NHL Network Fires Up Three Studios, Four Control Rooms to Host Virtual 2021 NHL Draft More than 100 live video feeds from team headquarters, players homes will pump into network's Secaucus facility By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, July 23, 2021 - 5:26 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
It's been an awfully busy week for the National Hockey League.
First it was Tuesday night's first-of-its-kind standalone live broadcast of the Expansion Draft for the league's newest franchise: the Seattle Kraken. Now, this weekend, clear across the country in Secaucus, New Jersey at the broadcast facilities of the NHL Network, it's on to the 2021 NHL Draft.
So much for the offseason.
Round 1 is Friday beginning at 8 p.m. ET airing on ESPN2 in the United States and Sportsnet, SN NOW, and TVA Sports across Canada. Rounds 2-7 pick back up on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on NHL Network in the US and Sportsnet and SN NOW in Canada.
This NHL Draft is perhaps one of the most challenging and comprehensive events that the joint production/operations team at NHL Network and MLB Network haven taken on. Not only will three studios supported by four control rooms be fired up for the two days of live programming, but more than 100 live video feeds will be funneling into the facility and on to air from the 32 team headquarters, 45 player prospects homes, and other sources.
On the air, the production will also reflect the changing face of the league's American television market. Talent from ESPN, Sportsnet, and NHL Network itself will all anchor the show in a collaborative production that all broadcast networks will carry.
It's a very different take on the Draft versus where we were last year, says Eric Eisenberg, VP, Programming and Operations for MLB Network and NHL Network. Last year we were producing a world feed on Day 1 that the broadcast partners were able to utilize and change. This year we are working together with everyone to create one broadcast which has, in some respects, changed how we are doing things but has engaged our production team even more to be involved in the creative side.
For the second consecutive year, BitFire Networks is being utilized to manage all of those external feeds. The vendor has shipped servers to all 32 team headquarters and is offering up its browser-based FireBridge solution that makes it easy for NHL Network to send links to prospects that leverage the cameras within the smartphone or laptop of the players' choosing.
These are all elements that the production and operations crews at MLB Network and NHL Network were more than up to the task for a year ago. There was plenty of uncertainty traveling into uncharted waters when MLB Network hosted its first fully virtual event with last year's MLB Draft and last year's NHL Draft was the first time they utilized the Bitfire Networks workflow. This year, after many months of proving out these methods, there's a whole new level of confidence going into this weekend.
There was a level of terror into the first [virtual MLB] Draft that we did in 2020, admits Susan Stone, SVP, Operations & Engineering at MLB Network. We had incredible support at the time from MLB technical services department so that every event that we did gave us more confidence. We're in a place now where we know what to expect, we know what the best practices are, and we're ready to go out and deliver the best product that we can.
Our confidence level is way higher than last year, agrees Steve Mayer, the NHL's Senior EVP and Chief Content Officer. We've done a Draft, a Draft Lottery, and hundreds of shows, both internally at the NHL and at NHL Network, with this virtual equipment. We've seen it evolve and seen it look pretty good.
Much of that confidence comes from the comprehensive work put in by members of the MLB Network/NHL Network team like Vice President, Engineering & IT Jake Soto; Senior Manager, Studio Engineering Curt Bose; Manager, Studio Operations Michael Herbert; Manager, Studio Technical Operations Tony Giner to tie up and test out all of the various feeds and delivery mechanisms.
In addition as anyone who has worked on a Draft of any kind will tell you so much of the success of a live draft broadcast comes in the weeks- and months-worth of work building b-roll video and graphics packages. The edit team of Senior Director, Production & Strategic Planning Will Cope, Manager Matt Ciancimino, and Segment Producer Mike Dello Stritto has churned out a load of on and off the ice content to prepare the on-air crew and front bench for as many possible Draft Dat scenarios. And it's critical to the overall storytelling process.
