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 ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
08/09/2026
Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) has announced a multi-year agreement with A E...
08/09/2026
Spectra Logic today announced the availability of Media Insight, a new capabilit...
08/09/2026
Rogers Communications and Quebecor have announced a 12-year sublicensing agreement for French-language national NHL games beginning with the 2026-27 season. TVA...
08/09/2026
Skyline Communications and Bridge Technologies will demonstrate two integrations...
08/09/2026
Boland Communications will make the European debut of its 4K55HDR7SNB 55-inch super-narrow-bezel monitor at IBC2026 (Stand 12.C57, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Ateme and Comcast Technology Solutions (CTS) have announced a collaboration comb...
08/09/2026
Haivision has joined the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme as part of t...
08/09/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced price reductions on its PYXIS 6K and Cinema Camera 6K models, effective immediately through Blackmagic Design resellers worldwid...
08/09/2026
AI-Media will demonstrate its LEXI Suite at IBC2026 (Booth 5.C34, September 11-1...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin and Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) have announced the first live deploymen...
08/09/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate story-centric media workflows at IBC2026 (Booth 9.A01, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), connecting newsroom production, content ma...
08/09/2026
M2A Media and Ateme have announced a partnership integrating Ateme's video processing solutions into M2A Media's MediaToAnywhere platform for live sport...
08/09/2026
Ikegami will exhibit at IBC2026 (Stand 12.A31, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14), including a Day 1 introduction of new cameras in the UNICAM XE series. Additiona...
08/09/2026
Broadcast industry analysts will be gathering plenty of insights at the 2026 IBC Show this weekend in Amsterdam, but Caretta Research has offered up some though...
08/09/2026
SENSHI and DAZN have announced a global broadcast partnership that will bring SENSHI's live events free to viewers in more than 200 markets. The partnership...
08/09/2026
New architecture built with Evertz will bring 4K HDR to Monday Night Football, N...
08/09/2026
Built for rap producers, by rap producers
Sauceware Audio, the independent plug-in company founded by Grammy-nominated producer Jacob (Travis Scott, 21 Sava...
08/09/2026
Classic Sound Techniques design revived
Warm Audio's latest release delivers a meticulous recreation of the preamp circuitry employed by the Sound Techn...
08/09/2026
Latest soft synth inspired by the Memorymoog
XILS Lab have just launched a software instrument that draws its inspiration from Moog's iconic Memorymoog,...
08/09/2026
The Airport Chaplain takes off as SBS's biggest launch of 2026
8 September, 2026
Media releases
1.67 million viewers on National Total TV to date
Best...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Mo-Sys, the world-leading developer of virtual production, camera robotics and image tracking technology, has completed a business restructuring, which has incl...
08/09/2026
New York, September 8, 2026 The TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure developed by Telef nica's Audiovisual Services area re...
08/09/2026
Expanded Riyadh operation brings Asharq and Thmanyah services together on a resilient on-premises Pebble platform.
Pebble, the leading automation, content mana...
08/09/2026
Techex, a pioneering leader in live video workflows, will showcase its broadest software feature set to date at IBC 2026 (Stand 2.B45), extending its lead in so...
08/09/2026
Visitors to Grass Valley's booth at IBC2026 will be introduced to new Framelight X capabilities that connect content acquisition, management, editing and pu...
08/09/2026
BCNEXXT will showcase the latest evolution of Vipe at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B09), introducing a series of innovations designed to deliver higher-quality audience exp...
08/09/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Ad Insertion Platform (AIP), a leading innovator in advanced ad insertion technologies, to...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics and augmented and virtual production, is announcing a major package of enhancements to its Suite 7 soft...
08/09/2026
Big Blue Marble is supporting TDF, French infrastructure and network operator, broadcasting Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) and radio services, as a techno...
08/09/2026
Agents work inside a single production environment, from incoming wire copy to a live studio show...
08/09/2026
Building on their strategic partnership, Ceeblue and Layercake make the unthinkable possible: scalable sub-second streaming over standard DRM, SSAI, and CDN wor...
08/09/2026
Brainstorm, a leading manufacturer of real-time graphics, augmented and virtual production, is completing the environment for fast-paced broadcast production wi...
08/09/2026
A SaaS portfolio built to work together, helping operators grow audiences, monetise smarter and run leaner, on their own terms
At IBC 2026 (stand 1.B49) Synam...
08/09/2026
Accedo, global provider of video streaming software and services, has been selected by PlayOn Sports, a national leader in high school sports technology, to exp...
08/09/2026
LiveU, the leader in live IP-video solutions, is enabling The Associated Press to take global newsgathering to the next stage with intelligent connectivity and ...
08/09/2026
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, today announced the latest evolution of it...
08/09/2026
Compact, power-efficient X Platform performance brings broadcast-grade reliability and ultra-low latency to space-constrained remote production (REMI) workflows...
08/09/2026
Zixi, the leader in live video delivery and workflow orchestration, and Kiloview, a leading provider of professional IP video encoding and decoding solutions, t...
08/09/2026
Collaboration gives content owners scalable CDN capacity and broadcasters enhanced flexibility, including for C-band transition planning
Quortex today announce...
08/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/09/2026
Telos Alliance and Pluxbox Announce Dynamic Media Facility Integration Partnersh...
08/09/2026
J nger Audio Showcases Industry-First S-ADM Cloud Workflow at IBC 2026
Search
Dolby, MainConcept, Techex and J nger Audio will showcase the industry's ...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Sky Go gets a major upgrade for Sky Glass and Sky Stream customers
Today, Sky launches a new version of the Sky Go app for Sky Glass ...
08/09/2026
Documentary thriller simulating a Russian attack on UK soil will culminate in a live final episode reuniting the playersTuesday 8 September 2026
Trailer releas...
08/09/2026
Tuesday 8 September 2026
Jamie Demetriou and Amelia Dimoldenberg to host next t...
08/09/2026
Wuppertal September 8, 2026
Riedel Introduces New OnAir Headset PlatformRiedel Communications today announced the launch of its new OnAir headset platform, a...
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 
