SVG Sit-Down: NESN's Kenny Elcock and Harmonic's Jean Macher Talk Next-Gen Distribution for Live Sports

SVG Sit-Down: NESN's Kenny Elcock and Harmonic's Jean Macher Talk Next-Gen Distribution for Live SportsNESN streamlines its workflow with XOS advanced media processor and DMS X distributionBy Daniel Frankel, SVG Contributor

Monday, December 8, 2025 - 11:53 am

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New England Sports Network (NESN) has its hands full. The regional sports network that is home to MLB's Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates and NHL's Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins aims to deliver live sports action to millions of homes via both linear and streaming mechanisms.

NESN's customers increasingly demand more in terms of video and audio superiority, and the RSN sees the need to deliver such quality to affiliate partners. That's partly why, at the beginning of 2025, NESN collaborated with Astound Business Solutions and Harmonic to re-create the way NESN distributes live content.

The RSN turned to Harmonic's XOS media processor, which offers up to 50% reductions in bitrate through AI-powered EyeQ content-aware encoding, delivering cost-effective video-quality optimization while extending support for formats up to native 4K UHD HDR. NESN also integrated Harmonic's ProStream X stream processor to distribute live sports content to all affiliates using SRT protocol, ensuring high-quality, reliable delivery.

SVG recently connected with NESN VP, Technology, Kenny Elcock and Harmonic Senior Director, Global SaaS Solutions, Jean Macher to discuss how everything came together.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This interview was conducted prior to today's announcement of MediaKind acquiring Harmonic's video business.

NESN's Kenny Elcock: This is a solution where technology did drive the business. It wasn't just because of cost cutting. This was [about] how to get the best product to the customer and be as agile as possible.

So how did you two meet?

Elcock: We definitely needed to create a distribution-convergence solution. We were traditionally a linear company that provided distribution for our linear and growing digital affiliates. We partnered with Harmonic to create the backbone and foundation of a solution to provide our partners a cleaner delivery option with improved quality at a lower cost. We also wanted a solution that was extremely agile. With the foundation we build, we could adapt the solution for our digital, DTC, and FAST-channel partners. One of the unique aspects of this relationship is the solid infrastructure, which delivers NESN content in multiple formats to many partners, creating a secure stepping stone for next-gen technology.

How many channels do you manage?

Elcock: We have a combination of 12 linear playout channels, 19 total channels when you encompass our DTC partners across the New England and Pittsburgh DMAs.

You also work with ViewLift. What do they do?

Elcock: ViewLift handles New England: HD for both NESN and NESN+, 4K for NESN on our DTC app and some of our other digital partners.

When did the integration of Harmonic's tech occur?

Elcock: We completed the integration of the Harmonic equipment, at the start of 2025, after three or four months of building the backbone infrastructure using the Harmonic XOS delivery system. We put all our linear partners onto the Harmonic distribution solution. Once we were comfortable, we transitioned our NESN digital delivery to the Harmonic solution, delivering the content to ViewLift. That transition was completed within the last 90 days.

Harmonic's Jean Macher: Here, the topic is the primary distribution solution. What we are trying to accomplish is to bring the maximum flexibility to the customer.

Jean, you work with a lot of RSNs. How did you get into business with NESN?

Macher: NESN is a historical customer for us; we have a great relationship with Kenny in particular. And yes, we also have a good footprint with RSNs in general. We do a mix of primary distribution solutions that we deploy for those RSN customers, and sometimes also a streaming solution that we deploy for them. Here, the topic is the primary distribution solution. What we are trying to accomplish is to bring the maximum flexibility to the customer. We provided the primary distribution headend.

And we try to bring a new generation of receivers that has full flexibility. As Kenny said, you might need a specific format for your partner, but tomorrow they might need a different one: different codec, different output type, linear versus streaming. All of this is built into the IRD [integrated receiver/decoder] and offers the flexibility of adapting to any affiliate situation.

On top of that, with all the capability at the edge, you need a strong management solution. So we also offer that. It's called DMS X (distribution management system).

We should also touch on the partnership with Astound, which was an important component to all of this. And we offer an additional component built around telemetry: we help you get feedback on what's happening with your distribution partners.

Elcock: That was one of the key selling points for my team. We have the ability now to support all our linear partners in a real-time capacity. We are able to monitor all devices in real time and provide our partners with immediate feedback as to what's going on before the content is delivered within their environment. We're able to provide switchable format solutions as needed, within hours if required. What that helps us do is echo loudly a white-glove, five-star service for our affiliates. It wasn't the traditional way where you hand it off and say, Bye. We are engaged in our partner's success.

Maybe, in 101-ish terms, you can describe the essential evolution here?

Elcock: Traditionally, what was provided from us as a content provider is an IRD to each affiliate. Within that I

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2025/12/08/svg-sit-down-nesns-kenny-elcock...
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