Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

CBS Sports Digital Boosts Studio-Production Ops With Revamped Facilities in Ft. Lauderdale, Stamford

31/01/2023

CBS Sports Digital Boosts Studio-Production Ops With Revamped Facilities in Ft. Lauderdale, Stamford Besides CBS Sports HQ and soccer streaming, the new studios serve CBS linear broadcasts By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Tuesday, January 31, 2023 - 2:36 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

As CBS Sports and CBS Sports Digital continue to grow their combined portfolio of live sports programming, both entities are looking for new ways to efficiently share studio and control-room resources. With that in mind, CBS Sports Digital relaunched its studios in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and Stamford, CT, in time for the fall 2022 football and Italian soccer seasons with major technological enhancements to the sets and control rooms.

The CBS Sports Digital studios in Ft. Lauderdale and Stamford relaunched with new LED walls prior to the NFL season.

We were looking at [studio operations] from a much higher level, not just our streaming shows but also CBS Sports, soccer shows, and everything across the CBS family, says Aaron Gillespy, director, engineering, CBS Sports Digital. And we wanted to build facilities that would not only serve us today but could change and adapt in the future.

In addition to around-the-clock live studio programming on CBS Sports HQ, the facilities also play a big role in streaming coverage of UEFA Champions League, Serie A, and other international club soccer on CBS Sports and Paramount+. The upgrades at the two studios created a parallel setup across the Ft. Lauderdale and Stamford locations for a consistent look for productions of Serie A, CBS Sports HQ, Fantasy Football Today, SportsLine programming, as well as CBS Sports HQ Spotlight, which airs on CBS Sports Network.

From the linear perspective, we saw a great opportunity to collaborate and bring the streaming and linear teams together, says Mike Francis, VP, engineering and technology, CBS Sports. We don't have the footprint for any additional studio space here at the CBS Broadcast Center and BMW building [in New York City]. Being able to have a multi-use facility that we can leverage has been great for the linear-production teams while also creating a better product for streaming.

Inside the Studio: LED Wall With Three-Curves Offers Versatility, Quality With a three-curve LED wall on set and agile control-room designs, the two nearly identical studios can seamlessly transition from one show to the next in matter of minutes.

The beauty of these facilities is, we can mix and match, says Gillespy. We can run soccer in the morning, CBS Sports HQ in the afternoon, more soccer right behind that, and then highlights for HQ or other groups in the evening. Because it's LED with minimal set pieces, with the flip of a switch, you can transition from one show to another.

CBS Sports HQ Spotlight host Amanda Guerra on the new set (Photo: Mary Kouw/CBS)

With the 35 million-pixel, 1.8-DPI LED wall, CBS Sports HQ and other shows can produce a higher-quality studio design that matches the level of CBS and CBS Sports Network's linear programming.

The studio is outfitted with five Sony HCP-P50 cameras with Canon CJ15ex4.3B, CJ17ex6.2B, and CJ20ex5B lenses; three Ross Video CamBot robotic-camera pedestals; one Egripment TDT crane; and one ARRI Artemis 2 camera stabilizer with Vislink wireless Tx/Rx and RCP control.

513 Partner/Principal Tom Lenz was enlisted to design the studio, and systems integration was done in-house, led by CBS Sports Digital Lead Systems Administrator Keith Pryor. Other key vendors included Fuse and DetaiLED Solutions for the LED panels and Showman Fabricators for set fabrication.

After we went through rehearsals for the first time with graphics, it didn't have the feel that we were looking for, recounts Gillespy. But because of the flexibility of the LED wall, within a week, the graphics group had built a completely new look for the set, giving it an absolutely different feel. Within two weeks, we had gone through three or four iterations of a different look for the set; that would have taken us months to change out in the past. There was no changing paint color or swapping out gear; it was just the graphics group designing it and making the change pretty much instantly.

