Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

UFC Charts REMI Roadmap With Road to UFC Season 2 Opener From Shanghai

26/05/2023

UFC Charts REMI Roadmap With Road to UFC Season 2 Opener From Shanghai Entire broadcast will be produced from UFC facility in Las Vegas By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Friday, May 26, 2023 - 10:45 am

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

UFC launches a new chapter in its broadcast playbook this weekend with the Road to UFC Season 2 opening round, the first event to be broadcast live from its UFC Performance Institute Shanghai. The two days of broadcasts from the world's largest, state-of-the-art MMA training and development facility will be a REMI production handled by a crew and control room located at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas.

UFC Performance Institute Shanghai will host the Season 2 opener of Road to UFC May 27-28.

Unlike other major-league sports, says Tim O'Toole, SVP, event production, UFC, the UFC produces their own events. We're not only the promoter and the league; we're also the broadcaster. As a result, we have to travel the majority of our crew to all the events, international or domestic. Road to UFC is the first attempt at a true REMI model for us. We are looking to establish a foundation for how we can produce our international shows in the future and then create a blueprint for a lot of our international events.

Split Footprint: Fights at PI Shanghai, Broadcast Ops at Shanghai Media Tech Opened in 2019, UFC's 93,000-sq.-ft. Performance Institute Shanghai is nearly three times larger than the original UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas. PI Shanghai serves as UFC's headquarters in Asia (which it moved from Singapore) and as a hub to develop and support the next generation of MMA athletes from China and the greater Asia-Pacific region.

UFC opened its 93,000-sq.-ft. training and development center at Performance Institute Shanghai in 2019.

To erect PI Shanghai, UFC took over a massive factory and built training facilities and office space from scratch across 3 floors. However, the facility has no broadcast infrastructure, except for dark-fiber connectivity.

To produce this weekend's broadcasts, UFC is using a nearby broadcast facility operated by Shanghai Media Tech (a division of Shanghai Media Group). The UFC production team will deploy its typical camera complement for an event of this size: 12 broadcast cameras surrounding the octagon (either handheld or lock-offs), two Sony FR7 PTZs shooting back at the coaches in their corners, and one backstage camera.

UFC's REMI Model: From Shanghai to Vegas and Back All camera/audio feeds are fed into a Riedel MediorNet MicroN signal-transport system and sent to Shanghai Media tech via dark fiber. From there, UFC will connect to a Telstra fiber transmission network installed at Shanghai Media Tech and send all feeds to UFC Apex Vegas, which also has Telstra transmission fiber installed. A total of 24 sources are going from Shanghai to Vegas, with eight return sources from Vegas to Shanghai.

UFC will produce the Road to UFC from a control room at its UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas.

Except for camera ops, audio engineers, a handful of technical staff, and the front-of-house production team, the production crew will be in Vegas, producing the broadcasts from a control room at the UFC Apex facility.

This gives us the opportunity to utilize that crew but not travel them all the way to Shanghai, says O'Toole. We believe this is the model for how we produce our international shows in the future. I can't say we're going to do them all as REMIs moving forward, but we'll certainly take lessons learned from this and apply them for future UFC events.

Key Pieces of the Transmission Puzzle: Telstra, PSSI, Appear, Nextologies In addition to Telstra, UFC works closely with longtime transmission partner PSSI Global Services on contribution backhaul for its high-capacity REMI productions. PSSI has deployed Appear's X Platform, which will be configured to perform high-density HEVC encoding/decoding for the Shanghai event.

X Platform offers the ability to blend formats - HEVC/AVC, ST2110, JPEG XS, Zixi, and now high-capacity SRT - with an array of processing, Network Address Translation (NAT), and firewall functions. X Platform includes Appear's ECx110 modules for HEVC ultra-low-latency encoding and decoding.

PSSI have been tremendous partners over the years, says O'Toole. I would say that the transmission component is the most stable part of a UFC event, and that is credit to the team at PSSI. I can't say enough about their engineers and project managers. We have a very intricate, dynamic, and complex show that requires a lot of distribution worldwide. Thankfully, the plan that PSSI puts forth is of the utmost quality and is the most stable of everything that we do on a UFC event.

Feeds from 24 sources will be transmitted from PI Shanghai to UFC Apex Vegas.

UFC is also leveraging Nextologies hardware to deliver feeds from six reference POV cameras from Shanghai to Apex for the commentary and production teams.

UFC has also created a data tunnel using Nextologies for comms between Shanghai and Vegas. UFC uses Unity Intercom software to connect the respective RTS intercom systems in Shanghai and Vegas. In addition, roughly 25 Riedel Bolero wireless intercom beltpacks are deployed onsite at PI Shanghai for camera operators, stage managers, and other crew. Their signals are converted into Dante audio feeds and transferred between the two locations over the data tunnel provided by Nextologies.

Plans Postponed: PI Shanghai Makes Its Long-Awaited Broadcast Debut This weekend's broadcast is more than three years in the making. When PI Shanghai launched in 2019, UFC announced plans to deliver its first broadcast during the first half of 2020. The pandemic, of course, waylaid those plans.

