SVG Sit-Down: Pixellot's David Shapiro on How AI-Automated Production Tools Democratize Sports Broadcasting The solution brings automated capture and distribution to high school, small-college sports By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Tuesday, August 2, 2022 - 2:56 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Since being founded in 2013, Pixellot has helped blaze the trail for automated sports production. The company's AI-powered production systems help automate live sports capture, distribution, and production of more than 150,000 games per month in 67 countries across the globe.
And Pixellot continues to grow. Last month, the Israel-based company announced a $161 million Series D round - the largest funding round in Israeli sports-tech history. PSG, a Boston-based growth equity fund, led the round.
SVG sat down with David Shapiro, president, North America, Pixellot, to discuss some recent AI-automated productions, how Pixellot's broadcast solutions have opened up a whole new world for underserved sports properties; where AI automation is being seen on higher-profile sports productions; how these tools can help athletes grow fanbases and further their own Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) activities; and what Pixellot's technology roadmap looks like.
Pixellot's David Shapiro: We are beginning to see more innovation to find a way to produce higher-level games in a more cost-effective way.
Pixellot has been busier than ever lately. What recent productions that you've been a part have helped advance AI- automated production?
The MLB Draft League and MLB Appalachian League are both leagues that run across about 20 different venues. College-age athletes that the MLB have identified as potential draft picks play in these two leagues. Our technology is giving them the ability to produce 100% of those games. This summer, between May and August, we will produce roughly 500 games across the two leagues. The games will be streamed on OTT platforms that we've built for both leagues, and then MLB selects certain games that will be available on the MLB network as well.
Pixellot's largest example in the U.S. is PlayOn Sports, where the technology is installed in about 15,000 high school fields and courts across the country and will produce close to a million games a year for the NFHS Network.
We have another venture we're working on to bring even more access and games to other regions in North America, so stay tuned.
How has AI-enabled production opened up live broadcast to underserved sports properties over the past few years?
The biggest opening has been in the high school market. Typically, five years ago, high school games were not being produced except for championship games or games between very big schools. Now most high school games are being produced and streamed, with Pixellot producing a majority of the games for the NFHS Network.
Also, small colleges, below the Power Five schools like Texas A&M or Stanford, were not producing games, but Pixellot technology has enabled these colleges to have production. With our newest product, Pixellot Air, we are enabling production all the way down into youth sports, so everything from 5-year-old kids up through high school sports.
How has the sports-production industry's view of AI-automated production evolved? Are you seeing more companies embrace this technology beyond just smaller/lower-profile events?
Yes, production companies are starting to look at how they can do productions more cost-efficiently. There are companies like Rush Media, who are producing all the games for the Big East, which FloSports has the rights to. They're using our solution as part of the production solution. They are adding additional camera angles, using us as the traditional Camera 1 and adding the other camera angles and putting it through a mixer to mix those different angles. I think that we are beginning to see more innovation in the industry to find a way to produce higher-level games in a more cost-effective way, and Rush Media is the best example of that.
How can AI-driven approaches help athletes grow fan bases and further their own NIL activities?
NIL is the big topic right now in college sports. It is becoming a recruiting advantage if you are able to provide opportunities for your athletes and to open doors for them to generate revenue because a scholarship goes only so far. A lot of sports, like baseball, give only partial scholarships, and so NIL is being seen as a way to supplement that.
For a university to maximize NIL for their athletes, they need every practice and every game filmed so that the athletes own all the high-level content. Then they can use the content on their own marketing social-media channels. AI-automated production will play - and is playing - an important role in the growth of NIL and the college industry.
What are some of the latest enhancements to the Pixellot platform that enable live-sports producers to deliver even better live broadcasts?
The end-to-end solution and the service proposition certainly play a major role in our growth. Now, in addition to just doing automated production, we also offer a white-label OTT solution so that, if a rightsholder - which could be a league, college, tournament organizer, or even a sports complex - needs a way to distribute the content, we have a white-label OTT that's built for them.
Major League Baseball is using Pixellot's white-label OTT for both the Draft League and the Appalachian League. Cooperstown All Star Village, which is a large facility near the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY, is using it, as are several other partners. They are using it as an enhancement, [providing] the ability to charge a subscription or charge pay-per-view, know who your users are, cut clips, and monetize content. In a lot of d
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
23/04/2024
Entitled Our Creative Future, the manifesto calls for radical new action' t...
23/04/2024
The company has secured investment from private equity firm PAI Partners, which also holds a stake in outside broadcasting company EMG
By Jenny Priestley
Pub...
23/04/2024
Cameron also said he recognised Marlow as a potential UK and European base for his new company, LIGHTSTORM 3D
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 23, 2024 ...
23/04/2024
The five categories cover Content Creation, Content Distribution, Content Everywhere, Social Impact and Environment & Sustainability
By Matthew Corrigan
Publ...
23/04/2024
He played a central role in securing key broadcast rights, including the FIFA World Cup 2018 and 2022
By Matthew Corrigan
Published: April 23, 2024
He pla...
23/04/2024
IBC is preparing to honour the highest achievements in technological innovation and social impact with the launch of its prestigious IBC2024 Innovation Awards, ...
23/04/2024
BREA, Calif. Bolin Technology is integrating Network Device Interface (NDI) across its product line, bringing support for the latest NDI technologies to its PTZ...
23/04/2024
WYOMISSING, Pa. PENN Entertainment has announced that longtime Disney and ESPN executive Aaron LaBerge has been named chief technology officer effective July 1,...
23/04/2024
In response to an FCC ruling in March proposing a $1.2 million fine against Nexstar and a ruling that Mission Broadcasting sell WPIX, Nexstar has filled a respo...
