ESPN Enters First HDR Postseason With REMCO Support in New Bristol-Based Control Rooms

Part of an infrastructure upgrade, the recently constructed spaces accommodate native-HDR technology, EVS XtraMotion

With games in the NBA Play-In Tournament still to be played, ESPN is prepping for another postseason run that concludes with the lifting of the Larry O'Brien Trophy in the NBA Finals. No stranger to the pro-basketball playoffs, the broadcaster is adopting a new production strategy that relies on REMCO (remote-controlled) workflows and native-HDR-capable control rooms in Bristol, CT.

ESPN is heading into new territory as we enter our first postseason with full HDR capture and transmit, says Shane Smith, manager, remote operations, ESPN. From robotic cameras to transmission paths to Bristol PCR integration, this requires infrastructure upgrades across the board.

Taking the HDR Plunge: REMCO in Native-HDR Control Rooms

For its first-ever postseason with HDR capture and distribution, ESPN needed to make some changes to its production-control-room setup at its headquarters facility in Bristol. The broadcaster has been bolstering remote-production and cloud-based workflows for its properties. Although these games will have a significant onsite presence, an offsite contingent will play a major role in each broadcast.

With ESPN launching its newest production-control rooms in Bristol over the last month or so, remote workflows are more advanced than ever, says Smith. Today, we were in a game-review meeting where our directors were highlighting how easy it was to navigate complex comms layouts in the new rooms. Those kinds of upgrades affect how the show makes air. The Bristol-based team has been doing an excellent job of setting us up for the future.

Throughout the postseason, EVS's XtraMotion technology will be further tested and integrated. Used most recently at the 2026 WNBA Draft in New York City, the workflow has become vital on numerous ESPN's live productions. In addition, CMSI will supply any needs for data acquisition, transfer, and storage. And graphics, clock, and score operators will work from the new control rooms as well.

At each venue, onsite personnel will work from mobile units provided by Game Creek Video. During a non-stop playoff schedule, ESPN and the vendor will do their best to diminish wear and tear on the vehicles.

ESPN's camera complement will expand for first- and second-round playoff games on ABC and will expand further for each subsequent round of the NBA Playoffs. We work directly with GCV to minimize mileage, making sure that heftier IP-based trucks handle our biggest shows while baseband trucks work on the midsize ones, Smith explains. We work with GCV to have trucks staged in central locations to deploy in the event of last-minute pivots.

Hardwood Hardware: Scaled-Up Camera Arenal for Games on ABC

ESPN is deploying a camera complement correlated to each round of the playoffs. For instance, first- and second-round games will have a lighter arsenal than the finals. The initial games will be captured by a main game camera, two tight ISOs, three handhelds on the court, hard cameras at the left and right slash positions, a reverse hard camera, robos, and a handful of static cameras covering hallways, beauty shots, and other areas.

Resources will be ramped up with the playoffs bracket. Graphics output, for example, will be enhanced with augmented reality. In the early rounds, the expanded tech slate will be reserved for games airing on ABC. For the Conference Finals and the NBA Finals, the team will deploy three times the number of robots and static cameras, a cinematic shallow-depth-of-field camera, an aerial drone, a Blimp camera, SkyCam, and other enhancements.

This scaling up is a logistical puzzle, but, luckily, changes to the playoffs broadcast schedule work in ESPN's favor. With the return of NBC Sports and the debut of Prime Video, the Bristol-based broadcaster's schedule has been simplified in the initial rounds of the postseason.

ESPN's programming air windows have traditionally favored the weekends, notes Smith, but, this year, we'll have fewer first- and second-round games for a better balance between weekend and weekday coverage. Since the games are exclusive, we will cover pressers and manage melt distributions and other league broadcasting needs.

The Run to the Finals: Preparing for Action-Packed Playoffs

As in previous years, the regular-season campaign sets the crew up for a successful postseason. In a year of significant change in NBA broadcasting, ESPN has had many new things to juggle.

Between having new broadcast partners and new mobile-unit agreements and navigating the transition to HDR, says Smith, we've had our hands full. But our tech and ops teams have found ways to streamline workflows one step at a time. The long game is always about incremental wins and adjustments. While ESPN programming is working in tandem with the league, NBC, and Amazon, we operations leaders have been teaming up with those folks to share knowledge and infrastructure. If one of us puts fiber from the court to the I/O panel at a venue, we all discuss it and use it. We feel like we have a great partnership going.

There's across-the-board collaboration between the broadcasters, and ESPN's broadcast-operations team has put everyone in a position to be at their best. On the team are Senior Remote Operations Specialist Alan McDonald; Director, Specialist Operations, Eddie Okuno; Senior Remote Operations Coordinators Luis Lopez and Matt Garrison; Remote Operations Coordinator Kim Conrad; Senior Remote Operations Producers Kelley Nagi, Johnathan Williams,and Justin McIntosh; Remote Operations Producer II Christine Rouskas; Recurring Remote Operations Producers II Erik Guyton and Scott Garifo; and Remote Operations Specialists Tom Clark and Zaac Christopher.

Not every broadcaster has

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/04/16/nba-playoffs-2026-espn-enters-f...
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