Although O'Toole and company have tested t
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/05/26/ufc-charts-remi-roadmap-with-ro...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

25/03/2026

Samsung Launches Shoppable TV Experience with Amazon

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/03/2026

Gray Media to Simulcast 2026 Atlanta Braves to Home Opener

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

25/03/2026

Starfish highlights flexible TS Splicer releases and new Monitoring Dashboard at NAB Show

Starfish highlights flexible TS Splicer releases and new Monitoring Dashboard at...

25/03/2026

XLNTSOUND Elevates Video Production with Blackmagic Design

XLNTSOUND Elevates Video Production with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton March 24, 2026 0 Comments Audio company upgrades workflow with Blackmagic Cine...

25/03/2026

First Time Exhibitor IPC Introduces One Link Keypanels for One Connect Intercom Platform at NAB 2026

First Time Exhibitor IPC Introduces One Link Keypanels for One Connect Intercom ...

24/03/2026

Utah Scientific to Showcase a Variety of Hybrid SDI/IP Innovations at the 2026 NAB Show

Utah Scientific to Showcase a Variety of Hybrid SDI/IP Innovations at the 2026 N...

24/03/2026

NAB 2026: Mediaproxy Highlights Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Show 2026

Mediaproxy will showcase an updated version of its LogPlayer interface at NAB Sh...

24/03/2026

Canada's Cgep de Jonquire and Calrec Take Five With a TV Studio Upgrade

C gep de Jonqui re, a public college in Qu bec, has upgraded its TV studio complex with five Calrec Brio consoles and a Dante IP network. The installation was c...

24/03/2026

American Association of Professional Baseball Expands Broadcast Partnerships with RYZ, Bally Sports Live, NLSE, FTF Sports, and SLVR

The American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) has announced new and r...

24/03/2026

Ateme KYRION Enabled NT's Nationwide Contribution Network During Southeast Asian Games 2025

National Telecom Public Company Limited (NT) used Ateme's KYRION platform fo...

24/03/2026

FDJ United Upgrades Lottery Production with Grass Valley UHD Cameras

Grass Valley has expanded its relationship with ImSoPROD, the TV production entity of FDJ United, with the deployment of LDX C98 compact cameras across its nati...

24/03/2026

Scripps Sports Launches Free Streaming Channel Scripps Sports Network on March 24

The E.W. Scripps Company is launching Scripps Sports Network (SSN), a free, ad-s...

24/03/2026

SVG Sit-Down: NEP Platform VP Dan Murphy on Software-Driven Production and the Future of Live Sports Workflows

NEP Group has launched NEP Platform, a new software orchestration system that un...

24/03/2026

Daktronics Installs New Video Display and Ribbon Boards at Chase Field

Daktronics has partnered with the Arizona Diamondbacks to design, manufacture and install a new LED video display and three ribbon boards at Chase Field in Phoe...

24/03/2026

Grass Valley Upgrades University of Pittsburgh Athletics to ST 2110 IP Production Infrastructure

Grass Valley has completed an upgrade of University of Pittsburgh Athletics'...

24/03/2026

Daktronics to Upgrade LED Displays at Wrigley Field

Daktronics is upgrading eight LED displays at Wrigley Field in Chicago, totaling more than 8,300 square feet, using the Daktronics Renew product line. The upgra...

24/03/2026

ASG Appoints Kevin Poole as Senior Project and Support Manager

Advanced Systems Group has appointed Kevin Poole as Senior Project and Support Manager within the ASG Workflow and Tools practice. The position is newly created...

24/03/2026

SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Verimatrix's Juan Martinez on Safeguarding Live Sports Content

In an increasingly streaming-centric world, protecting high-value live sports co...

24/03/2026

The Countdown Is On! Prep for Vegas with SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog

Mediaproxy will showcase an updated version of its LogPlayer interface at NAB Show, April 19-22 in Las Vegas, booth W1423. The update includes AI tools, native ...

24/03/2026

The Creator Economy's Growing Impact: Building the Modern Production Studio With Second Rodeo Productions' CEO Scott Brown

The production studio has worked with content juggernauts such as MrBeast, The R...

24/03/2026

MLB Local Media To Keynote Regional Sports Production Summit, June 29-30, Denver

The event will also feature a State of the Industry address from sports-media veteran and strategic advisor Patrick Crakes....

24/03/2026

Victory+ Launches NWSL Sunday Night Soccer Franchise

Victory , a free sports streaming service owned by A Parent Media Co. (APMC), has launched its NWSL Sunday Night Soccer franchise. The platform says the launch ...

24/03/2026

FAST Sports: Contrary to Some Data, Sports Does Have a Future on FAST

Sports content in free streaming is still relatively scant, but it's growing, right along with its monetization capabilities Streaming-tech company Wurl re...

24/03/2026

New Doc Sports Heaven: The Birth of ESPN' Produced by ESPN Historian Mike Soltys Arriving April 6

Directed by Greg DeHart, the doc will feature Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famers...

