NFL Network Flexes At-Home' Muscles With The Switch for Conference USA Schedule Five of the 10-game schedule were produced from The Switch's Burbank, CA, studio By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Tuesday, December 3, 2019 - 11:31 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
With college-football championship week and bowl season just around the corner, conferences are assessing their regular-season broadcast operations. While organizations like Pac-12 Networks lead the way in producing games remotely, other conferences are moving toward that model. This year, NFL Network forged a partnership with The Switch and produced five of the network's 10-game schedule of the Conference USA season via at-home production.
When we picked up one game per week from Conference USA, we put out bids and responses from traditional production [companies], but The Switch came back with an at-home model, says Leon Schweir, VP, broadcast operations, NFL Network. There was a price point we wanted to hit, and I think they helped get us there, so we signed up with them during the first week of June.
Bang for the Buck: Both Parties Save Cash on Crew
The main benefit of an at-home model is its cost-efficiency. With a lighter structural footprint at each stadium, the team in Burbank had a lot of flexibility to customize the production as much as necessary.
Inside the control room at The Switch's studio in Burbank, CA
The idea behind it was to efficiently use the crew, says Glenn Adamo, managing director, The Switch. One of the challenges of doing college-football packages is getting local operators and technicians that are at a different level. We've been able to leverage the workforce in Los Angeles with some of the best technical people to work on our games.
Onsite staffers comprised announcers in the booth, a stage manager, and operators for the nine game cameras, but the studio in Burbank housed producer, director, TD, and a crew of operators handling audio, EVS replay, and graphics (scorebug and 1st-and-10 line).
Using familiar technicians enhances the value of the broadcasts and also creates camaraderie, familiarity, and a better sense of communication.
I often had directors or producers come in and be amazed at the crew they had, says Schweir. I called it the house band because they're always there [in the same studio] and they're all competent technicians.
Not only did NFL Network and The Switch have complete autonomy on who worked these telecasts, but the decision to go with at-home production put extra money in their pockets.
[The workflow] was legitimately a 20%-25% saving on what a traditional broadcast would cost since there wasn't a travel day on each side of the game, says Adamo. On the day of the game , the crew came in, worked, and went home usually within eight to 10 hours. It allowed us to maximize the use of personnel that we selected, and it kept the travel costs down to a bare minimum.
Keeping the Quality: Productions Remain Consistent Throughout
From a network perspective, the choice to work with The Switch was a simple one. Having spent time with the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences, Schweir is accustomed to churning out a high-level product on a relatively low-level budget. The current season provided reliability with a sturdy home base in Burbank.
In previous experiences, he says, we would sometime have trouble with getting competent EVS operators in a certain market, so we maybe got two when we wanted three or four. We would have those additional EVS operators in the central [Pac-12 Networks] location in San Francisco contribute to that same truck show via fiber and IP transport. Sometimes, depending on the type of event, you want to have quickly edited bumpers or resets. Those were often done back in the studio base and dropped into a folder in the EVS on the traditional truck show.
Although the productions are being engineered from thousands of miles away, there wasn't any drop-off in quality.
We've had great success with the at-home version since there was really no noticeable difference between that and the traditional show, says Adamo. Somebody had called us and wanted to know when we were doing our next at-home, and I said, Look at the screen now, and you'll see we're doing it,' and they said, Really? Wow.' As the announcers are drawing on the telestrator, they're seeing it on the screen as they would if there were a truck outside and a telestrator downstairs.
Getting Comfortable: Blending Traditional and New-Age Production
Despite each site's having its own unique set of characteristics, operations at The Switch leveraged the stadium infrastructure when possible.
Out of the whole 10-game package, says Adamo, we had five what we call traditional' broadcasts and five at-home broadcasts. The five locations [where at-home production was deployed] were fibered - Rice Stadium, for example. We were able to capitalize on an installation by bringing back the cameras and 24 tracks of audio.
The crew produced a game between Rice University and North Texas University from 1,560 miles away.
The model combines both at-home and traditional operations to provide a conducive environment for any type of technician.
The workflows were pretty simple, he adds, and, since we did this via fiber, it allowed little to no latency. We tried very carefully to build a facility that allows you to feel like you're in the truck downstairs at the stadium. So It's allowing our customers to streamline their live productions without compromising quality.
The Road Ahead: At-Home Structure Gains Momentum
With at-home models gaining ground in sports-video production and this successful test-run in Burbank, NFL Network has further conviction to deploy this model as a viable solution for o
Most recent headlines
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's The Great Flood and Culinary Class Wars 2 Top Gl...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things By the Numbers: How the Global Phenomenon Shap...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
NFL Network Flexes At-Home' Muscles With The Switch for Conference USA Schedule Five of the 10-game schedule were produced from The Switch's Burbank, CA, studio By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor 
