MLB Seoul Series: ESPN Turns to COVID-Era Remote Production for Two-Game Slate in South Korea
20/03/2024
Wednesday, March 20, 2024 - 11:10 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
When the Los Angeles Dodgers signed renowned pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani and 25-year-old Japanese pitching phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the seven-time World Series Champion became a prime candidate for the March 20-21 MLB Seoul Series against Korean Ha-Seong Kim and the San Diego Padres. ESPN, the main domestic broadcaster, is working with Major League Baseball to remotely produce the event via the same workflow it deployed for Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) League games during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We did 150 KBO League games, starting during the pandemic and continuing even when MLB returned, says Phil Orlins, VP, production, ESPN. It has been really special for us to reconnect with that experience of producing the first Major League Baseball games played in Seoul.
Back to 2020: KBO League Broadcasts Supply a Useful Blueprint The sports-video-production industry has learned a lot of lessons over the past four years: becoming more adaptable to unforeseen circumstances, integrating more cloud-based workflows, creating more-efficient ways of producing live broadcasts, prioritizing employees' well-being through the ability to work remotely. The COVID-19 pandemic hampered areas of the business - particularly, supply chain and product turnaround - but, once the necessary gear was acquired and sports gradually blipped back onto the calendar, broadcasters like ESPN found unique ways to distribute games to fans still stuck at home. In May 2020, the KBO League was back, and ESPN signed a media-rights deal to air 150 of its games for baseball-hungry viewers in the U.S.
Analyst Eduardo Perez takes a picture with soldiers at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in South Korea.
We had to figure out how to make [these games] reasonably entertaining and how to approach [them] in a different way, says Orlins. They ended up being a blend of sports talk and game coverage, which was a predecessor to what fans are seeing on alternative broadcasts today.
Producer Andy Jacobson, one of the leads on the project, was responsible for keeping the engagement going for a game taking place thousands of miles away from viewers. With MLB superstars on the back burner, Jacobson and the rest of his team focused on the communal aspect of watching a game early in the morning.
We attacked those shows similar to how we produce our MLB Spring Training games, where we didn't expect our viewers to know the players, he says. The goal was to watch some baseball over a cup of coffee at whatever time of the morning and enjoy some sense of normalcy since we were all craving it.
The result was a robust REMI infrastructure that offered talent and guests alike from their respective homes. Notably, play-by-play commentator Karl Ravech and analyst Eduardo Perez provided insights from their respective homes rather than onsite - a practice that became an industry-wide trend during MLB's return that summer. As one of the first televised sports productions after a complete shutdown, the network's effort paid off and laid the groundwork for this year's two-game slate in Seoul, including early start times and remotely produced games via a world feed.
Production at Home: Bristol-Based Team Leverages MLB World Feed, Two Unilateral Cams As with productions for the KBO League or the shortened 2020 MLB season, Major League Baseball is in charge of producing and distributing a standard world feed for rightsholders. As the national outlet for fans around the U.S., ESPN is enhancing this coverage with two unilateral cameras controlled by an onsite ESPN-specific operator. One of the cameras is an iso dedicated to Ohtani at all times during the game. In addition, the world feed comprises player mics and IFB communication for live in-game interviews, which have become a staple on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball package. Shared resources include 4DReplay - which was also used during the 2020 KBO League season - and UmpCam.
The Sunday Night Baseball crew is doing one-on-one interviews with Americans living in South Korea, including Staff Sergeant Baker stationed at USAG Humphreys.
For Dodgers and Padres fans, this week's games are being shown on the respective local networks: Spectrum SportsNet LA and PADRES.TV, which is being operated by MLB Local Media. The networks also have access to the shared resources. On the production side in the U.S., ESPN's PCR 71 in Bristol, CT, houses the team that puts the show together. Director Mike Griffin and Producer Joe McCoy are at the helm of this portion of the show.
In Seoul: ESPN Team, Bilingual Staffers Provide Onsite Support In South Korea, a handful of ESPN staffers are working with local crew to capture the pulse of the game and the culture of the city, sending video feeds to the control room in Bristol. Jacobson is helping tell the story of the city to viewers in the U.S. Besides helping with live game coverage, he travels with talent to do a handful of interviews, including one with soldiers stationed at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys. Located approximately 40 miles south of Seoul, it is the largest U.S. overseas military base and home to the Army's most active airfield in the Pacific.
PADRES.TV's Mariluz Cook and Mike Pomeranz led the pregame show from Petco Park in San Diego at 2:30 a.m. PT.
As for live game production, traveling Ravech and Perez to Seoul contrasts with the broadcaster's operation four years ago. For example, in 2020, when the KBO League returned, Ravech needed only to walk to a dedicated workspace within his home
LINK: | https://www.sportsvideo.org/2024/03/20/mlb-seoul-series-espn-turns-to-... |
See more stories from svg |
More from Sports Video Group
26/04/2024
NBA Playoffs 2024: ESPN Rolls Out Huge Production Operation for Busy First Round
NBA Playoffs 2024: ESPN Rolls Out Huge Production Operation for Busy First Round Tech deployments include miked on-field personnel, shot-distance tracking, AR g...
