NFL Kickoff 2022: ESPN's Monday Night Football Gets Makeover With Remodeled Truck, Refreshed Imaging Arsenal, New Star-Powered Booth
12/09/2022
Monday, September 12, 2022 - 3:39 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Week 1 of the NFL season comes to a close tonight, and a weekend full of compelling storylines is capped by perhaps the most intriguing broadcast of the season.
ESPN's Monday Night Football is back, opening its schedule with the captivating return of quarterback Russell Wilson to Seattle in his first game under center for the Denver Broncos. On top of that, the storied Monday Night Football brand ushers in an exciting new era as the longtime announce team of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman make their much anticipated ESPN debut.
For Monday Night Football, ESPN upgraded its EN1 production truck and upgraded its camera arsenal to some of the latest imaging solutions from Sony and Canon.
There's a little bit of something for everyone in this production tonight - even for those keen on what happens behind the scenes.
Amid the highly publicized changes that occurred during the MNF offseason, ESPN also made significant investments in its production and operations facilities, working with partner NEP Group to dramatically remodel the property's primary mobile unit, EN1.
The home for ESPN's NFL coverage since 2013, EN1 is now essentially a new truck, with a backbone infrastructure that includes a new Lawo router and NEP's Total Facility Control (TFC) proprietary broadcast controller and network-orchestration tool. It brings a truck that was entirely SDI into a hybrid ST 2110 IP environment.
Who doesn't love walking into a brand-new kitchen in a house you've lived in for a decade? says Jimmy Platt, lead director, Monday Night Football, ESPN. That's the most important factor for me and the rest of the team. For the engineers, the space is a second home for five months of their lives, three days a week. To walk into the same home you've been walking into for several years is refreshing, and to see the same familiar faces that make the trucks work every week is awesome. Then to have all brand-new appliances, the latest and greatest on the market right now, is just remarkable.
All new is the replay network (which has been bumped up to EVS XT-VIA servers and LSM-VIA remotes), the entire routing system, and the multiviewer network through a Cisco spine with Lawo processing. NEP says the four-unit EN1 was refreshed in a seven-week sprint that got it ready for a rehearsal the MNF crew ran during a preseason game in Seattle last month.
[EN1] truly was the biggest, best truck that you could build [in 2013], says Michael Pean, director, sales, NEP Group, but ESPN was at the point where they had filled it up. If they added anything, they had to take something away. Everything was accounted for. We worked together to grow it together. We came up with a hybrid 2110 with a decent amount of SDI still, because we did not have time to rebuild an entire truck.
The upgrades to EN1 brought with it a full update of ESPN's replay network for Monday Night Football. New to the show are EVS XT-VIA servers and LSM-VIA controllers.
According to Dan Turk, VP/chief engineer, NEP Group, the new and improved EN1 and its IP benefits offer the flexibility that the Monday Night Football crew didn't have last season. Everything can be distributed among the multiple trucks through a protected SMPTE ST 2110 network and even reserves some space for five operator stations with custom GUIs so that rooms can route their own multiviewers, rollers, tallies, etc.
The new infrastructure also enables ESPN to bring aboard a whole new lineup of acquisition tools: a fleet of Sony 5500's, two Sony F5500's, and a collection of new Canon lenses, including some 122 8.2 glass.
The best part about [the new lenses] is, you get more of a distance throw from a hard camera, Platt explains. For example, at a high end zone [position] that's really far away, you can get tighter shots off of the camera than you've ever been able to get. That's remarkable.
But the thing I like about them that probably gets overlooked, he continues, is that the wide side of the lens is much wider than we're used to. It doesn't sound like much when you go from an 8.9 to 8.2, but, with just that little bit wider shot off a game camera or a high-end-zone [camera] in big moments when the crowd is just going bananas, you can envelop it in one camera shot. That's wider than you're used to, and that's really tremendous.
