ESPN To Make History With Its First All-Black-Staffed NBA Production The game is part of the broadcaster's ongoing Black History Always initiative By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor
Wednesday, February 5, 2025 - 10:32 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
ESPN is set to make history tonight when the Atlanta Hawks and the San Antonio Spurs take to the court at 7 p.m. ET: it will be the broadcaster's first NBA game produced by an all-Black crew. The broadcast, part of ESPN's ongoing content commitment dubbed Black History Always, will feature dozens of Black staffers both on-air and behind the scenes.
The Black History Always initiative plays a crucial role in emphasizing the significance of representation and inclusion across every part of our organization, says Justin McIntosh, remote operations producer, ESPN. Personally, it will be a meaningful experience to stand alongside a dedicated team of individuals who share similar backgrounds and have faced many of the same challenges. This event and initiative represent the cultural progress within our company and, ideally, will solidify these efforts for the long term.
Tonight's game will be a 1080p SDR REMCO (remote control) production, according to McIntosh, with a majority of the crew, both production and operations, onsite in Atlanta. Graphics will be integrated remotely, and two EVS operators at ESPN's Bristol, CT, facility will control replay servers in the onsite production trucks.
Those trucks will be Game Creek Video Nitro A and B units. NEP Broadcasting-owned Bexel is providing fiber and fiber transport, RF reporter kit, RF coaches' microphones, lighting, and additional gear.
According to McIntosh, the production has 15 total transmission paths - 11 J2K fiber and four IP-MPEG encoded paths - for primary transport to Bristol. Additionally, ESPN will use seven JPEG feeds and CMSI file transfer for EVS/replay archiving.
Among the cameras deployed will be eight manned Sony HDC-2500's in hard and handheld configurations, one Sony HDC-4300 handheld in 6X super-slo-mo at midcourt, Fletcher Above the Rim robotic cameras at each basket, and multiple Marshall POVs.
In Atlanta, an estimated 60 people will be onsite. Supporting the production efforts from offsite, McIntosh says, will be a contingent of EVS operators, graphics operators, producers, communication support, and other broadcast personnel in Bristol and other locations.
Heading the production crew will be lead producer Paul Ervin, producer Rodney Vaughn, and director Adam Bryant. The on-air team for the game will comprise play-by-play announcer Mark Jones, analyst Richard Jefferson, and sideline reporter Lisa Salters.
Prior to the primetime broadcast, host Malika Andrews will lead an all-Black group on NBA Today, starting at 3 p.m. ET, and NBA Countdown. at 6:30 p.m. Located at ESPN's Los Angeles production center, he will be joined by analysts Chiney Ogwumike, Udonis Haslem, and Kendrick Perkins on both shows.
Having the opportunity to celebrate Black History for a national audience will always be important, especially to people of color in this industry, McIntosh says. I hope this game serves as a reflection of the incredible talent and diversity that drives every sports broadcast behind the scenes. Across the industry, there are so many skilled individuals who dedicate themselves to this demanding yet fulfilling career. For me, this game is a tribute to that dedication and a celebration of the diversity that unites the world of sports broadcasting. I'm honored to play a part in bringing that vision to life at ESPN.
Additionally, ESPN's Black-led media platform, Andscape, will publish several pieces on key figures in the sports-media industry as part of the Black History Always initiative, including an essay on Jones's broadcasting career.
Meanwhile, through a commitment to developing future sports business and media leaders from the Black community, the broadcaster is partnering with Clark Atlanta University to provide students in its mass-media program an opportunity to get a glimpse behind the scenes.
Vaughn, who is playing an integral role in the partnership with the school, expanded the scope of the students' tour and fine-tuned details to ensure the experience would be as enriching as possible, McIntosh says. The experience will include a tour of the production's mobile units, introductions to technical-department leaders, and conversations with ESPN's production team. Students will also have an opportunity to meet on-air talent and NBA executives.
Opening the door to the future generation of broadcast-sports professionals holds tremendous significance and is a responsibility that our team here in Atlanta approaches with great care and dedication, says McIntosh. The idea to incorporate a Clark Atlanta University student tour into the show emerged naturally through conversation. As these discussions evolved, so too did the importance of the concept.
We hope this opportunity inspires those who might one day find themselves in our roles.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
ESPN To Make History With Its First All-Black-Staffed NBA Production The game is part of the broadcaster's ongoing Black History Always initiative By Mark J Burns, SVG Contributor 
