Broadcaster Streamlines its Event Delivery Process with Level 3’s Unique, Advanced Communications System in Major League Baseball Venues Nationwide
May 31, 2011
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) today announced that FOX Sports is using Level 3’s Vyvx VenueNet+ services to support the delivery of all Major League Baseball games that it broadcasts for the 2011 season. VenueNet+ combines Level 3’s sophisticated voice, video and data services into one streamlined package delivered from a single panel, reducing FOX Sports’ operational complexities and enabling more advanced communications options for the event delivery process.
“After using Level 3’s VenueNet+ services for the 2010 football season – including the Super Bowl, which was one of the most-watched events in history – we were truly impressed with the simplicity of the panel as well as the tremendous operational capabilities it enabled,” said Jerry Steinberg, senior vice president of Field Operations with FOX Sports. “We’re pleased to work with Level 3 to provide viewers with top-quality broadcasts for the 2011 baseball season.”
With VenueNet+, Level 3 is providing FOX Sports with live video backhaul services for all Major League Baseball broadcasts. As part of that service, FOX Sports is using Level 3’s JPEG 2000 compression, an integrated service that further simplifies the production and operational workflow for the customer while enabling high-quality broadcast encoding for video delivery from major league baseball venues back to FOX Sports’ production headquarters in Los Angeles.
Level 3 is also providing FOX Sports with high-speed Internet access directly from the VenueNet+ panel. This particular feature of VenueNet+ was added at the request of customers who noted that they were previously limited by a lack of reliable, high-speed connectivity options in venues throughout the country. Additionally, based on feedback from customers, each VenueNet+ installation includes integrated Level 3 Enterprise voice services.
“Our expanded relationship with FOX Sports is a testament to the strength of our VenueNet+ offering and Level 3’s commitment to consistently improving our services to meet our customers’ communications needs,” said Mark Taylor, vice president of Content and Media at Level 3. “VenueNet+ makes it easier for broadcasters to meet more of their communications needs from a single provider with the support of a Level 3 team that has extensive expertise in delivering live events seamlessly over the Vyvx network.”
For more information on VenueNet+ and Level 3’s advanced event delivery capabilities, please visit http://www.level3.com/Products-and-Serv ... -plus.aspx.
About Level 3 Communications
Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: LVLT) is a leading international provider of fiber-based communications services. Enterprise, content, wholesale and government customers rely on Level 3 to deliver services with an industry-leading combination of scalability and value over an end-to-end fiber network. Level 3 offers a portfolio of metro and long-haul services, including transport, data, Internet, content delivery and voice. For more information, visit http://www.level3.com.