Level 3 to Provide TV Video Services for NFL, NBC Sports at Super Bowl XLIX

Level 3 Communications will provide television broadcast video services to the NFL and NBC Sports for the presentation of Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, as well as additional Super Bowl-related programming, using Level 3’s Vyvx VenueNet+ technology. This is the 26th consecutive year that Level 3 Communications has provided such services for the Super Bowl.

Level3The Super Bowl is one of the most-watched television events in the U.S. each year – last year, it drew in 111.5 million viewers, which is the largest audience in television history. This year, the Super Bowl will be hosted at theUniversity of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., which is connected directly to Level 3’s advanced fiber-optic network, enabling the TV broadcast of the event. Level 3 will also support NBC broadcasts from downtown Phoenix, which will occur in the days leading up to, and the day of, the event. In total, more than 3,000 hours of video content will be acquired, encoded and transported across Level 3’s Vyvx VenueNet+ platform as part of the Super Bowl coverage.

“We understand that an event this massive comes with incredibly high expectations for a seamless viewing experience,” said Mike Meehan, senior vice president of Sports Operations for NBC Sports Group. “Level 3 has nearly three decades of experience delivering high-profile, global events, and we trust them to provide the reliable performance we need.”

Level 3’s equipment and connectivity into the venue give NBC fully diverse, end-to-end on-net service to ensure better reliability and control over the delivery process. Level 3 will also provide NBC with the video transport it requires to broadcast MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show from Phoenix in the days leading up to the Super Bowl. Finally, Level 3 will provide Vyvx services to other NBCUniversal properties that will be onsite in Phoenix throughout the week.

“Each year, the Super Bowl grows and is better than the year before, and that requires an increasingly complex operation to ensure a smooth, uninterrupted broadcast,” said Glenn Adamo, vice president of Media Operations for the NFL. “We have a strong working relationship with Level 3, and each year, they’ve been able to ensure the NFL’s millions of football fans receive the best quality broadcast available.”

In addition to delivering the game, Level 3 will also carry the pre-game and post-game feeds to all NFL operations centers; NFL Films in Mt. Laurel, NJ and NFL Network studios in Culver City, CA, NFL Network Master Control inAtlanta, GA as well as other broadcast networks and satellite teleport sites for global distribution.

“There’s no larger fan base in the U.S. than that of the NFL, and Level 3 is honored to enable those fans to enjoy the pinnacle game of the season,” said Anthony Christie, chief marketing officer at Level 3. “After 26 years of working with the NFL and broadcasters like NBC, we are well aware of the complexities involved with delivering an event of this magnitude on a global scale. That’s why we work in lockstep to plan and execute delivery of the Super Bowl, ensuring a seamless viewing experience for viewers around the world.”

Level 3’s Vyvx VenueNet+ technology is engineered to provide exceptional HD and standard-definition (SD) digital video services, with added HD and SD encoding, high-speed Internet and telephony services. The Vyvx technology is used in all 31 NFL football venues across the country.

Vyvx VenueNet+ is part of the Level 3 Video Cloud, which is a full suite of IP-based video services designed to support content delivery throughout its life cycle, from signal acquisition to delivery to viewers. Level 3 Video Cloud services include live broadcast video acquisition, encoding and transcoding, global delivery via the Level 3 CDN, as well as comprehensive, self-service analytics and reporting.

The Super Bowl XLIX broadcast will air on NBC on Feb. 1 at 6:30 p.m. EST.

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