Inside the Control Room: Serving Live Productions Big and Small The control room is built around a Ross Ultrix Accuity switcher and features Ross Xpression for on-air graphics and Ross Tessera for the in-studio LED screens, Evertz DreamCatcher replay systems, a Grass Valley GVOrbit routing/orchestration system, and Calrec Brio audio console.

You have the ability to go from more linear-style production for soccer with a fully staffed control room and studio to an HQ production, which is on a more efficient scale on back-to-back shows, says Francis. The [CBS Sports Digital] team did a great job of making it a flexible control-room space. The smaller-scale shows can operate as thin as a couple of people, or we can fill every bench with a full crew like you would see in a larger linear-network production. They did a great job of being flexible.

SportsLine host Tommy Tran inside the new studio (Photo: Mary Kouw/CBS)

To meet the tight timeline to launch by the beginning of the U.S. football and Italian soccer seasons, the studio went live in HD-SDI, but the entire facility has an upgrade path to SMPTE ST 2110 as well as to 4K and HDR.

We landed on HD-SDI to make that deadline, but there's absolutely no reason that we can't go 2110 for on both of them at any point in time, says Gillespy. Everything has an upgrade path at the flip of a switch. The wall itself supports 4K, the processors support both 4K and HDR, lenses are already 4K, and the cameras are running 1080i but with a license available for 4K. So everything is ready to go should we decide to go in that direction.

From Co
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/01/31/cbs-sports-digital-relaunch-stu...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

06/10/2025

France Tlvisions Wins Prestigious 2025 EBU Technology & Innovation Award in Groundbreaking Collaboration with Dalet

France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...

04/09/2025

Monumental Sports & Entertainment and Dalet Win Prestigious 2025 NAB Show Project of the Year Award

Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...

04/07/2025

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Tadashi Nakamura, the Filmmaker Behind Third Act

By Lucy Spicer Editor's note: We are deeply saddened by the passing of Robe...

04/07/2025

Spotify Partners With The Reading Agency to Bring the Summer Reading Challenge to Life Through Audio

The Summer Reading Challenge has inspired children across the U.K. to embrace a ...

04/07/2025

Introducing CVP Auctions: Trusted Tech, At Auction-Only Prices

Introducing CVP Auctions: Trusted Tech, At Auction-Only Prices Brie Clayton July 4, 2025 0 Comments A New Destination for Film and Broadcast Gear at U...

04/07/2025

Unveiling China's Ecological Wonders with URSA Mini Pro 12K

Unveiling China's Ecological Wonders with URSA Mini Pro 12K Brie Clayton July 4, 2025 0 Comments Nature Documentaries Freeze Epic Momentsin Extrem...

04/07/2025

Create Any Planet in After Effects

Create Any Planet in After Effects Graham Quince July 4, 2025 0 Comments The Advanced 3D renderer in After Effects makes it really easy to import 3D o...

04/07/2025

Custom Gradient Colorize for Resolve Fusion

Custom Gradient Colorize for Resolve Fusion Simon Ubsdell July 4, 2025 0 Comments Digging into the theory of the gradient colorize process to build ou...

04/07/2025

NESN Gives Red Sox-Reds Matchup a Retro Makeover

Watching live sports on TV these days is a delicate balance for broadcasters how much information is too much?...

04/07/2025

FCC Announces Tentative Agenda for July Open Meeting

WASHINGTON As Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr works to achieve his goal of a very busy, productive summer at the FCC, the agency has rele...

04/07/2025

Other World Computing Launches OWC Guardian USB-C Hardware-Encrypted Portable SSD

Other World Computing Launches OWC Guardian USB-C Hardware-Encrypted Portable SS...

04/07/2025

CANAL+ Brings MotoGP to Vision Pro with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive

CANAL Brings MotoGP to Vision Pro with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive Brie Clayton July 3, 2025 0 Comments Experience MotoGP like never before as CA...

