Scoop E-Z at NFL Game of the Week

ATA Audio - February 2005

Scoop E-Z at NFL Game of the Week

Mexico City, Mexico- Radio Acir Network and TV Azteca used the ATA Scoop E-Z to broadcast the NFL game of the week in Spanish during the 2004 –2005 NFL season. Every Sunday during the season, Fernando Von Rossum Senior and Junior would do live play by play at different NFL games and broadcast it back to the Radio Acir Network and TV Azteca of Mexico reaching over 90% of the country. What was most interesting of the broadcast was that it was done in POTS mode. Being that Radio Acir only puts on ISDN quality on their network, we thought that they would have a problem. However, after doing testing in August at some pre-season games, they were impressed with the POTS quality and decided it was good enough to broadcast. Israel Aguilar Chief Engineer had this to say about the Scoop E-Z. “We would go to the game with just the Scoop E-Z and our headphones and Mics. No mixers were needed. Being that the Scoop has two separate Microphone inputs and two separate headphone inputs, Von Rossum Senior and Junior were able to do their play by play and color with no problem. The Scoop also has a built in two-channel mixer so we were able to get a feed back from the studio making the remote much easier for me. I actually had time to enjoy the games.” The broadcast would last for about four hours because they did a pre and post game show. The unit held the line for the entirety of the broadcast for their games. This from Mr. Aguilar. “I was surprised as we went to different stadiums all over the US that the line was being held for long periods of time. In my experience with other codecs, when you go through PBX switches and you deal with international carriers, calls usually get dropped. On just a couple of occasions this happened with the Scoop, and with the auto re-dial feature we back on the air within seconds.” “What I like about the Scoop” according to Von Rossum Junior, “is that it is so small. It weighs only four pounds and I was able to pack it in my computer bag and travel with it with no problem. It was also very easy to set-up and I liked the level controls on the inputs.”

The Scoop E-Z was also used to broadcast the Superbowl live from Jacksonville Florida to Mexico. Here is Mr. Aguilar. “For the Superbowl, we had to bring in another mixer for additional mic inputs because we had to carry the Paul McCartney concert and we wanted a separate mic for the feed from the Refs. This was our longest broadcast (about 5 hours) because of the festivities. The broadcast went very well and the quality was as good as you can get on a POTS line.” According to the Radio Acir Network and the Von Rossums, they will be using the Scoop E-Z again for next season’s NFL Game of the Week. Mr. Aguilar will be using the Scoop this summer to broadcast the FC Dallas (Major League Soccer Club) soccer games locally in Dallas on Radio Oyo.