NFL Playoffs 2022: Fox Sports Begins Postseason Push With 1080p HDR Production for NFC Wild Card Additional technologies will be introduced each round By Kristian Hern ndez, Associate Editor
Thursday, January 13, 2022 - 2:04 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
After one of the more unpredictable NFL regular seasons in recent memory, the calendar has flipped to 2022, and the remaining 14 franchises will compete to play in Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13. Despite the surprise victories and shocking upsets seen over the past four months, Fox Sports' unrelenting commitment to technological ingenuity will most certainly continue throughout the postseason.
The best way to describe what our playoff coverage will look like is taking everything from Thursday Night Football, everything from A game on Sunday, and putting it into one package, says Kevin Callahan, VP, field operations and engineering, Fox Sports. We're working on some things behind the scenes to enhance the viewing experience.
Sunny Sunday in Tampa: Bucs-Eagles Wild-Card Matchup To Get UHD HDR Production Not wasting any time, Fox Sports will kick off its playoff slate with a full 1080p HDR production of the first NFC Wild Card Game of Sunday's doubleheader. The decision was influenced by Fox Sports' continued support of widespread 1080p HDR and 4K HDR presentations of some of sport's most high-profile games: last season's NFL Playoffs, the 2021 MLB All-Star Game in July, the 2021 MLB at Field of Dreams game in early August, the 2021 MLS All-Star Game in late August, MLB on 9/11 in September, to name a few. To accentuate the effort, the crew will be improving the camera complement normally deployed for its main NFL games and TNF, including two additional high-frame-rate cameras and a total of 12 pylon cameras with six in each end zone. The added technology will also provide views of each back line for coverage of all boundaries.
Game Creek Video's Encore (A,B, and C units), the main Thursday Night Football production unit, will be positioned outside Raymond James Stadium and drive the Wild Card production. Given its sheer size and capability of housing a large number of technologies, the crew will have additional EVS operators onsite and won't have to worry about using another truck to accommodate for the increase.
As the playoffs progress toward the NFC Championship on Sunday, Jan. 30, the broadcaster will upgrade its arsenal for enhanced angles. One Megalodon system will be deployed for the first two rounds, but the penultimate round will get a second. One rig will follow the action on the field, interactions on the sideline, and end-zone celebrations after touchdowns; the other will be responsible of capturing the energy of the venue.
That's going to be focused primarily on the atmosphere and will be up in the crowd for shots of the fans, says Callahan. We want to get [those scenes] in order to translate the game-day environment for the fans watching at home.
In addition, the Line to Gain 2.0 - a pylon camera developed with C360 and 3G Wireless - will be situated at the line of scrimmage.
Workflows in the Vault: Travel Delays Call for More Remote Operators As in the regular season, the Vault in Los Angeles will be a vital source for remote workflows used throughout the playoffs. The first game in Tampa, FL, for example, will rely on six EVS operators and one of three graphics operators located at the Vault. Although the offsite effort has been essential all season long, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the most recent Omicron surge have impacted workflows. More specifically, nationwide travel disruptions have made the Vault an even more valuable asset.
We've had some people who couldn't get to games, notes Callahan. We'd cover them by adding positions in the Vault. We've been COVID-safe within the mobile units in terms of social distancing, masks, and testing, and we haven't had to make significant changes. But we're always prepared to add [more health and safety restrictions] if we need to.
If flight cancellations and other forms of delay continue over the next month, the Vault will be the broadcaster's saving grace. As another logistical challenge, the nature of the playoffs generates countless permutations. Based on the NFC side of the bracket and the results of the first round, the production crew could be working in a wide variety of stadiums for the NFC Championship: the freezing temperatures of Green Bay, a cozier setting in Dallas, the warm climate of Los Angeles, in the Bay Area of San Francisco, subtropical Tampa. If the road leads to Inglewood's SoFi Stadium, it'll be a quick turnaround to get out of the compound and let NBC Sports set up its infrastructure for the final game of the NFL calendar.
It would be a very interesting scenario if it played out that way, adds Callahan. It has gotten very close a couple of times over the past 10 years.
Remaining Focused: Fox Sports To Maximize Playoff Coverage With an Eye Toward Super Bowl LVII 2021-22 can be considered an improvement over the 2020-21 campaign, but it was drastically different than from the years before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel issues, game postponements, and rescheduling contests to weekdays, Fox Sports overcame its share of hurdles. Despite the obstacles, a lot of positives came out of all of these productions.
It wasn't the COVID-free season that everyone was hoping for, but everyone did a fantastic job bringing these games to air, Callahan says. At the start of the season, one of the key drivers [of our broadcasts] was highlighting, hearing, and making the fans back in the stands a part of the experience. I think we really did deliver on that.
