Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

NAB 2019 Reflections: AT&T's Scott Beckett on 5G, At-Home Production, 4K HDR and 100G Connectivity

02/05/2019

NAB 2019 Reflections: AT&T's Scott Beckett on 5G, At-Home Production, 4K HDR and 100G Connectivity By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor

Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 11:48 am

Print This Story

AT&T was back in Las Vegas this month for NAB and the company highlighted the latest developments from its Global Video Services team, which provides fiber transmission services with up to 400 or more points of presence for domestic and international sports and entertainment events. In addition, AT&T highlighted the latest offerings from its Video Managed Solutions division and previewed what is to come on the 5G front.

Scott Beckett, Director of Product Management, Global Video Services, AT&T

SVG sat down with Scott Beckett, Director of Product Management, Global Video Services, AT&T, to discuss the latest developments from GVS, how 5G is going to change live-sports production, the explosion of the at-home-production model and its successful partnership with PSSI, the evolution of company's Video Management Centers in New York in Atlanta, the rising demand for 4K HDR and 100-Gbps connectivity, and the promise of AI for AT&T's customers.

What is AT&T showcasing here at NAB this year?

From the Global Video Services perspective, we're focused on media connected . We want to be part of the workflow, so we're taking that big contribution feed and asking what else can we do for you? We have connects into the hybrid cloud and various cloud providers, so we can provide several different services.

Here [at the booth], we are also [highlighting] our Video Managed Solutions, which is built on our QuickPlay acquisition and brings the contribution piece all the way out to OTT. They already support DirecTV Now and we're seeing a lot of excitement in that area.

Also, obviously a lot of the conversation at NAB this year is focused on 5G and we have [AT&T experts] speaking on several 5G panels, so we are definitely emphasizing how 5G can help the media industry.

AT&T is obviously one of the main drivers behind 5G - how do you see the technology enabling live-sports productions in the future?

Everybody in the [M&E] industry is asking how can we do 5G? How can 5G help enable our broadcasts, help our productions, and also help reduce cost and improve efficiency. And sports is a big push for us in terms of 5G and beyond. We have a growing sports strategy and we want to make sure we're promoting all of what AT&T does - not just the [Video Global Services segments] for stadiums. There are a lot of different aspects in which we can serve the sports market.

How have you seen the use of the at-home-production model for live sports grow? How is AT&T playing a role in enabling these productions?

From our standpoint, [at-home] is the way to go and everybody's headed in that direction. Especially when you look at the smaller productions - not necessarily the huge NFL shows - but smaller college productions, it make a lot of sense. We want to support that as much as we can.

PSSI has been a great collaborator [on at-home production]. What we've been doing with PSSI is now, instead of dropping a venue panel and putting our equipment into a stadium, we're doing now is putting the equipment in a PSSI truck. So when that truck arrives, it is basically a small AT&T [connection point] with all the capacity that we would have at a [permanent venue installation]. Just think about it from an efficiency standpoint - that truck goes wherever the fiber handoffs are once it's connected it's on my network. Having the satellite uplink and having fiber together - that's a great marriage.

How has the media market responded to the AT&T Video Management Center in New York City since you launched it in 2016?

It's been really amazing. Interest just exploded, so we actually opened a second Center in Atlanta. So we now have three - Manhattan, Atlanta, and another DVC in Dix Hills [Long Island], which manages our core backbone. That gives us a nice geographic redundancy. We're really excited about that part of the business and see a great future ahead from that standpoint.

Are you seeing more demand for 4K and HDR contribution services these days? Since DirecTV is leading the charge in terms of delivering 4K HDR to the home, what role can AT&T Global Video Services play in advancing the 4K HDR ecosystem?

Absolutely - we're very focused on [4K]. Here at the show, Media Links announced [a new line of] 100G switches and we've partnered with them. We are running 4K content connectivity over a 1G pipe using J2K across the network. From our perspective we see the volume of 4K and 100G growing, so we're starting to expand our core. And 100G is likely going to be the next generation of what we do.

