SVG Sit-Down: NEP Group's Brian Sullivan, VISTA Worldlink's Josh Liemer on the Future of Remote Production

SVG Sit-Down: NEP Group's Brian Sullivan, VISTA Worldlink's Josh Liemer on the Future of Remote Production Acquisition of VISTA extends NEP's capabilities for centralized workflows By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director

Monday, March 15, 2021 - 1:40 pm

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Earlier this month, NEP Group acquired South Florida-based VISTA Worldlink, a move that immediately expands NEP Group's centralized remote-production footprint. NEP Group CEO Brian Sullivan and VISTA Worldlink President Joshua Liemer discussed the deal, how it fits into NEP Group's broader vision, what it means to current VISTA clients, and more with SVG Editorial Director Ken Kerschbaumer.

NEP Group's Brian Sullivan says the acquisition of VISTA Worldlink is a good fit for a number of reasons.

First, congrats on the deal. Brian, can you give some insights into the logic behind the deal?

Sullivan: Thanks! The reason for the deal is, we are about to go into a very active phase of building out centralized production capabilities and facilities throughout the U.S., and the addition of VISTA's experience in remote workflows will help us get there better and faster. Josh and his team have done a tremendous job over the last few years in pioneering centralized broadcast solutions for customers in the U.S., and they've helped up-and-coming sports leagues grow by thinking digitally first.

It's all very exciting, but it's not an easy lift. To spin up a centralized production hub or spoke from scratch can take 12 to 18, maybe even 24 months, and there is a huge learning curve along the way. That's why bringing VISTA into the NEP family was such an obvious fit. Their experience, along with ours across the globe - we already have substantial centralized production hubs in Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and even a mini-hub in Washington, DC - will help us in our next phase of development here in the U.S. and around the world.

Due to the many benefits of centralized production - flexibility, scalability, faster technological innovation, efficient use of capital and resources, including people and talent, all of which have been proven pretty sharply over the last 12 months - we feel it is going to become an important part of the mix faster than many anticipated. As the global leader in broadcast solutions, we want to be there for our customers as soon as, if not before, they're ready.

Here in the U.S., because the geography and clients are so spread out, we will initially establish our data centers, cloud capabilities, and connectivity to the network in one initial hub location. Then, we'll have multiple connected spokes that are close to where the clients are located. Sometimes they'll be dedicated to one specific client, and sometimes they will be open-market spokes that multiple clients can utilize. We should even get to a place where our mobile units, which will remain the cornerstone of the ecosystem, become a moving, connected part of this overall network, all seamlessly working together.

Ultimately, for us, it's all about utilization. In the current model, you invest capital in fixed assets - trucks, equipment, studios, control suites, etc. - and use those assets 40%-50% of the time. The rest of the time they're idle, either on the road or getting ready for the next production. If we do our job right, we can make sure assets are used more, potentially 80%-90% of the time, which is much more efficient for us and the client, allowing better utilization of talent for our customers and potential travel savings for them. That frees up cash to reinvest in content, talent, and innovation, and that is kind of the holy grail.

Why not build your own facility from scratch?

Sullivan: The people that were doing it best in the U.S. were VISTA, which we knew because we already worked with them. And it's a lot easier to build from a kernel than it is to start from scratch. It's also a lot easier to get up to speed with somebody who's already operating in the market, knows its unique challenges, and is doing it at a very, very high level of expertise.

Having somebody on the ground here in the U.S. already serving customers is kind of a perfect way to get this thing started.

Miami also has a great connection to the rest of the Americas. Do you see an opportunity there as well?

Sullivan: Absolutely. There are a lot of unique aspects that made bringing VISTA into the NEP family beneficial well beyond the initial business case. They also have clients all over Europe, and they've got great experience with connectivity, which is going to be one of the critical skills in the future. Working with high-bandwidth, low-latency connectivity is critical to centralized broadcast solutions.

NEP Group will leverage VISTA Worldlink's transmission and connectivity expertise to move into centralized remote production.

Liemer: For VISTA, the foundation we built our business on was transmission and having connectivity throughout the world. Part of our legacy has been connecting the dots and bringing in signals, and, when we pivoted hard into the centralized broadcast workflows, that kind of conductivity expertise was key to getting us started.

And now it is not only various media solutions that we're providing but also the expertise and understanding of how to deliver this day in and day out at a very high volume. We're very excited to join the NEP family and have more resources, more assets, and more technical talent around us to help us further evolve and grow into the future.

Can you talk more about the move to centralized operations?

Sullivan: I think the speed at which we're going to build up our capabilities is going to surprise the marketplace. We already have people going around the U.S. looking

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2021/03/15/svg-sit-down-nep-groups-brian-s...
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