Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

ESPN Ops Team Tips Off Challenging College Hoops Season With Focus on Safety, Efficiency

05/12/2020

ESPN Ops Team Tips Off Challenging College Hoops Season With Focus on Safety, Efficiency Innovation and flexibility are key in an effort facing myriad changes By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Friday, December 4, 2020 - 12:48 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

What is expected to be the most challenging college basketball season in recent memory tipped off last week with a smattering of early tournaments, and the schedule will kick into high gear later this month. Although ESPN's operations team is no stranger to the challenges of navigating the college basketball season - annually producing more than 1,200 games over seven months - the team has already faced an difficult series of challenges brought on by a list of canceled and postponed games.

There is an all-hands-on-deck mentality amongst the operations team, says Erin Orr, manager, remote operations, ESPN, as the virus continues to spread throughout the world, especially headed into the winter months. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenging moment in time, yet the operations team has derived innovation from necessity through advancements in workflows, skills, and routines.

With that in mind, ESPN's operations team has crafted a plan that focuses on keeping crews safe onsite and producing more games via REMI from control rooms in Bristol, CT; Charlotte, NC; and Wide World of Sports in Orlando.

Never before has such great change surrounded ESPN's college-basketball coverage, adds Orr. ESPN is committed to looking forward as a company and has supported the college-basketball operations team in designing new health and safety policies, business models, and technological efficiencies.

Ramping Up REMI: ESPN Increases Remote Production, Focuses on Safety Onsite During the 2020-21 season, the majority of ESPN's college-basketball productions will be either REMIs or productions that use ACC and SEC schools' on-campus control rooms. The standard of practice last season was about 10 full onsite productions per week; however, with increased safety protocols and a commitment to keeping staff safe and healthy, ESPN plans to have four or five onsite shows a week this season.

For onsite college-basketball productions, ESPN has instituted functional groups for its crews and requires all staff to wear masks and socially distance.

On a standard REMI production, the only positions onsite are audio, video, cameras, and operations. Talent and production personnel are handling their roles at home or in studios in Bristol, Charlotte, and Orlando. Announcers working from home leverage ESPN's Live From Home production model, which has been implemented over the past eight months and is built around Zoom, TVU, and Unity intercom tools.

The operations team [responsible for] getting college basketball on ESPN is made up of a network of groups, says Orr. However, the universal goal has always been simple: to get each game on-air in the safest and most efficient way possible. While the transparency of this goal is concrete, the means of finding efficiencies within the sport have morphed throughout time.

For onsite crews, ESPN has instituted functional groups that give the team the ability to strategically plan for each crew member who works at a game. ESPN's deliberate planning has created a more comprehensive understanding of onsite personnel and roles, which Orr says has facilitated management of each individual's functional group.

These restrictive groups mitigate unnecessary interactions onsite, she notes, which in turn allows each crew member to walk into each game knowing that their health and safety is number-one priority.

COVID Uncertainty: Ops Team Faces Ultra-short Timelines Orr adds that the biggest impact of the pandemic has been the onset of unknowns, which has resulted in initial operations planning now taking place just 10 days prior to each game.

Throughout the team's preseason preparation, the increase in communication within [the] operations [team], as well as with production, has been hugely important. The sport itself has been faced with a landscape of ever-changing information, and, as a result, the operations team aims at a moving target. The team has quickly learned that the plans laid yesterday immediately become a notion of the past.

The operations team and its production, crewing, and health and safety partners have determined to be flexible in the face of myriad changes. With game cancellations and postponements expected to be a regularity throughout this season, the ops team is focused on keeping the lines of communication as strong as possible throughout ESPN.

There is no manual on how to produce live sports during a global pandemic, Orr points out, so each group is learning and evolving with each curveball. Historically, the team has practiced adaptability in adjusting to the inevitable changes that come down the pipeline in a normal season. However, this season has inspired each group to raise the bar in terms of distributing immediate and concise communication amidst a field of ever-changing games.

Unmanned Cameras: POVs, Robos Play Big Role in Game Coverage Much time and energy has been spent individualizing the logistical planning for each venue's unique health and safety protocols. In addition, some venues allow fans to attend while others do not, and the capacity varies from one venue to another. Given all the variations, Orr says, the most challenging aspect has been mapping out camera locations while ensuring that each area maintains proper social distance.

