Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

NBA In-Season Tournament: League, ESPN, TNT Sports Team Up To Roll Out NBA Finals-esque Production for Semis, Championship

07/12/2023

NBA In-Season Tournament: League, ESPN, TNT Sports Team Up To Roll Out NBA Finals-esque Production for Semis, Championship RailCam, SkyCam, drones, PylonCams, dual onsite studios are part of the show in Vegas By Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.

Thursday, December 7, 2023 - 4:33 pm

Print This Story | Subscribe

Story Highlights

It isn't often that the annual U.S. sports calendar gets a new tentpole event on par with a major championship, but that's exactly what the NBA In-Season Tournament Semifinal and Championship games are shaping up to be this week in Las Vegas. With that in mind, the league, ESPN, and TNT Sports have combined their efforts to create productions that rival those of NBA Finals and NBA All-Star Game broadcasts.

The NBA In-Season Tournament broadcasts will leverage a total of 39 cameras during the semifinal and championship games.

The competitiveness of these games has set the stage for everything we do, says Paul Benedict, SVP, broadcast content management, NBA. So, shout-out to the players, the coaches, the teams for bringing this to life. That has led us here to Vegas on the cusp of an awesome network crossover with WBD and ESPN that's going to kick off the In-Season Tournament Semifinals in Vegas.

In addition to the two networks' side-by-side studio sets outside T-Mobile Arena, the game productions will feature numerous production technologies, including RailCam, Skycam, drones, and even PylonCams.

The Big Crossover: ESPN, TNT Collaborate in Front of, Behind the Camera The action kicks off tonight during the semifinals with ESPN and TNT each airing one game and producing a studio show live from T-Mobile Arena. TNT's Inside the NBA team will appear on ESPN's NBA Countdown for an extended pregame segment, and ESPN's crew will return the favor by appearing on TNT's NBA Tip-Off later in the evening.

ESPN and TNT have rolled out side-by-side studio sets outside T-Mobile Arena.

We're excited for what's to come, says Benedict. The integrated studio segments, the talent crossovers, Reggie (Miller) and Doc (Rivers) flipping, and a host of enhanced elements and activations for Thursday will take us across an entire night of NBA basketball across TNT and ESPN.

The networks' studio sets are located in Toshiba Plaza, the goal being to put both shows in the middle of the fray outside the arena to help showcase the energy created by the fans in Vegas.

That's the true innovation: the collective integration, says Craig Barry, EVP/chief content officer, TNT Sports. The idea is having dual sets that are operating individually but are together at the same time; being able to jump from set to set; being able to share talent - with Reggie and Doc, specifically; and, I would say, a seamless experience regardless of whether you're on ESPN or TNT. Hopefully, if it works the way it's supposed to, you'll float right from ESPN to TNT, and it will feel like a completely linear broadcast. For us, that's the true innovation, that's where we come together [to create] what's best for the fan.

ESPN's set outside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

TNT's Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O'Neal will appear on ESPN's NBA Countdown for an extended segment within the 4 p.m. ET pregame show. NBA Countdown's host Malika Andrews, Stephen A. Smith, Michael Wilbon, Bob Myers, and Adrian Wojnarowski will appear on TNT's Inside the NBA pregame show for an extended segment in the 7:30 p.m. telecast.

I think the most interesting part, aside from the technology and all the innovative cameras [like the] RailCam, is the big-time personalities on the court and in the studios outside, says David Roberts, head of event and studio production, ESPN. When you have Charles Barkley, Shaq, Stephen A., Wilbon, Bob Myers, Kenny Smith, Ernie, Malika being able to interact, the curiosity factor is going to have a nice, appealing impact for the fans.

Benedict adds that viewers can expect plenty of pomp and circumstance for the red-carpet coverage on Thursday and Saturday.

We're taking it to a new level in terms of what we've done in the past, he says. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's going to be very picturesque. We'll have Richard Jefferson and Allie LaForce grabbing some players and celebrities for interviews, and that will be a great pregame element.

The NBA and its broadcast partners have big plans for the Red Carpet Show in Vegas.

Kitchen Sink of Cameras: RailCam, Skycam, Drones, PylonCams, and More A RailCam will be used in an NBA game for the first time since the pandemic-related 2020 NBA Bubble in Orlando. Working with Fletcher (an NEP company), the league and its broadcasters were able to extend the ground-level system to run the entire length of the court.

We didn't quite have that [full-court length] in the Bubble, notes Benedict. This is going to provide some tremendous pictures and moments for [viewers].

The NBA, ESPN, and TNT Sports worked closely with Fletcher to design a camera-system housing that was approved by both the league's game-operations team and the NBAPA.

A RailCam will be used by the NBA for the first time since the 2020 NBA Bubble in Orlando.

A lot of people have to sign off on something that is right on the court like that, explains Eddie Okuno, senior remote operations specialist, ESPN. We all worked together to ensure it met the necessary standards. We also built a custom structure right behind it, where there is a full-court-length VIP section, as well as both the ESPN and TNT announce tables, and a spot for our center-court handheld camera.

