NHL Puck Drop 2021: In Bristol, ESPN Opens New Studio for The Point, Continues To Push the REMI Envelope New workflow is intended to produce in-game wraparound coverage By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor
Tuesday, October 12, 2021 - 4:17 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
While much of the attention for the NHL's return to ESPN tonight is focused on the broadcaster's innovative game productions, ESPN's team has worked equally hard to ensure that the studio product is just as groundbreaking. In addition to launching a studio for The Point - ESPN's new NHL-focused studio show - at its Bristol, CT, facility, ESPN has also built a pair of REMI production-control rooms and an innovative switching workflow to support wrap-around coverage of each game.
Inside Studio F: Technology and Style Meet at The Point The Point, which premiered on Oct. 7 and is airing daily Oct. 12-15 before moving to its weekly home at 3 p.m. ET Thursdays on ESPN2, originates from Studio F in the DC1 building on the Bristol campus.
John Buccigross, primary host of NHL 2Night on ESPN2 from 1998 to 2004, returns to the host seat for The Point. (All photos: Kelly Backus/ESPN Images)
Originally a SportsCenter studio, Studio F has been used as a wrap studio in recent years. When ESPN obtained the NHL rights package, the studio-operations team opted to split the 4,357-sq-ft. area with two-thirds of the space going to the new NHL studio and the other third reserved for a future project. A wall was erected, the studio was gutted, and the studio-design team began with a clean slate.
The result is an ultra-flexible set featuring a sleek new look and state-of-the-art technology. The set's flexible color palette uses light tones, brushed aluminum, white marble, and light wood laminates, whose appearance changes with adjusted lighting cues. Tracked Plexiglas panels enable a broad array of graphic looks that can change easily throughout the programming.
Studio F is one of the facilities inside DC1 that has been upgraded from 720p to 1080p (the entire building will eventually be 1080p like its counterpart DC2), and it is equipped with 4K-capable cameras.
The main desk can accommodate up to five hosts and analysts and has removable wings with LED displays, allowing the size to be adjusted on the fly to meet the needs of the show or segment.
With those removable wings and the LED displays integrated, the desk can be extended when you have more [on-air] talent or can be shrunk down if you have less talent, says Tony Lacaprucia, coordinating operations specialist, ESPN. The main desk can be shot in a traditional sense, or it can be shot in the round. The large LED display directly behind the desk has two alcoves where we can put cameras so they're out of sight. They don't make it into the other camera shots, which allows us to shoot in the round.
All LED displays throughout the studio comprise Design LED AmFlex Pro 1.9-mm LED tiles. Behind the main desk are two 1440 1080 displays stitched together to form a video wall. The displays flanking the main desk are 1456 780, and the LED display on the desk itself is 208 1560 wide (with two 624 208 LED displays for the optional wings).
The studio features an interview area with swappable scenic pieces that allow ESPN to easily switch among a variety of looks: traditional desk, casual seating with a coffee table, demo area, virtual/AR. This area also has a trio of 1040 624 LED walls.
The template we use for all our studios is that everything has to be versatile, but that space is especially unique and versatile, says Lacaprucia. We have to be able to adjust and rebrand very quickly, and this studio allows us to do that.
The third area of Studio F has an 86-in. Phillips 10-point touchscreen, the only non-LED display in the entire studio.
Besides manually operated cameras, the studio is equipped with two fully robotic cameras. A MoSys eCrane running on StarTracker real-time optical-camera-tracking software allows AR elements to be integrated into the show live.
In addition to The Point and In the Crease from Studio F, The Drop, a 30-minute digital live-streaming production, originates from the Studio E Lounge set in Bristol.
REMI, REMCO, and Wraparounds: Bristol Is the Hub In addition to the new studio, Bristol will serve as the home to REMI (Remote Integration) and REMCO (Remote Control) NHL productions this year and also serve as the hub for its extensive wrap-around coverage throughout the season. To support the REMI workload for NHL and other shows, ESPN recently built two production-control rooms.
Between REMI, REMCO, and studio [operations], it's quite a new challenge, and we couldn't ask for better people to be involved in taking it on, says Joel Banks, senior manager, production operations, ESPN. We have developed unique workflows to manage multiple streams [to serve] ESPN+, ESPN linear, and the various end points for each of these events. We have developed workflows that allow us to do [wrap-arounds for] multiple games at the same time out of the same facility.
Under this production model for wrap-arounds, the TD in the control room responsible for wrap-around coverage of each game uses innovative switching to send multiple versions of simultaneous events to the Bristol Transmission Center for delivery to ESPN, ESPN+, ABC, or Hulu. As a result, what would previously have taken multiple master-control rooms can now be done in a single production-control room using innovative switcher resources.
Given that we will have some doubleheaders, games that slightly overlap, and things like that, says Banks, we knew we may have to do wrap-arounds on multiple networks at similar times. So we had to rethink how we were going to handle that. We have the source to master control be the PCR, and the output of that PCR coul
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
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...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
NHL Puck Drop 2021: In Bristol, ESPN Opens New Studio for The Point, Continues To Push the REMI Envelope New workflow is intended to produce in-game wraparound coverage By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
