MSG Networks Entertains New York Sports Fans With Studio Programming, Live Coverage of Islanders, Knicks Postseason The broadcaster is winding down a hectic year full of simultaneous productions By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Wednesday, May 26, 2021 - 11:30 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Since fall 2019, MSG Networks has kept steady pressure on the gas pedal, with constant action in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. With two of its five teams - the NHL's Islanders and the NBA's Knicks - in postseason play, MSG Network aims to cover the franchises' runs with multiple hours of studio programming and live coverage in a workflow linking its Midtown Manhattan facility to the teams' home venues or to other RSNs across the country.
It has been really intense for everybody since we've all basically been going since September 2019, says Jeff Filippi, SVP, programming and production/executive producer, MSG Networks. We've reinvented and accomplished a lot with other regional sports networks, and we're all going to look back years from now at this time and realize how much we pulled off.
Isles-Pens Series Brings Talent, Game Creek Video Mobile Unit to Nassau Coliseum AJ Mleczko (left) and Shannon Hogan take part in the Islanders postgame show after Game 5.
Perennial contender Islanders were expected to make it to the postseason after a stellar showing in last year's NHL bubble. The Eastern Conference runner-up has fans throughout the city and the tri-state area, and, because of that, MSG is offering ample studio and live coverage during its attempt to lift Lord Stanley's Cup.
During Game 1 of the Opening Round against the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Isles played game-on in Western Pennsylvania and forced the network to rely on remote workflows through its RSN counterpart, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. The production calls for a clean feed of cameras controlled by the crew in Pittsburgh, one camera dedicated to MSG's telecast, and sponsored material and other graphics implemented from MSG's control room in New York. The Islanders' on-air team takes over the studio to call the game remotely.
[Play-by-play announcer] Brendan Burke and [analyst] Butch Goring call the game over a monitor while [host] Shannon Hogan comes from our studio and [studio analyst] AJ Mleczko reports from the studio or, through vMix, from her home in Massachusetts, says Filippi. The production unit that handles the game is doing our half-hour pregame, then transitions to live game coverage, and then to an extended postgame show.
On-screen telestration helps talent break down key plays during the game.
With the positive trajectory of the pandemic, productions are returning to traditional ways for games that take place at the Barn on Long Island. During the playoffs, the entire crew is onsite except for the team that handles the shows airing before, during, and after the contest. At Nassau Coliseum, the crew runs with its normal complement of cameras; elsewhere, the production staff works in its customary onsite truck provided by Game Creek Video. With social distancing still in effect, crew members are occupying additional space in a separate B unit.
The home games are reasonably straightforward, notes Filippi. [Having] fans back in the building [has] really transformed [our broadcasts] compared to the way the season started with dark, quiet arenas with artificial noise.
Knicks' Playoffs Return Gets Courtside Reporter at Home, World Feed for Away Games The Knicks' first home playoff game since 2013 was attended by 15,000 screaming fans - one of the largest indoor events to take place since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. To capture the atmosphere and energy from every angle, MSG Network is deploying its onsite reporter at a lower vantage point than during the regular season.
Rebecca Haarlow conducts courtside interviews (socially distanced) during home games.
[Play-by-play announcer] Mike Breen and [analyst] Walt Frazier are there, but they're back near the first level to follow NBA protocols, says Filippi. [Reporter] Rebecca Haarlow has been in the building all year as well, but now she's allowed to be much closer to the floor. It looks a lot like the bubble days in Orlando: the reporter is socially distant from the player or the coach and has a mask on and can do an interview on the court.
The away-game setup is very similar to NHL productions of the Islanders. The major difference is the NBA's HSAN (high-speed arena network) workflow, which taps facilities in the heart of each team's venue for quick retrieval of camera feeds. Whereas Islanders game get a single dedicated camera, coverage of the Knicks has two dedicated cameras.
Back on 32nd Street and 7th Avenue, the on-air team of studio host Bill Pidto and studio analysts Wally Szczerbiak, Monica McNutt, and Alan Hahn produce surrounding coverage for both home and away games back in the studio.
Home Doubleheader on Wednesday, Road Trip on Friday Pose Unique Challenges Despite the daunting task of balancing live coverage of two playoff teams, this process has become customary for the folks at MSG Networks. Earlier this year, Filippi and company juggled concurrent home games not only for the Knicks and Islanders but also for the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. With three NHL road games going on at the same time, the staff took over as much real estate at their facility as possible and housed the rest of the production crew in an onsite mobile unit at one of the nearby venues.
On any given night, there could be away games for the Rangers, Knicks, and Devils, says Filippi. [On those nights], we had productions for the Knicks and Rangers out of our 11 Penn Studio and production for the Devils from the Prudential Center
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
01/06/2026
Designed to solve a common problem in broadcasting, the automated workflow detects, identifies, removes, and documents copyrighted music
AudioShake has introdu...
01/06/2026
The sports-analytics company combines its data with proprietary AI to help leagu...
01/06/2026
Category line-up & sponsors announced
Photo: Paul Clarke
The Production Music Awards (PMA) have announced that submissions are now officially open ahead of...
01/06/2026
New hybrid sample/synthesis instrument revealed
Excite Audio have just released the latest instalment in their Evolve series, which has been developed in co...
01/06/2026
Latest TONEX expansion captures three rare vintage amps
The newest addition to IK Multimedia's ever-growing TONEX line-up introduces a set of three incr...
01/06/2026
Musically intelligent soft synth gets upgraded
Scaler Music will be probably be best known to many for their music theory tools, but their product range al...
01/06/2026
SBS confirms its broadcast sponsors for FIFA World Cup 2026
1 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has secured Hyundai, Hisense, Macca's, Rexona, bet365, Com...
01/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz Satellite Industry Days 2026 guided by the motto From Earth to ...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Marshall Electronics is showcasing a comprehensive lineup of next-generation POV cameras, purpose-built to power today's connected AV environments, at InfoC...
01/06/2026
Adobe Announces Concept to Vector
Deepa Subramaniam June 1, 2026
0 Comments
One of the biggest frustrations we hear from designers is how difficult it...
01/06/2026
Vampire Feature Night Patrol Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton June 1, 2026
0 Comments
Colorist shapes dark, gritty tone for horror thri...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/06/2026
Mardi 2 juin 14h00
FilmLight (ARRI), 10 rue Ren Boulanger, 75010 Paris
Rejoignez-nous pour d couvrir comment FLAPI (l'API FilmLight) peut transformer e...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
31/05/2026
Olivia P rez-Collellmir to Premiere Original Work at Gaud Centennial in Barcelona The Berklee graduate and faculty member will debut her choral symphony with...
31/05/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Wins 15 Awards at the Canadian Screen Awards - See Pho...
31/05/2026
Taiwan is home to more than 500 NVIDIA ecosystem partners. More than 1 million N...
31/05/2026
As factories move from isolated automation to plant-wide intelligence, manufacturers need AI systems that can connect live machine signals, quality systems, wor...
31/05/2026
The NVIDIA AI Cloud ecosystem is accelerating the global buildout of AI factory infrastructure. Partners are expanding capacity to meet growing demand from ente...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
MSG Networks Entertains New York Sports Fans With Studio Programming, Live Coverage of Islanders, Knicks Postseason The broadcaster is winding down a hectic year full of simultaneous productions By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