In addition to flying a Skycam as part of all three game productions at T-Mobile Arena, ESPN and TNT Sports will deploy drones both inside and outside
LINK: https://www.sportsvideo.org/2023/12/07/nba-in-season-tournament-league...
See more stories from svg

North America Stories

12/08/2026

Op-Ed: The Versioning Playbook - How Rights Holders are Getting More From Live Events

Traditional live sports production has focused on creating the best possible pro...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: FOR-A to Demonstrate Production and Processing Solutions

FOR-A will showcase a range of broadcast and production products at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B53, Amsterdam RAI, September 11-14), including software-based switching, A...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: AMWA and EBU to Demo NMOS BCP-008 Multi-Vendor IP Status Reporting

The Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and EBU will host live demonstrations of NMOS BCP-008 Minimum Status Reporting at IBC2026 (September 11-14) on th...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: Dalet Launches Solution Suites for Media Production and Archive Management

Dalet has announced Dalet Solution Suites, a portfolio of cloud-native solutions...

12/08/2026

Net Insight Enables Centralized Remote Production of Blinkfestivalen 2026 for NRK

Net Insight has announced that DMC Production Norway has selected its Open Live ...

12/08/2026

Zixi Appoints Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales

Zixi has appointed Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales. Stewart will be responsible for direct sales and partnerships, with a focus on broadcasters, medi...

12/08/2026

LiveU Powers Host Broadcast Operations at 2026 Glasgow Games

LiveU's LU900Q intelligent production unit was deployed as part of the host broadcast operation for the Games in Glasgow (July 23-August 2, 2026). Host broa...

12/08/2026

Disney+ and ESPN Acquire Multi-Year Formula E Rights Beginning 2026/27 Season

Disney , ESPN, and Formula E have announced a multi-year deal bringing all Formula E races to Disney and ESPN in the U.S. and to Disney in most international...

12/08/2026

PSSI Launches X-LIVE Managed Service for Live Event Transmission

PSSI has launched X-LIVE, a managed service offering dedicated engineering resources and Appear encoding infrastructure for live event signal processing and tra...

12/08/2026

MoonPay X Games League Draws 18.3 Million Viewers in Inaugural Summer Season

The inaugural MoonPay X Games League Summer Season reached 18.3 million unique live viewers across three stops on ABC and ESPN, a 78.5% increase compared to the...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: BBright Adds RIST Support to IP-Gateway

BBright will showcase an expanded IP-Gateway at IBC2026, adding support for all RIST profiles to its existing support for MPEG Transport Stream over IP with SMP...

12/08/2026

IBC 2026: BBright Adds EBU OGraf Graphics Support to UHD and ST 2110 Playout Platform

BBright will demonstrate EBU OGraf animated graphics support in its software-bas...

12/08/2026

Interra Systems to Showcase QC and Monitoring Solutions at SET Expo 2026

Interra Systems will demonstrate its ORION, BATON, BATON Captions, and VEGA solutions at SET Expo 2026 (August 17-20, Distrito Anhembi, S o Paulo) at partner Li...

12/08/2026

DPA Microphones Appoints Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager

DPA Microphones has appointed Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In the role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships througho...

12/08/2026

Save the Date: SVG LIVE! Returns to LA Nov. 10 to Spotlight Sports & Entertainment Production

Live spectacles ranging from the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup to the Oscars and...

12/08/2026

Love, Separation, and the Cost of Comfort in How to Divorce During the War

Writer-Director Andrius Bla evi ius and crew attend the premiere of How to Divorce During the War at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park City, UT. (P...

12/08/2026

Nielsen Introduces Groundbreaking Streaming Ad Measurement in Brazil

Nielsen is cementing Digital Ad Intel as the new go-to currency for digital ad intelligence in Brazil-now with streaming monitoring in the mix. S o Paulo, Augu...

12/08/2026

LPTV Advocates Petition FCC for Voluntary 5G Broadcasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Tubi Media Group Inks Content Discovery Deal with Gracenote

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Matrox Video Showcases IP-Based and Software-Defined Tech...

As Matrox Video celebrates 50 years of trusted innovation, the company will showcase its portfolio of interoperable IP technologies and software-defined innovat...

12/08/2026

SMPTE Showcases AI and Open Media Workflows and Industry...

SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced a program of expert-led sessions, professional workshops and networking eve...

12/08/2026

Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next to Fenway Park

Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next ...

12/08/2026

ACLU Requests ABC Station Probe Documents from FCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Roger Keating To Retire from Hearst Television

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Netflix Closes U.S. Upfronts, Nearly Doubles Ad Commitments

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

CBS Pittsburgh Debuts New AR/VR News Studio

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

12/08/2026

Matthews Intros T-Go Extreme Rigging Solutions

Matthews Studio Equipment introduces T-Go Mounting Solutions extreme camera rigging systems, engineered for the most demanding environments in motion picture pr...

