Behind the Scenes at Sinclair's New Media Operations Center Powering Bally Sports, Marquee Sports, and YES Network Besides a 25,000-sq.-ft. facility, the broadcaster is building its own video network By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 - 4:14 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Nearly two years after acquiring 21 Fox RSNs from Disney, Sinclair Broadcast Group officially rebranded them Bally Sports earlier this year. While the rebranding project was among the largest undertakings in the history of the RSN business, Sinclair faces an equally daunting task in building the backend technical infrastructure to replace the Fox RSN master-control center at The Woodlands in Houston, which will revert to Disney control on Aug. 23.
The multichannel monitoring room sits at the center of Sinclair's new Media Operations Center.
To serve the master-control needs of the 19 Bally Sports RSNs as well as YES Network and Marquee Sports Network, Sinclair has erected a 25,000-sq.-ft. SMPTE ST 2110-based Media Operations Center at Encompass Digital Media's headquarters in Atlanta. In addition, the broadcaster is in the process of building a Sinclair Video Network (SVN) to replace Fox's existing VAN (Venue Access Network), which connected all the RSN studios and trucks to venues across the country.
This has been a huge, unbelievable logistical juggling act - not just building the facility but now bringing all the RSNs online with the new [SVN], says Don Roberts, VP, sports engineering and production systems, Sinclair Broadcast Group. And we are on a very tight timeline to get all of this done before the deadline in August. We still have a long way to go, but It's amazing what this group of people has done in an incredibly short period of time without any real drama or hiccups.
Deciding on Encompass The central equipment room houses 84 racks of gear.
After the deal with Disney was finalized, Roberts and his team took two trips to the Woodlands facility to understand the task of replacing it. At that point, Sinclair began exploring two options: building a facility on its own that could replicate the Woodlands workflows for the RSNs or partnering with another organization to create the facility. Given the ultra-short timeline to launch such a robust facility, Sinclair opted to partner with Encompass to create its new Media Operations Center.
We had done some work with Encompass in the past, says Roberts, and they already have our Marquee Sports Network operation there. So we sat down and spent a lot of time with them planning it out, and it was a very collaborative environment.
Sinclair came up with a plan to take over the entire underutilized east wing of Encompass's facility (previously home to Crawford Communications' Satellite Services Division, which Encompass acquired in 2010), providing a 25,000-sq.-ft. canvas on which to create the new Media Operations Center.
There was basically nothing there, says Roberts. We gutted the building and built out what we needed in terms of power and [infrastructure]. It was as close to being a ground-up buildout as you can get without its actually being a new building.
Building an ST 2110 IP Facility Sinclair has built 40 control-room pods (with room for 12 more) to handle individual game feeds.
Encompass and Sinclair tapped Diversified to be system integrator and elected to build a native end-to-end SMPTE ST 2110 facility. IP-based facilities were nothing new for Sinclair, which had just rolled out new ST 2110 studios for Tennis Channel, Marquee Sports Network, and Bally Sports Florida/Bally Sports Sun. These projects gave Sinclair the confidence to move forward with a fully IP-based Media Operations Center in Atlanta.
We certainly could have built an HD-SDI facility, says Roberts, but we needed to put an infrastructure in place that would support 1080p, 4K, and HDR someday and also build for growth and for potential cloud environments and playout workflows. It made sense for us to build an IP facility. It has taken longer, and the cost is a little bit more compared with HD-SDI, but it's not like it was when IP was still a science experiment a few years ago. It has gone very well, and we're really happy with it.
The primary operating area within the Media Operations Center is the multichannel monitoring room (Centralcast), where operators monitor the multitude of feeds coming into master control. Around the outside of this Centralcast room are 52 live-event pods (40 fully equipped, with room to expand to 12 more in the future). Supervisors operate from workstations just outside these pods.
Supervisor workstations oversee the control-room pods.
If the Cincinnati Reds are playing tonight, says Roberts, an operator will occupy one of those smaller rooms and actually switch that [RSN's] feed from there for the duration of the game. When the game is over, that operator goes back out into the main [Centralcast] room.
Inside the central equipment room are 84 racks of gear (a much smaller footprint than what would have been needed for HD-SDI), including 104 Imagine Versio playout servers (10 UHD) controlled by ADC automation and Imagine Magellan SDNO Orchestration and leveraging an Arista red and blue spine-and-leaf IP network. Nevion's Virtuoso software-defined media platform manages 71 channels of IP decoding and 24 channels of encoding with Video iPath control. Among other key gear are 52 Imagine Selenio network processors used for multiformat conversion and multiviewers; two fully redundant C-band transmission chains with Synamedia encoders, muxes, and control; Telestream/Tektronix primary PTP sync with Meinberg backup; and Qligent compliance recording.
We went with a lot of Imagine products that Sinclair has worked with before and are proven for us, says Robe
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
15/10/2025
Across the world, early-career reporters are interrogating systems that shape daily life, from mortuaries and classrooms to the corridors of legal education and...
15/10/2025
St. Louis Blues Pay Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne in New Pregame Open VideoThe NHL franchise worked with production firms 2WEI and 4th Floor CreativeBy Mark J Burns,...
15/10/2025
Cobalt Digital, G3DVu, Proxima Vision, and Telos Alliance Renew Premier Sponsors...
15/10/2025
By Paige Bethmann
Before my grandmother passed away in 2019, I went to visit her in the hospital where she'd been for a few weeks. When I arrived, the nurs...
15/10/2025
Two years ago, Spotify set out to grow the entire publishing industry by making ...
15/10/2025
People turn to DJ for a listening experience that feels personal, dynamic, and j...
