Analog Way’s Aquilon Processes Times Square Main Stage LEDs for “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”

Jupiter Production Group (New York), with All Visual Productions and Lightworks Interactive, used its Aquilon RS4 to power LED visuals and synchronized content for “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026” in Times Square.

The iconic event, which is the country’s most watched New Year’s Eve celebration, marked Jupiter’s first participation in the show working in conjunction with All Visual Productions and Lightworks Interactive.  This year’s broadcast, shown live on ABC, boasted an additional 90 minutes of programming and had the largest line up of stars and was the longest telecast in the show’s more than 50-year history.

Jupiter acquired its Aquilon RS4 last fall, as part of a broader system upgrade “LED walls and higher pixel densities continue to demand more processing resources,” notes company CEO and Founder Richie Arvidson.  “We evaluated several platforms, and Analog Way was the clear winner in terms of performance, flexibility, and reliability.”

“When Jupiter Productions reached out during their evaluation of new processing gear for their fleet, we jumped at the opportunity,” says Seth Teates, Senior Regional Sales Manager for Analog Way.  “The Jupiter team was very familiar with the competitive products, and we were honored they opted to standardize on the Analog Way Aquilon platform to build on for the future.”

The Main Stage for the New Year’s Eve telecast featured a number of LED surfaces.  “Since the broadcast wanted to see Times Square there was no traditional LED wall backdrop,” Arvidson explains.  “Instead, there were four LED cubes surrounding pillars, an LED railing and LED dance floor built into the stage.  Specific branded show content played for Ryan Seacrest and his performer introductions.  Then there was content for each performer, plus an IMAG world broadcast feed of the event displayed on the outside edges of the cubes.”  Content was handled by the on-site media playback technicians, who worked in advance with artist’s production teams to develop and format show visuals.

Choosing the Aquilon RS4 for such a mission critical telecast “came down to resources, ease of use and stability,” Arvidson says.  “I knew the RS4 had enough outputs, layers and processing power, so there was no concern.  I didn’t need to preprogram, once on site I was able to deploy the system quickly and handle any surprises that came up.  In very little time I was up and running in a production trailer around the corner from the Main Stage.”

He reports that the RS4 “worked flawlessly and made my life easier by taking away any stress points I might have had.

“Analog Way was very excited for me to do this show and has been wonderful and responsive.  Their customer service and the relationships I’ve built in just a short period of time are very valuable to me.  They make me feel I’ve made the right choice.  I imagine things will only continue to get better!”

“Seeing Jupiter’s success on such a high-profile event is truly gratifying,” says Teates.  “We look forward to many more years of successful partnership and can’t wait to see what world-class events they will produce moving forward.”