04/07/2025

Official trailer revealed for new season of BAFTA-winning Sky Original comedy Mr Bigstuff, coming 24 July

Friday 4 July 2025 Watch the trailer here https://youtu.be/Od5WpvWmDr8 Further...

04/07/2025

Join RT Radio 1 for The Pitch, a new series exploring the heart of Ireland's GAA Clubs

The Pitch comes to RT Radio 1 airwaves this Sunday at 7pm. The Pitch is a brand...

03/07/2025

Introducing: New Carts

For our Vario-Jib, as well as for a repertoire of weights, we now have carts that make transport easier...

03/07/2025

Introducing: Slider Drive Unit

One of our latest innovations: Slider Drive Unit! Our Vario Slider not only comes with improvements and new features, but also with its own drive unit! Our i...

03/07/2025

Introducing: ARRI EVO 360

The 360 EVO lives up to its name: 360-degree rotation not only on the pan axis, but also on the roll axis, enables filmmakers to take their creative visions eve...

03/07/2025

Panther at BSC EXPO 2025

What a buzzing few days at BSCExpo in London! We were thrilled to connect with so many talented professionals from the world of cinematography. A huge thank ...

03/07/2025

"The whole rig had to be detachable mid-episode

ADOLESCENCE - Shot with Panther Tower"The whole rig had to be detachable mid-episode Netflix limited drama series Adolescence has been gaining attentio...

03/07/2025

Advanced Communication Systems Unleash a Tactical Advantage in Modern Combat Operations

To achieve a true level of decisive overmatch, communication systems must be as ...

03/07/2025

Paramount's Ray Hopkins Joins Broadcasters Foundation Board

The Broadcasters Foundation of America has named Ray Hopkins, president of U.S. distribution at Paramount Global, to its board of directors....

03/07/2025

FCC Chair Carr Lays Out Infrastructure Policy Agenda

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. In his first major policy speech, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr outlined his Build America Agenda for the agency'...

03/07/2025

TV Tech's Top NextGen TV Stories of 2025

As the industry is making a major push to transition to NextGen TV and develop new businesses that will fund the next generation of broadcasting, TV Tech's ...

03/07/2025

Netflix Rolls Out AV1 Film Grain Synthesis Streams for Film Content

Despite enabling its subscribers to watch films and TV shows in the highest possible resolution, Netflix has revealed it is taking things old school with the in...

03/07/2025

FCC's Gomez, Sen. Markey, Critics Blast Paramount-Trump Settlement

WASHINGTON In response to news that Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump, Democrats and other administra...

03/07/2025

Riedel Communications Unveils RefSuite Sports Ecosystem

WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications today launched RefSuite for professional sports workflows....

03/07/2025

LYNX Technik Appoints New Executive Leadership Team

WEITERSTADT, Germany LYNX Technik, a provider of modular signal processing solutions, has announced that founder and longtime CEO Winfried Deckelmann is steppin...

03/07/2025

CTA, NCTA, LPTVBA Meet With FCC to Oppose NAB's ATSC 3.0 Petition

WASHINGTON Representatives from six trade groups representing tech, pay TV, broadband, LPTV and other sectors recently met with Federal Communications Commissio...

03/07/2025

Dan Whealy Acquires Heartland Video Systems

PLYMOUTH, Wis. Dan Whealy has acquired Heartland Video Systems and will be its new owner and president, the systems integrator said....

03/07/2025

Filmmaker Jay Holben Releases The Directors Guide to Ever...

Acclaimed filmmaker, educator, and industry veteran Jay Holben has released his most ambitious work to date: The Director's Guide to Everything a sweeping...

03/07/2025

Capturing the Moment - Pruski Photographs Dyke Day LA wit...

For Los Angeles-based photographer Scout Pruski, documenting the annual Dyke Day LA is a way to honor and give back to the city's legacy queer community and...

03/07/2025

New Reinvented Chimera V-Flat Panel Frame Kit

Modular, Travel-Ready Solution Matthews Studio Equipment launches the new Chimera V-Flat Panel Frame Kit, the lightweight and modular, ultra-durable alternativ...

