With three linear television productions and a host of studio and digital programming coming from in and around NRG Stadium in Houston for this weekend's Final Four, its little surprise when you lay your eyes on a jam-packed production compound.
Bill McKechney (left), VP, Engineering and George Orgera, founding CEO and President of F&F Productions are on hand in Houston to support key pieces of the F&F fleet at the Final Four.
F&F Productions has long been a stalwart for CBS Sports - and Turner Sports since they came on board in the new broadcasting agreement six years ago - at the Final Four and this year is no different. Six F&F trucks are on site supporting the massive production that includes the main national telecasts on TBS and two additional TeamStream productions on TNT and truTV.
GTX-17 is serving as the primary production truck for the main national broadcasts airing on TBS. GTX-11 and GTX-12 will host full top-of-line production crews working each of the team-specific TeamStream shows. Each are supported by B-units housing replay, graphics, and advanced statistical integration.
Naturally, tying all of these trucks together to work seamlessly is a critical component of making the whole operation work. This year's Final Four is the second year of a new fully file-based, 10-gigabit workflow that unites all of the trucks on site and links in Turner Studios in Atlanta and CBS Sports studios in New York City.
F&F Productions' GTX-17 is serving as the primary production truck for the main national broadcasts airing on TBS at Final Four. GTX-11 and GTX-12 host the team-specific TeamStream shows.
Last year was really the groundbreaking year, says Bill McKechney, Vice President, Engineering for F&F Productions, but its been much smoother this year with the integration of IT. The EVS operators have been doing a great job. It's been a fantastic job by everyone involved.
GTX-17 in enjoying its second year working the Final Four following the truck's launch in 2014. The IP-focus unit is built around a Grass Valley Kayenne Elite HD Switcher, an Evertz routing system, EVS replay servers, a Calrec Apollo audio console with Bluefin 2 (the show is mixed in 5.1 surround), an RTS Adam 128 128 Matrix comms system, and a Joseph Electronics fiber kit.
The Final Four also serves as a bit of a milepost ending to a very busy stretch for the company's top mobile units. F&F Productions works throughout the NFL season and into golf.
It's an incredibly busy time, says George Orgera, founding CEO and President of F&F Productions and Sports Broadcasting Hall of Famer. We haven't seen some of these trucks since August!
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With three linear television productions and a host of studio and digital programming coming from in and around NRG Stadium in Houston for this weekend's Final Four, its little surprise when you lay your eyes on a jam-packed production compound.
