NHL Playoffs 2025: With 16 Games in First Six Days, ESPN Deploys Variety of Remote-Production Models in U.S., Canada With two countries and multiple broadcasters involved, the effort requires precise planning By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Friday, April 18, 2025 - 11:00 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
ESPN jumps out of the gate for this year's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, with 16 first-round games over the first six days on ESPN and ESPN2 beginning on Sunday. That means plenty of planning and cooperation by ESPN's operations team - both within the company and with other broadcasters.
ESPN's NHL studio show, The Point, will air regularly as a lead-in to games throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Steve Levy, Mark Messier, and PK Subban - shown here prior to the season opener - will be among the rotating on-air talent featured. (Photo: Al Powers/ESPN Images)
Round 1 of NHL Playoffs is always a time of meticulous planning and cooperation, says Brock Wetherbee, remote productions operations specialist, ESPN. This round is a full market share - or side-by-side - for all invested broadcasters. Not only are we working across teams internally to line up execution models with dates and game series, but we're also having simultaneous collaboration calls with the other local and international rightsholders on logistics and equipment shares.
First Round Madness: All About Cooperation - Both Within and Without Depending on matchups, as many as four broadcasters may cover a single game of any seven-game series, and all parties must be aware of each other's trucks, camera positions, and production priorities.
Several dedicated REMI production-control rooms in Bristol will serve as home to ESPN's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round productions. (credit: Jaime Ramirez)
ESPN will deploy a mix of three main models during Round 1: REMCO, REMI, and EWF (enhanced world feed, which will be used for games played in Canada). ESPN's remote-production and REMI Operations teams work hand in hand to ensure that the onsite facilities are fully in sync with the REMI production teams in Bristol.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the amount of communication and planning that has helped every aspect of our production, says Jaime Ramirez, technical operations manager, REMI Operations, ESPN. Working on an almost daily basis with our onsite operations team as well as our partners in Toronto has been outstanding. I have all the confidence in the world that, when the puck drops, this team can handle whatever may be on the horizon. It is very evident that our goal is a shared goal to deliver the best product we can to our NHL fans.
ESPN will roll a mix of NEP and Game Creek Video mobile units for its NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs productions. (Credit: Danny Chi)
Given the complications of regional play across North America and the cadence of the schedule, both NEP and Game Creek Video provide a cascading supply of trucks to meet the needs of ESPN and the other broadcast partners. NEP has made available EN2 A and B, Supershooter 6 A and B, Supershooter 63, and Supershooter 62; GCV has provided 79 A and B, Victory A and B, Larkspur, Justice, and Gemini.
ESPN has made a concerted effort to level-set the look and feel across all its NHL coverage, regardless of the production model being used. Although the bells and whistles may vary, The standard first-round complement will comprise five hard cameras, five handhelds, two robos, and four to six POV cams. In addition, ESPN will be sharing feeds with/from the other broadcasters, potentially doubling the camera count once the puck drops.
It's a collaborative effort from all to share and make the coverage feel as big as possible for all the entities, says Wetherbee.
Aside from camera sharing, ESPN and local broadcasters also work closely together to reserve compound parking space for all the trucks and divide arena-supplied power connections and transmission equipment, along with other onsite resources/services.
Looking Ahead: Big Plans for Conference Finals After the first round, ESPN will enhance its shows with each subsequent round, increasing the player iso cams, robos, and specialty cameras. Super-slo-mo in-net cams, RF skate cams, SkyCam, and virtual-graphics elements will be among the highlights.
ESPN's NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs coverage will culminate iin the Conference Finals. (Photo: Al Powers/ESPN Images)
Although ESPN won't have the Stanley Cup Finals this year, its Conference Finals productions will be plenty massive, with upwards of 24 cams, seven super-slo-mos, and six POV cameras; a full audio submix suite; and upgraded microphone coverage around the ice.
Playoffs are exciting by definition, Ramirez notes. Not only is the play on ice raised, but so too is our approach and execution amongst partners.
The last-minute nature can add a bit of intrigue too, he continues. Last minute is the name of the game come playoff time. Sometimes we stage truck/equipment halfway between cities. Sometimes folks board planes and land in one city to find that team has won/lost and changed the landscape of [the production]. It's all part of the adventure and excitement that is any playoff race.
Looking Back: Another Regular Season in the Books With the puck dropping on the playoffs on Sunday, it's a perfect time for ESPN's remote and REMI Operations teams to reflect on their fourth NHL regular-season campaign. With five technical-production models - mixing REMI and onsite workflows -- in the arsenal for NHL productions, ESPN Remote Production Operations Manager Paul Horrell believes ESPN has truly hit its stride: The five technical-production models deployed throughout the season and the sheer volume of games speak to the level of efficiency, experience, and capabilities
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...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/07/2026
David Dvir, 2D founder (left), Sundeep Reddy (center), and Jean-Marc Bouchut (right), both of Zeiss...