Are there any particular trends or popular requests you've seen in the live-sports sector of your business lately?

We've had a number of requests asking what AT&T is doing in respect to the integration of AI. So that's something that we're definitely looking at. How can we help customers facilitate AI and machine learning? How can we reduce latency and move those capabilities closer to the venue. We're having those discussions with our customers and the interest has really exploded over the past couple of months.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2019/05/01/nab-2019-reflections-atts-scott...
See more stories from svg

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

22/09/2026

Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance

Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance We're excited to share an important update about the future of Apogee plugins. Apogee plugins are moving to Pl...

22/09/2026

SipRadius honored with a Technology And Engineering Emmy...

Parkland, Florida, US, September 22, 2026: SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, has been honored wit...

22/09/2026

VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, brows and ears

VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, bro...

22/09/2026

Chile's TV+ Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design

Chile's TV Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton September 22, 2026 0 Comments URSA Broadcast G2 brings versatility...

22/09/2026

OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing

OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing Brie Clayton September 22, 2026 0 Comments Image courtesy of Deposit Photos Business and ...

22/09/2026

Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music Festival

Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music F...

22/09/2026

New TVU Pocket Offers Broadcast Features In Phone-Sized Unit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Operative Launches Unified Platform for Advertising and Broadcast Management

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Element Launches New TiVo-Powered Smart TVs in the U.S.

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

NOAA Taps Tomorrow.io for Improved U.S. Weather Forecasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Gray Media Promotes Tim Maloney to GM and Director of Sales at WBKO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Reports: Paramount Reaches Settlement with State AGs in Antitrust Suit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

New Research Lays Out Streaming Services Best Defense Against Churn

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Sinclair Expands The National News Desk

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Paramount Settles Antitrust Lawsuit over WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

U.S. Broadband Industry Investment Hits $92.6 Billion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Wi-Fi, phones and power lines: understanding EMF exposure

Whether it be from the sun or from our phones and other devices, we are all exposed to electromagnetic radiation in some shape or form. With the dramatic growth...

22/09/2026

Comscore's latest AI Intelligence Report Shows Competition Intensifying as Claude and Gemini Gain Ground on ChatGPT

Comscore's latest AI Intelligence Report Shows Competition Intensifying as C...

22/09/2026

The Factory-X Project Sets Standards for Data Sovereignty in Industry

The Factory-X Project Sets Standards for Data Sovereignty in Industry Arvato Systems Brings Digital Sovereignty to Industrial Practice Factory-X Successfully...

22/09/2026

Apple opens Apple Music Hall, a\u00A0state-of-the-art live music venue in London - PRESS RELEASE - Posted on 21 September 2026

LONDON Apple today announced the opening of Apple Music Hall, a brand-new state-...

22/09/2026

Young creativity across the island of Ireland takes centre stage as sixth RT This is Art! competition launches

RT , Creative Ireland and Shared Island Initiative ask young artists to respon...

22/09/2026

NVIDIA Isaac ROS 5.0 Advances Agentic, Open Source Robotics Development

To build and deploy sophisticated robotics applications that can perceive, reason and act in dynamic environments, developers need new physical AI models and to...

21/09/2026

Manifold Taps Ryhaan Williams for North America COO Post

Manifold Technologies, developer of software-defined, FPGA-accelerated infrastructure for live production, has named Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer...

21/09/2026

SNS Wins IAMT Best Journal Article Award

Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has won Best Journal Article at the 2026 IAMT Impact Awards for What Video Editors Need When Everything Is Changing Around Them,...

21/09/2026

MLW Announces Streaming Deal with Tubi for Weekly FUSION Series

Major League Wrestling (MLW) has announced a streaming distribution agreement with Tubi for its weekly series MLW FUSION. Beginning September 17, new episodes w...

21/09/2026

Adam Smith Named Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer at Disney Entertainment

Disney Entertainment has announced that Adam Smith has been named Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer, with responsibility for Disney and Hulu including product, engi...

21/09/2026

United Airlines and DISH to Offer Live Football on Starlink-Enabled Seatback Screens

United Airlines and DISH have announced an agreement to bring live professional ...

