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.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
05/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering many of the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced the launch of In-Scene Advertising, a new monetiza...
05/06/2026
Berklee Study Reveals Video Has Become Essential to Music Careers Survey findings show social platforms have become the primary source of music for video cont...
04/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p-compatible PTZ auto-frami...
04/06/2026
This recent grad from Spring, TX, led creative-video output for the Aggies' men's basketball team last season and has been producing video and creating ...
04/06/2026
For the first time at a women's golf major, every player in the field will r...
04/06/2026
Three Panasonic PT-RQ45 40,000-lumen 3-Chip DLP projectors made their first live...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin and Akamai have announced a collaboration with NRJ Group, a French mult...
04/06/2026
Telestream will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N7952), demonstrating media work...
04/06/2026
Sony has announced the development of RIALTO 65, a 65mm format image sensor block for the VENICE 2 digital cinema camera, targeting release in the first half of...
04/06/2026
KOKUSAI DENKI Electric America will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N8025, June ...
04/06/2026
Bell Media's TSN and RDS are the exclusive Canadian broadcasters of FIFA Wor...
04/06/2026
The Challenge: Receiving Heavy Media Files From Road Games Quickly and ReliablyT...
04/06/2026
MASV, a managed file transfer platform used in broadcast and live sports product...
04/06/2026
NESN has announced the appointment of Fahad Haider as Vice President of Operations and Engineering. Haider returns to NESN, where he previously served as Vice P...
04/06/2026
David J. Halberstam, who spent almost 50 years in sports as a broadcaster and an executive, died June 2 after a years-long battle with brain cancer.
Over his l...
04/06/2026
Although collegiate production programs are tasked with delivering high-quality ...
04/06/2026
California studio, two production trucks, global distribution system are combine...
04/06/2026
New global program empowers and supports storytellers through scriptwriting course and access to industry experts
TikTok and Sundance Institute today announce...
04/06/2026
Steinberg DAWs now boast in-depth Tonalic integration
Celemony's innovative virtual session musician plug-in has just received an update that brings ARA...
04/06/2026
Get Hands-On With Over 20 Mic Brands
GearExpo UK is fast approaching, and if you've been looking for a chance to check out some new mics, then you'r...
04/06/2026
Combos feature new Amplifier Intelligence engine
Positive Grid's latest release sees the company introduce two new combo amplifiers that promise to offe...
04/06/2026
Is Your Job Making You Work this June?
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS Launches the World Cup Watchers' Rights Association to Stand Up For Australians&...
04/06/2026
Statement regarding unauthorised use of SBS logos on third party social content
4 June, 2026
Media releases
SBS has become aware of social media posts in c...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
NAB 2019 Reflections: AT&T's Scott Beckett on 5G, At-Home Production, 4K HDR and 100G Connectivity By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