23/07/2026
Screen Australia announces new national documentary accelerator program 23 July 2026
Screen Australia has today announced the Above the Line Documentary Accel...
22/07/2026
Among other tweaks to coverage, the broadcaster added announce positions in the ...
22/07/2026
The Australian Sports Technologies Network (ASTN) has reported a sharp acceleration in Australia's sportstech sector, with revenue growth rising from 10% in...
22/07/2026
From a retrofitted broadcast bus to packed Match Day Live! events, Bennett detai...
22/07/2026
TMRW Sports has named Brendan Donohue as President, Flag Football, where he will lead the company's professional flag football business in partnership with ...
22/07/2026
Stephen Arnold Music (SAM) designed and produced soundtracks for nine projection...
22/07/2026
Harmonic has announced a $25,000 donation to Global Empowerment Mission (GEM) fo...
22/07/2026
Telemundo has announced it has acquired from UC3 exclusive U.S. Spanish-language...
22/07/2026
The Rest Is Football, hosted by Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, and Micah Richards, ...
22/07/2026
Sports Studio has announced a partnership with TheSoul Group to distribute Free ...
22/07/2026
Daktronics has concluded its 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day hybrid event combining virtual sessions with hands-on host school visits across the countr...
22/07/2026
FOR-A America will exhibit at the MMCA Show in Pensacola, Florida (July 21-24), marking the company's first appearance at the house of worship AV event. FOR...
22/07/2026
The New York Yankees have selected Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) to connect Ya...
22/07/2026
Calrec will exhibit at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.C47) with demonstrations of its IP-native audio ecosystem built around the Argo console range, and will announce two ne...
22/07/2026
Solid State Logic has announced the appointment of Algam EKO as its distributor for SSL large format consoles in Italy, covering the Live, Broadcast, and Studio...
22/07/2026
FloSports has announced the launch of the FloSports Channel, a free ad-supported streaming channel premiering on Prime Video in the U.S. on July 21. The channel...
22/07/2026
Banana Ball TV (BTV), the broadcast operation of the Savannah Bananas, has insta...
22/07/2026
SiriusXM and Audacy have announced an agreement bringing 42 Audacy sports, news, and talk stations from 29 U.S. markets to SiriusXM. Twenty-three Audacy sports ...
22/07/2026
The collaboration produced more than 500 short-form videos across four cities th...
22/07/2026
At 2,600 sq. ft., the new home of digital content houses a main studio, podcast space, and an auxiliary control room
NFL franchises are accelerating their prod...
22/07/2026
Library now available in Engine Player
Another of Eduardo Tarilonte's popular sample libraries has just been moved over to Engine Audio's Engine Pla...
22/07/2026
All-in-one mic & DSP interface overhauled
Cloudvocal have just refreshed the design of their all-in-one mic, audio interface and DSP processor, introducing ...
22/07/2026
The final boss of the lost dual-op-amp circuit
Electro-Harmonix have just introduced the Deluxe Big Muff Pi 2, which they say offers their latest take on t...
22/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Proven managed IP solution helps broadcasters confidently navigate the future of broadcast distribution
LTN announces it has completed successful satellite-to-...
22/07/2026
Today, Chaos announced V-Ray 7, update 4, eliminating the need for asset conversions and tool switching, which slow down media and entertainment pipelines. Arti...
22/07/2026
An AI playground for the Project Indigo camera app
Marc Levoy July 22, 2026
0 Comments
At left is the user interface of our Playground, running on an ...
22/07/2026
Custom Consoles announces the completion of a large technical furniture project for Radio T l vision Suisse (RTS) at the networks recently inaugurated productio...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/07/2026
Culver City, CA, July 21, 2026 3D streaming infrastructure provider Miris today announced glTF intake, including the binary .glb form, to its spatial streamin...
22/07/2026
Documentary Lo Invisible Captured with Blackmagic PYXIS 6K
Brie Clayton July 21, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's versatile design allowed filmmakers to c...
22/07/2026
AAF Bridge converts AAF and XML Timelines to Ableton Live - and back
Jerome Gardier July 21, 2026
0 Comments
A two-way converter for macOS and Windows...
22/07/2026
From Class to Concert: Explore a Student-Led Production of David Bowies Work Thr...
22/07/2026
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang today visited the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, to commission an NVIDIA DGX GB300 system - bringing one...
22/07/2026
A poisoned spy, a secret war, and a small English city contaminated by a deadly chemical weapon. Available on Sky Documentaries from 4 AugustWednesday 22 July 2...
22/07/2026
Audio at Parity: Comscore Launches Transcript-Level Targeting and Measurement wi...
22/07/2026
Arvato Systems and Lobster Enter into a Partnership and Combine the Integration Platform and Managed Services
Flexible integration solutions for cloud, hybrid...
NHL Playoffs 2025: With 16 Games in First Six Days, ESPN Deploys Variety of Remote-Production Models in U.S., Canada With two countries and multiple broadcasters involved, the effort requires precise planning By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S. 