26/04/2024
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: ESPN Ops Team Navigates Both Sides of the Border With Canadian Teams' Strong Showing
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: ESPN Ops Team Navigates Both Sides of the Border With ...
26/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: Behind the Scenes in Downtown Detroit (Photo Gallery)
Behind the Scenes at the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit (Photo Gallery) After just the first round, the 2024 NFL Draft has already made quite an impression in Detroi...
26/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: Van Wagner Powers Onsite Entertainment Experience for Record Crowds in Detroit
NFL Draft 2024: Van Wagner Powers Onsite Entertainment Experience for Record Cro...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Network Embraces Motown Groove With Massive Production That Goes Beyond Detroit
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Network Embraces Motown Groove With Massive Production That ...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: Verizon Expands Broadband Capacity To Handle the Spike in Demand
NFL Draft 2024: Verizon Expands Broadband Capacity To Handle the Spike in Demand Mobile cells will help accommodate first responders, social media, sports betti...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Media Teams With The Fantasy Footballers on Hybrid, REMI Production of Post-First-Round Draft Show on NFL+
NFL Draft 2024: NFL Media Teams With The Fantasy Footballers on Hybrid, REMI Pro...
25/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: ESPN Motors Into Detroit With Trio of Simultaneous Live Presentations
NFL Draft 2024: ESPN Motors Into Detroit With Trio of Simultaneous Live Presenta...
24/04/2024
Howie Schwab - Beloved ESPN Researcher, Producer, and Trivia Star - Dies at 63
Howie Schwab - Beloved ESPN Researcher, Producer, and Trivia Star - Dies at 63 By SVG Staff Wednesday, April 24, 2024 - 6:46 am Print This Story | Subscri...
24/04/2024
Miss the SVG Venue Summit at Allegiant Stadium? All Panel Recordings Now Available on SVG PLAY
Miss the SVG Venue Summit at Allegiant Stadium? All Panel Recordings Now Availab...
23/04/2024
Soccer's Appeal to Younger Audiences: Inside the Gamification of European Football Coverage
Soccer's Appeal to Younger Audiences: Inside the Gamification of European Fo...
23/04/2024
With NBA and NHL Playoffs in Full Swing, Never a Dull Moment for TNT Sports Production and Ops Teams
With NBA and NHL Playoffs in Full Swing, Never a Dull Moment for TNT Sports Prod...
23/04/2024
NAB 2024: AT&T Business's Scott Beckett Details Transmission Firepower With Robo Dog, Mini Copter
NAB 2024: AT&T Business's Scott Beckett Details Transmission Firepower With ...
23/04/2024
NAB 2024: Manufacturers Focus on Cinematic Look for Live Productions
NAB 2024: Manufacturers focus on cinematic look for live productions By George Bevir Tuesday, April 23, 2024 - 10:40 Print This Story With live sports pro...
23/04/2024
Save the Date: SVG Sports Content Management Forum Returns to NYC on July 24
Save the Date: SVG Sports Content Management Forum Returns to NYC on July 24 By SVG Staff Tuesday, April 23, 2024 - 4:05 pm Print This Story | Subscribe ...
22/04/2024
NEP Battles Weather to Keep the Going Good for Grand National Coverage
NEP battles weather to keep the going good for Grand National coverage By Adrian Pennington Monday, April 15, 2024 - 11:48 Print This Story The 2024 Grand...
22/04/2024
ITV Racing Under Starters Orders Live at the Grand National Festival
ITV Racing under starters orders live at the Grand National Festival By Adrian Pennington Friday, April 12, 2024 - 09:10 Print This Story The Grand Nation...
22/04/2024
Inside the Deal: EFL Fans to View Enhanced Broadcasts For the Next Five Seasons as IMG Becomes Official Production Partner
Inside the deal: EFL fans to view enhanced broadcasts for the next five seasons ...
22/04/2024
To 4G, or Not To 4G: EMG on Bringing the Iconic 2024 London Marathon to Viewers Globally
To 4G, or not to 4G: EMG on bringing the iconic 2024 London Marathon to viewers ...
22/04/2024
NAB Show 2024: Our Full Collection of Video Interviews From the Show Floor
NAB Show 2024: Our Full Collection of Video Interviews From the Show Floor Industry insights from key leaders on the NAB Show exhibit floor By SVG Staff Mond...
22/04/2024
PENN Entertainment Adds ESPN/Disney Exec Aaron LeBerge as CTO
PENN Entertainment Adds ESPN/Disney Exec Aaron LeBerge as CTO By SVG Staff Monday, April 22, 2024 - 3:18 pm Print This Story | Subscribe Story Highlight...
