintaining two separate control rooms, the crew still had cash to spend. At less than 10% of the total project cost, Creative Dimensions created a dedicated studio space adjacent to the control rooms, including an anchor desk and a setup with two JVC cameras.
The idea was that most of our games a
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
03/07/2025
For our Vario-Jib, as well as for a repertoire of weights, we now have carts that make transport easier...
03/07/2025
One of our latest innovations: Slider Drive Unit!
Our Vario Slider not only comes with improvements and new features, but also with its own drive unit!
Our i...
03/07/2025
The 360 EVO lives up to its name: 360-degree rotation not only on the pan axis, but also on the roll axis, enables filmmakers to take their creative visions eve...
03/07/2025
What a buzzing few days at BSCExpo in London!
We were thrilled to connect with so many talented professionals from the world of cinematography.
A huge thank ...
03/07/2025
ADOLESCENCE - Shot with Panther Tower"The whole rig had to be detachable mid-episode
Netflix limited drama series Adolescence has been gaining attentio...
03/07/2025
To achieve a true level of decisive overmatch, communication systems must be as ...
03/07/2025
The Broadcasters Foundation of America has named Ray Hopkins, president of U.S. distribution at Paramount Global, to its board of directors....
03/07/2025
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. In his first major policy speech, Federal Communications Commissions Chair Brendan Carr outlined his Build America Agenda for the agency'...
03/07/2025
As the industry is making a major push to transition to NextGen TV broadcasting and develop new businesses that will fund the next generation of broadcasting, T...
03/07/2025
Despite enabling its subscribers to watch films and TV shows in the highest possible resolution, Netflix has revealed it is taking things old school with the in...
03/07/2025
WASHINGTON In response to news that Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump, Democrats and other administra...
03/07/2025
WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications today launched RefSuite for professional sports workflows....
03/07/2025
WEITERSTADT, Germany LYNX Technik, a provider of modular signal processing solutions, has announced that founder and longtime CEO Winfried Deckelmann is steppin...
03/07/2025
WASHINGTON Representatives from six trade groups representing tech, pay TV, broadband, LPTV and other sectors recently met with Federal Communications Commissio...
03/07/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wis. Dan Whealy has acquired Heartland Video Systems and will be its new owner and president, the systems integrator said....
03/07/2025
Acclaimed filmmaker, educator, and industry veteran Jay Holben has released his most ambitious work to date: The Director's Guide to Everything a sweeping...
03/07/2025
For Los Angeles-based photographer Scout Pruski, documenting the annual Dyke Day LA is a way to honor and give back to the city's legacy queer community and...
03/07/2025
Modular, Travel-Ready Solution Matthews Studio Equipment launches the new Chimera V-Flat Panel Frame Kit, the lightweight and modular, ultra-durable alternativ...
03/07/2025
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the release of Dalet Flex 2025.6 LTS (long-term support), introdu...
03/07/2025
Lightware's LARA Wizard makes it quicker and easier than ever to set up audio-visual (AV) room automation and control configurations, ensuring anyone, from ...
03/07/2025
Alfalite, the only European manufacturer of LED screens, has obtained both the NCAGE Code (NATO Commercial and Government Entity) and TAA (Trade Agreements Act)...
03/07/2025
nxtedition is implementing a new solution for WIN Network, based in its headquarters in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The nxtedition integrated platfo...
03/07/2025
ORS Group and Insys Video Technologies today announce the launch of a new joint brand identity: Big Blue Marble. The move reflects the evolution of a long-stand...
03/07/2025
Evergent, a global leader in customer lifecycle management and monetization solutions for subscription-based businesses, today announced the successful results ...
03/07/2025
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions today announces an executive leadership transition, effective July 1, 2025. Markus Motzko has been...
03/07/2025
Chaos Releases V-Ray for Blender
Brie Clayton July 2, 2025
0 Comments
Production-Proven Renderer V-Ray Arrives Natively in Blender for the First Time;...
03/07/2025
Calvin University Adds Blackmagic Replay to Broadcasts and Streams
Brie Clayton July 2, 2025
0 Comments
Replay workflow joins 14 Blackmagic Design cam...
03/07/2025
Berklee's Gospel Performance Program Welcomes Jonathan Nelson as the Herb Al...
03/07/2025
In today's fragmented media landscape, advertisers expect more than just reach - they want seamless cross-platform campaigns that deliver measurable results...
03/07/2025
** MEDIA ALERT ** Shonen Jump Store Hosting Los Angeles Pop-up During Anime Exp...
03/07/2025
Thursday 3 July 2025
David Harewood and Matthew Broome in Mozart: Genius for Hi...
03/07/2025
The Sky WNT Fund supports Womens National Team players with a 30,000 bursaryThursday 3 July 2025
Sky Ireland has announced the four recipients of the 2025 Sky...
03/07/2025
The forecast this month is showing a 100% chance of epic gaming. Catch the scorching lineup of 20 titles coming to the cloud, which gamers can play whether indo...
02/07/2025
Hege Wik and Odin appear in FOLKTALES by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institut...
02/07/2025
(Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
By Patty Consolazio
This one's for any person who's ever felt put down, left out, marginaliz...
02/07/2025
Calrec expands ecosystem at NAB 2025 giving broadcasters access to dynamic workflows and ultimate flexibility Helping broadcasters meet the shifting needs of me...
02/07/2025
NEW YORK Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump, ending a long-running legal saga that could clear the way...
02/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved the transfer of licenses for five TV stations from Sinclair to Rincon Broadcasting, which announce...
02/07/2025
As the media industry faces an uncertain business climate and rapidly changing consumer habits, TV Tech's most popular stories from the first six months of ...
02/07/2025
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. New data shows that U.S. homes now own an average of two smart TVs, with Samsung and LG dominating the market but Roku and FireTV continue to g...
02/07/2025
LOS ANGELES Funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management have acquired FilmRise, an independent digital streaming content distributor, and merged it with Shout! ...
02/07/2025
WASHINGTON The Advanced Television Systems Committee named Luiz Fausto vice president of standards development, succeeding ATSC vice president Jerry Whitaker, w...
02/07/2025
Boston Conservatory and the Sphinx Organization Join Forces to Make Classical Ed...
02/07/2025
NEW AMSTERDAM CREATOR DAVID SCHULNER JOINS CREATIVE TEAM OF NEW FOX DRAMA SERIE...
02/07/2025
02 Jul 2025
VEON Raises USD 200 Million in Private Bond Placement Dubai, July 1, 2025: VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq: VEON), a global digital operator ( VEON ), announces ...
02/07/2025
Brand new factual series follows mechanic and self-taught engineer Dom Chinea as he makes the move of his life to the far west of Cornwall
UKTV today announces...
02/07/2025
Progressive realism: Aurora on taking up the broadcast reins for World RX alongs...
02/07/2025
Great speed: New host broadcaster Aurora on getting the World RX 2025 season pro...