ESPN's Monday Night Football trucks parked outside of Lumen Field for the season opener between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks.
Platt is particularly excited about tools that allow his crew to add more cinema-style imagery. To do that, ESPN has put Sony F5500's as handhelds on each sideline, added a higher-resolution camera in the booth for shots of Buck and Aikman, and, where permissible, will use live or prepackaged drone footage. The crew has also brought back the Sony HDC-4800 full-sensor camera at the top station of the dual sideline cart, as well as the on-field RF rig of a Sony FX9 with a prime lens on an ARRI Trinity stabilizer.
We have quite an array of camera types and lens pairings to tell the story visually in ways I think will be more compelling, says Platt, who works at the front bench alongside producer Phil Dean. It may not be super noticeable by the audience, but I think they'll feel something a little bit differently without knowing it.
If you [asked] the great cinematographers in Hollywood, Platt continues, they would tell you that what they pride themselves on in their work is that [t
LINK: | https://www.sportsvideo.org/2022/09/12/nfl-kickoff-2022-espns-monday-n... |
See more stories from svg |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
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 and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
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 URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
19/04/2024
Comcast Launches NOW
PHILADELPHIA As government subsidies for broadband services come to an end, Comcast has launched NOW, a new product portfolio of lower-cost Internet, mobile and...
19/04/2024
DirecTV Stream Adds CW Affiliates
DirecTV Stream has added more local CW stations for its streaming customers in Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Hartford-New Haven Conn., Phoenix, San ...
19/04/2024
MediaCo Acquires Estrella Media's Content and Digital Operations
NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES MediaCo Holding Inc. has announced that it has acquired all of Estrella Media's network, content, digital, and commercial operations....
19/04/2024
Adobe Launches New Adobe Express Mobile App with Firefly AI
SAN JOSE, Calif. Adobe has announced that the all-new Adobe Express mobile app is available to all users, bringing features powered by Adobe Firefly generative ...
19/04/2024
Netflix Adds 9.3M Subs in Q1
LOS GATOS, Calif. Netflix reported another blockbuster quarter by adding 9.33 million new subscribers in Q1, 2024 as global paid memberships hit 269.6 million, ...
19/04/2024
The Current State of the Industry and the Future Impact of AI
The Current State of the Industry and the Future Impact of AI Hillary Lewis April 18, 2024 0 Comments The Entertainment Industry: How did we get here ...
19/04/2024
After Effects Tutorial Text Blur Reveal
After Effects Tutorial Text Blur Reveal Andy Ford April 18, 2024 0 Comments Here's a way to do a quick blur reveal for your text layer. Start by...
19/04/2024
Hollyland Mars M1 Enhanced Wireless Transmitter / Receiver
Hollyland Mars M1 Enhanced Wireless Transmitter / Receiver Colin Smith April 18, 2024 0 Comments This tutorial shows the new wireless transmitter rece...
19/04/2024
Resolve Fusion: Writing Expressions with Lua
Resolve Fusion: Writing Expressions with Lua Simon Ubsdell April 18, 2024 0 Comments The answer to the very frequently-asked question: what is the pro...
19/04/2024
B+C,' Next TV' Announce Winners of Best of Show Awards at NAB Show
B+C and Next TV have announced the winners of Best of Show Awards for the 2024 NAB Show. The awards were judged by a panel of industry experts at the convention...
19/04/2024
Cate Blanchett Narrates Nature Series on Netflix
Cate Blanchett narrates the Netflix series Our Living World, which premieres April 17. The four-part series looks at the extraordinary creatures around the glob...
19/04/2024
For All Mankind' Spinoff Is in the Works at Apple TV Plus
Apple TV Plus has a spinoff of For All Mankind in the works. It is called Star City and details the cosmonauts, engineers and intelligence officers working behi...
19/04/2024
Jacquie Walker, Longtime Buffalo Anchor, Stepping Down From Desk
Jacquie Walker, longtime anchor at WIVB Buffalo, will step down from the anchor desk. She has spent over 40 years at WIVB and her last day as an anchor is May 2...
