Live From MLB All-Star 2024: MLB Network Streamlines Busy Schedule of Televised Content in Texas

Live From MLB All-Star 2024: MLB Network Streamlines Busy Schedule of Televised Content in Texas Five-day span comprises live coverage, onsite studio programming, aid to other broadcasters By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor

Tuesday, July 16, 2024 - 1:24 pm

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As the eyes of the sports world focus on Arlington, TX, for the five-day-long celebration of the cream of Major League Baseball's crop, MLB Network is at the center of all broadcast activity in some form. Whether it's serving up tech resources for other broadcasters, bringing studio programming onsite, or producing live coverage of multiple games, the network has found a way to streamline operations for maximum efficiency.

We've taken a look at these large-scale events and have learned how to maximize our equipment, says Jason Hedgcock, senior director, remote technical operations, MLB Network. There are 24 kinds of broadcasts during MLB All-Star, so we've figured out a course of action to put the best product out there.

Extending the Tech: Crew Finds Multiple Uses for Broadcast Gear MLB Network produced live game broadcasts from Game Creek Video RiverHawk and Edit 2 at Globe Life Field.

Given the numerous events to be broadcast in a short period from a city where temperatures are extremely high, the key to getting everything done is to set up redundancies in broadcast workflows. With activations occurring in a variety of places - inside Globe Life Field, around the ballpark in the Arlington Entertainment District, 20 miles away at Fort Worth's Cowtown Coliseum for the 2024 MLB Draft - there's little time to flip technologies in time for the next scheduled spectacle.

MLB Network's operations team is filled with experts. SVP, Operations and Engineering, Susan Stone; VP, Remote Operations, Tom Guidice; Senior Director, Remote Operations, Brooke Berger; Director, Remote Technology Operations, Stephanie Perone; Senior Remote Technical Manager Zaac Christopher; International Operations Manager Samantha Calastro; Remote Operations Specialists Howard Goldberg and Ryan Stephens; Studio Operations Coordinator Courtney Clark; and Draft Coordinator Telvin Mobley produce such events year after year while also figuring out workflows for new events.

This allows us to push our technology and get the most out of [these workflows], says Hedgcock. Production is getting creative with these tools that operations is providing, but it's also about spreading them across multiple events.

Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. (center) joined Friday's HBCU Swingman Classic from the field.

For example, Saturday's slate of activities featured four events: the High School Home Run Derby, which was live-streamed on MLB Digital; the 2024 All-Star Futures Game; the inaugural MLB Futures Skills Showcase; and the All-Star Celebrity Softball Game. In a stroke of luck, this large stretch of broadcast responsibilities happened at a stadium well-known to MLB Network: over the past four years, the league's production arm was involved in the 2020 World Series bubble and last year's World Series.

This is a wonderful facility that was well-built, says Hedgcock. [The Globe Life Field staff] has been super-accommodating with supplemental cables that we've needed to install.

Sharing the Wealth: Network Provides Resources to Other Broadcasters Studio shows onsite in Arlington including Intentional Talk with (from left) Siera Santos, Hall of Famer Andre Dawson, and Ryan Dempster.

In addition to streamlining its own tech, MLB Network is sharing these technologies with other onsite domestic broadcasters. MLB All-Star is a different one-off broadcast event from those, such as the Super Bowl, covered by numerous broadcasters in one location. Besides its own live events, MLB Network provides infrastructure for ESPN's presentation of the MLB Home Run Derby last night and for FOX Sports' coverage of tonight's MLB All-Star Game.

You generally don't have large-scale events with multiple trucks in two separate compounds, notes Hedgcock. We've gotten really good at working with ESPN and FOX Sports to lay out these cameras, share resources amongst everyone, and create a tech plan that can be the most palatable for all of us.

This relationship will be on exhibit with MLB Network's world-feed production of tonight's Midsummer Classic. The network will deploy some of its own devices -four Sony HDC-4300 hard cameras, three HDC-2500 hard cameras, and an HDC-2500 handheld - but will also use a chunk of FOX Sports' gear - such as four Sony HDC-P50 robotics, two HDC-2500 hards, Ump Cam, an RF shallow-depth-of-field handheld.

Ancillary Content: Red Carpet Show, Onsite Editions of Studio Programming MLB Network aired the popular MLB Futures Game on Saturday afternoon.

Throughout the lead-up to the All-Star Game, fans have enjoyed a smorgasbord of wall-to-wall coverage from Globe Life Field and the surrounding area. Last night featured MLB Tonight: All-Star Media Day, driven by Robert Flores, Lauren Gardner, Jake Peavy, and Chris Young on the set and director Jason Lobb and producer Dan Komyati in the truck. Next up, Intentional Talk with Kevin Millar, Ryan Dempster, and Siera Santos was on the set, and at the front bench were director Mike Martin and Komyati staying on as producer. As the start of the Home Run Derby approached, MLB Tonight returned with Harold Reynolds, Albert Pujols, Adnan Virk, Adam Wainwright, Peavy, Santos, and Young.

A new competition this year, the MLB Futures Skills Showcase, took place after the MLB Futures Game on Saturday.

The programming headliner, the eight-camera All-Star Red Carpet Show had Komyati and Martin as producer and director, respectively, will serve as an appetizer to tonight's All-Star Game. The r

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