21/09/2026

SES to Provide Satellite Distribution for JioStar Channels Across India

SES and JioStar have announced a multi-year agreement under which SES will provide satellite distribution services for JioStar's television channel portfoli...

21/09/2026

Detroit Red Wings Announce Detroit SportsNet Broadcast Details for 2026-27 Season

The Detroit Red Wings have announced details for their inaugural season on Detro...

21/09/2026

Manifold Technologies Appoints Ryhaan Williams as CCO for North America

Manifold Technologies has appointed Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer for North America, effective October 1, 2026. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Wi...

21/09/2026

DAZN Pick Up L.A. Kings DTC Streaming Rights; ABTV Will Continue as Local TV Home

Angels Broadcast Television (ABTV), the local television home of the Los Angeles...

21/09/2026

Inside ESPNs US Open Effort: Embracing the Cloud and a New 20,000 Sq. Ft. Broadcast Center

The 2026 US Open Tennis Championships marked a year of change with respect to TV...

21/09/2026

Behind The Mic: Andrs Cantor Joins Netflixs FIFA Womens World Cup Commentary Team; Doc Rivers Joins NBC Sports NBA Coverage

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...

21/09/2026

iDrumTune from RT60

Drum-tuning app now available on Android RT60 describe their iDrumTune app as the world's most advanced, accurate and intelligent system for assisting ...

21/09/2026

SoundGhost release Orbit

Innovative multiband auto-panner introduced SoundGhost's latest plug-in takes an innovative approach to auto-panning, and divides incoming signals into ...

21/09/2026

Apple Mac Studio With M5 Max: First Impressions

We check out the M5 Max-equipped model The same, but different. The new Mac Studio models feature M5 Max and M5 Ultra silicon, dramatically improving the perf...

21/09/2026

From Graphic Novel to 30-Minute Animated Film: What I Learned Building an AI-Assisted Production Pipeline

From Graphic Novel to 30-Minute Animated Film: What I Learned Building an AI-Ass...

21/09/2026

Liam Hopkins Builds Recording Studio with Blackmagic Design

Liam Hopkins Builds Recording Studio with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton September 20, 2026 0 Comments Video complements audio production with music v...

21/09/2026

Indigenous screen organisations from Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia launch new international co-production initiative

Indigenous screen organisations from Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia ...

21/09/2026

It's back to studio time! The TODAY show returns for its 15th season weekday afternoons on RT

Ireland's most successful and longest-running afternoon show, the TODAY Show...

21/09/2026

Why Deploying Physical AI at Scale Demands Safety at Every Layer

Physical AI is moving rapidly from research to large-scale deployment. By 2035, ABI Research projects an installed base of 49 million level 3-5 autonomous vehic...

21/09/2026

From Enablement to Execution, Egypt's AI Ecosystem Reaches Production Scale

Today, Egypt's AI builders gathered in the Grand Egyptian Museum for a reception that highlighted the nation's rapidly growing AI ecosystem - spanning A...

21/09/2026

NVIDIA Launches DSX Ready to Qualify Power and Cooling Products for AI Factories

Every AI factory needs power and cooling that fit its computing architecture. As AI infrastructure expands, power, cooling, water, site and grid constraints are...

21/09/2026

RT celebrates Irish Sign Language Awareness Week 2026

RT celebrates Irish Sign Language Awareness Week 2026 Special programmes across RT television, radio and online, plus special initiatives #ISL #IDSL #IWDP26...

21/09/2026

AI Security Is an Engineering Problem - How to Solve It at Every Layer of the Agent Stack

AI security is an engineering problem. That means defined security requirements,...

21/09/2026

5 Companies Using NVIDIA AI for Clean Energy

Clean energy isn't hard to come by, but the pace of large-scale adoption has historically been slow due to bottlenecks - including out-of-date infrastructur...

20/09/2026

Casio Sessions returns for 2026

Piano-playing singer-songwriter competition returns for fourth year Casio have officially revealed the list of 16 finalists who have earned their place in t...