Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Life From Final Four: Big East's Digital Push Reaches the Big Stage

02/04/2018

Life From Final Four: Big East's Digital Push Reaches the Big Stage New live, digital-exclusive show, BIG EAST Shootaround, brings its breakout brand to San Antonio By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital

Monday, April 2, 2018 - 1:32 pm

Print This Story

Story Highlights

A Final Four run is a huge development not only for the school involved but also for the conference office that supports it. It has been a big year for the Big East, especially in terms of its digital and social efforts.

Most notably, the league made a strong play in the live environment with the debut of a weekly series called BIG EAST Shootaround. With Villanova the favorite heading into tonight's National Championship Game, the show is ending its Season 1 run with an emphatic exclamation point.

A crew, headed by the Big East Director, Digital and Social Content, Brad Zak is onsite here in San Antonio, gathering content and live-streaming shows to Facebook, Twitter, and the Fox Sports Go app. The centerpiece? Special editions of BIG EAST Shootaround.

We were very pleased with the show [this season], says Zak. It's been good for us to build our basketball brand. That was the main goal. We wanted to get out there and differentiate ourselves in the space. We're a league that, since we reinvested ourselves' five years ago, has to find ways to set ourselves apart. This has been a perfect way for us to do it.

From left: The Big East's Ujash Patel and Brad Zak are joined by BIG EAST Shootaround hosts John Fanta and Jay Alter in covering Villanova's fun at the Final Four in San Antonio.

For the Final Four weekend, Zak has served as producer, overseeing creative direction of the Big East's content efforts. He's joined by Coordinator, Digital Production, Ujash Patel, who is acting as director and lead technician. Patel is largely credited with playing a major role in the BIG EAST Shootaround's success both technologically and in establishing a consistent brand. Also here are the show's on-camera hosts, John Fanta and Jay Alter.

The conference saw consistent growth for BIG EAST Shootaround throughout the season. It most notably saw a viewership spike when the show aired live from Cincinnati prior to a top-five matchup between Villanova and Xavier in February, with more than 50,00 viewers tuning in. The show also went live four or five times a day during the Big East Men's Basketball Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

According to Zak, he and his team have been pleasantly surprised by the numbers and engagement that the show has seen on Periscope (Twitter). He notes that it's easy for school accounts to easily share and direct their followers to the show in real time.

Typically, when the show is aired from the conference's offices in New York City, Zak and Patel use the encoder in their NewTek TC1 production switcher to split the streams and send the show to its multiple destinations. At the Final Four, however, the digital team did not want the stress of potentially unreliable connectivity at either the Alamodome or the Villanova team hotel. So the show is being fed to New York via a bonded-cellular unit and streamed from there to viewers via the TC1.

Zak notes that the past month has been a learning experience for him and the Big East when it comes to digital strategy. Most significantly, though, he feels that, when a season ends with drama like this, it's best to stay the course.

The best thing you can do, he observes, is have your year-round plan in place and don't deviate from it just because it's a big event. Find what you do really well, stick to it, and just carry that over into the major event. Don't let the moment catch you blindsided.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2018/04/02/life-from-final-four-big-easts-...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 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...

14/05/2026

Parks: Tubi, Roku Channel Are Top U.S. FAST Platforms

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

Study: Downstream Fiber Usage Outpaces Cable Broadband

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

NABLF to Honor Kidde With Corporate Leadership Award

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

LABF Awards Four 2026 Preservation Grants

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

Netflix Expands NFL Deal to Five Games

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

Scripps Seals Local Broadcast Deal with Detroit Pistons

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

14/05/2026

Glensound marks 60 years of audio innovation at Broadcast...

Six decades of products built around the people who use them...

14/05/2026

Vivid Broadcast builds agile remote production network ar...

Designed to embrace multiple production processes and deliver high-end live broadcast workflows, Vivid Broadcast has combined Calrec True Control 2.0 enabled co...

14/05/2026

Jigsaw24 and EVS Partner to Strengthen Future Proof UK Li...

Today, Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, announces a new partnership with EVS, a global leader in live video techn...