03/07/2025

Dalet Flex LTS Release Elevates Content Workflows with Ne...

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the release of Dalet Flex 2025.6 LTS (long-term support), introdu...

03/07/2025

Lightware launches LARA Wizard to help integrators simpli...

Lightware's LARA Wizard makes it quicker and easier than ever to set up audio-visual (AV) room automation and control configurations, ensuring anyone, from ...

03/07/2025

Alfalite obtains NCAGE and TAA certifications strengtheni...

Alfalite, the only European manufacturer of LED screens, has obtained both the NCAGE Code (NATO Commercial and Government Entity) and TAA (Trade Agreements Act)...

03/07/2025

WIN streamlines complex live production with nxtedition

nxtedition is implementing a new solution for WIN Network, based in its headquarters in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The nxtedition integrated platfo...

03/07/2025

ORS Group and Insys Video Technologies unite under one br...

ORS Group and Insys Video Technologies today announce the launch of a new joint brand identity: Big Blue Marble. The move reflects the evolution of a long-stand...

03/07/2025

Evergent Proves Cross-Industry Power of AI for Japanese G...

Evergent, a global leader in customer lifecycle management and monetization solutions for subscription-based businesses, today announced the successful results ...

03/07/2025

LYNX Technik Appoints New Executive Leadership Team to Dr...

LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions today announces an executive leadership transition, effective July 1, 2025. Markus Motzko has been...

03/07/2025

Chaos Releases V-Ray for Blender

Chaos Releases V-Ray for Blender Brie Clayton July 2, 2025 0 Comments Production-Proven Renderer V-Ray Arrives Natively in Blender for the First Time;...

03/07/2025

Calvin University Adds Blackmagic Replay to Broadcasts and Streams

Calvin University Adds Blackmagic Replay to Broadcasts and Streams Brie Clayton July 2, 2025 0 Comments Replay workflow joins 14 Blackmagic Design cam...

03/07/2025

Berklee's Gospel Performance Program Welcomes Jonathan Nelson as the Herb Alpert Visiting Artist

Berklee's Gospel Performance Program Welcomes Jonathan Nelson as the Herb Al...

03/07/2025

Get Ready for Even More Action! Netflix Has Confirmed the Third Season of the Brazilian Original Series 'Criminal Code'

Back to All News Get Ready for Even More Action! Netflix Has Confirmed the Thir...

03/07/2025

Get ready for even more action! Netflix has confirmed the third season of the Brazilian original series Criminal Code

Back to All News Get ready for even more action! Netflix has confirmed the thir...

03/07/2025

Centralized Cross-Platform Campaigns and Unified Sales Workflows with WO Fusion

In today's fragmented media landscape, advertisers expect more than just reach - they want seamless cross-platform campaigns that deliver measurable results...

03/07/2025

** MEDIA ALERT ** Shonen Jump Store Hosting Los Angeles Pop-up During Anime Expo 2025

** MEDIA ALERT ** Shonen Jump Store Hosting Los Angeles Pop-up During Anime Exp...

03/07/2025

Sky Arts Unveils New Mozart Season, Celebrating the Legacy of Classicals Greatest Maestro

Thursday 3 July 2025 David Harewood and Matthew Broome in Mozart: Genius for Hi...

03/07/2025

Sky announces 2025 Sky WNT Fund Recipients

The Sky WNT Fund supports Womens National Team players with a 30,000 bursaryThursday 3 July 2025 Sky Ireland has announced the four recipients of the 2025 Sky...

03/07/2025

GeForce NOW's 20 July Games Bring the Heat to the Cloud

The forecast this month is showing a 100% chance of epic gaming. Catch the scorching lineup of 20 titles coming to the cloud, which gamers can play whether indo...

02/07/2025

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From FOLKTALES to Oh, Hi!

Hege Wik and Odin appear in FOLKTALES by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institut...