Big Sound on Big Shows Nominated for the 39th Annual Sports Emmy Awards ABC/ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports are noted for work on iconic sports events By Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Thursday, May 3, 2018 - 10:55 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Audio is the focus of one of the nine Live and Technical categories of the Sports Emmy Awards, which will be presented Tuesday at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall, and ABC/ESPN, Fox Sports, and NBC Sports are nominated for Outstanding Live Event Audio/Sound, having made some wonderful noise covering some of last year's biggest sports events.
Here's an in-depth look at the nominees and their shows:
ESPN on ABC: Indianapolis 500
To cover the 2017 Indianapolis 500, ESPN on ABC deployed 287 microphone elements - 235 of which were effects mics - tied together by some 170,000 ft. of fiber-optic cable, underscoring just how much sound there was to capture at the most iconic of all U.S. open-wheel motorsports races.
A1 Denis Ryan (left) oversaw 287 microphone elements capturing the Indianapolis 500.
A football field is 100 yards long, a baseball field is roughly the same size, and a soccer pitch is a bit larger. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is 2.5 miles long and is the largest-capacity sports venue in the world, says ESPN Remote Audio Specialist Kevin Cleary, describing the scale of the event from a broadcast perspective. The drivers make their way around the oval in less than 40 seconds. Capturing the speed and the power of these men and machines in a discrete 5.1 workflow is no small accomplishment. There are multiple reasons for the success of this show, most notably the audio team, which focuses on the goal of capturing the nuances of racing, including speed shots, downshift audio in the turns, driver radios, and, of course, the pit stops. Add the sound of more than 300,000 fans onsite, in seats and in the infield, and it's easy to see how the SPL can approach 120 dBA, adroitly captured by A1 Denis Ryan and submixer Steve Urick working with ESPN Remote Production Operations Director Dennis Cleary. It really is a different event from any of the other motorsports races on television, says Kevin Cleary. Much more equipment and manpower are deployed. The sheer size and scope of the project is of a scale far above the average sporting event.
Fox Sports: NASCAR on Fox; Fox/FS1: MLB on Fox
Fox Sports' season-long MLB coverage was encapsulated by its broadcast of the 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. For the 88th Midsummer Classic, live from Miami's Marlins Park, 13 on-field microphones were installed beneath the playing surface, capturing natural sound from definitive moments in the game. Also deployed were eight RF FX mics, nine RF base mics, 78 field microphones, and 14 RF infield microphones.
Placement plot for overall effects mics for Fox Sports' coverage of the 2017 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
Two of the on-field microphones were located in front of the pitcher's mound: one for right-handed pitchers, the other for lefties. The remaining 11 spots included one behind the pitcher's mound, two on either side of the infield, where the dirt meets the outfield grass, and six in the outfield between the infield and the wall. In addition to the on-field microphones, Fox Sports also had two parabolic mics positioned out of play on either side of the field and more than 100 All-Star microphones.
We experimented with field mics last year in San Diego and got some great results, says Fox Sports Senior Audio Mixer Joe Carpenter, a 10-time Sports Emmy winner. The sounds and grunts you get from guys like Max Scherzer and Madison Bumgarner as they complete their pitches add so much to the feeling of being there.
The MLB All-Star Game initiatives marked the latest effort from Fox Sports Lab, a designed approach to exploring technical partnerships that give viewers a fresh perspective and ad-sales teams more-targeted sports integrations.
NBC/NBC Sports Network: NASCAR on NBC, 35th America's Cup
For NBC Sports' NASCAR coverage, as many as 35 announce positions were deployed around the tracks. Their configurations comprised traditional three-person booths, dual booths with six announcers interacting, and multiple announce positions around a road course; in addition, six RF announce packs included an announcer driving a race car at speed and describing the track live. The open-air NBC stage setup could be used live, produced directly through the network's mobile units onsite or remotely through the Stamford, CT, in a hybrid approach using both conventional and at-home-style workflows. The Pit Box announce position, which debuted in 2017, was positioned trackside among the teams, sitting directly on pit road and providing an up-close POV for the crew-chief analysts overlooking pit stops and direct access to team members during race action.
NASCAR is all about effects, and NBC put plenty of those on the sonic canvas. Painting the ambience for racing can be a very busy job, observes Denis Ryan, A1 for NASCAR on NBC, who worked closely with A1 Steven Urick, who submixed the track effects. Each camera cut is matched with opening and closing multiple faders, sometimes even using pedal control of fill sound. At a short track, this can mean five or six transitions during a 16-second lap. Audio-follow is used in certain types of racing coverage, but nothing beats the human touch.'
Audio Director Steve Hartley at the Lawo MC266 console aboard NEP Sweden's HD1 in Bermuda, creating multiple iso mixes for NBC Sports coverage of the Americas Cup.
Microphone mounting, Ryan continues, has to take into consideration weather elements, fan access, and dangerous impact locations that can't be serviced while cars are on the track. Dependability and accuracy is key. C
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the First Look for Land of Sin' - Premier...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
Big Sound on Big Shows Nominated for the 39th Annual Sports Emmy Awards ABC/ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC Sports are noted for work on iconic sports events By Dan Daley, Audio Editor 
