79th Tony Awards Mark Spectera's Largest US Broadcast Deployment

The 79th Tony Awards were broadcast from Radio City Music Hall in New York on 7 June 2026, and Sennheiser reported it as the largest US broadcast use of its Spectera wideband system so far. The production was handled by Firehouse Productions. A year earlier, at the 2025 ceremony, Cynthia Erivo had used one Spectera bodypack for both a lavalier microphone and stereo in-ear monitoring while walking from an upper-level dressing room to the stage.

The host's setup

Host P!NK used Spectera for all of her wireless needs during the evening: a headset, a lavalier, in-ear monitoring and a handheld microphone fitted with a Neumann KK 204 capsule. A single SEK bodypack covered her flying entrance, a performance of “Lady Marmalade” from Moulin Rouge! The Musical, her introductions and a tribute to the 30th anniversary of the Chicago revival. Spectera microphones also served performers from Schmigadoon! and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), plus instrument wireless during the In Memoriam segment.

Her monitor engineer Jon Lewis said the team could watch the packs, change settings remotely and lock volumes so that packs hidden in costumes would not be knocked during dance routines.

RF numbers

• two Spectera Base Stations covering the whole hall;
• four antennas on the first Base Station and three on the second;
• the equivalent of about 60 audio channels inside 12 MHz of spectrum;
• many conventional wireless systems running on the same stage.

All wireless gear, regardless of brand, was monitored and controlled in SoundBase. The team used the new Remote View feature of SoundBase Pro to show custom dashboards on phones, tablets and laptops around the venue, and listened on Sennheiser HD 480 PRO headphones.

Crew comments

Firehouse RF coordinator Scott Hoskins said the team could add microphone capacity and in-ear channels without extra frequency planning, and that EtherCON-based antennas made it easy to move coverage. RF technician Justin Milner said spectrum management and antenna setup were faster than with narrowband systems. At the time, the bodypacks and receivers were available, while the handheld was on pre-order with shipments due in the autumn.