Fox Sports Preps for Eighth Straight Big Ten Championship, First Pac-12 Title Game Since 2016 Back-to-back games in two locations are no match for the network's readiness By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor
Friday, November 30, 2018 - 11:34 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Fox Sports is broadcasting two of the five major college football conference championships this weekend: the Pac-12 Championship on Friday and the Big Ten Championship on Saturday. Although the Ohio State-Northwestern and Washington-Utah matchups have storylines on the field, there are plenty of moving parts behind the scenes. Similar to the players' goal to exceed expectations, the production staff looks to rise to the occasion, even after a hectic holiday weekend.
After Thanksgiving weekend with 11 games, two back-to-back games this weekend isn't a problem logistically, says Dave Jones, director, technical operations, Fox Sports. Making sure everything is right and making these games special is our full focus. Championships are always the marquee games we look forward to throughout the season.
Big Ten: Same Strategy in Friendly Confines
In the network's eighth-straight season broadcasting the Big Ten Championship, Fox Sports will rely on Game Creek's Dynasty (Fox's A-game truck) and Edit 1 mobile units.
Fox Sports Tech Producer Tom Lynch (left) checks out SkyCam with SkyCam EIC Eric Harrison at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Jones and company are deploying 18 manned cameras throughout the stadium, including six Sony HDC-4300's at 6X high speed. As is customary for Fox's college-football games, fans will get both field-level and aerial shots with the help of two Vicareo RefCams, four Admiral Video PylonCams (with three cameras in each), and a SkyCam system.
As for audio, multiple stereo mics will be planted among the crowd, in the band sections, and around the stadium to capture ambient sound. Six parab mics will encapsulate all on-field noise.
Since 2011, Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis has been the home of the Big Ten Championship, and, despite the familiar environment, Fox does not take the assignment lightly.
We know this stadium, and we know this game, but we're going in with the same butterflies that we do every year, Jones says. We understand what this game means to Fox College Football and our relationship with the conference. It's our Super Bowl.
On the airwaves, play-by-play announcer Gus Johnson, lead analyst Joel Klatt, and sideline reporter Jenny Taft will be in the booth.
Pac-12: Back in the Driver's Seat
After a year without the telecast, Fox is back in a big way for the Pac-12 Championship at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, CA.
Fox Sports V1 Raffael Defeo (right) and V2s Darrin Peterson (center) and Jesse Grondin monitor camera feeds.
Our whole season builds to this weekend, says Bo Garrett, lead producer, Fox Sports. We're definitely approaching it with a championship mindset.
The onsite team is using Mobile TV Group's 41HDX and 26HDX as the broadcast's designated production trucks.
For the West Coast showdown, six Grass Valley super-slo-mo cams (also running at 6X high speed) will be deployed. In addition to RefCams and PylonCams, the TomCat jib cart will be included as a specialty cam.
Having the clarity of four 6X-high-speed cams on our regular-season package adds a lot, says Garrett, not only to our replays but also with our ability to help the officials on reviews with clear, definitive looks. Adding two more for the Pac-12 will help to balance the far-side coverage.
A four-person team will announce the game: Joe Davis for play-by-play, Brady Quinn as lead analyst, and Bruce Feldman and Petros Papadakis on the field.
Rounding Out a Year of Bringing the Best Looks to Life
The tech deployed for both contests will enhance the fan's viewing experience. For example, the RefCam has steadily gained a bigger presence on all broadcasts.
We worked with several companies developing HatCam technology for the past five years, explains Mike Davies, SVP, field operations, Fox Sports. We were able to do a lot of testing with Vicareo last season into January. We have been pleased with [the technology's] stability, image quality, and signal clarity. We're pushing for more alternative looks that emphasize the play breakdown and help analyze why the play happened.
Overall, Fox Sports is looking for a fitting culmination to another season. We're really proud of what our college-football group has done all season, says Davies. Our people live and breathe college football.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
Fox Sports Preps for Eighth Straight Big Ten Championship, First Pac-12 Title Game Since 2016 Back-to-back games in two locations are no match for the network's readiness By Kristian Hernandez, Assistant Editor 
