In the Face of the Pandemic, ESPN Relocates Australian Open Production Ops to Bristol 40 paths, nearly 100 sources come from Melbourne for massive REMI effort By Jason Dachman
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 - 11:57 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The ongoing global pandemic rendered the annual pilgrimage of ESPN's production and remote-operations teams to Melbourne for the Australian Open unrealistic, if not impossible, this year. However, not to be deterred, ESPN has shifted its sizable production operations more than 10,000 miles away to its Bristol, CT, headquarters, where it is remotely producing 110 hours of live Aussie Open TV coverage (plus another 1,000 hours of live-streamed content).
Everything is different and unique for us this year, being in Bristol, says ESPN VP, Production, Jamie Reynolds. I think that has been incentivizing for a lot of people to try to reinvent the way we cover Grand Slam tennis. The excitement of having all the technology and toys to play with in Bristol is attractive. So I think it has rejuvenated the way we tell stories and approach how we handle a world feed like this. That has been an exciting, inspirational way to approach it.
In Melbourne: Limited Onsite Presence, Reliance on the World Feed Because of travel restrictions and safety precautions, ESPN has a minimal presence onsite in Melbourne, with only analysts Darren Cahill and Rennae Stubbs reporting live from the grounds (both are Australian natives and are also serving as coaches at the tournament). In terms of match coverage, ESPN is relying even more heavily than usual on the world feed provided by host broadcaster Tennis Australia and its technical partner, Gravity Media.
When Bristol meets Melbourne. Hello ESPN team Welcome to the @AustralianOpen pic.twitter.com/dtE4VX5QRL
Darren Cahill (@darren_cahill) February 7, 2021
In addition, ESPN is sending 40 paths from Melbourne to Bristol via a 1.5-Gbps fiber link provided by The Switch (with access to nearly 100 video sources in total). ESPN is also receiving clean and dirty feeds of the linear program produced by Tennis Australia. ESPN-owned encoders are deployed in Melbourne, are managed onsite by Gravity Media, and can also be controlled from Bristol.
Historically, says Reynolds, we would send only three lines back from Melbourne with our switched feed, so we did all the work onsite. This year, we have 40 [to Bristol], so it becomes a lot more complicated.
The backbone of ESPN's Australian Open broadcasts are the clean and dirty feeds from all 16 broadcast courts (eight produced with traditional manned cameras, eight with automated robotic camera systems). On Center Court at Rod Laver Arena, ESPN is taking the line cut from Tennis Australia and five additional camera feeds that the ESPN production team can intercut at its discretion.
look at old school pic they have of me at espn i think either 83 or 84 indoors in australia the bandanna i guess for fashion back in the day pic.twitter.com/KFkFdRsDXF
Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) February 9, 2021
We wanted to be able to give our production counterparts the flexibility to go to individual courts and not have to rely entirely on the produced world feed from Tennis Australia, says ESPN Associate Director, Operations, Larry Wilson. We have 16 dirty feeds and 16 clean feeds coming back so that they can create their own ESPN production by going court to court based on their editorial discretion.
Associate Director, Operations, Larry Wilson is working from home in Connecticut.
ESPN must also account for frame-rate conversion since the Tennis Channel Australia host broadcast is a PAL 50-Hz feed. To convert the 40 paths to NTSC 60-Hz signals, ESPN is using 20 frame-rate converters in Bristol and another 20 on the West Coast at Tennis Channel. ESPN and Tennis Channel then exchange paths as needed.
All these signals are integrated not only into the ESPN Domestic broadcast but also into Tennis Channel's coverage, by ESPN International clients, and into ESPN Interactive TV's multiscreen mosaic on AT&T DirecTV, which is also being produced in Bristol.
Senior Operations Producer Joa O'Connor is located in Wisconsin.
The complex transcontinental remote operations are overseen by Wilson in Connecticut, Senior Operations Producer Joa O'Connor in Wisconsin, and Technical Manager Sam Olsen in London - all from their respective homes. To manage the 40 paths running between Melbourne and Bristol, they are using a mix of Unity comms software, Gravity Media Kits that allow them to view the routers in Melbourne, email, cellphone, Zoom, and WhatsApp.
We're learning as we go because we have never really done this workflow before, says Wilson. It's not extremely complicated in theory, but the execution is unique because it's just three of us managing it from our homes. We've lost that ability to walk around and get a sense of how things are going. That's what complicates the management part of it.
I'm immensely proud of the team and how we were able to visualize a workflow that we can't really put our hands on, he continues. We haven't seen each other in person to do any planning either, so everything has been remote. It's quite a challenge to try to visualize the plan over Zoom calls and line drawings and emails, but we're very happy with how it has turned out.
In Bristol: Control Rooms, Studios, Commentary In November, ESPN's tennis team took Bristol's studios for a test drive, as Reynolds calls it, during coverage of the ATP championship.
What? Miss a #BartyParty? @espn @AustralianOpen live from Bristol studio. #upallnight
My proof. pic.twitter.com/7xZoIgSGEc
Chris McKendry (@ChrisMcKendry) February 9, 2021
It was only one match in a two-hour win
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
In the Face of the Pandemic, ESPN Relocates Australian Open Production Ops to Bristol 40 paths, nearly 100 sources come from Melbourne for massive REMI effort By Jason Dachman 