15/10/2025
Las personas recurren a DJ para vivir una experiencia de escucha personal, din m...
15/10/2025
Rock legend Bruce Springsteen and luminary actor Jeremy Allen White came togethe...
15/10/2025
At Spotify, we're all about supporting rising talent and helping them connec...
15/10/2025
New SBS Documentary Series THE CANCER KILLERS Premieres 4 November on SBS & SBS ...
15/10/2025
SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with bold, illuminating stories across th...
15/10/2025
One of humanity's most profound questions continues: Is there any place in our galaxy suitable for life beyond Earth? NASA intends to find out, with the hel...
15/10/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
15/10/2025
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage software for the AI era, today announced the advancement of its comprehensive AI ecosystem certification pro...
15/10/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today unveiled key highlights of the 2026 HPA Tech Retreat, scheduled for Feb. 15 19 at the Westin Rancho Mirage Go...
15/10/2025
At NAB Show New York 2025 (Stand 244), Interra Systems will showcase the future of media QC, monitoring, and captioning, highlighting its award-winning, AI- and...
15/10/2025
Grass Valley today announced that RMC BFM, part of the CMA-CGM Group and France's third-largest private media group, has chosen Grass Valley's productio...
15/10/2025
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future of hybrid, s...
15/10/2025
Rakim to Join Berklee's Hip-Hop Hall of Fame at Signature Series Concert The rap icon becomes the latest inductee, following luminaries such as Roxanne Sh...
15/10/2025
Berklee Brings Live Music to the Head of the Charles Student artists will perform on multiple riverfront stages during the 60th anniversary of the world's...
15/10/2025
CobbTV, the government access television channel for Cobb County, Ga. recently acquired an automated playout system from Pebble, a global provider of automation...
15/10/2025
OSLO, Norway Appear, the global leader in live production technology, will demonstrate how its powerful hardware and software innovations are shaping the future...
15/10/2025
NEW YORK The NBA is making major changes to the NBA App and NBA TV as it takes control of them from TNT Sports, which has long managed the league's digital ...
15/10/2025
SAN MATEO, Calif. In what promises to be a major expansion of interactive features and personalized content on the DirecTV platform, the operator and Glance hav...
15/10/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku has launched changes to its user interface (UI) that the streaming platform says will better showcase original programming on the platform...
15/10/2025
LOS ANGELES Software-defined data storage and data services provider OpenDrives has elevated Alex Dunfey to chief technology officer, responsible for driving th...
15/10/2025
Abu Dhabi, UAE October 15, 2025: Space42 (ADX: SPACE42), the UAE-based AI-powe...
15/10/2025
Sheldon Nichols and Will Trickett to find and prepare more classic cars for budget conscious would-be owners from Wiser Films
UKTV have recommissioned the clas...
15/10/2025
Wednesday 15 October 2025
Nick Cave
JPEG (275 KB)
Explore the creative univer...
15/10/2025
Wednesday 15 October 2025
From breaking up with your partner to quitting your job - new polling shows some messages are just too scary to send
Over a fifth (...
15/10/2025
Rohde & Schwarz unveils compact MXO 3 oscilloscopes with 4 and 8 channels: Advan...
15/10/2025
Back to All News
Revenge Series The Resurrected' Captivates Audiences Across Asia
Entertainment
15 October 2025
GlobalTaiwan
Link copied to clipboard
...
15/10/2025
Back to All News
Bringing the Best in VFX and Virtual Production Together as Eyeline
Jeffrey Shapiro
CEO, Eyeline
Business
15 October 2025
GlobalCanadaInd...
15/10/2025
Deployed by Astound Business Solutions, Harmonic's Primary Distribution Solution Ensures Outstanding Video Quality and Seamless Ad Insertion at the Edge
SA...
15/10/2025
Collaboration extends a trusted relationship as RMC BFM invests in scalable, fut...
15/10/2025
Series coming in 2026 stars Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Justine Mitchell and Jason O'Mara released today
RT today released first look images of new comedy-drama ...
14/10/2025
SVG Europe Summit 2025: All Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAYNetworking event that preceded IBC2025 shone a light on elite live sports innovation acro...
14/10/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Author Rich Podolsky on Writing Madden & Summerall: How They Revo...
14/10/2025
SVG All-Stars: Michael Reiners, Coordinating Producer, FloRacingThe Illinois State grad steers a vast schedule of motorsports events at tracks across the countr...
14/10/2025
Content protection: Getting the right management for your DRM By Neal Romanek
Friday, October 10, 2025 - 10:11
Print This Story
Eluvio power the EPCR'...
14/10/2025
As League Takes Over Ops, NBA TV and NBA App Add 60 Games, Weekday Studio Show, ...
14/10/2025
Time and effort: World's largest student-led broadcast prepares to go On Air...
14/10/2025
(L-R) Guest, Kimberly Robinson Jones, Geeta Gandbhir, Pamela Dias, and Takema Ro...
14/10/2025
Lossless ist jetzt mit Spotify Premium verf gbar.
Verlustfreies Audio war eine...
14/10/2025
La qualit Lossless est disponible sur Spotify Premium.
Le format sans perte de...
14/10/2025
For the seventh edition of Spotify and FC Barcelona's artist jersey series, ...
14/10/2025
Spotify is committed to bringing the best listening experience to all our users, and that includes parents and families. That's why we're expanding mana...
14/10/2025
Since its debut, the Spotify Original podcast Caso 63 has been more than just a story; it's been a cultural sensation. The science fiction thriller captivat...
Behind the Scenes at Sinclair's New Media Operations Center Powering Bally Sports, Marquee Sports, and YES Network Besides a 25,000-sq.-ft. facility, the broadcaster is building its own video network By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