These small victories have come together to create one large-scal
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
13/11/2026
The UIM E1 Series wraps its third season this week with the Bombay Sapphire E1 Miami GP, Nov. 11-14, on Biscayne Bay at the Miami Seaplane Base on Watson Island...
13/11/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
13/11/2026
Singer-songwriter Benson Boone will headline entertainment for the Discover NHL Winter Classic between the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche at Rice-Eccles St...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design has announced the Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone, a 7th order ambisonic microphone array that captures spatial audio for immersive video prod...
13/11/2026
SMPTE has announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infrastructure and communications technology for the Solutions Hub at t...
13/11/2026
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) has announced the theme and program focus for the 2027 HPA Tech Retreat, which takes place Feb. 14-18, 2027, in La ...
13/11/2026
Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting today. The game ...
13/11/2026
MotoGP has announced a two-year media rights agreement with ESPN covering the Un...
13/11/2026
Apple Sports, the free iPhone app, has added the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to its lineup of supported sports, in time for Saturday's UFC 334. The...
13/11/2026
The NBA and Fanatics Studios, the joint venture between Fanatics and entertainme...
13/11/2026
ESPN held its annual EDGE Innovation Conference last night and offered up an ove...
13/11/2026
Regional sports network gives Ithaca College, SUNY Cortland students a platform to thrive
One of the biggest games in Division III college football will be pla...
13/11/2026
Studer-inspired 500-series PWM compressor unveiled
The HLabs range already includes a couple of Studer-inspired offerings in the form of the PRE169 and EQ16...
13/11/2026
Download Now!
To view the white paper, please enter the following details:
--
First Name* First Name
Company*
Country* Please select your countryA...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Blue Lucy, the workflow orchestration and integration platform for broadcasters, rights owners and localisation companies, today announced an integration with c...
13/11/2026
Krotos announces Black Friday offers on Studio Pro and Studio Max
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
First-year annual plans start at US$195.99...
13/11/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces Blackmagic Ambisonic Microphone
Brie Clayton November 12, 2026
0 Comments
New 7th order ambisonic microphone with 108 MEMS...
13/11/2026
Meet the Berklee Student Setting Planetary Motion to Music With his compositional platform SoniKosmos, Javier Roqueni aims to make the universe the ultimate i...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , er...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Share
{alert(Link copied)}).catch(err => {console.error(Failed to copy: , err)}) data-platform=copy_link data-action= class=font-ui-heading py-2 text-sm tex...
13/11/2026
Amagi, the media industry cloud company, today announced a partnership with Golden Times Media Technology (stock code 920021.BJ), a Beijing-based media and tech...
13/11/2026
CGI (TSX: GIB.A) (NYSE: GIB), one of the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world, together with its Malaysian partner, Cedar ...
13/11/2026
SMPTE, the home for media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced that The Studio B&H and Riedel Communications will provide the video infra...
13/11/2026
iWedia, a global leader in connected TV software solutions, will present its software-first approach to DRAM optimization at Android TV APAC Summit 2026 in Bang...
13/11/2026
Beginning today, November 13, Apple HomeView is available for purchase at Apple Store locations, on the Apple Store online, and in the Apple Store app in select...
13/11/2026
From pediatric research to smart hospitals, AI is helping care teams spend less time on routine tasks and more time with patients.
Health systems and startups...
12/11/2026
Industry leaders examine how Dynamic Media Facility, Media eXchange Layer, and c...
12/11/2026
The junior Tar Heel is embracing the technical and creative challenges of live production while emerging as a leader and mentor in the control room...
12/11/2026
Gracenote, Nielsen's content intelligence business, has released its fifth a...
12/11/2026
RTL Deutschland will bring the NHL to free-to-air TV in Germany starting Nov. 30...
12/11/2026
Clear-Com supported On Air 2026, a 24-hour student-led broadcast connecting 45 u...
12/11/2026
uniqFEED has opened a Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Madrid, Spain. It is already operational, delivering virtual advertising for LaLiga matches. The ROC is ...
12/11/2026
Disney, ESPN and the NBA will present Dunk the Halls, the third real-time animated NBA game using Sony's Beyond Sports data visualization technology, on Chr...
12/11/2026
Van Wagner has launched Van Wagner RELAY, a digital platform for official athlet...
12/11/2026
Deal brings together two of the industry's most established graphics brands and significantly expands Vizrt's footprint in U.S. sports and regional broa...
12/11/2026
Euro TV Production GmbH of Austria has upgraded its outside broadcast vehicle with Lawo technology. The mc 36 Classic console in service since 2019 was replaced...
12/11/2026
Tagboard has launched Spark Resize, an AI-assisted tool now in beta that takes an existing graphic and produces a new version for a different aspect ratio or sc...
NFL Playoffs 2022: Fox Sports Begins Postseason Push With 1080p HDR Production for NFC Wild Card Additional technologies will be introduced each round By Kristian Hern ndez, Associate Editor 