The biggest loss in game coverage has been the elimination of on-court handheld cameras, so ESPN will lean on unmanned cameras to capture much of the on-court action. Marshall POV cameras have been added to every production to be used on the baskets for variou
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2020/12/04/espn-ops-team-tips-off-challeng...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

23/06/2026

PBS Selects LTN to Power Nationwide IP Video Network

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/06/2026

PBS selects LTN for nationwide IP video network

LTN, a global leader in IP-based video transport and network services, today announced that PBS has selected LTN as its IP video partner to modernize and future...

23/06/2026

The LiveU Q Era Arrives in ANZ with the LU900Q at ABE2026

LiveU will introduce its Q Era to Australia and New Zealand for the first time at ABE2026 on Stand No. 25, (July 30 31). Leading the showcase is the LU900Q, a n...

23/06/2026

Miri Technologies Ships V410 Live 4K Video Encoder-Decode...

Miri Technologies Inc. has begun shipping its highly anticipated V410 live 4K video encoder/decoder for streaming, IP-based production workflows and AV-over-IP ...

23/06/2026

DHD SX2 and TX2 Consoles Go On-Air at Radio Tzafon

DHD audio reports the completion of an upgrade to the audio production facilities at the Galilee headquarters of Radio Tzafon. The station broadcasts two progra...

23/06/2026

Nagravision Launches Nagra Venturi Security Offering

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/06/2026

ITN Expands Programmatic Local TV Platform

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/06/2026

Warner Bros. Discovery Taps AWS for New AI-Powered Ad Tech

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/06/2026

Study: Younger Viewers More Distracted But More Receptive to Ads

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/06/2026

Chilevisin, ClaroVTR Tap Pixop for 4K FIFA World Cup Feed

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

23/06/2026

Imagine Communications Names Greg Garmon as Senior Vice P...

Multifaceted Growth Executive Brings 20+ Years of Experience Leading Organizations Across Tech and M&E Imagine Communications today announced the appointment ...

23/06/2026

Australians in Film and Screen Australia's talent development initiative UNTAPPED returns for 2026

Australians in Film and Screen Australia's talent development initiative UNT...

23/06/2026

Visual Productions Unveils RdmRelay2 Four-channel Relay Control at InfoComm 2026

Visual Productions Unveils RdmRelay2 Four-channel Relay Control at InfoComm 2026 Brie Clayton June 22, 2026 0 Comments New Relay Solution Combines DMX, ...

23/06/2026

SMPTE Makes Its Standards Freely Accessible, Opening Standards Library to the Global Media Technology Community

SMPTE Makes Its Standards Freely Accessible, Opening Standards Library to the Gl...

23/06/2026

RT AND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION IRELAND ANNOUNCE RT TOY SHOW APPEAL GRANT AWARDS 2026

The RT Toy Show Appeal has raised over 31 million since its inception in 2020 ...

23/06/2026

NVIDIA Powers Over 400 of the World's 500 Fastest Supercomputers

News Highlights: NVIDIA technology runs 81% of the TOP500 and 90% of the systems new to the list. 26 systems on the TOP500 adopted the NVIDIA Grace CPU, up ei...

23/06/2026

How Businesses Are Building Specialized AI They Can Trust

Companies are asking how to build specialized AI that fits with the way their workflows actually run. The first wave of enterprise AI was about access. Compan...

23/06/2026

June 22, 2026

Newly identified molecule strengthens the eye's response to damage in retinal disease Scripps Research discovery finds that restoring the naturally occurrin...

22/06/2026

Behind the Mic: SportsCenters Lisa Cohn to Retire This June From ESPN as Longest-Tenured Anchor

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...

22/06/2026

Cosm Appoints David Ho as Chief Legal Officer

Cosm has announced the appointment of David Ho as Chief Legal Officer, a newly created executive role reporting to President and CEO Jeb Terry. Ho will oversee ...

22/06/2026

Warner Bros. Discovery and AWS Announce AI-Powered Advertising Technology Platform

Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced the developm...

22/06/2026

Daktronics Completes Audio Control System Upgrade at Petco Park for San Diego Padres

Daktronics has completed an audio control system upgrade at Petco Park in San Di...

22/06/2026

Accelerate Media Names John Willi President, Launches Accelerate Sports Network

Accelerate Media has named John Willi as President and announced the launch of the Accelerate Sports Network (ASN), a prep sports media and streaming platform c...

