Sports and live events
The communication that isn't allowed to fail — Groupe CH's intercom
Communication and capture infrastructure sized for live events — deployed for Quebec's most prominent sports and entertainment organization.
- Client
- Groupe CH
- Industry
- Sports and live events
- Location
- Montreal — Bell Centre
- Services
- AV and broadcast integration
- Equipment
- Riedel matrix intercom · Riedel Bolero · SMPTE ST 2110 extenders · Cinedeck recorders · LiveU transmission
- Outcome
- Communication and capture infrastructure sized for live events — deployed for Quebec's most prominent sports and entertainment organization.
The context
Groupe CH — the organization behind the Montreal Canadiens and one of the country’s largest live-event machines — produces high-intensity live content: games, shows, events where dozens of people have to coordinate to the second.
In that world, intercom isn’t an accessory. It’s the system through which the director talks to cameras, technical talks to the stage, and everyone stays synchronized while thousands of spectators watch.
The constraint
An intercom system for live events is judged on a single criterion: it never goes down. No retakes, no second chances — if communication breaks during an event, the event breaks with it.
It required a professional matrix architecture, sized for the real number of participants and zones, integrated with existing production flows, and flexible enough to reconfigure from one type of event to the next.
What we did
We deployed a Riedel matrix intercom system — the global reference for live production, the same technology family we integrate at national broadcasters. Panels, matrices, partitioning by production zones: the architecture matches how Groupe CH’s teams actually work.
At the heart of the system: the wireless Bolero beltpacks, with rack-mounted charging bays on backed-up power — every pack returns to its slot, charges and heads back out for the next event.
And at the centre of the arena, the showpiece: we supplied the SMPTE ST 2110 extenders that feed the Bell Centre jumbotron. The biggest screen in the building gets its video over broadcast IP — the same standard as the control rooms of major broadcasters.
Around that core, we added the capture and transmission links: Cinedeck recorders for multi-stream capture, and LiveU units — a supply relationship running since 2020 — for mobile video contribution.
The result
Groupe CH’s productions run on communication infrastructure that matches their calibre. It’s the kind of system nobody talks about when it works — and that’s exactly the goal.
Broadcasters, arenas, tours: live production is a craft. Our job is making sure the technology is never its weak point.