
ACC Network Launch Day: Inside ESPN's New Sleek, Modern, Colorful ACCN Studio The 2,800-sq.ft. studio in Bristol, CT, features a load of technological capabilities By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Thursday, August 22, 2019 - 2:48 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
With the launch of the ACC Network on Thursday comes the debut of a sharp, sleek, and colorful new studio set on ESPN's Bristol, CT, campus.
Located in Studio G in ESPN's Digital Center 1, the 2,800-sq.-ft. home of the new college-conference network was no simple, templated build. This is a customized set designed to push the envelope in a few areas, including clever camera design and innovative graphics displays.
The ACC Network, which launches on Thursday, occupies a new 2,800-sq.-ft. studio at ESPN's Digital Center 1.
It's a space that not only is ready for launch today but has a lot of room to grow alongside the network over the next few years.
We're going to try to incorporate sort of the two tiers of storytelling, which is the human side, the human-interest side, but then also what is the next level of storytelling through data and analysis, says Amy Rosenfeld, senior coordinating producer, ESPN. We're virtual-ready. We are experimenting with our capabilities on augmented reality. We are going to be pretty aggressive in the execution of data and analytics as it relates to a storytelling device.
MORE:
ACC Network Launch Day: With Buy-In From ESPN and All 15 Schools, Newest College Sports Network Is Poised for Success
ACC Network Launch Day: Packer and Durham Morning Show Will Anchor Daily Programming - From Mark Packer's Basement
Among the studio's most notable tech features are a pair of fully robotic telescoping pedestal cameras in a box that can offer unique views of the various set locations. The boxes are developed by Rhode Island-based production company Creative Conners. They can serve as integrated scene pieces when not in use but can quickly rise into action and transition viewers from one point in the set to another, allowing fun and seamless transitions between segments.
The studio also houses four Grass Valley LDX 86 4K-capable cameras (set to shoot in 1080p), a pair of Grass Valley LDC 4K-capable cameras (also shooting in 1080p), three robotic Vinten cameras, two Vinten Vantage PTZ robotic camera heads, a MOSYS eCrane able to display augmented-reality graphics and StarTracker virtual data, five LED walls (one able to slide around to different positions), two 98-in. monitors, a pair of touchscreens for on-air talent to use for telestration and analysis, six mobile Pak Talent game-viewing monitors, and 262 LED lighting fixtures (including 38 color-changing moving lights and 116 LED controllers wired and networked to the lighting board for all LED set elements).
ESPN's ACC Network studio features a camera in a box that can quickly transition from a set piece into a fully operational mobile robotic camera.
The robust studio is just another demonstration of ESPN's commitment to putting its best resources behind this project. Although the network has learned lessons and has a nice template from the launches of both the Longhorn Network (2011) and the SEC Network (2014), it was a priority to give ACC Network a personality all its own.
We wanted to make a point to make ACC [Network] its own unique space, says Kristy Higgins, supervising director, ESPN, who helped oversee much of the studio's development. One of our goals, and something that the ACC as a whole really embraced, is pushing the individual schools, colors, and flavor. Each of the ACC schools speaks for [itself], and we want them to incorporate that, not only in our studio design but also in the graphic designs and in the colors that we use in some of the animations. I think we've captured a lot of each individual school in some of those designs.
Rosenfeld agrees that the ESPN graphics department outdid itself with the graphics package, which will be used heavily within this studio.
I don't say this lightly, and I'm definitely dating myself, she says, but I've been doing this a really, really long time, and I've worked on really, really big events. I've worked on Olympics, I've worked on World Cups. I have never been a part of an animation and graphics package that is as forward-thinking and innovative and cool as this ACC Network package.
North America Stories
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Multifaceted Growth Executive Brings 20+ Years of Experience Leading Organizations Across Tech and M&E
Imagine Communications today announced the appointment ...
23/06/2026
Visual Productions Unveils RdmRelay2 Four-channel Relay Control at InfoComm 2026
Brie Clayton June 22, 2026
0 Comments
New Relay Solution Combines DMX, ...
23/06/2026
SMPTE Makes Its Standards Freely Accessible, Opening Standards Library to the Gl...
23/06/2026
Newly identified molecule strengthens the eye's response to damage in retinal disease Scripps Research discovery finds that restoring the naturally occurrin...