19/04/2024
Bob Hearts Abishola' To Make Syndicated Debut This Fall
Bob Hearts Abishola will premiere in broadcast syndication this fall on such station groups as Nexstar Media Group, Sinclair, Hearst Television, Tegna, E.W. Scr...
19/04/2024
Live With Kelly and Mark' Celebrates One-Year Anniversary
Live With Kelly and Mark remains TV's top entertainment talk show as Kelly Ripa and her co-host and husband Mark Consuelo celebrate their one-year anniversa...
19/04/2024
Sean McLaughlin Named VP of News at Graham Media Group
Sean McLaughlin has been named VP of news for Graham Media Group. He had been senior VP of local news at E.W. Scripps. He will will be responsible for developi...
19/04/2024
Netflix Shares First Peek at Long-Awaited One Hundred Years of Solitude'
Netflix has shared the first trailer from One Hundred Years of Solitude, a series based on the esteemed novel by Gabriel Garc a M rquez. The streamer is on boar...
18/04/2024
First Look: Tom Durant Pritchard joins the cast of crime drama Miss Scarlet for its fifth series
Tom Durant Pritchard as Alexander Blake Thursday 18 April 2024 Tom Durant Prit...
18/04/2024
Alone Australia goes from strength to strength
Alone Australia goes from strength to strength 18 April, 2024 Media releases The program again delivers for SBS with significant uplifts in digital BVOD vi...
18/04/2024
L3Harris to Expand and Modernize Solid Rocket Motor Manufacturing in Virginia
ORANGE COUNTY, Va., April 18, 2024 - L3Harris Technologies [NYSE:LHX] has entered into an agreement with Orange County, Virginia, to fund the expansion and mode...
18/04/2024
Achieving Air Dominance by Advancing Imaging & Designating EO/IR Capabilities
L3Harris Sky Warden multi-mission aircraft, equipped with the WESCAM MX-15 and WESCAM MX-20 EO/IR sensor systems, was selected for USSOCOMs Armed Overwatch prog...
18/04/2024
US Space Force Extends Partnership with L3Harris to Enhance Space Domain Awareness
MELBOURNE, Fla., April 18, 2024 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has received ...
18/04/2024
2024 NAB Show Attendance Topped 61,000
LAS VEGAS The National Association of Broadcasters is reporting that more than 61,000 people attended the 2024 NAB Show, where artificial intelligence and the c...
18/04/2024
How today's storage and memory decisions underpin future creativity
Ann Keefe, Regional Director - UK and Ireland at Kingston Technology, explains how storage and memory decisions made now are underpinning creativity in the futu...
18/04/2024
Krisha Marcano Announced as Dean of Theater for Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Krisha Marcano Announced as Dean of Theater for Boston Conservatory at Berklee The theater educator, choreographer, and performer will join Boston Conservator...
18/04/2024
Escape Studios obtains UKVI licence to support international students
The newly acquired UKVI licence enables Escape Studios to recruit and retain international students By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 18, 2024 The newl...
18/04/2024
NAB 2024 popular among first time visitors
Attendees from more than 163 countries were present, including 34 delegation buying groups from around the world By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 18, 202...
18/04/2024
Dyn Media and NEP Germany pioneer new frontier in remote...
In August 2023, Dyn Media launched as a new broadcaster in European sports, aimed at giving sports beyond football the exposure and viewership they deserve. The...
18/04/2024
Hitomi partners with ES Broadcast Hire for US rentals
Hitomi Broadcast, market leader in audio/video alignment and latency tools based in the UK, has signed a partnership deal with global broadcast rental specialis...
18/04/2024
Screen Australia and Dynamic Television announce new Scripted Initiative
18 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia and Dynamic Television announce new Scripted Initiative Savage River Screen Australia and Los Angeles-based telev...