23/04/2024
Sony has announced new details about how the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is using Sony's Ci Media Cloud platform to streamline its workflows and spe...
23/04/2024
Esports' rapid rise to popularity can be attributed to many factors, from technological advancements that have enhanced the quality of modern gaming experie...
23/04/2024
OpenDrives, Inc., the global provider of software-defined media workflow solutions and data management capabilities, has been selected as a winner in the 2024 N...
23/04/2024
BCNEXXT is pleased to announce that Vpe has won the 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year Award in the Asset Management, Automation and Playout category. The offici...
23/04/2024
Gravity Media, a world leading global provider of complex live creative production and media services, today outlined the broadcast technology and television pr...
23/04/2024
Scality, a global leader in cyber-resilient storage for the AI era, today announced the appointment of Peter Brennan as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Scality...
23/04/2024
Blackmagic Design today announced ATEM 1 M/E Constellation 4K and ATEM 2 M/E Constellation 4K switchers, two new Ultra HD models of the ATEM Constellation famil...
23/04/2024
Blackmagic Design today announced Blackmagic Videohub 120x120 12G, the newest model in the Videohub 12G router family. The massive Blackmagic Videohub 120x120 1...
23/04/2024
Blackmagic Design today announced new lower prices for Blackmagic Video Assist 3G and 12G models. Customers can save US$200 on all models. These lower prices ma...
23/04/2024
Adder Technology continues to shine brightly, with its groundbreaking product, the ADDERLink INFINITY 3000 (ALIF3000), once again taking center stage. Hot on t...
23/04/2024
Pliant Technologies' CRP-C12 Compact Radio Pack is an Audio Production, Processing and Networking category winner in the 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year A...
23/04/2024
SipRadius, the specialists in live media transport and transcoding, will showcase their world-leading implementation of AV1 and JPEG-XS over transport streams a...
23/04/2024
Composer Rafael Krux has added a Prism Sound Dream ADA-128 modular conversion system to his production studio where he creates music for commercials, trailers, ...
23/04/2024
PMC proudly provides the ultimate large-scale Dolby Atmos audio system for the legendary musician Steven Wilson at the High End, Munich. He will share his exten...
23/04/2024
Particles emitting from a 3D rotating shape's edge
Graham Quince April 22, 2024
0 Comments
In Fixin' FX, people send me their problematic proj...
23/04/2024
Hollyland Technology Announces a New Line of Video Transmitters: Introducing the...
23/04/2024
Charlotte Deleste, anchor at WISC Madison, Wisconsin, is leaving the station. Her final day on the air is April 24. Deleste has spent 18 years there....
23/04/2024
Top WNBA draft choice Caitlin Clark will appear on local broadcast for 17 games next season in a deal between Tegna and the Indiana Fever....
23/04/2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
We thank TK for his leadership and dedication to our customers' success. We wish him well on his retirement, said Yannick ...
23/04/2024
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
On April 23rd 2024, Thales, the German Navy and German military procurement agency, BAAINBw (Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipm...
22/04/2024
22 April 2024 - Award-winning broadcaster UKTV has today announced it has invested in the award-winning online care marketplace, Elder, using its multi-million ...
22/04/2024
It's a beautiful day to be a Swiftie. On April 19, Taylor Swift dropped her ...
22/04/2024
SBS marks Earth Day with Australian TV milestone as The Cook Up with Adam Liaw b...
22/04/2024
In this video, LEE Filters ambassador Jordan Banks ventures into Snowdonia National Park in Wales. Faced with less-than-ideal weather conditions, he adapts his ...
22/04/2024
The Nexstar Media Group has decided not to renew affiliation agreements for The CW broadcast network with stations owned by Scripps in seven markets....
22/04/2024
INDIANAPOLIS and Tysons, Va. In the wake of record viewing levels for the NCAA Women's Championship games, Tegna has announced that it has signed an agreeme...
22/04/2024
Digital Domain Unveils Masquerade3 : Revolutionary Markerless Facial Motion Cap...
22/04/2024
Pixotope brings the power of Unreal Engine to automated and news broadcast graph...
22/04/2024
Brand New Color Slice tool in DaVinci Resolve 19!
Kasia Jarco April 22, 2024
0 Comments
In this video i would like to show you the newest Color Slice ...
22/04/2024
Apple Motion's Best-Kept Secret
Simon Ubsdell April 22, 2024
0 Comments
A seriously useful technique that I have employed in many of my tutorials ...
22/04/2024
After Thursday night's sneak peek, the National Academy of Television Arts a...
22/04/2024
Nexstar Media Group said it does not intend to renew the affiliations of The CW stations owned by the E.W. Scripps Co. in seven markets....
22/04/2024
The Chameleon solution provides access to real-time data from a range of sources, enabling users to construct tickers, L-bars, snipes, web widgets and full fram...
22/04/2024
TVBEuropes editor Jenny Priestley highlights some of the main talking points at this years NAB Show
By Jenny Priestley
Published: April 22, 2024
TVBEurope...
22/04/2024
WRAL-TV Anchor/Reporter Brian Shrader made a big announcement on Friday, April 19, 2024. After 16 years as morning traffic anchor, Shrader will be moving to ...
22/04/2024
Prime Video has ordered a second season of Fallout. The show, based on a videogame and set 200 years after the apocalypse, comes from Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Jo...
22/04/2024
CBS News and Stations debuts a multi-part investigation called Anything For Love: Inside the Romance Scam Epidemic Sunday, April 21. Airing across CBS News and ...
SVG Sit-Down: Pixellot's David Shapiro on How AI-Automated Production Tools Democratize Sports Broadcasting The solution brings automated capture and distribution to high school, small-college sports By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
