The NBA's Steve Hellmuth Offers Inside Look at NBA Summer League 5G-Based Production One game was shot by veteran camera operators using smartphones By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, July 16, 2019 - 11:27 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The NBA MGM Resorts Summer League in Las Vegas always gives the team at NBA Entertainment an opportunity to try out new things. This year, those efforts included extended experiments with robo cameras in the stands 15 rows up from the free-throw line, use of a Spydercam for all five days of coverage, and virtual floor graphics. But the most noteworthy test was the use of two AT&T 5G cellular nodes as the backbone for a game production that was shot completely with Samsung Galaxy s10 5G smartphones.
The NBA relied on veteran camera operators to shoot a Summer League game using nothing but Samsung smartphones.
We wanted to make maximum use of the bandwidth, so we had only four cameras on the 5G, and then the announce table talent and the roving talent were on Wi-Fi, says Steve Hellmuth, EVP, media operations and technology, NBA Entertainment. We had about 12 Mbps per phone, so that was plenty of bandwidth, and we also had three backup cameras for each of the main cameras as we wanted to make sure had solid battery life throughout the entire telecast.
The idea for the production originated in a discussion about how to integrate content captured via cellphones into a more traditional broadcast that also made use of regular broadcast cameras. But Jill Reardon, global VP, business industry solutions (East), AT&T, suggested producing the entire game with just smartphones.
That started a big journey about how to get great-looking pictures and also be able to deliver those signals in HD-SDI to the production team in the truck, says Hellmuth. This is a device that is used by everyone to talk to friends and share pictures and video. How could we [take] a tool for everyday life and apply it to basketball?
The broadcast featured interactions with fans in attendance, interviews, views from courtside, a customized graphics package, and other in-arena elements. Noah Eagle, Allie Clifton, and Alexis Morgan led the way as talent, and the game was carried on the ESPN App, International NBA League Pass, and NBA TV Canada.
The eventual signal workflow began with the smartphones' delivering a 5G signal to AT&T 5G nodes and Ericsson antennas (one antenna was used for each half of the court). From there, the signal was sent to an Ericsson server and offloaded to LiveU systems, which converted the cellular signals to HD-SDI so that they could be delivered to the EVS replay systems and production switcher in Mobile TV Group's 28HDX truck.
Placement of the Samsung phones was key because there was no ability to zoom. One camera was located under each basket, and there was a camera at the baseline on one side of the court and at the foul line on the other. The game was also shot horizontally.
One of the cameramen under the basket actually made a rig, says Hellmuth. The other camera operators had the camera mounted on a pole to provide more stability, and a LiveU app on the phone was used to set white balance and even provide talk-back with the team in the truck.
It might seam that a production without traditional broadcast cameras means that top-level professionals are not required. But that was definitely not the case. Director Jeff Curtain works for the Portland Trailblazers; producer Kyle Hall works for MLSE (Maple Lead Sports and Entertainment). John McConnell created graphics that reflected a new sensibility (for example, a scorebox shaped like a cellphone and a 24-second clock that looked like a cellphone battery-drain indicator), and Skyline New Media's Jeff Jacobs served as project coordinator. Oh, and yes, professional camera operators were a key part of the effort.
You need professional operators because they can anticipate the action and they understand the flow of the game, says Hellmuth. All four are veteran cameramen who embraced the task and enjoyed getting out from under the hood. They couldn't have been more enthusiastic, and they embraced it from beginning to end.
He notes that the quality of the video and audio was actually quite good and that the team was really surprised with the quality of the pictures.
Don't look for 5G to be at the center of a regular-season NBA game production any time soon, but Hellmuth does see a great application for non-professional venues or back-of-house or even sideline needs.
I could see doing a Division III college game with four phones, he says. This could also be a great way to have reporters in the stands. Younger talent doesn't want to be behind a desk; they want to be in the stands with the fans.
Hellmuth notes that ATT Executive Strategy Director Dave McDonald played a key role in keeping the team focused, while Jacobs helped the team embrace new things and gave the production a sense of adventure.
LiveU also did a great job, he adds. Solutions Engineer Greg Kulaga managed the cameras from a LiveU dashboard and made sure images matched.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
The NBA's Steve Hellmuth Offers Inside Look at NBA Summer League 5G-Based Production One game was shot by veteran camera operators using smartphones By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
