A look inside the process of managing and streaming the most-watched live cable television event in America.
SiriusXM hired us for their live stream coverage of the Super Bowl LIV pregame. Over the course of a week, we streamed every SiriusXM show. We specifically handled graphics, tickers, and overlays for Pitbull’s Globalization, Shade 45, Mad Dog Sports Radio, Kevin Hart’s Laugh Out Loud Radio, Radio Andy, Joel Osteen Radio, and a few others. We also handled the NFL’s radio channel.
The magnitude of this live stream was both exciting and daunting. The hours were insane and the pressure was there every step of the way, but the entire experience proved to be one of the most rewarding jobs to date.
Though we faced many challenges throughout the week, largely caused by external factors presented right there at the moment, we were able to adapt and overcome every obstacle to deliver a high-quality, seamless stream with flawless continuity.
Our team was the real hero on this job. Many of the challenges that were presented were totally out of our control. But, at the end of the day, they fell on our shoulders. But if you’re in the same industry and have been in a similar situation, you know every challenge comes with the territory. When challenges are presented live, they are significantly more overwhelming, but that never dulled our team’s attitudes or their abilities to produce an epic live stream for the most-watched event on cable television.
The following content will take you behind the scenes into the coverage of the SiriusXM Super Bowl LIVE live stream, and show you the many facets of production that our team controlled.
Live Streaming Challenges at Super Bowl LIV
Most every production comes with its own unique set of challenges. The SiriusXM Super Bowl LIV live coverage was no different.
Regardless of how thoroughly you plan, there are times when things simply don’t go right. That’s why it’s so important to have a team that is both prepared and capable of working through problems while still keeping morale positive and continuing to carry out their job functions.
When we were on set for the Super Bowl LIV live coverage, we had to pull out a lot of the tricks of the trade we’ve learned over the years to get the job done. For instance, when certain graphic animations (you know, the ones that open the show and appear during cut scenes) were not formatted properly, our team stepped in and created graphic design work on the fly, literally creating assets as the stream was in motion. Additionally, we had to improvise and build a live stream ticker on set to handle switching between channels. And that wasn’t even the half of it.
Some of the provided assets for the live stream were either low resolution or the wrong resolution. So, new assets that weren’t previously planned for had to be created on-site or undergo last-minute changes, such as making still images animated or making animated assets animate in a different way. Certain functionality was also requested that wasn’t originally required.
We had to be very creative and use the tools and software that we had at our disposal to come up with solutions to those challenges to satisfy the needs of the shows and the requests of our client. And we had to do it all in the background of a live program without any viewers, media, or hosts noticing.
These issues we encountered were pretty stressful (understatement) but that’s why it was so important that we keep our cool and get the work done without disturbing the show, which is exactly what our team did. They nailed it!