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 |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
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 and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
08/05/2024
zweiB updates to latest version of R&SCLIPSTER
zweiB updates to latest version of R&S CLIPSTER Specialist in deliverables for cinema, events and trade shows Rohde & Schwarz, a global leader in broadcast...
07/05/2024
NAB Show 2024
NAB Show 2024 Utah Scientific rocked the 2024 NAB Show in Las Vegas, unveiling two new game-changers in video signal management. Our primary focus this yea...
07/05/2024
Paul Whitehouse takes viewers through The Sketch Show Years in new 4-part series on Gold
7th May 2024 The nations favourite comedy channel Gold has teamed up with the ma...
07/05/2024
Your Guide to Having a Jam-Packed Sundance Institute Summer
There's something special about summer. We're not sure whether it's the warmer weather, the longer days, or something else a bit more magical, but s...
07/05/2024
NITV appoints Michael Rennie as Presenter and Senior Producer for NITV News
NITV appoints Michael Rennie as Presenter and Senior Producer for NITV News Media releases NITV has announced the appointment of Michael Rennie as Presenter...
07/05/2024
Network flexibility: A Vital Consideration for SATCOM Resiliency
The ability for line-of-site tactical voice and data networks to seamlessly traverse over Satellite Communications is an emerging requirement to assure warfight...
07/05/2024
L3Harris Avionics Repair Station Becomes the First in U.S. to Be Awarded European Military Airworthiness Certification
On April 5, 2024, the L3Harris Avionics Products Repair Station (NN2R037L) in Gr...
07/05/2024
Clear-Com Celebrates Theatre Triumphs in Light of 2024 Tony Award Nominations
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
07/05/2024
macOS Ventura Compatible
Share this article width=32 height=32 loading=lazy data-lazy-src=https://apogeedigital.com/app/themes/juniper-theme/src/img/icons/facebook-purple.svg /> wid...
07/05/2024
Disney Streaming DTC Operations Produce Their First Profits
BURBANK, Calif. The Walt Disney Company has finally delivered some from profits from its hefty streaming investments, with the second quarter of its fiscal year...
07/05/2024
Bonnie Hammer, Jen Psaki Share Books and Workplace Lessons at 92nd Street Y
Bonnie Hammer, vice chair of NBCUniversal, and Jen Psaki, MSNBC host, read from their new books at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan Wednesday, May 8. Hammer's...
07/05/2024
Paramount Plus Orders Tracy Morgan Comedy Set in World of The Neighborhood'
Paramount Plus has ordered the series Crutch, a comedy that is a spinoff of CBS comedy The Neighborhood. Tracy Morgan stars....
07/05/2024
Daytime Emmys Announce Lifetime Achievement Recipients
Edward J. and Melody Thomas Scott and Lidia Bastianich will receive Lifetime Achievement honors at the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards in June, the National Aca...
07/05/2024
Al Roker, Wendy McMahon, Stephen A. Smith Set for Giants of Broadcasting Honors
The 2024 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts luncheon and awards ceremony happens in New York November 12, and the honorees are Al Roker, weather and featu...
07/05/2024
Dabl Debuts New Weekday Schedule
Dabl Network has added The Wayans Bros., The Jamie Foxx Show, Living Single and Everybody Hates Chris to its weekday and weekend lineups. Those shows join the l...
07/05/2024
Disney Entertainment DTC Business Gets Out of the Red in Q2
After winning a proxy fight, The Walt Disney Co. said its entertainment business turned a profit and added subscribers in its fiscal second quarter....
07/05/2024
Victor Wembanyama, Top NBA Rookie, Featured On Pass The Rock'
NBA Entertainment is closing out the second season of its series Pass the Rock with a look at Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs, the league's rooki...
07/05/2024
Syncbak Rebrands as Zeam Media After Streaming Platform Rollout
Syncbak, which provides stations with streaming capabilities, said it is rebranding as Zeam Media....
07/05/2024
Magnolia Pictures Licenses Content To Stream on Samsung TV Plus
Samsung has made a deal with Magnolia Pictures that will bring titles from Magnolia to the Samsung TV Plus free streaming platform....
07/05/2024
Amazon Rolling Out Interactive Commercial Formats for Prime Video (Upfronts)
Amazon, which has added commercials to Amazon Prime Video, is rolling out new interactive ad formats that will enable advertisers to engage streamers and sell s...
07/05/2024
Syncbak Now Zeam Media
Syncbak, a 15 year-old provider of streaming tech for local broadcast stations has rebranded itself, adopting the name of its streaming service launched in Febr...
07/05/2024
Maximising resources: Keys to POST Luxembourg's success in the evolving media landscape
POST Luxembourgs journey with TAG Video underscores how finding a vendor who und...
07/05/2024
Survey: Amazon's Push into Ad-Supported Streaming Is Working
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. New findings from Hub Entertainment Research provides extensive data showing that the majority of consumers will opt for lower cost ad-supporte...
07/05/2024
The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation Unveils the 2024 Award Recipients
NEW YORK The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation (LABF) has announced th...
