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
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
12/07/2025
As the death toll continues to mount, with at least 120 killed and more than 170 people still missing on July 10 from devastating Texas floods, a number of broa...
12/07/2025
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., and MIAMI -DirecTV and TelevisaUnivision have signed a deal that will make the ad-supported premium subscription tier of ViX, ViX Premium wi...
11/07/2025
PARK CITY, UTAH, July 11, 2025 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the 11 producers chosen for its annual Producers Labs, returning to Ucross Fou...
11/07/2025
If you've ever wondered what might be playing in Clark Kent's headphones...
11/07/2025
L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert and General Manager of L3Harris Waco facility Sean Ling held a ce...
11/07/2025
ARLINGTON, Va. WETA, the flagship public media station in the national capital area, has launched WETA+, a new streaming service tailored for the local Washingt...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission has emerged as one of the central players in the broadcast TV landscape in 2025, with its deregulatory policies sparking h...
11/07/2025
Calrec will introduce usability, customization and system enhancements across its entire range of Argo consoles during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Amsterda...
11/07/2025
LONDON Encompass Digital Media said it will support live and on-demand viewing of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup across multiple global regions for sports enterta...
11/07/2025
Two-thirds of broadcast engineers reaped the benefits of a pay raise within the last year....
11/07/2025
CARY, N.C. SmallHD has launched the Quantum 27, a new 26.5-inch Quantum-Dot OLED monitor designed to deliver postproduction image quality in a compact, set-frie...
11/07/2025
The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau and Tegna have entered into a consent decree that will settle an investigation into the accidenta...
11/07/2025
WASHINGTON Following news in early July that Paramount had settled President Donald Trump's lawsuit, Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Ben Ray Luj n (D-N...
11/07/2025
Model/Actriz Performs Lead Single Cinderella on The Late Show with Stephen Colbe...
11/07/2025
Behind the Mic: Amazon Prime Preps for First Season of NBA Action; MSG Networks ...
11/07/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Suite Studios' Craig Hering on Adapting to Client...
11/07/2025
2025 SVG Content Management Forum Breaks Down AI's Impact, Continued Transit...
11/07/2025
A Journey HOME: University of Nebraska's HuskerVision Goes IP Leaders from the HuskerVision and Lawo share their IP learnings By SVG Staff
Friday, July 1...
11/07/2025
CMSI, Remote Picture Labs, Ace ESPN's Cloud-Based Editing Efforts for Wimble...
11/07/2025
Netflix Enters the Live-Boxing-Production Ring for Round 2 With Historic Taylor-...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Too Hot to Handle: Italy Is Coming on July 18 Only on Netflix
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalItaly
Link copied to clipboard
July 11, 20...
11/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Will Release Death Inc. Seasons 1, 2 and 3
Entertainment
11 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Season 1
Season 2
Se...
11/07/2025
AI and Multimedia Authenticity Standards Collaboration launches two papers to guide the future of AI integration, today at the AI for Good Global Summit
The...
11/07/2025
Ceramics - the humble mix of earth, fire and artistry - have been part of a global conversation for millennia.
From Tang Dynasty trade routes to Renaissance pa...
10/07/2025
The current holder of the prestigious Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year Award has been forced to stop reporting over fears for her safety in Afgha...
10/07/2025
Spotify is turning up the volume on Australian music with a multipronged initiative designed to highlight the dominance of Australian artists on the global stag...
10/07/2025
This is not a drill: Oasis is back on the road-marking its first live performanc...
10/07/2025
The music industry depends on fresh ideas, bold voices, and emerging talent. Yet across the U.K., too many young musicians lack the space to develop their craft...
10/07/2025
NEW YORK - July 10, 2025 - Nielsen, the global leader in audience measurement, data and analytics, today announced that it appointed Richard Pacheco as head of ...
10/07/2025
Local newscasts don't exist in a vacuum. News directors and station management constantly evaluate what's working, what isn't and perhaps most impor...
10/07/2025
Lawo has announced that Stuttgart Media University (Hochschule der Medien, HdM) has comprehensively modernized its central recording studio after selecting an I...
10/07/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) has opened early-bird registration for the Media Technology Summit, which will take place in a ne...
10/07/2025
NASHVILLE, Tenn. TNDV Television has launched Aspiration 35, a new version of its 40-foot Aspiration truck reimagined for cinematic multicamera productions....
10/07/2025
BURBANK, Calif. Key Code Education, a provider of instructor-led postproduction training, is growing its curriculum with new programs for beginner and intermedi...
10/07/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. Actus Digital will demonstrate how broadcasters can transform compliance monitoring from a necessary expense into a strategic revenue driver at...
10/07/2025
The Federal Register has published a summary of the Federal Communications Commission's Public Notice seeking comments on its ownership rules that lists a d...
10/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Presents the Official Trailer for SuperestarPlay Video
Play Video
Entertainment
10 July 2025
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard...
10/07/2025
In the race to understand our planet's changing climate, speed and accuracy are everything. But today's most widely used climate simulators often strugg...
10/07/2025
As one of the world's largest emerging markets, Indonesia is making strides toward its Golden 2045 Vision - an initiative tapping digital technologies and...
10/07/2025
10 Jul 2025
VEON and Cohen Circle Secure Investor Commitments for Kyivstar Listing Kyiv, New York, Dubai, and Philadelphia - July 10, 2025 - VEON Ltd. (Nasdaq:...
10/07/2025
5G for all? What the DFL's use of Easy5G and RefCam could mean for events in...
10/07/2025
Save the Date: PGA TOUR Studios Welcomes SVG Remote Production Summit on Oct 14-...
10/07/2025
Cloud on the Road: How Remote-Production-Service Providers Are Adapting to a New...
10/07/2025
Seattle Kraken's Ryan Schaber on the NHL Team Taking Live Game Productions I...
10/07/2025
FOX Sports Reboots Small Control Room in Los Angeles as Hub for Vertical-First P...
10/07/2025
SVG Sit-Down: MSE's Zach Leonsis, ViewLift's Rick Allen Go Deep on Joint...
NAB 2019 Reflections: AT&T's Scott Beckett on 5G, At-Home Production, 4K HDR and 100G Connectivity By Jason Dachman, Chief Editor 
