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
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
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
Most recent headlines
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today! By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Taking the Stage at Carnegie Hall-On a Global Scale Boston Conservatory Orchestra students reflect on their epic concert marking the 80th session of the UN Gene...
23/12/2025
Experience the power of WO Automation for Radio's newest service, the System Effectiveness Review. Designed to help you achieve more, a System Effectiveness...
23/12/2025
23 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan and Rakuten Symphony Collaborate to A...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
How Steamy Can It Get? Single's Inferno' Season 5 Pre...
23/12/2025
Back to All News
33 Million Global Viewers on Netflix Watched Jake Paul vs. Ant...
23/12/2025
New technique lights up where drugs go in the body, cell by cell Scripps Research scientists developed a technique that maps drug binding in individual cells th...
22/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Presidio's Neerav Shah on the Role of Its Captiva...
22/12/2025
Hitting the bullseye: Sky Sports readies itself for the biggest PDC World Darts ...
22/12/2025
Unique skillset: Bringing new directors to the world of darts at The Worlds with...
22/12/2025
Gravity Media prepares for a flight of fancy with the PDC World Darts Championsh...
22/12/2025
One hundred and eighty: Gravity Media on hitting the production bullseye at the ...
22/12/2025
The Famous Group's Jon Slusser on Fascinating Fans Through Immersive Content...
22/12/2025
ESPN's Meg Aronowitz on Continuing High-Quality Broadcasts of Collegiate Spo...
22/12/2025
ESPN Takes Data-Driven Storytelling to New Heights with MNF Playbook with Next ...
22/12/2025
For a decade, popular German podcast Fest & Flauschig has hosted an annual Chris...
22/12/2025
Paramount Scores Largest Share Increase Among Distributors as Paramount and CBS...
22/12/2025
New multi-year deal integrates Roku's data to fuel Nielsen's measurement suite
Roku gains access to Nielsen's streaming ratings, showing The Roku C...
22/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
22/12/2025
Berklee Wrapped 2025: Our Top News and Stories A look back at a year highlighted by faculty milestones, major film and television projects, Bob Dylan's ho...
22/12/2025
The works of Plato state that when humans have an experience, some level of change occurs in their brain, which is powered by memory - specifically long-term me...
22/12/2025
Partnership integrates complementary satellite data and AI analytics to enhance security, infrastructure, and environmental monitoring solutions for global cust...
22/12/2025
Workflows allow you to create a sequence of planned events which may be added to your template(s) or inserted directly into your sequential or background playli...
22/12/2025
Monday 22 December 2025
Sky extends PGA TOUR partnership until 2029, as Sky Spo...
22/12/2025
Back to All News
Global Anime Hits and New Releases Take Center Stage at Jump Festa 2026
Entertainment
22 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied to clipboar...
22/12/2025
Siobh n McSweeney, Rory McIlroy, Elon Musk, Catherine Connolly, Jim Gavin, Ivan Yates and Traitor Paudie Moloney lead new characters for Callan Kicks the Year 2...
22/12/2025
Winner announced in the picturesque surroundings of Wicklow's Avondale Tower and Treetop Walk
Andrew Trimble wins the show in his first series as coach
Th...
22/12/2025
The 2025 winners have been announced today, Sunday 21 December, for Ireland's largest choral competition Choirs for Christmas hosted by RT lyric fm.
Ove...
21/12/2025
Back to All News
Legoshi and Haru's Story Reaches Its Finale: BEASTARS Fin...
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 
