
Georgia Tech Turns Production Facility Into an ACC Network Fortress The new structure comprises three control rooms and 864 strands of fiber By Kristian Hernandez, Associate Editor
Thursday, August 22, 2019 - 9:06 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The Georgia Institute of Technology, or simply Georgia Tech, is known mostly for developing the world's next great wave of biomedical and industrial engineers. As one of the best research universities in the nation, the Yellow Jackets know a little something about hard work. With today's official launch of the ACC Network, the institute gave a new meaning to Tech by renovating its 6,400-sq.-ft. on-campus production facility to a tune of $10 million.
Inside Control Room A in Georgia Tech's renovated broadcast facility
[Georgia Tech] is a really cool place to be as far as how it relates to sports and sports recruiting, says Andy Blanton, assistant athletic director, video and broadcast services, Georgia Tech. I've seen a lot of our teams use this facility as part of a recruit visit and show student athletes who might be interested in doing this just to show it off and allow them to get geeked up about the opportunity to either be showcased through this facility or have some sort of role inside of this facility. Right now, it's a shiny new toy, and everybody really appreciates what it is, and it has helped us recruit folks in many different ways and forms.
Building a New Beast: Georgia Tech Reaches Out to a Duo of Integrators
Like many great ideas throughout history, the start of a project generates a spark for others that will be created in the future. Sometimes, projects need a little nudge to get them into motion. When ESPN created its partnership with another prominent collegiate conference, Blanton began planning his masterpiece before the concept of an ACC Network had a stable floor. As with many of his cohorts, the team leveraged the advice offered by those who had gone before.
Conceptually, we started thinking about this along the same time that the SEC Network was starting to get off the ground [around 2013] , says Blanton. We started paying very close attention to what the SEC schools were being asked to do. A lot of the [staffers at the] ACC schools converse with their counterparts at an SEC school that might be their rival. In our case, I talked a lot with the University of Georgia and Auburn University.
When the ACC Network platform got the blessing of the ESPN in 2016, Blanton went full steam ahead to start the necessary procedure for a renovation. After filing paperwork for an estimated $10 million budget with the University System of Georgia's Board of Regents, his team began efforts to choose a consultant.
On July 18, [2018,] we were meeting with architects to design the building, design the footprint of the control rooms, and all of the fiber infrastructure on campus, he says. Then, we had the local group here in town, CTG [Comprehensive Technical Group], come alongside us in the beginning to do some consulting on what this project would look like financially.
Months later, on Sept. 10, Alpha Video was given the opportunity to lead the charge on the new initiative. With the help of Brian Beckwith, broadcast design engineer, Alpha Video, the two parties created a blueprint while the system integrator started constructing sets in Nashville. Around the holiday season in 2018, Alpha Video came on campus poised to complete the task.
[Working with Georgia Tech] was important because we have a strong presence in the area with the Atlanta Braves and some of the other folks in the area like the College Football Hall of Fame, says Jeff Volk, VP, Alpha Video. For us, it was a great extension of not only the partners and clients that we have in the region but someone that we've identified that we'd wanted to work with for a long time.
Another available space inside Georgia Tech's production facility
The Aches and Pains: Finding Even Ground in Uncharted Territory
Despite a constant flow of tips and guidance from folks in the Southeastern Conference, the effort was easier said than done. Although a $10 million budget was approved, Blanton and the team at Alpha Video needed to find a balance between shooting for the stars and coming in below the allotted dollar amount.
We needed to work with them in order to align the equipment list and the final system design to their budget, says Volk. At first, they were over budget, so we worked with them over a period to finalize their costs. We also included some onsite equipment demos with several camera vendors and replay-system demos. There was certainly some give and take, but, in the end, I think we more than delivered on all of their must-have items.
Also, a steady flow of productions doesn't stop with a new buildout. Blanton and Georgia Tech's staff of six full-time employees and eight student interns needed to devise a daily agenda to juggle a busy spring sports schedule.
The biggest challenge was just time management to stay on top of all of this in the busiest time of the year, says Blanton. We didn't really plan to start and end when we did; we just moved forward as the university channels allowed us to. The physical construction of the building dictated when the equipment and technological elements could come into play. In parallel with the building being constructed, you've got all other things to do, like picking out carpet and wall color, [from] types of lights to furniture and office layouts. It was very difficult to manage [more than] 90 productions that we were already doing out of our single control room while doing this major construction project.
In addition to the growing pains of construction, the increased influx of content generated by a new facility can be stressful as well.
Th
North America Stories
08/07/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is applauding the passage of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill and provision...
08/07/2025
SYDNEY RTS has announced that Channel 7 Sydney has deployed a new comms system from RTS as part of a larger ST-2110 upgrade....
08/07/2025
ATLANTA & CINCINNATI Gray Media, Inc. and The E.W. Scripps Company have entered into agreements to swap television stations across five mid-sized and small mark...
07/07/2025
Advanced vision solutions deliver more than reliable night vision for tactical-edge warfighters. Today's technological advances can provide the capability f...
07/07/2025
BALTIMORE Sinclair has named Narinder Sahai its executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective immediately....
07/07/2025
Riedel Communications today announced the launch of RefSuite, a powerful new Managed Technology solution tailored to professional sports workflows. RefSuite com...
07/07/2025
Regional base will foster client engagement, partner collaboration, and executive touchpoints
Skandha Media Services, a leading provider of cloud-native media ...
07/07/2025
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, announced its Against All Odds - ASG Builds Cutti...
07/07/2025
Agreement secured on the strength of Skandha's proven track record in delivering reliable managed services across the full content life cycle for existing h...