Unlike other some other sports, a lot of our fans don't know these players, says Mayer. We know that. For some, this is the first time they are going to see or hear highlights of their guy. When somebody does get drafted, what can we tell the audience about this player and what are those nuggets that they will take away? We push our PR team to find those bits of information that will bring these kids to life.
As just an example of the sheer scale of this NHL Draft, the MLB Network graphics team - including Coordinating Producer Dan Coldwell and Segment Producers Mike Benjamin and Rob Wass - have built out 250 full screen profiles, 500 player lower thirds, 130 team-focused lower thirds, 250 player headshots/action shots, 20 specialty full screens, 96 team-specific full screens, 224 pick tower templates, and 64 VIZ set content templates, according to Coordinating Producer Marc Weiner - who is working alongside Senior Producer Steve Tronzano and Producer Kirsten Sobecki in crafting the show's on-air look.
Other key elements to the show include the work done by the NHL Network and MLB Network research team -
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
06/05/2024
It's almost go-time for the Holly Springs Salamanders! The season opener is ...
05/05/2024
A special evening performance by multiplatinum singer Becky G will provide a memorable conclusion to TeievisaUnivision's Casa Cultura upfront event on May 1...
05/05/2024
Giant media buyer Publicis is telling network sales executives that it does not think Nielsen's new panel-plus-big-data currency is ready for this upfront....
05/05/2024
WASHINGTON Glenn Kirschner, legal analyst at NBC News, blasted the media for referring to the New York trial of former President Donald Trump as a hush-money ...
05/05/2024
Catchy Comedy's weekend marathon sees The Beverly Hillbillies on the weekend of May 4-5. The event kicks off Saturday, May 4 at 11 a.m. ET, and runs through...
05/05/2024
NBC Sports has the 150th Kentucky Derby Saturday, May 4. The coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock and the feature race at Churchill Downs in Louis...
04/05/2024
NEW YORK As the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month kicks off in May, Nielsen has released an extensive new report diving into their media habits with data sh...
04/05/2024
PHILADELPHIA As National Military Appreciation Month gets underway, Comcast has announced several new initiatives to help veterans, service members, and their f...
04/05/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced a tentative agenda for the May Open Commission Meeting scheduled...
04/05/2024
The Broadband Forum has announced major enhancements to key 5G convergence standards that the group said will help advance next-generation applications, improve...
04/05/2024
Spotify Wrapped Campaign Spot Graded With DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 3, 2024
0 Comments
Blackmagic Design today announced that Colorist M...
04/05/2024
Three Boston Conservatory at Berklee Alums Nominated for Tony Awards An additional eight alums and two current students performed in nominated productions.
...
03/05/2024
An innovative learning tool to help media and civil society better understand ho...
03/05/2024
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 21: (L-R) Actors K stutis Cic nas and Greta Grinevi i t , Director Marija Kavtaradze and Producer Marija Razgute attend the 2023 Sunda...
03/05/2024
If you aren't familiar with Danny Ocean's music, it's only a matter ...
03/05/2024
Spotify has an unwavering commitment to supporting emerging artists across all genres, to helping them launch and thrive in their careers, and to connecting the...
03/05/2024
Como uno de los sonidos de mayor expansi n en el mundo, la M sica Mexicana va m ...
03/05/2024
As one of the fastest-growing sounds worldwide, M sica Mexicana is more than jus...
03/05/2024
NEW YORK FuboTV reported that it lost 110,000 subs in Q1 2024 but it exceeded its guidance for the quarter with double digit year-over-year increases across key...
03/05/2024
Only 3 Weeks Left To Enter The Creative Industries Most Award
Brie Clayton May 3, 2024
0 Comments
Creativepool is giving a last call to the creative i...
03/05/2024
WePlay Studios Transforms the Future of Live Event Storytelling with AJA Gear
Brie Clayton May 3, 2024
0 Comments
By 2032, the esports market is expec...
03/05/2024
WASHINGTON Shannon Bream, Fox News Sunday anchor and chief legal correspondent, sat for a keynote chat at The Business of TV News, with Tom Umstead, senior co...