19/04/2024
NAB 2024 in Review: West Hall - SportsTech Buzz From AWS, Appear, Ateme, The Switch, TATA Communications, Telstra, TVU Networks, Verizon, and More
NAB 2024 in Review: West Hall - SportsTech Buzz From AWS, Appear, Ateme, The Swi...
19/04/2024
NAB 2024 Draws 61,000+ Attendees With More Than Half Attending the Show for the First Time
NAB 2024 Draws 61,000+ Attendees With More Than Half Attending the Show for the ...
18/04/2024
Ping Pong for the Masses: Bringing an Old Sport to a Brand New Audience With World Table Tennis
Ping pong for the masses: Bringing an old sport to a brand new audience with Wor...
18/04/2024
Fanatical Fans: IMG on Bringing the World of Table Tennis to a New Global Audience for WTT
Fanatical fans: IMG on bringing the world of table tennis to a new global audien...
17/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with the NHL and Version 17 of the Zixi Platform
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with th...
17/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Wednesday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Wednesday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Wednesday, April 17, 2024 - 3:00 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full sw...
17/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with the NHL and Version 12 of the Zixi Platform
Live From NAB Show 2024: Zixi CEO Gordon Brooks on Live Cloud Production with th...
16/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Tuesday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Tuesday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Tuesday, April 16, 2024 - 3:15 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full swing,...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Calrec's Henry Goodman, Solid State Logic's Tom Knowles on Audio in the Cloud
Live From NAB Show 2024: Calrecs Henry Goodman, Solid State Logics Tom Knowles o...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: The Switch's George Lopez on Remote Production, The Cloud, and the Future of Connectivity
Live From NAB Show 2024: The Switchs George Lopez on Remote Production, The Clou...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: LiveU's Steve Wind-Mozley on IP, REMI Solutions for Light Weight Production
Live From NAB Show 2024: LiveUs Steve Wind-Mozley on IP, REMI Solutions for Ligh...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Blackmagic Design's Bob Caniglia on Upgrades to ATEM Production Switchers, Recent Work in Replay and IP
Live From NAB Show 2024: Blackmagic Designs Bob Caniglia on Upgrades to ATEM Pro...
16/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Canon's Staff Gives a Tour of New Lenses, Multi-Camera Control App, Enhanced Use of Free Viewpoint
Live From NAB Show 2024: Canons Staff Gives a Tour of New Lenses, Multi-Camera C...
15/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Monday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Monday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Monday, April 15, 2024 - 3:00 am Print This Story The NAB Show is in full swing, a...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Vizrt's Nicholas Jameson on the Democratization of High-End Graphics Tech
Live From NAB Show 2024: Vizrts Nicholas Jameson on the Democratization of High-...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Sony's Hugo Gaggioni on the Power of Sharing and Connecting Live Production Resources
Live From NAB Show 2024: Sonys Hugo Gaggioni on the Power of Sharing and Connect...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Lawo's Andreas Hilmer Walks Through HOME Apps, Dishes Latest on IP
Live From NAB Show 2024: Lawos Andreas Hilmer Walks Through HOME Apps, Dishes La...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: AWS' Julie Souza on the Maturation of Live Sports Production in the Cloud
Live From NAB Show 2024: AWS Julie Souza on the Maturation of Live Sports Produc...
15/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: FUJINON Lenses' Stosh Durbacz on the Debut of the Duvo HZK14-100mm Lens, Adding Cinematic Feel to Broadcasts
Live From NAB Show 2024: FUJINON Lenses Stosh Durbacz on the Debut of the Duvo H...
14/04/2024
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Sunday's Latest From Vegas
SportsTechBuzz at NAB 2024: Sunday's Latest From Vegas By SVG Staff Sunday, April 14, 2024 - 12:41 am Print This Story The NAB Show kicks off today, a...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Program Productions' Bob Carzoli on Investment Growth and Supporting Freelancers with the ProCrewz App
Live From NAB Show 2024: Program Productions Bob Carzoli on Investment Growth an...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Appear's Thomas Bostrm Jrgensen, Alex Pannell, and Ed McGivern on Backing the Continued Growth of Live Sports
Live From NAB Show 2024: Appears Thomas Bostr m J rgensen, Alex Pannell, and Ed ...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Amagi's Dan Marshall on Migrating On-Prem Data Centers to The Cloud and the Exciting Growth of FAST Channels
Live From NAB Show 2024: Amagis Dan Marshall on Migrating On-Prem Data Centers t...
14/04/2024
Live From NAB Show 2024: Ross Video's David Ross on Celebrating 50 Years with Major Product Intros
Live From NAB Show 2024: Ross Videos David Ross on Celebrating 50 Years with Maj...
14/04/2024
NAB 2024: NHL, Verizon Business, and AWS Roll Out 5G-enabled Cloud Broadcasting Solution
NAB 2024: NHL, Verizon Business, and AWS Roll Out 5G-enabled Cloud Broadcasting ...
12/04/2024
Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off' Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL's David Lehanski and Keith Horstman
Inside the MultiVersus NHL Face-Off' Live Animated Broadcast With the NHL...