07/05/2024
Lindsey Reiser Joins CBS News 24/7 as Anchor and Correspondent
CBS News has named Lindsey Reiser an anchor and correspondent for CBS News 24/7, the network's live, streaming news service. Reiser, who was most recently a...
07/05/2024
Tablet Shipments Show Signs of Recovery in Q1
NEEDHAM, Mass. After more than two years of decline, worldwide tablet shipments posted modest year-over-year growth of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24),...
07/05/2024
ESPN Pulls in Highest April Prime Time Audiences on Record
ESPN is reporting that April was a record-setting month as the network delivered its best April prime time audience on record, dating back more than 30 years....
07/05/2024
Kirsten Donaldson Joins NAB as VP of Public Policy
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced that Kirsten Donaldson has joined NAB as vice president of public policy. Donaldso...
07/05/2024
Don't miss Bark in the Park, Margaritaville Night & Bull Sharks Night this week at the DBAP
The Bulls are back home again this week from May 7-12! Don't miss out on any...
07/05/2024
SVG Sit-Down: AWS's Julie Souza on the Cloud and AI in Broadcast-Content Creation, Distribution
SVG Sit-Down: AWS's Julie Souza on the Cloud and AI in Broadcast-Content Cre...
07/05/2024
Deloitte Analysts Peter Giorgio and Michael Vovk: Sports Properties Need To Rethink Fan Engagement
Deloitte Analysts Peter Giorgio and Michael Vovk: Sports Properties Need To Reth...
07/05/2024
University of Texas' Jeff Hanel to Keynote 16th-Annual SVG College Summit
University of Texas' Jeff Hanel to Keynote 16th-Annual SVG College Summit Industry vet to discuss uniting live and creative in athletic department media arm...
07/05/2024
Premier League Trials RefCam During Crystal Palace v Manchester United Fixture
Premier League trials RefCam during Crystal Palace v Manchester United fixture By George Bevir Tuesday, May 7, 2024 - 09:34 Print This Story In a Premier ...
07/05/2024
CBS Sports Previews PGA Championship Plans; 125+ Cameras Include FlyCams, Bunker Cams, Live Drones, and Shallow-depth-of-field
CBS Sports Previews PGA Championship Plans; 125+ Cameras Include FlyCams, Bunker...
07/05/2024
Rohde & Schwarz brings cutting-edge solutions to TECNOSEC and DRONExpo 2024
Rohde & Schwarz brings cutting-edge solutions to TECNOSEC and DRONExpo 2024 Rohde & Schwarz will showcase its innovative portfolio at TECNOSEC and DRONExpo 20...
07/05/2024
Five New Games Join Netflix in May
Back to All News Five New Games Join Netflix in May Netflix Staff Entertainment 07 May 2024 Global Link copied to clipboard Five new games are launching ...
07/05/2024
Top 10 Week of Apr. 29: Baby Reindeer' Holds Strong; Heeramandi' Breaks Records; Katt Williams and Tom Brady Live Events Bring the Laughs
Back to All News Top 10 Week of Apr. 29: Baby Reindeer' Holds Strong; Hee...
07/05/2024
Blancco Wins 2024 SEAL Business Sustainability Award
Home News & Press Blancco Wins 2024 SEAL Business Sustainability Award Blancco Wins 2024 SEAL Business Sustainability Award May 07, 2024 Blancco's v...
07/05/2024
2024-05-07
CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today unveiled the all-new Logic Pro for iPad 2 and Logic Pro for Mac 11, delivering breakthrough professional experiences for songw...
07/05/2024
Changes in Apple's privacy requirements
Apple's new Privacy Manifest requirement mandates that apps explicitly disclose the privacy-related data they collect, the purposes for this collection, and...
07/05/2024
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour arrives to shake up Europe
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour arrives to shake up EuropeHaving shaken four continents, Taylor Swift's Eras Tour finally brings the biggest pop culture icon o...
07/05/2024
Isiphetho: Destiny' beats Scandal!'
Isiphetho: Destiny' beats Scandal!'E.tv's latest telenovela Isiphetho: Destiny' beat the channel's longest running soapie, Scandal!' ...
07/05/2024
Now there's HELP for ex-prisoners to find work in South Africa
Now there's HELP for ex-prisoners to find work in South AfricaNew initiative for ex-prisoners to find work in South Africa proves it's never too late fo...
07/05/2024
Tonight on Scandal: Cohen is pulled into keeping a secret
Tonight on Scandal: Cohen is pulled into keeping a secretDon't miss Tuesday, 7 May's riveting episode of South African soapie Scandal! on e.tv on DStv c...
07/05/2024
Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 6 May 2024 [video]
Skeem Saam: Monday's episode, 6 May 2024 [video]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African soapie...
06/05/2024
Gathering Is a Call to Action: A Letter From Ilyse McKimmie
By Ilyse McKimmie Now, more than ever That's a phrase so often used in the last few years that I've come to dread seeing it in notes like this one. A...
06/05/2024
From Petabytes To Exabytes: The Future Of Shared Storage
alt= class=wp-image-12099 data-lazy-src=/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Blog-Exabyte-Storage-Demand-960x540-1.jpg/> Demand for storage solutions has reached unprece...