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
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
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...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
21/04/2026
Cloud-based production isnt going anywhere, and BitFire is doubling down by prov...
21/04/2026
The topic of artificial intelligence has a stranglehold on the sports-video-prod...
21/04/2026
5G is still a hot topic in live event production, and this workflow continues to...
21/04/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show, Ed McGivern, GM and President of Appear US, discusses the ...
21/04/2026
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has announced an on-premise AI suite designed for...
21/04/2026
Suite Studios has integrated its file-streaming technology into the newly announced Frame.io Drive, a desktop application from Adobe company Frame.io. The colla...
21/04/2026
Net Insight has integrated InSync Technology's FrameFormer into the Nimbra E...
21/04/2026
Fox Sports has selected Appear as a technology partner to support the next phase...
21/04/2026
Diversified has appointed Tyler Affolter as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) to lead the company's commercial organisation. The appointment follows the firm'...
21/04/2026
Layercake has formalised the integration of Bitmovin's video streaming infra...
21/04/2026
The International Judo Federation (IJF) has extended its distribution partnershi...
21/04/2026
Glookast has launched the Cinnafilm Tachyon plugin for its Media Producer and Me...
21/04/2026
Eutelsat has entered into an agreement with Cadena Tres, a division of Grupo Ima...
21/04/2026
Dolby Laboratories and TV Azteca have partnered to introduce Dolby Atmos immersive audio to free-to-air television broadcasts. The implementation utilises the A...
21/04/2026
FOX Entertainment partnered with Verizon to overcome significant production hurd...
21/04/2026
Osprey Video has announced its technology showcase for the NAB Show 2026, highli...
21/04/2026
Riedel Communications (Booth C4908) introduced a range of new solutions at NAB S...
21/04/2026
The NAB Show is in full swing, and the SVG and SVG Europe editorial teams are chasing down the hottest stories from all over the Las Vegas Convention Center. He...
21/04/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the URSA Cine Immersive 100G, an immersive cinem...
21/04/2026
Clark Wire & Cable is continuing its evolution from cable supplier to full-scale solutions partner for broadcast and live production. At the 2026 NAB Show, we s...
21/04/2026
Rashad Frett attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Ricky at Eccles Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, UT. (Photo by George Pimentel/Shut...
21/04/2026
Five years ago, Spotify arrived in Pakistan, opening a new chapter in the country's music scene. Since then, local listeners have explored across genres, ge...
21/04/2026
Since its launch in 2020, RADAR has been our program for spotlighting emerging artists around the world. This year marks the sixth edition of RADAR Spain, our o...
21/04/2026
Offers compact wireless solution for pedalboards
Taiwanese audio brand Cloudvocal have announced the availability of a new pedalboard-friendly wireless syst...
21/04/2026
Latest hybrid sampling/synthesis instrument arrives
Arturia's Augmented series offerings rely on a mixture of sampling and synthesis, allowing users to ...
21/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to host Power Electronics Online Conference From Design to Vali...
21/04/2026
MAS and Lockheed Martin partner to establish an F-35 depot in Canada, enabling in-country sustainment and creating high-skilled aerospace jobs....
21/04/2026
Advertising strategies shift as competition grows for a large, active and qualit...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
21/04/2026
Layercake Deepens Bitmovin Integration to Power End-to-End Media Orchestration w...
21/04/2026
Cobalt Digital Announces Launch of blueCORE at NAB Show 2026: Compact Powerhouse...
21/04/2026
On-Premise AI Suite from Studio Network Solutions Debuts at NAB Show 2026
Melanie Ciotti April 21, 2026
0 Comments
Unlimited processing, no cloud depe...
21/04/2026
London, 21 April 2026 IBC today announced the appointment of Tim Banham as its first Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), a newly created role that reflects the or...
21/04/2026
Motion Design Tools - April 2026
Roland Kahlenberg April 21, 2026
0 Comments
Within 2 days, Maxon and Canva announced pro-level motion design apps - A...
21/04/2026
Chaos and Zero Density to Showcase Real-Time Ray Tracing for Virtual Studios and...
21/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
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 
