Sony lands big-time HD contract for ESPN L.A. Live facility

ESPN’s West Coast facility, L.A. Live, will be based around Sony high-definition television technology, including three Sony MVS-8000G production switchers and 10 HDC-1500 studio cameras. Located in downtown Los Angeles, the four-million square foot complex will have two studios and is expected to be completed in 2009. It will give ESPN a much-needed presence on the West Coast, allowing West Coast fans to have their own original, live content.

In addition, the facility will include more than 400 Sony LUMA professional LCD monitors and three BVM-L230 monitors, Sony’s new LCD display designed for critical video reference evaluation.

“These cameras, switchers and displays are a perfect fit for a network like ESPN,” said Alec Shapiro, senior vice president of Sony Electronics’ Broadcast and Production Systems Division. “We’re excited to be associated with this next phase of ESPN’s growth.”

According to ESPN, the multi-format capabilities of the Sony technology will meet its requirements for capturing and producing sports news programming, handling various content sources, graphics and a mix of live and pre-recorded material. The LUMA monitors will be used for video editing, graphics creation, and animation, with the BVM-L models handling color matching, program and preview monitoring and other video production monitoring functions.