03/05/2024
WASHINGTON Asked how important is local news, Martha Raddatz, who has covered foreign conflicts for decades and moderated presidential debates for ABC News, s...
03/05/2024
Sony Pictures and Apollo Global Management have made a $26 billion cash offer fo...
03/05/2024
CBS announced its 2024-2025 primetime schedule, which features the new dramas NCIS: Origins, Matlock and Watson, and new comedies Poppa's House and Georgie ...
03/05/2024
Sports-focused streaming service Fubo said it reduced its red ink in the first quarter, despite losing 110,000 subscribers since the end of the year....
03/05/2024
Walmart is reportedly about to release a new 4K streaming box/smart speaker hybrid device for Google TV that could retail for as low as $50, according to a repo...
03/05/2024
Enhancements to its Delivery Workspace solution provide increased content delivery robustness and security
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: May 3, 2024
Enha...
03/05/2024
According to reports, if the bid is successful, Sony would be the significant majority shareholder of the new private company
By Jenny Priestley
Published: M...
03/05/2024
Located in Manchesters Spinningfields district, the course aims to equip students with the skills, knowledge and industry insight for a career in the creative s...
03/05/2024
Lightbridge has created a new Cine Reflect Lighting System kit, dedicated to enabling artistic lighting with consideration of today's productivity practical...
03/05/2024
Broadcast media systems integrator BeckTV and Lawo worked together on a large-scale AES67 build of radio control rooms at KPBS, San Diego's NPR and PBS memb...
03/05/2024
Raleigh, NC, April 12, 2024 SmallHD announces PageOS 6, a powerful software update free for owners of SmallHD monitors, featuring increased functionality, exp...
03/05/2024
SmallHD announces the Quantum 32 a new 31.5 OLED monitor designed to provide reference HDR/SDR images for post-production final color grading, as well as cri...
03/05/2024
By 2032, the esports market is expected to grow to $9.29 billion, bolstered by a global player count and fan following that both continue to climb. The 2023 Lea...
03/05/2024
Amagi, the global leader in cloud-based SaaS technology for broadcast and connected TV (CTV), today announced that the 11th edition of the Amagi Global FAST Rep...
03/05/2024
Riedel Communications today announced that Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) is relying on a media and intercom network based on Riedel technology for the renewal of...
03/05/2024
Broadpeak , a leading provider of content delivery network (CDN) and video streaming solutions for content providers and pay-TV operators worldwide, announced t...
03/05/2024
Media technology innovator Limecraft will exhibit the latest updates to its online platform on stand G79 at the 15-16 May 2024 Media Production & Technology Sho...
03/05/2024
Audio interface specialist Prism Sound is partnering with console manufacturer Solid State Logic, professional monitor manufacturer PMC and acoustic panel and d...
03/05/2024
Intinor, Sweden's leading developer of products and solutions for high-quality video over the internet, is set to join forces with its UK partner Zest Techn...
03/05/2024
NAKIVO Inc., a fast-growing software company dedicated to protecting physical, virtual, cloud, and SaaS environments, announced its Q1 2024 financial results to...
03/05/2024
Hiltron Communications announces an addition to its range of satellite communication products and systems: a field-upgradable motorisation kit specifically desi...
03/05/2024
Visit LiveU at Stand D30
With this year an exceptional one for major sporting events alongside multiple, key elections, the power and flexibility of LiveU'...
03/05/2024
Agile Content, the leader in the development of technology and solutions for the provision of television services over the Internet, announces Koldo Unanue as i...
03/05/2024
Eight co-signers representing streaming services, pay TV operators and public interest groups have sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging their Committee...
03/05/2024
BOSTON Brightcove has announced that it has implemented Amazon Q Business, a new generative AI assistant on Amazon Web Services (AWS)....
NHL Network Fires Up Three Studios, Four Control Rooms to Host Virtual 2021 NHL Draft More than 100 live video feeds from team headquarters, players homes will pump into network's Secaucus facility By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital 