24/03/2026

Tubi Unveils Plans for Creator-Driven Formula 1 Altcasts in Partnership With Apple TV

For the first time ever, Tubi - Fox's free streaming service - is working w...

24/03/2026

L3Harris Ramps Up Production for Counter-Unmanned Systems

L3Harris ramps up production of its VAMPIRE C-UxS system....

24/03/2026

Delivering Victory Through Fuzing Precision and Scale

For more than 70 years, L3Harris has delivered essential fuzes and safe-and-arm solutions that bring the might to multi-domain battlefields across the globe, ...

24/03/2026

FDJ United Leaves Nothing to Chance with UHD Lottery Prod...

Grass Valley has strengthened its long-standing relationship with ImSoPROD, the TV production entity of the FDJ United, with the deployment of Grass Valley LDX ...

24/03/2026

Utah Scientific to Showcase a Variety of Hybrid SDI IP In...

At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Utah Scientific will spotlight its expanding portfolio of hybrid SDI/IP routing, conversion, control, and signal management s...

24/03/2026

Miri V410 Live 4K Encoder-Decoder to Make North American...

Fresh off its global reveal at ISE 2026 in Barcelona, the new V410 live 4K encoder/decoder from Miri Technologies Inc. will make its North American debut at the...

24/03/2026

Cinegy delivers software defined television for the real...

Cinegy GmbH, premier provider of software-defined television technology, will show how its solutions answer the real challenges facing content creators and broa...

24/03/2026

ArtSound FM Futureproofs with DHD Audio Production Consol...

Canberra-based radio and online broadcast network ArtSound FM (https://artsound.fm/) has invested in DHD audio mixing consoles for two new studios at its headqu...

24/03/2026

IBC unveils 2026 Accelerator projects tackling industry c...

IBC today announced the nine projects selected for its 2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, bringing together organisations from across broadcast, strea...

24/03/2026

Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its Log...

Mediaproxy, the global standard for software-based IP compliance monitoring and multiviewing solutions, will showcase the next generation of its industry-leadin...

24/03/2026

Cegep de Jonquiere and Calrec take five with a substantia...

Underscoring its global reputation as one of Canada's most renowned colleges for television production, the C gep de Jonqui re public college in Qu bec has ...

24/03/2026

Synamedia launches industry-first edge watermarking solut...

Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced the launch of the industry's first edge watermarking solution that enables faster disruption of pi...

24/03/2026

Experience Commerce Wins Social Media Mandate for Fintech...

Experience Commerce, a leading full-service digital marketing agency and part of the Cheil SWA Group, has secured the annual social media mandate for Fiat Payme...

24/03/2026

FCC Approves TV Station License Transfers to Gray

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/03/2026

Study: Globally HBO Max Is Most Widely Bundled Streaming Service

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/03/2026

Charter Communications Names John Lee Head Of Intelligence Ventures

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

24/03/2026

Intinor introduces enhanced SRT monitoring, HDR transport and NDI Advanced support at NAB Show 2026

Intinor introduces enhanced SRT monitoring, HDR transport and NDI Advanced suppo...

24/03/2026

Miri V410 Live 4K Encoder/Decoder to Make North American Debut at 2026 NAB Show

Miri V410 Live 4K Encoder/Decoder to Make North American Debut at 2026 NAB Show Brie Clayton March 23, 2026 0 Comments Powerful new solution for strea...

24/03/2026

Tribeca Festival And Vulture Partner To Bring Vulture Festival Back To New York For Tribeca's 25th Anniversary

March 24th, 2026 TRIBECA FESTIVAL AND VULTURE PARTNER TO BRING VULTURE FESTI...

24/03/2026

Tribeca X Announces Preliminary 2026 Speaker Lineup

March 24th, 2026 TRIBECA X ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY 2026 SPEAKER LINEUP Cedric the Entertainer, Ted Danson, Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, Dhar Mann, K-Pop Demon ...

24/03/2026

McDonald's and Netflix Call on Fans to Pick a Side With Two New 'KPop Demon Hunters'-Inspired Meals

Back to All News McDonalds and Netflix Call on Fans to Pick a Side With Two New...

24/03/2026

BTS Commands the Global Stage as 'BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRANG' Draws 18.4 Millions Global Viewers

Back to All News BTS Commands the Global Stage as BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE | ARIRA...

24/03/2026

Advancing Open Source AI, NVIDIA Donates Dynamic Resource Allocation Driver for GPUs to Kubernetes Community

Artificial intelligence has rapidly emerged as one of the most critical workload...

23/03/2026

Professional Fighters League & U-Next Renew Multi-year Partnership to Broadcast PFL Events Live in Japan

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has renewed its multi-year partnership wi...

23/03/2026

The Snow League Announces Google Cloud as Official Cloud and AI Partner to Power Personalized Fan Experiences Worldwide

The Snow League has named Google Cloud as its Official Cloud and AI Partner. The...

23/03/2026

Chyron Appoints Eric Wolff as Director of Venues Sales, North America

Chyron has appointed Eric Wolff as Director of Venues Sales, North America. Wolff previously served as Director of Broadcast Operations & Media Production for T...