22/06/2026

AWSN to Air 3XBA Womens Basketball Tournament Live June 26-27

All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) and 3XBA (3 3 Basketball Association) have announced live television coverage of the annual 3XBA tournament on Friday, Jun...

22/06/2026

OWL AI Appoints Jay Prasad as Chief Executive Officer

OWL AI has announced the appointment of Jay Prasad as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Prasad succeeds Josh Gwyther, who has served...

22/06/2026

CP Communications Provides RF Support for Inside the NBA at 2026 NBA Finals

CP Communications delivered RF video and audio support for TNT's Inside the NBA at the 2026 NBA Finals, providing main show coverage in San Antonio and ea...

22/06/2026

Polymarket and GRID Partner to Integrate Esports Data and Streaming into Trading Platform

Polymarket has announced a partnership with GRID, an official esports data platf...

22/06/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Metinteractive's Rachel Mele, Ken Cyr on Building Technology Backbones for Sports Venues

As sports venues continue to evolve into more video-centric, fan-engagement-driv...

22/06/2026

SVG All-Stars: Corbin Perkins, Chief Engineer, Victory+

As the regional sports production scene shifts toward streaming, this Texan helps lead the engineering behind Victory+'s growing live platform...

22/06/2026

Meet the 2026 Sundance Institute Documentary Edit Intensive Fellows

By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs the memories of your elders [are] a scaffolding for you to build your identity on - and t...

22/06/2026

Blade joins CEDAR Audio Icons line-up

New hyper-resolution analyser EQ revealed CEDAR Audio's all-new Icons plug-in series has just gained its newest member, Blade. Described by the compan...

22/06/2026

Sampleson release Aeronaut

Turn any live input into a cinematic soundscape Designed for use in the studio and on stage, Sampleson's latest creation is capable of taking any audio ...

22/06/2026

ADDAC System's new Four Strings Series

Adds guitar strings to Eurorack rigs ADDAC System are renowned for their weird and wonderful synth designs, and their line-up includes plenty of gear that&#...

22/06/2026

FIFA World Cup 2026 fever grows, as more than one third of Australians tune in to SBS coverage

FIFA World Cup 2026 fever grows, as more than one third of Australians tune in ...

22/06/2026

NAGRA Venturi - Turning Piracy Intelligence into Measurable Business Impact

In our latest blog, Tim Pearson explores NAGRA Venturi, the new streaming security solution for the AI era from NAGRAVISION. Designed to aggregate and analyze ...

22/06/2026

Xumo Expands Contextual Targeting Capabilities Through Gracenote and IRIS.TV Integrations

Expanded integrations give advertisers access to distinct contextual signals acr...

22/06/2026

Greg Garmon Joins Imagine as Senior VP, Americas Video Sales

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/06/2026

Kaleidescape Breaks the 8K and 4:4:4 Barriers

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/06/2026

Xilica introduces Dynamic Voice Lift in new Designer

Xilica today announced the release of Dynamic Voice Lift, a new feature in Xilica Designer v4.12 that brings adaptive speech reinforcement to large meeting spac...

22/06/2026

NVIDIA Brings Trusted, 24/7 AI Agents to Telecom Operations

Telecom operators have seen remarkable returns from using generative AI to automate network management, customer care and back-office operations. Most of that i...

22/06/2026

Official trailer released for Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, coming to Sky and NOW on 8 July

Monday 22 June 2026 Official trailer released for Katie Price: Nothing to Hide,...

22/06/2026

Eco Wave Power Turns Waves Into Watts With NVIDIA AI Infrastructure and Digital Twins

The next era of AI will not be defined by compute alone. Its growth will be dete...

22/06/2026

NVIDIA Vera CPU Opens the Way for Agentic Scientific AI at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Mission, Vision and Veritas - new Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) supercom...

22/06/2026

From Materials Simulation to Experimental Astronomy, New NVIDIA AI Software Unlocks Scientific Discoveries

At the ISC conference running in Hamburg this week, NVIDIA is introducing new so...

22/06/2026

NAIRR Science Program Reshapes Scientific Research, Powered by NVIDIA AI Infrastructure

For the past two years, the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Arti...

22/06/2026

At ISC, JUPITER Shows What Exascale Science Looks Like

JUPITER, Europe's first exascale supercomputer at Germany's Forschungszentrum J lich, runs on NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips and NVIDIA Quantum-X800 Inf...