07/07/2025
1-2 Punch: The Cloud, Generative AI, and the Future of Sports-Content Distributi...
07/07/2025
Tests and decisions: Formula E host broadcaster Aurora on launching new AR graph...
07/07/2025
Building tension: Using new AR graphics for storytelling at the Formula E penult...
07/07/2025
Altitude Sports' Matt Krol on the Success of the RSN's In-Arena Postgame...
07/07/2025
SVG Rewind: Four NFL Clubs Bring Us on Set of Respective Media Day Shoots An in-depth conversation with 49ers Laura Johnson, Ravens Jay O'Brien, Las Vegas R...
07/07/2025
Cosm To Build Fifth Shared Reality Venue in Cleveland as Part of Bedrock's ...
07/07/2025
Back to All News
She Walks in Darkness, Agust n D az Yanes New Film, Premieres ...
05/07/2025
Back to All News
Superestar, the Story of a Star Who Never Changed. Premiering July 18
Entertainment
05 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Dis...
04/07/2025
By Lucy Spicer
Editor's note: We are deeply saddened by the passing of Robe...
04/07/2025
Introducing CVP Auctions: Trusted Tech, At Auction-Only Prices
Brie Clayton July 4, 2025
0 Comments
A New Destination for Film and Broadcast Gear at U...
04/07/2025
Unveiling China's Ecological Wonders with URSA Mini Pro 12K
Brie Clayton July 4, 2025
0 Comments
Nature Documentaries Freeze Epic Momentsin Extrem...
04/07/2025
Create Any Planet in After Effects
Graham Quince July 4, 2025
0 Comments
The Advanced 3D renderer in After Effects makes it really easy to import 3D o...
04/07/2025
Custom Gradient Colorize for Resolve Fusion
Simon Ubsdell July 4, 2025
0 Comments
Digging into the theory of the gradient colorize process to build ou...
04/07/2025
Watching live sports on TV these days is a delicate balance for broadcasters how much information is too much?...
04/07/2025
WASHINGTON As Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr works to achieve his goal of a very busy, productive summer at the FCC, the agency has rele...
04/07/2025
Other World Computing Launches OWC Guardian USB-C Hardware-Encrypted Portable SS...
04/07/2025
CANAL Brings MotoGP to Vision Pro with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton July 3, 2025
0 Comments
Experience MotoGP like never before as CA...
03/07/2025
To achieve a true level of decisive overmatch, communication systems must be as ...
03/07/2025
The Broadcasters Foundation of America has named Ray Hopkins, president of U.S. distribution at Paramount Global, to its board of directors....
03/07/2025
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. In his first major policy speech, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr outlined his Build America Agenda for the agency'...
03/07/2025
As the industry is making a major push to transition to NextGen TV and develop new businesses that will fund the next generation of broadcasting, TV Tech's ...
03/07/2025
Despite enabling its subscribers to watch films and TV shows in the highest possible resolution, Netflix has revealed it is taking things old school with the in...
03/07/2025
WASHINGTON In response to news that Paramount Global has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump, Democrats and other administra...
03/07/2025
WUPPERTAL, Germany Riedel Communications today launched RefSuite for professional sports workflows....
03/07/2025
WEITERSTADT, Germany LYNX Technik, a provider of modular signal processing solutions, has announced that founder and longtime CEO Winfried Deckelmann is steppin...
03/07/2025
WASHINGTON Representatives from six trade groups representing tech, pay TV, broadband, LPTV and other sectors recently met with Federal Communications Commissio...
03/07/2025
PLYMOUTH, Wis. Dan Whealy has acquired Heartland Video Systems and will be its new owner and president, the systems integrator said....
03/07/2025
Acclaimed filmmaker, educator, and industry veteran Jay Holben has released his most ambitious work to date: The Director's Guide to Everything a sweeping...
03/07/2025
For Los Angeles-based photographer Scout Pruski, documenting the annual Dyke Day LA is a way to honor and give back to the city's legacy queer community and...
03/07/2025
Modular, Travel-Ready Solution Matthews Studio Equipment launches the new Chimera V-Flat Panel Frame Kit, the lightweight and modular, ultra-durable alternativ...
03/07/2025
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the release of Dalet Flex 2025.6 LTS (long-term support), introdu...
03/07/2025
Lightware's LARA Wizard makes it quicker and easier than ever to set up audio-visual (AV) room automation and control configurations, ensuring anyone, from ...
03/07/2025
Alfalite, the only European manufacturer of LED screens, has obtained both the NCAGE Code (NATO Commercial and Government Entity) and TAA (Trade Agreements Act)...
03/07/2025
nxtedition is implementing a new solution for WIN Network, based in its headquarters in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. The nxtedition integrated platfo...
03/07/2025
ORS Group and Insys Video Technologies today announce the launch of a new joint brand identity: Big Blue Marble. The move reflects the evolution of a long-stand...
03/07/2025
Evergent, a global leader in customer lifecycle management and monetization solutions for subscription-based businesses, today announced the successful results ...
03/07/2025
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions today announces an executive leadership transition, effective July 1, 2025. Markus Motzko has been...
03/07/2025
Chaos Releases V-Ray for Blender
Brie Clayton July 2, 2025
0 Comments
Production-Proven Renderer V-Ray Arrives Natively in Blender for the First Time;...
03/07/2025
Calvin University Adds Blackmagic Replay to Broadcasts and Streams
Brie Clayton July 2, 2025
0 Comments
Replay workflow joins 14 Blackmagic Design cam...
03/07/2025
Berklee's Gospel Performance Program Welcomes Jonathan Nelson as the Herb Al...
03/07/2025
Back to All News
Get Ready for Even More Action! Netflix Has Confirmed the Thir...