12/08/2026

Anton Bauers EDEN Becomes Only Mobile Power Station in it...

Anton/Bauer, a Videndum brand and the industry leader in mobile power solutions for broadcast and cinematic production, announces that the EDEN Mobile Power Sta...

12/08/2026

TAG Video Systems Cuts Hardware Costs for Customers with...

TAG Video Systems, the global leader in software-based IP monitoring and multiviewer solutions, today announced a memory usage optimization that lowers the tota...

12/08/2026

Unified Streaming Launches Trusted Media - C2PA in Dynami...

Unified Streaming announces Trusted Media, a new solution that enables broadcasters, streaming platforms, and premium content owners to attach verifiable authen...

12/08/2026

Tedial Powers the AI-Driven Media Supply Chain at IBC 202...

Combining intelligent automation, composable business services and user-centric experiences The media industry is entering a new phase where AI intelligence is...

12/08/2026

DPA Microphones Appoints Raul Contreras as West Coast Reg...

DPA Microphones welcomes Raul Contreras as its new West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In this role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships thro...

12/08/2026

Weather is Not a Factor for Marshall Electronics New CV57...

Marshall Electronics' first all-weather, all-IP 4K POV camera, the CV574-WP, makes its European debut at IBC 2026 (Stand 10.C11). Built for the elements, th...

12/08/2026

A double off-switch helps cells respond to stress

LA JOLLA, CA-Scientists at Scripps Research have discovered that two seemingly unrelated cellular enzymes become locked together during times of stress, simulta...

12/08/2026

NVIDIA CEO Tops Glassdoor's 2026 List of Best CEOs

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang is ranked No. 1 on Glassdoor's Best CEOs list for 2026. In the just-released ranking, recognition is earned directly fr...

11/08/2026

Apple To Bring Friday Night Baseball Live to Apple Immersive on Vision Pro Beginning Aug. 28

Weekly immersive broadcasts will feature 8K 3D video, a 180-degree field of view...

11/08/2026

Looking for a New Cameraperson? ProductionHUB Guide Lays Out Considerations, Pitfalls

By Briana Brady, Social Media Manager, Production Hub Sports content is having ...

11/08/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Backlight CEO Kathleen Barrett on Building Media Infrastructure for a Global, AI-Driven Sports Landscape

She addresses why media organizations need more than asset storage, how sports t...

11/08/2026

FloSports Dennis LeMire on Implementing Cloud-Based Workflows on Lower Tier Sports

Remote commentary has improved significantly on these broadcasts At a clip of ...

11/08/2026

Miami HEAT's Revamped IP-Based Control Room Coordinates Workflows With Meinberg Intelligent Modular Synchronization System

A pair of LANTIME IMS M2000 PTP Grandmasters deliver resilient timing infrastruc...

11/08/2026

LTN Expands Live Event Master Control Capabilities for Sports Organizations

LTN has announced expanded capabilities for its Live Event Master Control offering, providing sports broadcasters, leagues, rights holders, and content owners w...

11/08/2026

WTA Ventures Appoints IMG as Managed Production Services Partner

WTA Ventures has appointed IMG as its managed production services partner in a multi-year agreement commencing with the 2027 season. The partnership is the late...

11/08/2026

New York Jets and CBS New York Extend Multi-Year Partnership

The New York Jets and CBS New York have agreed to a multi-year extension of their partnership, keeping CBS New York as the official broadcast home of the team. ...

11/08/2026

Nielsen Acquires DoubleVerify to Create New Combined Media Intelligence Platform

Nielsen Holdings and DoubleVerify have announced a definitive agreement under which Nielsen will acquire DoubleVerify in an all-cash transaction with an enterpr...

11/08/2026

AES Elects David v.R. Bowles as President-Elect for 2027, Unveils Other Election Results

The Audio Engineering Society has announced the results of its 2026 Board of Dir...

11/08/2026

SVG Sit-Down Creator Sports Network's Barrick Prince on Building the Next Layer of the Live-Sports Rights Stack

The CSN co-founder details its network and affiliate' model, how creator wi...

11/08/2026

Gravity Media Providing Host Broadcast Operations for Esports World Cup 2026

Gravity Media is providing host broadcast operations for the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026, supporting ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) in delivering the tournament to glo...

11/08/2026

TAG Video Systems Reduces Memory Requirements for Compressed Workflows

TAG Video Systems has released a memory usage optimization for its MCM software that reduces the cost per channel by up to two-thirds for compressed workflows. ...

11/08/2026

SMT Expands LED Production and Scoring Services at 2026 Cincinnati Open

SMT is expanding its technology partnership with the Cincinnati Open this year, adding new LED displays, production capabilities, and fan-facing experiences at ...

11/08/2026

Pac-12 to Stream Fall Olympic Sports Home Events Free on YouTube

The Pac-12 has announced that home Olympic sports broadcasts throughout the fall season will be available free on the conference's YouTube channel at youtub...