18/04/2024
Vislink's DragonFly V - The Company's Smallest-Ever Transmitter Debuted at NAB 2024
Vislink's DragonFly V - The Company's Smallest-Ever Transmitter Debuted ...
18/04/2024
MediaSilo to Offer Camera to Cloud with Atomos
MediaSilo to Offer Camera to Cloud with Atomos Brie Clayton April 17, 2024 0 Comments Integration between MediaSilo and Atomos Cloud Studio unlocking ...
18/04/2024
MultiDyne Updates its SilverBULLET Series to Serve More Fiber-Optic Links
MultiDyne Updates its SilverBULLET Series to Serve More Fiber-Optic Links Brie Clayton April 17, 2024 0 Comments MultiDyne Fiber Optic Solutions intro...
18/04/2024
Cinedeck Partners with Paramount to Revolutionize Content Delivery Process
Cinedeck Partners with Paramount to Revolutionize Content Delivery Process Brie Clayton April 17, 2024 0 Comments Cinedeck, a pioneer in integrated de...
18/04/2024
Unreal for video adding rocks and foliage
Unreal for video adding rocks and foliage Graham Quince April 17, 2024 0 Comments Welcome to my series on learning Unreal Engine for After Effects u...
18/04/2024
Best Budget Beginner-Friendly 4k Drone
Best Budget Beginner-Friendly 4k Drone Sean Alami April 17, 2024 0 Comments Potensic Atom 4k 3 axis Gimbal Drone, ideal drone for beginners. Some con...
18/04/2024
Race or Just Have Fun at Rocky Mount Mills for a Good Cause, Not Your Run of the Mill 5K
Rocky Mount Mills will be overflowing with runners, families and friends, all fo...
18/04/2024
Berklee's Yoon-Ji Lee Receives Guggenheim Fellowship
Berklee's Yoon-Ji Lee Receives Guggenheim Fellowship Lee, an assistant professor of composition, creates music based on unconventional and nonlinear struc...
18/04/2024
Ben Sherwood, Former ABC President, Named CEO at The Daily Beast
Ben Sherwood, former president of Disney ABC Television Group, has been named CEO and publisher at The Daily Beast. Joanna Coles, former chief content officer a...
18/04/2024
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Lehasa puts his plan to eliminate Khwezi in motion
Tonight on Skeem Saam: Lehasa puts his plan to eliminate Khwezi in motionDon't miss Thursday, 18 April's riveting episode of South African soapie Skeem ...
18/04/2024
Wide Open: NVIDIA Accelerates Inference on Meta Llama 3
NVIDIA today announced optimizations across all its platforms to accelerate Meta Llama 3, the latest generation of the large language model (LLM). The open mod...
18/04/2024
Ping Pong for the Masses: Bringing an Old Sport to a Brand New Audience With World Table Tennis
Ping pong for the masses: Bringing an old sport to a brand new audience with Wor...
18/04/2024
Fanatical Fans: IMG on Bringing the World of Table Tennis to a New Global Audience for WTT
Fanatical fans: IMG on bringing the world of table tennis to a new global audien...
18/04/2024
Netflix Follows Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in New Series
Back to All News Netflix Follows Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders in New SeriesPlay Video Play Video Entertainment 18 April 2024 GlobalUnited States Link copie...
18/04/2024
Chinese-Language Revenge Thriller Series The Resurrected' Marks International Film Stars Shu Qi and Sinje Lee's Debut on Netflix
Back to All News Chinese-Language Revenge Thriller Series The Resurrected'...
18/04/2024
'The Witcher' Season 4 Begins Production in the UK and Netflix Announces Fifth and Final Season
Back to All News The Witcher Season 4 Begins Production in the UK and Netflix A...
18/04/2024
2024-04-18
Apple has reduced its overall greenhouse gas emissions by more than 55 percent since 2015, the company shared today in its 2024 Environmental Progress Report. T...