Turner Sports To Embed Mics in Field for NLCS NEP trucks provide production backbone; Quantum mics set to get dirty By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Monday, October 2, 2017 - 2:58 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Turner Sports' postseason coverage of the National League takes to the hills on Wednesday when the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks play the Wild Card game to determine who plays the Los Angeles Dodgers. The series between the Chicago Cubs and the Washington Nationals starts on Friday. And, for all the action, Turner Sports will make sure that fans of all types hear the broadcasts on TBS from a new perspective, thanks to enhanced audio for the NLCS beginning Oct. 13.
Turner Sports' Steve Fiorello: We want to enhance the natural audio and all of those great sounds.
Our overall approach to the playoffs caters not only to the hard-core fan but to the casual fan as well, notes Steve Fiorello, coordinating producer, Turner Sports. We are rolling out some new technology, like having microphones that are embedded in the field during the NLCS, bolstering coverage with additional super-slo-mo cameras, and adding cameras to give more-definitive angles for things like whether a ball was fair or foul.
Turner Sports will rely on NEP for its production facilities: a mix of SS18, TS2, SS25, and Chromium will be deployed at the four sites of the Division Series games. The National League Championship Series will call SS25 and ND7 home.
In terms of cameras, the Wild Card and Division Series will have between 21 and 25 cameras, depending on the ballpark. For the NLCS, the number could jump to 27 or 29. But it is the microphones that are the big story.
We're super excited about the mics in the field, says Fiorello. It ties into our overall message when we do a broadcast: how do we bring the fans closer to the field and the action?
Traditionally, on-the-field miking has relied on microphones in the bases or in the wall. Turner Sports will use a 12-microphone package comprising Quantum QT5100 Aquamic wireless microphones rented from Bexel. One microphone will be placed in front of and behind the pitcher's mound; four will be in front of home plate and two behind it; and mics will be installed along the first- and third-base sides and about 15 ft. in the outfield behind the shortstop and second baseman.
We worked closely with the ballparks and Major League Baseball to install them in the grass, says Fiorello.
A second submix area will be used to focus on getting the most out of those microphones without airing strategic conversations.
We want to enhance the natural audio and all of those great sounds, adds Fiorello. MLB has been amazing through this process. They get it and understand our production needs. Even the ballparks helped us embed the microphones in the field.
The mics are small, measuring 99 mm long, 42 mm wide, and only 9.4 mm deep.
The only thing that sticks out is the antenna, and it is no higher than a blade of grass, Fiorello points out. In fact, the audio people are afraid they will lose them, so, when they installed them, we had to mark the grass around them just a little bit. They are nothing but a sliver in the sod.
The battery life, he adds, is sensational, and, more important, they can be turned on and off remotely so that, during a rain delay, they don't consume battery power.
At the end of the day, the objective is to tell the story presented to us on the field, he adds. And then we want to enhance the storyline with new technology that helps us present it in a different way.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Turner Sports To Embed Mics in Field for NLCS NEP trucks provide production backbone; Quantum mics set to get dirty By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