14/05/2026

Transforming bold ideas into market-ready productions: Digital Originals returns

Transforming bold ideas into market-ready productions: Digital Originals returns 14 May 2026 Top (L-R): Bronte Gosper (Musket), Mema Munro (Rogue One), Nathan ...

14/05/2026

Berklee Convenes Leaders in AI, Music for Inaugural AIMS Symposium

Berklee Convenes Leaders in AI, Music for Inaugural AIMS Symposium The three-day event puts musicians at the center of the future of music creation, ethics, a...

14/05/2026

Discover hidden havens for city wildlife as Back From The Brink returns for a fifth season

Back From The Brink airs Sunday 17 May and Sunday 24 May at 6.30pm on RT One an...

14/05/2026

Sea You in the Cloud: Subnautica 2' Early Access Dives Onto GeForce NOW

Dive masks on - Subnautica 2 is making a splash on GeForce NOW day-and-date with launch, so members can plunge into the title's brand-new alien ocean from a...

13/05/2026

New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs

New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs Joel Pennington May 13, 2026 0 Comments New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...

13/05/2026

dB Broadcast Delivers New IP-based Cloudbass Sports OB Tr...

Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...

13/05/2026

Ikegami Announces its Broadcast Asia 2026 Innovations

Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...

13/05/2026

XRSA and FISE Partner to Deliver Immersive Action Sports...

FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...

13/05/2026

Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Built-In Power Zoom Lens

Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...

13/05/2026

Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Commencement Ceremony

Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...

13/05/2026

CBS Boston to Air CCBL Baseball

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Study: Free Streaming Emerges as TV's New Normal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Amagi Announces Major Enhancements To CLOUDPORT

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

FCC Releases Updates to TVStudy Software

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Nexstar Names Elizabeth Ryder EVP, General Counsel

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

13/05/2026

Foundry releases Nuke Stage- simplifying virtual producti...

Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...

13/05/2026

Tradfluencer - The Sharon Shannon Story

A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm Watch the...

13/05/2026

Hermes Unlocks Self-Improving AI Agents, Powered by NVIDIA RTX PCs and DGX Spark

Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...

13/05/2026

NVIDIA, Ineffable Intelligence Team Up to Build the Future of Reinforcement Learning Infrastructure

Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...

12/05/2026

Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026

Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...

12/05/2026

G&D and CT Square Establish Joint Venture for India and Middle East Distribution

Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...

12/05/2026

Telemundo Reports Record Advertiser Demand for FIFA World Cup 2026 Coverage

With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...

12/05/2026

NHLs Stanley Pup Returns for Third Year on June 8

The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...

12/05/2026

NBCUniversal Outlines Ad Technology and Content Strategy at 2026 Upfront

NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...

12/05/2026

FOX Sports Funds Fandom Research Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School

FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...

12/05/2026

TNDV and Live Media Support NCAA Final Four Weekend for 13th Consecutive Year

TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...

12/05/2026

European Football Alliance Signs Distribution Agreement with Fubo Sports Network

The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...

12/05/2026

ESPN, TelevisaUnivision Ink Deal to Produce Additional Spanish-Language Super Bowl LXI Telecast

For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...

12/05/2026

CP Communications Manages RF Spectrum for Kentucky Derby Week

CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...

12/05/2026

LiveU and DRONERESPONDERS Announce Partnership for Public Safety Drone Video Transmission

LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...

12/05/2026

BMC TV Selects Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway for Horse Racing Transmissions

Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...

12/05/2026

NEP Europe to Deliver Broadcast Solutions for Eurovision Song Contest 2026 in Vienna

NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...

12/05/2026

Grass Valley Expands Collaboration with Ravensbourne University London on Media Production Education

Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...

12/05/2026

Stats Perform Launches Opta Pulse AI-Assisted Video Creation Platform

Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...

12/05/2026

FOX Sports and Sesame Workshop Announce Collaboration for FIFA World Cup 2026

FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...

12/05/2026

Little Show, Giant Heart: NHL in ASL Earns Two Sports Emmy Nominations in 2026

To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...

12/05/2026

At Its Annual Brandcast, YouTube Aims To Show Why Sports Is No Longer Just the Game

Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...