22/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
22/06/2026
Cosm has announced the appointment of David Ho as Chief Legal Officer, a newly created executive role reporting to President and CEO Jeb Terry. Ho will oversee ...
22/06/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced the developm...
22/06/2026
Daktronics has completed an audio control system upgrade at Petco Park in San Di...
22/06/2026
Accelerate Media has named John Willi as President and announced the launch of the Accelerate Sports Network (ASN), a prep sports media and streaming platform c...
22/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) and 3XBA (3 3 Basketball Association) have announced live television coverage of the annual 3XBA tournament on Friday, Jun...
22/06/2026
OWL AI has announced the appointment of Jay Prasad as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Prasad succeeds Josh Gwyther, who has served...
22/06/2026
CP Communications delivered RF video and audio support for TNT's Inside the NBA at the 2026 NBA Finals, providing main show coverage in San Antonio and ea...
22/06/2026
Polymarket has announced a partnership with GRID, an official esports data platf...
22/06/2026
As sports venues continue to evolve into more video-centric, fan-engagement-driv...
22/06/2026
As the regional sports production scene shifts toward streaming, this Texan helps lead the engineering behind Victory+'s growing live platform...
22/06/2026
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
the memories of your elders [are] a scaffolding for you to build your identity on - and t...
22/06/2026
Expanded integrations give advertisers access to distinct contextual signals acr...
22/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/06/2026
Xilica today announced the release of Dynamic Voice Lift, a new feature in Xilica Designer v4.12 that brings adaptive speech reinforcement to large meeting spac...
22/06/2026
Telecom operators have seen remarkable returns from using generative AI to automate network management, customer care and back-office operations. Most of that i...
22/06/2026
The next era of AI will not be defined by compute alone. Its growth will be dete...
22/06/2026
Mission, Vision and Veritas - new Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) supercom...
22/06/2026
At the ISC conference running in Hamburg this week, NVIDIA is introducing new so...
22/06/2026
For the past two years, the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Arti...
22/06/2026
JUPITER, Europe's first exascale supercomputer at Germany's Forschungszentrum J lich, runs on NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips and NVIDIA Quantum-X800 Inf...
21/06/2026
To call the 2026 FIFA World Cup a big undertaking would be a big understatement....
21/06/2026
Hot tubs sit at about 38 to 40 degrees Celsius, warm enough that most people can only soak for about 15 minutes. NVIDIA's newest AI servers can run their co...
20/06/2026
What exactly is Apogee Control V3?
Control V3 is a new mixer application that controls Apogee interfaces. The new hit feature is that V3 finally allows for...
19/06/2026
Split compound eases operational challenges at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club...
19/06/2026
North Carolina, Oklahoma meet in the best-of-three Finals as ESPN leans into spe...
19/06/2026
Data from May shows seasonal outdoor trends triggers lower viewing
Warsaw, Pola...
19/06/2026
Buttons is best control system in the rAVe Best of Infocomm Awards 2026...
19/06/2026
Mavis Studio Makes iPad Production More Powerful
Brie Clayton June 19, 2026
0 Comments
InfoComm update brings new NDI Preview, PTZ control, USB audio ...
19/06/2026
Immersive Studio Metaverse Stage Tackles Post with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton June 19, 2026
0 Comments
New narrative projects rely on DaVinci Reso...
19/06/2026
How to Run the Original 1993 After Effects
Graham Quince June 19, 2026
0 Comments
How to the original After Effects v1 in an emulator, and you don'...
19/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/06/2026
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, has announced that its entire Standards catalog is now freely available to the global medi...
19/06/2026
nsign, the digital signage SaaS platform built around its core principle of Simplify Complexity, has announced a partnership with BrightSign , expanding the dep...
19/06/2026
Visual Productions announces the availability of its new RdmRelay2 at InfoComm 2026 (ACT Entertainment, Booth N6813). A networked, four-channel DMX relay, it is...
19/06/2026
Adobe Unveils Major Expansion of Creative Agent Across Firefly and Creative Clou...
19/06/2026
Immersive Studio Metaverse Stage Innovates Storytelling with URSA Cine Immersive
Brie Clayton June 18, 2026
0 Comments
Two new narrative short films c...
19/06/2026
Lab studies explain how new cancer drug works as it enters patient testing Immunologists at Scripps Research show how a new, experimental drug revives immune ce...
18/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...